and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



say green manuring was now being widely and 

 successfully adopted, though in one or two 

 instances strange orders had come out from 

 home to cut out passion flower, &c, though suc- 

 cessfully established. 



It is interesting to state that, before leaving 

 Kuala Lumpur, Mr Carruthers applied for 180 

 acres of lalang in Perak State to make practical 

 tests as an estate proprietor of the methods he 

 advocates. The terms are the usual ones for 

 lalang land— one cent per acre per annum for the 

 first seven years and one dollar per acre per 

 annum afterwards. The place will be looked 

 after by Mr Carruthers' cousin, who is on an 

 estate about 14 mile away. Mr Carruthers in- 

 tends to give one spraying of arsenite of soda 

 and then turn off and immediately plant three 

 varieties of useful cover to complete the killiug 

 out of lalang, viz., passion flower; abrus preca- 

 torius (distinguished by its well-known red 

 seed with black top); and a new vigna which Mr 

 Carruthers came across just before leaving and 

 which appeared to promise well. 



Mr Carruthers considers the rubber industry 

 to be of a permanent character, and, although 

 after lalang the rubber is usually a little slower 

 in growth for the first few years, he did not 

 mind whether it took eight years instead of six 

 in coming to the remunerative stage, consid- 

 ering the small cost of the planting. 



COCONUT PLANTING IN FIJI. 



Referring to his review {Fiji Times, Nov. SJ/ith, 

 1908) of cur Coconut Planters' Manual, Mr. R 

 L Holmes of Bua, Fiji, writes under date, 

 December 14th ;— 



" I have been a coconut planter for nearly 40 

 years and have often used strong language when 

 referring to the shameful neglect of the autho- 

 rities and settlers on Vitilevu comprising fully 

 half of Fiji. And from end to end of that great 

 island the coconut trees suiter from what you 

 will name 'the so-called leaf disease,' that 

 never kills trees, and requires only culti- 

 vation and suitable localities — in fact, common- 

 sense to make them flourish. I hope what I 

 have now set forth may do some good, and 

 thanks to you largely if it does." 



From the review we quote :— 

 One of the chief copra buyers in the group assured me that 

 he learned from Home letters, that Fiji copra ranks the 

 lowest ot any others in the English market, which means 

 that the oil therefrom is very inferior. It is not hard to see 

 the reason why, viz., the large quantity of bad copra sold by 

 the natives, and accepted by upcountry buyers and mer- 

 chants. Bought and sold at a very low price, it is thrown 

 on to the heap of better class, mixed with it, and all 

 shipped together to Europe. Grossly unfair to planters 

 who supply a first class article, as it lowers the value of the 

 whole. Can the Government not step in ? Appoint an In- 

 spector, and throw the rubbish into the sea. Natives would 

 soon change matters by selling only good copra. I see 

 continually, copra ottered for sale by natives, abomi- 

 nable rubbish exposed alternately to rain and sunshine, 

 until it becomes rotten. If they do not put sand into it 

 like the Sinhalese, they often pour sea water on it in bulk, 



Again, if it pays better to make and sell oil here, why not 

 direct and assist coconut planters in this respect V We see 

 in the above, that in Ceylon there are over 2,000 oil mills, 

 big and little ; in Fiji, not one! 



A big mill in Suva or Levuka would raise the price of copra 

 immensely, and the honest planter would get a fair price 

 for his produce. 



" Again we want very badly, small hand machines for 

 pulping and hulling coffee. For many years I have pre- 

 pared coffee from a small plot of about 100 trees. Lately, 

 with the help of a dozen Fijians, mostly children, I Collected 

 a big sack full, slowly pulped it, as formerly described, 

 washed and dried it, and turned out a very good sample. 

 1 got 1st prize for some Liberian coffee at the recent Show 

 in Suva; but it does not pay, and about half the crop I 

 left on the trees to rot. These are a few of the many things 

 in which Government could assist in planters. Someday 

 perhaps the Planters' Association and the Agricultural 

 Board may wake up and attend to something besides bana- 

 nas, the culture of which is confined to the neighbourhood 

 of Suva, llewa, N'avua and Nadi." 



COCONUTS IN CEYLON. 



The following is from the first annual report 

 of the Lowcountry Products Association of 

 Ceylon : — 



Estimated acreage in the lowcountry within 

 the scope of this Association : — 



Coconut Palm . . 7O",O0O at RW0 11300,000,000 



Arecanuts .. 50,000 at 200 10,000,0 



Cinnamon .. 45,000 at 250 11,250,(00 



Citronella . . 40,000 at 250 10,000,000 



Tobacco . . 1,000 at 300 3 0,000 



PepperfNutmeg, &c.} 1 - 000 at 150 ' 15 °> 000 



Total ..837,000 R381,7t0,000 



Your Committee venture to state that the 

 total capitalised aggregate value of the products 

 mentioned above (apart from the value of area 

 under paddy) is greater than the capital value 

 of area under tea, rubber, cocoa, which can 

 claim a total planted area of 660,000 acres 

 In comparing the relative value of the coco- 

 nut industry or products of the coconut palm a 

 very material fact requires special comment, 

 viz., the very large proportion of the products 

 which is utilised in the Colony itself for edible 

 purposes and in the form of oil for cooking and 

 lighting in plumbago mines and poonac for cattle. 

 The amount utilised in this manner may easily 

 be represented as the yield of not less than one- 

 third the area under cultivation in an average 

 year and the value of this is not shown and can- 

 not be in the export trade of the island. Apart 

 from value it is important to realise the benefit 

 which this industry confers on the dietary of the 

 population. It is a well-kuown fact and one that 

 has been insisted upon year after year by the 

 Registrar-General in his reports on vital sta- 

 tistics of the Island that the death-rate of the 

 Negomboand Chilaw districts is the lowest in 

 the Island, in spite of malaria. The liberal use 

 of the coconut as part of the food of the people 

 in those districts, and the steady high wage 

 which they command through the industry, are 

 undoubtedly responsible for tile happy result 

 indicated in the vital statistics. 



Cultivation of the Coconut Palm. 

 It is regrettable that the rainfall during the 

 year was adverse to the coconut planters in more 

 ways than one. The prolonged drought affected 

 the trees to a great extent. In the Puttalam and 

 northern section of Katugampola Hatpattu a 

 few hundred trees on estate plantations were 

 killed. In and around Chilaw several hundred 

 trees were seriously affected. The absence of 

 rain rendered manuring either inexpedient or 

 impossible which will result in a further shor- 

 tage of crops. The prolonged drought and the 

 failure of both monsoons affected new clearing 

 work and young plantations very adversely. 



