8S 



HORTICULTURE, 



Market Gardening in Nuwara Eliya. 



By C. W. Bartholomeusz. 

 Before entering into the immediate subject which I have attempted to deal 

 with, I propose giving a short sketch of the history of market gardening in Nuwara 

 Eliya. I need not mention that the materials from which I have had an opportunity 

 of gathering some fact3 for this purpose have been few, and that I had more or less 

 to depend on isolated passages in books and district manuals touching on Nuwara 

 Eliya in general, and on what I have heard. 



Nuwara Eliya, as far as I can gather, owes the introduction of the English 

 vegetables now grown, to the enterprise of Sir Samuel Baker, the great traveller 

 and sportsman whose books " Eight Years in Ceylon," and " The Rifle and Hound 

 in Ceylon," we are more or less familiar with. In the year 1818, the late Sir Samuel 

 Baker and his brother resolved to establish a real English farm and village on the 

 estate which still bears their name, now better known as Mahagastota estate— big 

 tree estate— evidently from the large blue gum trees planted there. It is hard now 

 to realise the difficulties and disappointments Sir Samuel had to face and conquer. 

 We read in his " Eight Y"ears in Ceylon," that when with iufinite trouble the soil 

 had been prepared, the first crop of oats was enjoyed by elk and wild pig, who held 

 grand midnight festivals. In like manner wo read that the first crop of potatoes 

 was entirely consumed by black grubs, a pest which still does an immense amount of 

 harm in our gardens. However, patience and perseverance were rewarded in due 

 time, and after careful treatment and generous manuring the soil was found fertile 

 enough for all purposes, and we read of his obtaining four crops of potatoes in the 

 year. From this time we can safely assume that English vegetables were grown 

 more or less in Nuwara Eliya, probably at first for the use of the few settlers, 

 followers of Sir Samuel B iker, and the other pioneers of Nuwara Eliya, and as time 

 went on, for supplying the other towns. 



The virgin soil of the new clearing seems to have been specially adapted for 

 the growth of potatoes, and tha early settlers always speak of the enormous crops of 

 this tuber which were a source of income to a great many of them, they carrying on a 

 trade with Colombo and Kandy. Tubers each weighing from H to 2 lb. were not uncom- 

 mon, aud the large crops gathered allowed of an easy profit on the outlay. But one 

 mistake seems to have been made, and that was that %he potato crop was for a long 

 time the only crop put on to lands, and, as a natural res-ult, as soon as the soil was 

 exhausted of its potash and other chemical elements suitable for its growth, the 

 potato crop failed and Nuwara Eliya had a potato blight which started early in the 

 eighties. I do not mean to say that potatoes have not been grown since, but the 

 crops, if successful, are poor and not to be compared with the crops obtained in the 

 past. The last few years have seen a few good crops, and more may be expected with 

 careful manuring and good management. 



On the failure of the growth of potatoes greater attention was paid to the 

 other English vegetables ; cabbages, cauliflower and knolkohl were largely 

 planted. Here, too, it should be noted that carrots, turnips, beet, and other root crops 

 were not grown so much at the start as they are at present. The gardens replete 

 with the chemical substances favourable for the growth of cabbages, etc., which 

 were not touched by the repeated crops of potatoes taken off them gave good 

 crops, and the cabbages grown were enormous, It made one's heart rejoice %Q 



