2«2 



Indian and Jamaica Sarsaparilla are botanically very far removed from 

 one another, the former being an aselepiad and the latter a ■ ' lily." The method of 

 cultivating the two plants; would also be very different. 



I am, etc., 



C. DRIEBERG. 



Office of the Superintendent of School Gardens, 

 Colombo, 1st March. 



STUMPING RUBBER PLANTS. 



Sir,— Can any of your correspondents, or yourself, inform me if when 

 stumping rubber plants prior to planting— one year plants— it would be good to 

 stump in the green wood, so as to ensure being above the first eye in the brown 

 wood ; and thus avoid the dying back to the root which happens if the plant is 

 stumped below the eye? 



In your March number, owing to the way the stops are placed, the informa- 

 tion as to acreage of some of the Travancore places, on page 103, is incorrect. I annex 

 the alterations. 



El Dorado Estate, total acreage about 700 acres, planted and being planted 

 about 500 acres. 



Kardaman Kolam, total acreage about 1,200 acres, planted or being planted 

 about 500 acres. 



Kuppu Kayam Estate, total acreage about 800 acres, planted or being planted 

 about 150 acres. 



Graham's Land (or Manikal) total acreage 300 acres, planted or being planted 

 about 250 acres. 



Yours faithfully. 



H. D. DEANE. 



Peermaad, S. India, 

 April 10th. 



CARAVONICA COTTON. 



Sir,— In reference to Dr. H. M. Fernando's reply to me in the Tropical 

 Agriculturist I do not think there is anything required of me to say. Prom 

 it I gather that he makes three complaints : 1st. That Caravonica does not 

 suit the Ceylon climatological conditons of two wet and two dry seasons ; 

 2nd. that it is a perennial tree-cotton ; 3rd. that the value of its lint has 

 not yet been tariffed or entered in the Liverpool Weekly Reports. On these 

 three points with your permission I shall try to give some explanations. 



1st.— I believe the months of August, September and October are fairly dry 

 in Ceylon. If so, the Caravonica should be made to crop in this time by plucking 

 off all the blossoms appearing from November to June or in some districts, like 

 Kurunegala, the cropping could be made to take place during the dry months of 

 January, February and March, by plucking of all the blossoms from April to 

 December. This should be left to the judgement of the planter. Of course, Ceylon 

 being just on the Equator, her climate is double-jointed, that is two wet seasons 

 and two dry seasons of half-duration each : that is quarterly alternatively and 

 then, unfortunately, the grower will have to content himself with three months 

 picking instead of the whole cropping period of six months as in extra-equatorial 

 districts. But a heavy picking for even only three months of Caravonica will 

 greatly exceed the yield of Sea Island, Egyptian or any other cotton ; and by 

 its high price it will represent a nett income mure than double or treble of 

 that from other varieties. 



