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The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



years-old, gave 16 lb. of rubber when tapped on 

 the spiral system. The Elpitiya tree had a cir- 

 cumference of 46 inches ; the tapping was com- 

 menced in October, 1904 ; the tree was rested in 

 November, tapped again in December, rested in 

 January, 1905, and continuously tapped from 

 February to June, 1905. Tapping was recom- 

 menced in September, 1905. The tree appeared 

 quite healthy in April, 1908. 



Individual trees of unknown age (probably 20 

 to 25 years) on Culloden estate, gave 10, 18, 23, 

 and 25 lb. of rubber in twelve months, tapped on 

 various systems. These trees gave an average of 

 18 lb. per tree, per annum, for four years. 



Several trees at Peradeniya, when 29 years old, 

 gave 6| lb. each in eight months, and were still 

 in good condition. Others on the same site gave 

 three lb. each in twelve weeks. 



Upon the Imboolpitiya estate, in the Ambag- 

 amuwa district, at an elevation of 2,000 feet, 

 several 28-year-old trees were tapped from 18th 

 December, 1905, to 18th March, 1906, and there- 

 fore during three very dry months. One tree 

 tapped seventeen times gave 3 lb. 7 oz. of dry 

 rubber, two others, tapped twenty-one times, 

 gave 11 lb. 7 oz. 



The largest yield appears to have been obtained 

 from the old Heneratgoda trees during 1909 and 

 1910. During that period the largest tree gave 

 160 lb. or at the rate of 80 lb. per annum. This, 

 from a tree planted in 1876, gives one some idea 

 of what yield can be obtained from Hevea on 

 very poor soil at thirty-five years of age. It is 

 only fair to add that the trees at Heneratgoda 

 have never been systematically tapped and were 

 not until a few years ago even experimentally 

 operated upon. — India Rubber Journal, Nov. 11. 



WATTEGAMA AND RANGALA 

 REVISITED. 



THE CHANGE IN 40 YEARS ! 

 A Hying visit from Kandy, made by our 

 "Senior" to these North-Eastern planting 

 districts recently, was chiefly interesting, for 

 the great changes which have occurred during 

 the past two, three and still more in four decades 

 of years. Some of these were noted in the 

 great extension of cultivation, the number of 

 ▼aried products now in evidence, and the in- 

 creased number of villages and the population 

 along the sides of each cart road. The ride 

 on horseback from Kandy to Kelebokka was 

 once described to us by Mr. M. H. Thomas, 

 before there existed any cart-road whatsoever, 

 to Panvila or beyond, and nothing North of 

 the Mahaweliganga save the one military route 

 to Matale ; and the late Mr. Tytler, senior, 

 had frequently to make his journeys between 

 Dumbara and Pitakande or Hoolankande 

 in the " forties," on foot or on horse- 

 back, in danger of floods, robbers or 

 rioters! Our earliest visit to Matale, Kele- 

 bokka, Panvila and Kangala and Meda- 

 mahanuwara was in 1864 when coffee — the 

 only staple — was in its pristine vigour and at 

 this time district and branch roads were 

 just coming into evidence. How strange, 

 however, that during the 47 years since, the 



connection (of 3 or 4 miles ?) between the cart 

 road to the Knuckles and the local road to 

 Rangala has never been undertaken ! No 

 doubt it is a difficult trace ; but how much 

 inconvenience and trouble such a junction 

 would have saved, and would have aided devel- 

 opment, especially of village life and indus- 

 tries. There is scarcely a mile of road in the 

 Kandyan districts which does not serve to 

 support a series of native huts, boutiques or 

 bazaars— a village in fact, which was never 

 heard of in pre-planting days. But that is 

 also true of our main line of railway, although 

 only 44 years old, and is gradually becoming 

 true of each succeeding line or extension, 

 except on the Northern line. What a change 

 would be effected if a prosperous populous 

 village existed every 2 or 3 miles between 

 Anuradhapura and Jaffna, alongside the rail- 

 way or road. Meantime, what a picture of 

 prolific varied vegetation is afforded North of 

 and all round Kandy, and on to Matale, on 

 to Kelebokka and to Teldeniya as well as 

 through the Dumbara valley ! Can anything 

 in the tropical world equal these districts in 

 native crops, in varied indigenous fruit 

 shrubs or trees and in introduced products 

 in cacao, rubber, coconuts, arecas, breadfruit 

 trees, &c, &c. Rubber has come to reinforce 

 cacao in the Wattegama and Matale valleys 

 and "Para, ' as well as "Ceara," is now found 

 to flourish in growth, and harvesting of latex, 

 up to 2,000 feet above sea-level. Around 

 Panvila there are several illustrations, and 

 we had a bird's-eye view of one promising 

 rubber plantation (Giddawa) in a new divi- 

 sion close to the Hooluganga. But the 

 most interesting and instructive part of our 

 " flying trip " was along the Teldeniya road 

 (traversed last 47 years ago !) and thence up 

 the Rangala road (never passed over before, 

 though most of the estates were visited by other 

 routes) as far as to far-famed Duckwari. "Far- 

 famed, ! ' because the name embodies four 

 different plantations well-known by their names 

 in the "coffee " days. Mr. Duckworth's Batte- 

 galla valley especially, was regarded as one 

 of the richest deposits of soil (for "cherries') 

 in the island. What wonderful crops (up to a 

 ton an acre) did not poor "Jock Milne" pick 

 from the coffee bushes there, and how the 

 Messrs. Young on Rangala and Andrew Nicol, 

 Martin, Anderson, Wright, Rose, Rudd, 

 Esdaile, Fielder, Munton, Edwards, &c 

 worked hard there for many years, plant- 

 ing, cultivating and reaping ; but now there 

 is not a single coffee bush in all the dis- 

 trict ; but instead, there is tea galore, of fine 

 jat, vigorous and luxuriant. In addition to 800 

 acres of tea, the " Duckwari " Company has 270 

 acres of rubber and nearly as much of cardamoms 

 and so, the experienced Manager (nine years 

 in charge) and his two Assistants have no 

 want of variety in their products or work. 

 It added to our personal interest to find 

 that iu the Manager, and hospitable host, 

 we had a grandson (the only one in the island) 

 of the original " George Bikd," the man 

 who planted the first Ceylon coffee estate in 

 1824 and who, therefore, must have been the very 

 first "planter" ever heard of in the Central Pro- 



