August i, i88g.] THP TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
135 
— . — * 
To the Editor. 
BICE CULTIVATION IN THE BATTICALOA 
DISTEICT. 
8th June 1889. 
Deae Sie, — Mr. Edward Atherton has not, I think, 
given you all the reasons why paddy cultivation in 
the Batticaloa district does not always pay. 
He does not tell you, for instance, that in very 
many cases the land has been purchased and 
brought into cultivation with borrowed money, and 
that the usual rate for such loans is 16§ per cent. 
That besides the money so borrowed the cultivator 
also, as a rule, borrows sufficient paddy to sow 
his land and for himself and his labourers to 
subsist upon until his crop has matured. And 
that for every bushel so borrowed he pays back 
at harvest-time one and a half bushel. (About 150 
per cent per annum.) 
Neither did he tell you that to speak of the 
cultivation of lice in that district is a misnomer. 
All that is done is that the well-turfed surface of 
a fallow field is scratched with a plough and 
trodden by buffaloes. The fields are not even 
levelled. It is highly probable that if they were 
as carefully cultivated as (say) those between Pera- 
deniya and Gampola, the crops would be at least 
double what they now are. — Yours truly, 
0. W. K. 
KEEPING QUALITIES OF CHINA TEA. 
37, Mincing Lane, 21st June 1889. 
Deae Sir, — To the Ceylon Planter who by each 
mail receives some complaint as to the keeping 
qualities of Ceylon tea, the accounts of the ad- 
vantages China tea possesses in this direction must 
seem incredible. 
Thinking it may interest you we post you a 
tasting of a fine China tea, "Kintuck," recently 
sold on this market. The year of importation was 
1882. You will find on examination that the 
leaf is comparatively crisp, the infusion bright, 
and the cup strong and flavory after seven years 
in the warehouse. — Yours faithfully, 
I. A. EUCKEK & BENCBAFT, 
p. W. B. Chaimees. 
[The tea looks in very good order certainly and 
is every way satisfactory.— Ed.] 
PEOGEESS IN THE STEAITS SETTLEMENTS. 
30th June 1889. 
Sir, — It may perhaps be of interest to some 
your readers to hear how, under the able and pro- 
gressive administration of Sir Cecil Smith, railway 
extension is being pushed forward in the native 
states of the Straits Settlements. 
At present there are two lines already completed, 
viz. that from Port Weld to Thaiping in Upper 
Perak and from Klang to Kwala Lumpor in Selangor : 
this latter is immediately to be extended to 
Bowang, and another lino some 35 miles in length 
is under construction in Sungei Ujong. It is not 
however to these lines that I particularly wish to 
refer, but to that which has now been sanctioned 
by the Secretary of State, from Teluk An son to 
Tpoh, a distanoe of G2 miles which is undoubtedly 
the first link in a ohain of railway communieatinn 
that must, before many years have passe- 1 , connect 
Singapore with Burmah. Teluk Anson, th 1 nresent 
torminus of the Perak railway, is situated 35 miles 
up the river of the same name which has a depth 
of 1(! feet at low and 22 feot at high water. The 
sanctioned lino of railway will run in a north- 
easterly direction through a splendid country for 
agricultural purpose, to Tappah, which will form the 
first section and which will probably be commenced 
before this year is out. From Tappah the railway 
will be continued on to Tpoh, a distance of about 
30 miles, through a country abounding in minerals 
and in which there are already very extensive 
mining operations in progress. It is I believe 
under consideration if the line shall not be ex- 
tended to the Dindings or to Penang, but the 
trunk line will undoubtedly be pushed on to Moul- 
mein. A further extension is to be undertaken 
that is to run from Tappah to Tanjong Malim, to 
the southward, for about 35 miles. At Tanjong 
Malim the Perak railway will join that of Selan- 
gore, and that line will be sooner or later brought 
into communication with Singapore. 
W. A. M. D. 
GRAIN CULTIVATION IN THE EASTEEN 
PEOVINCE. 
Batticaloa, 1st July 1889. 
Deae Sir,— Mr. Elliott has drawn a ' nest of 
hornets ' about his ears by attempting to prove 
how paddy could be successfully cultivated with 
a porfit of 70 per cent. 
Another friend with the same tendencies for 
pgrieultural proficiency proved how he had made 
finer results, by sowing a few grains in a highly 
manured flowerpot without incurring any cost 
whs soever, and we have Bishop Chapman's assur- 
ance (vide his published journal) how he saw paddy 
growing on one side of him, and rice on the other, 
in this district. 
These facts, though interesting, will not bear 
analyzing. 
I am only surprised that an officer of Mr. Elliott's 
experience should allow such a document to go 
before the Government and the public, without 
strict inquiry whether the facts and figures stated 
therein are correct. We all know the tendency 
agricultural students have, of showing great results 
at little cost ; and I assert, without fear of con- 
tradiction, that 70 per cent could not be obtained 
by any mode of cultivation from the ordinary land 
of this district, except by heavy manuring and 
'Eajakariya' services, which latter, Mr. Elliott's re- 
turn savours of ! 
Where are the rich proprietors who once farmed 
the lands in this district, whose possessions 
in land and cattle could not be enumerated 
'ruined' — 'beggared' — 'dead'! Men who to my 
knowledge had several years' paddy stacked, for the 
consumption of their field labourers. What ruined 
them ? Surely not the 70 per cent returns ; but 
excessive commutations added to water cess, 
that crying evil, which has ruined the district 
and alienated extensive tracts from their original 
owners, now lying waste and uncultivated. 
The Kachcheri records will prove, what extent 
by this means has reverted to the Crown. 
I shall give one instance, as an example, — Attee 
Munmari, in Manmunai Pattu North, of 134 acres 
extent. The commutation of this field is assessed at 
E196-56. The highest rent yet obtained is 15 
ammunams of paddy worth E112-50, so that for the 
"honour and glory" of having this cultivated, 
the owner has to pay Government E84 in excess 
of the rent ! If paddy cultivation is so profitable, 
how is it that the rent is so low ? lower than the 
tax — the ordinary rent being equal to of the crop, 
or double the commutation tax. 
The inference can easily be drawn, and we 
know the object with whioh the statement has 
been furnished, to drown the general outcry, and 
to quiet the conscience of '' the powers that be " — 
to avoid a Commission that would neoessarily 
elicit the truth ! 
