522 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1890. 
But such yields as 400 lb. an acre have already been 
secured, 5001b. an acre has been got, and the latter 
is the estimate over a large estate this season. I got 
3661b. made tea myself off a field on patana 
land, and many places oould give better figures. I 
have said enough to show you that there is nothing 
tp prevent tea, climatically, (is there such a word ?), 
doing as well here as anywhere in the island. Our 
tea is of good flavor, and prices of Spring Valley 
and Glen Alpin are encouraging, especially when you 
consider that a large proportion of their leaf is pur- 
chased, that all the tea is young, and that the manu- 
facturers have all their experience to gain. I do not how- 
ever think Badulla (or Haputale) will ever again be as 
valuable under tea as it was under coffee. Many estates 
in outlying parts of the district will probably not be put 
into tea owing to transport difficulties. If patana 
tea lasts, a great deal of patana land will be opened, 
but people would hardly for some years yet opeu 
new estates of that character. Given fair lay of land 
I believe tea will do as well here as in the best up- 
country districts ofjthe island. Labor supply is, though 
not abundant, sufficient, and the Sinhalese are taking 
to work on estates so generally that the difficulties 
of clearings or other temporary heavy works are muoh 
lessened." 
Fiom boththe Haputale and Madtjlsima divisions, 
we have also had lately, exceptionally favourable 
reports as to quality of, prices obtained for, and 
yields of tea. There is therefore no reason to 
doubt that Uva will have ready for the Railway as 
much pioduce (in tea, cocoa and cinchona bark 
chiefly) as will make up for the deficiency in 
ooffee on the estimates on whioh the railway 
finanoial returns were based. — We now turn to poor 
dethroned ez-kimg 
OOEFEE. 
Uva, cf course, makes up most of the miserably 
poor estimate of exports, with a certain quantity 
from the Agras division of Dimbula and the Boga- 
wantalawa end of Dikoya. * In Uva we include 
Udapusre 1 lawa. We have received this season 
more favourable reports of the appearance and 
condition of individual coffee estates in all these 
districts, than for perhaps a couple of years pre- 
viously, and not a few planters are still hopeful of 
keeping their best fields in good heart by careful 
cultivation, every encouragement being afforded 
them by the high prices prevailing and in prospect. 
Some experiments in a quiet way are being made in 
planting .Coorg coffee seed along with shade trees 
after the fashion whioh has proved a success in 
Mysore ; and so far we believe Mr. Hamlin of th 
O. B. Estates Co. is entirely satisfied with his 
Eondesalle fields (Dumbara) planted after this 
fashion within the last two and three years. Such 
experiments however can only be isolated ones, in 
certain selected localities, and unless a revival takes 
place in respect of planting Liberian ooffee in the 
lowoountry — of whioh there is no sign, and no 
special encouragement to do so t — Ceylon is unlikely 
to be good henceforward in any season for a larger 
export than 100,000 cwt. ; while it may fall to 60,000 
before many seasons roll by, if the shade experi- 
ments do not prove permanently successful. 
* The Rattota division of Matale Bast once a 
flourishing coffee- district is estimated to give only 80 
owt. this season, but there will be 240,000 lb. tea, 
150,000 lb. cinchona bark and 16,000 lb. cardamoms. 
f For instance, the Ealutara district first opened very 
muoh for Liberian coffee and in which 16,200 acres 
have been taken up by planters of which 5,800 acres 
are cultivated, is now practically all in tea — 1 to 12 
years old — givirjg very nearly 1 millon or (950,000 lb.) 
oro p this season. The Ct airman of the district writes : 
— '' generally speaking it may be said that tea is the 
sole cultivation on the 5,800 acres noted above, the 
cultivation of Liberian coffee and citronella grass 
having been practically abandoned. Cinnamon is a tots 
pot included." 
Cacao, yielding the Cocoa or Commerce. 
Our estimate does not indicate much progress in 
this desirable product, being 1,100 c;vt. below the 
maximum export in season 1886-87. One geotleman 
who makes his estimate 15,000 owt., adds the 
following remark : — 
" This season's orop is very early, muoh more so than 
last year, fully a month earlier, — henoe the progress 
in exports, as compared with last — it is not an 
exoess of yearly yield, but Only an exoess up to date." 
In the Eurunegala district and around G.lagedara. 
while there has undoubtedly been failure and muoh 
disappointment, we are glad to see one Superintend- 
ent, Mr. F, H. Shelley reporting in the following 
gratifying way : — 
" I manage 330 acres of this product ; and crops have 
been steadily progressive for the last five years." 
Cinchona Babe. 
It will not do, as some writers are inolined, to 
say that oinohona is practically dyiDg out in Ceylon 
and that in the face of canker and other oauses, there 
is no chance of this produot continuing among 
our exports even on a diminished scale for many 
years. Such statements amount, in fact, to a 
slander on leading districts in Uva where the 
cinchona tree from well-selected seed, flourishes 
well and indeed in a few other favourite divisions 
of our planting country. It cannot bo forgotten 
how a recent visitor, a Java planter by no means 
inolined to think muoh of what he saw in Ceylon, 
confessed that finer fields — some of them young — 
that he saw of oinchona on Cannaverella were not to 
be excelled in all Java. It is ridiculous, too, to say 
that there has been absolutely no fresh planting 
within the past three years in Ceylon. No good 
is done by suoh statements. Apart even from Uva, 
we know of promising plantings in different dis- 
tricts and still more of estates with abundance of 
flourishing coppices which in a few yes rs will once 
more be yielding bark. Nevertheless, therein ample 
evidence that Ceylon will never again sendthe large 
exports of bark whioh she did in the past, unless a 
sudden spurt or revolution on the market, should 
induce an elaborate, harvesting from all available 
trees. On the contrary, for two or three more 
seasons, downward the course of our cinchona 
exports may be expected to be. We do not think 
the total can be below 7 million lb. for this 
season, nor below 3 or 4 million lb. (chiefly from 
Uva and the Agras) for many years to come ; but 
the latter figure may be reached by 1892-93. It 
will not do henceforward therefore to speak of 
Ceylon as ruling the cinchona market in Europe. 
Java rather is likely to take that place ; but 
with a s+eadily increasing consumption, there 
ought ... oe a good demand at muoh better prioeB 
— erelong— for all available bark. The highest 
estimate sent in to us for the current season's 
exports is 7£ millions, while one is as low 
as five millions. In estimating, howevar, for a 
falling-off of million lb. on last season's exports, 
we feel, for various reasons, that we have gone as 
low as is justifiable. 
Cabdamoms. 
Of this product, the cultivation continues fairly 
profitable, a faot perhaps due to the non-extension 
of cultivation on any large scale during the past 
few years. The highest estimate of exports fur- 
nished to us is for 320,000 lb and this by a 
gentleman for whose opinion we have great respect ; 
the lowest return (from another "Old Hand") iB 
only 220,000 lb. We are inolined to the higher 
return and adhere to our original figures 300,000 
lb, or praotically the same export as during the 
past season. 
Sales of Estate Property. 
During the past year, there has not been much 
movement in respect of plantation property, put) 
