788 
f H£ mOP\6M AORieULTUmSt. [May i, 1890: 
e 
deprives the laod of mote saluble phosphates which 
might otherwise be formed. 
Here I must support the recommendation quoted m 
the early part of this report, that lime should be ap- 
plied to the soil os these infected areas. Not euly 
will lime aot mechanically and improve the texture of 
soil, which being made more porous is better aerated, but 
it supplies a base which (prma soluble salts, and thus 
liberates plant food. If I remember aright it has been 
repirted in the newspapers that an experiment with a 
dressing of lime to affected trees did improve their 
condition. 
Where the balance of . nature has been disturbed and 
one crop has been selected for a particular area to the 
exclusion of all others, contrary to the course of nature, 
it is bat natural to expect that the soil must eventually 
fail in its supply of certain ingredients of plant food, 
and this more especially where the soil is not of the 
most fertile character, when the same food ingredients 
which the crop most affects are continually being 
drawn upon. Even where in a state of nature one 
crop is confined to restricted areas we know that there 
is such a thing as a natural course of rotation, and 
one crop gives way to another: ths has been recorded 
in the case of natural forests of trees. 
What isDf great importance is that the feeding habitsof 
oultivatedplants and trees should be thoroughly under- 
stood from experience and the results of analysis, and 
that plants and trees should be so treated by cultivation 
and manuring as to ensure a sufficient supply of the food 
ingredients necessary for their healthy growth. Of 
course there are speoial circumstances such as the 
occurrence of long droughts which are practically be- 
yond the control of oultivators, and these hive to 
be dealt with as well as possible so as to mitigate 
their effeots. I have examined some roots dug up 
from an infected area, which appear to have a ten- 
dency to die off, but have not been able to note the 
presence of any organism which can account for the 
result It accounts for the withering tendency of the 
roots as the result of those causes which brir.g about 
the weakened condition of the tree, and specially a 
lack of sufficient moisture. 
The term coconut leaf disease as used in Ceylon 
I consider incorrrect in its application. Jt has been 
indiscriminately applied to 'every form of discolora- 
tion on the leaves, of whatever nature. Now there 
are some discolouvations of a withered appearance 
resulting from the puncture and suoking of minute 
insects, "and these are often seen in healthy trees, the 
discoloured patches being distinct m outline surrounded 
by a healthy growth, while' the trees axe not in any 
wf.y affected in health. Those however occurring on 
weakly trees are the nuclei from which decay 
spreads to such an extent as to seriously injure the 
health of the trees. Again, there is the appearance 
of yellow discolorations either as spots or all through- 
out the leaf resulting from a failure of the leaf to 
elaborate chlorophyll, find this cannot but be the 
result of innutrition | (where the leaf is not withering 
in its natural course). In weakly specimens I also 
found the presence of a fungus presenting to the 
naked eye a turgid brown discoloration in the leai 
tissue, but I am convinced that there is nothing to 
cause any alarm in the occurrence of the fungus which 
from its nature need not lead to suspicion of its 
spreading, or indiscriminately attacking ooconut palms. 
There have been various means suggested for 
scaring away insect pests, whether fly, beetle or 
bug, which it is needless for me to repeat 
here, but keeping the land clean is of prim- 
ary importance m bringing about this result. 
The unsatisfactory condition of the soil as shown by 
analysis is a matter that must command the attention 
of those whose minds are exercised about this so-called 
disease. Sir John Lawes, the greatest living authority 
on agricultural matters, says, " I consider that plants 
are liable to be attacked by fungi, parasites &c. m 
proportion as the soil is deficient in available mineral 
food The greater the amount of mineral matter 
at the disposal of the plant, the greater would be its 
power of resistance." . 
I consider that there is no cause for alarm about 
the eocalled Coconut Leaf. Disease to those who are culti- 
vating their lands after the most approved methods. 
The idea that danger or destruction is threatened 
generally by a fungoid attack must be put away. The 
consensus of opinion, and notably that based on ana- 
lyses of soil, tends to prove that those areas where the 
disease prevails to such an extent as to disquiet the 
minds ot proprietors and lessees, are suffering from an 
impoverished condition of the soil so far as the suc- 
cessful growth of coconuts is concerned : and to cope 
into the disease the soil must be by every available 
means — which I have endeavoured to indicate — raised 
to the required standard of fertility. 
0. DEIBBERG, b.a , f.h.a.s.,f.r.s.e., 
Member of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, England. 
TEA CKOP PROSPECTS IN CEYLON. 
HEAVY BEARING Of TEA AT HIGH ELEVATIONS. 
NO LIMIT TO PRODUCTION WITH THE TEA-BUSH FLOUR- 
ISHING FROM KOLLUPITIYA TO THE RANGES ENCIRCLING 
NUWARA ELIYA. 
Our readers will be interested in perusing the 
following report and opinion by an experienced 
Visiting Agent not usually regarded as over-sanguine. 
One lesson that may be inferred is that tea planters 
in other countries les3 favourably situated than 
Ceylon should beware of extending cultivation 
until they see what the next few years are to do 
for the crops in this island. Our correspondant 
writes : — 
April 12th. — Prospects so far as quantity goes are 
favourable enough, and people are beginning to 
realize the fact that it is not only in the lowcountry, 
and at medium elevations, that heavy yields may 
be looked for, but even at extreme altitudes, and 
under conditions which one would have thought a 
few years ago, were unfavourable to vigorous growth 
and therefore opposed to great productiveness. 
Take for example the higher features of the dis- 
trict of Udapussellawa, which, beside being cold 
and bleak, are exposed to the influences of a very 
heavy monsoon wind for several months of the 
year, and yet the tea on these slopes is exceptionally 
strong and vigorous, comparing well with some of the 
finest fields, in apparently more favoured distriots. 
Nor is the yield in any way disappointing ; on the 
contrary, it is surpassing the most sanguine expecta- 
tions of an expectant public; and I learn on excellent 
authority that on one estate alone, about 300 acres 
in extent, upwards of 20,000 lb. of tea was made 
in the month of March 1 
Proprietors of lowcountry estates will have to look 
to their laurels ; for the references made to Uda- 
pussellawa could be largely multiplied, and I may 
go further and say that though people generally 
are beginning to see that high grown tea is capable 
of produoing heavy crops of leaf, there is probably 
not a man in the island who sufficiently appre- 
ciates the productive powers of the soil in 
such localities as the Agras and Bogawantalawa 
to enable him to correctly estimate the capabili- 
ties of a well-cared-for field of tea, at the 
seventh year. 
'T is true we have to wait for our returns up- 
oountry, we don't get them the second and third 
years as in the Kelani Valley ; but given a good 
soil, fair j'at, and suitable climate, the yield of 
a 4,500 feet estate will go on increasing as the 
bushes advance in age, until full maturity has 
been reached, and under conditions such as I 
have named we none of us know when this 
will be. But these conditions are not exceptional : 
indeed they apply to a great number ofestateB— 
in the Central Province— to say, nothing of large 
extents of patana whioh. experience has now abua- 
