July 1, tMfi fm f S?0£ldAL 
Of Maskeliya, a well-known resident writes: — "Of 
the totul uncultivated acreage of thi-. district about 
four-fifths is now uuder tea, which has everywhere 
so far dorje well." 
A planter of Pussellawa write6 : — " With regard to 
tea cultivation, on which the future prosperity of this 
district must depend (i.e., from a planting point of 
view). In the immediate neighbourhood of the Pea- 
cock, including Hellehodde estate on the one side 
to SauquLar on the other, there will probably be, by 
the middle of this year, up a'ds of 4,000 acres planted 
laud. This is not inclusive of the Niiainbe district and 
estate. Two large factories — viz., Helbodde and So- 
gamma— have for some time past been manufacturing 
tea, hut the bulk of the laud above mentioned will not 
yield any api reciable quantity of tea for another year 
at least. When all is bearing, the exports from these 
estates might be estimated atone million pounds yearly." 
Of Matale, a resident .superintendent writes: — "Oofiee. 
— There is now htlle ccffee left in this district, and on 
only one or two estates does it receive systematic 
cultivation ; in these instances it has responded to the 
care bestowed upon it, and a good paying crop has 
been gathered. 
"Asa rule, coffee is merely tolerated where it does 
not interfere with other products, and cannot be said 
to be cultivated; it receives no pruning worthy of the 
name, and suckers are often allowed to grow. Even under 
these circumstances it has bcrne fairly well, and wher- 
ever it is at all in heart there have been fair blossoms 
for the current year. This general abandoumeut of 
coffee is due to the attacks of black bug, which in 
places has quite wiped out hundreds of acres. It ap- 
pears now, however, to have clone its worst, and leaf- 
disease is also less virulent. 
" Liberian Coffee hardly receives that attention it 
deserves. Plants from carefully-selected seed grow vi- 
gorously, and when in bearing yield four to five hun- 
dredweight an acre. This variety of coffee has recently 
so d in London for sixty shillings, and is sought for 
by Moor tiaders for use in the northern provinces. The 
growth on poor soils is generally good, but the poss- 
ibility of black bug and leaf-disease proving too much 
for even Liberian partially prevents its cultivation be- 
ing seriously undertaken. 
'• Tka. — The acreage under cultivation has been 
greatly increased ; there arc now few estates in the dis- 
trict that have not a portion of their acreages in tea. 
" Matale East may be said to be entirely given over 
to t'a (although there is a good deal of cinchona still 
growing there ). Iu Matale West and the centre of the 
valley, tea lias been planted where elevation and soil 
are unsuitable for cacao. Speaking generally, the 
growth is favourable; aud when the soil has not been 
exhausted by previous cultivation, there is a fair pro- 
spect of success. The low-tying estates, such as Wariya- 
pola and Hapugahalauda, perhaps make the best show 
for their age. 
" The Vic irton group of estates iu Matale West have 
recently changed hands, with a view to cultivation in 
this product. Land has bet n purchased from natives, 
and Crown land applied for with, I believe, the same object. 
" Cinchona tioes not receive much attention, owing 
to the low prices ruling at present. Succirubra grows 
extreme ly well in almost all parts of Matale East, but 
there will be no extension to speak of while prices re- 
main as thej are, 
" Cardamoms do well wherever they have been care- 
fully planted all over the district, aud even at pre- 
sei.'t prici s pay moderately well. A rise iu prices 
woulel probably cause an extension in the acreage 
under this product. 
" Cacao.— The cultivation of this product has not 
been "'iuch ex'ended, but confuh nee, which was shaken 
by tho drought of 1884, aud attacks of RelopeltiL has 
entirely revived. Crops as a rule, have • xce< ded es- 
timates, and there is now no doubt as to the success ~>t 
cacao in t he rich Foil in the centre and north of Matale. 
" It ought always to be borne in mind, however, 
that no crop to speak of can be looked for before 
the fifth year, anil nothing large '-ii'ingh to rive a 
profit lief ori) the seventh. Attention ought, 1 1 er< Fore, 
to be devoted to prqduota ">U'Uble le.r cultivation 
with the cuvao, which gives au curlier return, 
" If Sinhalese could only be brought to give care 
to the cultivation of cacao, it would more than supply 
the place of coffee wirh them ; but I fear that, th'j 
natural apathy of the Sinhalese villagers will always 
be au insuperable objection to the introduction of 
this product as a plant to be grown round their 
houses. Cacao to be successful must be protecte I 
from cattle and kept from suckers and weeds, and 
this amount of attention is more than the villagers 
will bestow. 
"It is worth notice that villagers now offer their 
services on estates, and in one case that I know of 
a gang of Sinhalese are now resident in lines, aud 
are treated in every way as Tamil coolies are. At 
some works they are quite able to compete w ith the 
Tamil ; but they are not to be relied on in bad weather, 
and lack the power of adapting themselves to circum- 
stances which a cooly has. In time, however, thoy 
may prove a valuable addition to the labour force of 
the district, an event much to be desired for all 
parties." 
A visiting agent of great experience iu the Kaudy 
district writes : — 
"Coffee. — Planters have rightly turned their chief 
attention away from the cultivation of the old staple of 
the Colony. Years of continued disappointment in 
resisting leaf-disease have been followed by the attacks 
of green bug, so well described by Mr. Green, of 
Pundalu-oya,in his able pamphlet, added to which they 
have had to contend with low prices. Now there are 
rifts in the cloud of depression that has assailed the 
old favourite. The harvesting of a fairly good crop in 
Dumbara in 1886, followed now by one of the best 
blossoms that have been seen in the district for many 
years, and the likelihood of good prices for coffee for 
some time to come, have influenceel planters to stay 
their hands in eradicating coffee, and they will prob- 
ably carefully cultivate what bushes are now left. In 
this connection I may instance what was done by the 
lateMr.E. B.Tytler, the well-known pioneer of planting 
in Ceylon. In 1856, he bought the Deegalle and 
Pallekelle estates, which were then abandoned, and 
cleared out a hundred acres of what he knew had been 
previously fine coffee. He cultivated the suckers grow- 
ing on the stems, as there were no primaries, and as 
they yielded crop cut them off, allowing fresh suckers 
to take their place. He, in fact, secured good, con- 
tinuous crops from sucke 1 s instead of primaries. This, 
I believe, is now being done in the higher districts 
where primaries have been cut off, to allow the growth 
of tea, and where planters are now induced to let both 
products grow together for a little longer. 
" Cacao. — Dumbara, one of the leading Kandy dis- 
tricts, is the home of this product. No estate has 
come up to Pallekelle for extensive and productive 
cultivation. I must leave the Matale and Kurunegala 
planters to deal with cacao in their respective districts. 
It is also profitably cultivated in Wattegama and 
Peradeniya. 
"The first attack of Helbpeltis, accompanied by an 
unusually dry hot season for two years, threw cold water ; 
if I may so express it, on the cacao enterprise. Wise 
men shook their heads, and prophesied failure; I860 
has, I am glad to report, dissipated this pessimist view, 
and the success of cacao, materially assisted by the 
growth of shade and shelter belts, may now be looked 
on as a well-established fact. 
" On oue estate I know 700 acres of bearing cacao 
will give 3,000 cwt. (lcSG-87) ; and as that cultivation is 
one that requires but a very moderate annual outlay 
(say, 1150 or K60 per acre), the capituli-t m«y thus 
reckon what returns he may expect from a well-chosen 
cacao property. At first starting other pi oduots should 
lie continue d, say, coffee raised from M\s re need, to- 
bacco, Libei ian coffee, aud (as a shade) rubber, which 
iu many instances has served the purpose and will be 
subsi qtiently a source of revenu , 
" Touacco.— This product is n^w receiving the close 
attention of careful and skilled planters in the Dultlbkm 
district. The exports of tobacco m 18"7 will, 1 h p«»; 
effectively prove tha- t is one of the rising indium • 
iu thf iBleUfl. The year IP8G has t>. th. se gentlenv u 
becu uueof education, but they arc uow, I bcUeve, re^- 
