August i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
115 
COCONUTS IN THE NORTH- WE STEBN 
PEOVINCE. 
{Written for the " Tropical Agriculturist") 
Repudiating any intention of crying down the 
main agricultural staple of our beautiful and fer- 
tile island — Tea— it would seem to the writer a vast 
pity that Europeans have not, since devastation 
overwhelmed their coffee fields, turned their eyes 
in search of an investment more safe, more profit- 
able: and more permanent. There is and there 
will be success — immense success — in tea cultiv- 
ation, that the question has already been raised 
"Uow long will it last?" That all cannot succeed 
is a certainty, that some being able to pay working 
expenses for a time will ultimately succumb to 
a glutted market, and be ruined, is more than a 
possibility. Why then not seek out a product 
which is indigenous* to Ceylon, the fruit of which 
is, in part, consumed by inhabitants of Ceylon, 
the fibre of which is ubiquitous in Ceylon — the 
very leaves of which (besides other parts of the 
tree) may be turned into rupees, viz : — the coconut, 
which may be said to yield returns up to the age 
of 100 years — a permanency for the next two or 
three generations. The answer to all this is trite, 
and time-worn as it is fallacious: — "Oh, I cannot 
wait 12 or 15 years for a return, the coconut is 
essentially a native-grown product and only suited 
for natives, with whom an Englishman cannot 
possibly compete successfully — give me something 
that makes money quicker than that" — and so, 
without further troubling the mind, the subject is 
dismissed and the idea scouted as preposterous. 
Let us see. In the first place the coconut tree 
properly treated and on fairground may be expected 
to yield pi-ojitable returns in the 6th or 7th year, 
irrespective of any profit made by growing minor 
products (e.g. plantains; on the same land, at a 
comparatively small outlay ; secondly, the very 
fact of its being so extensively cultivated by 
natives, who know the real valuo of money far 
better than many Englishmen, ought to prove its 
desirability as an investment ; thirdly, it is hardly 
a case of 1 competition.' The native, as a rule, 
leaves the trees very much alone, though he is 
now becoming more enlightened in his views of 
cultivation and manuring, which the European 
would be able to carry out scientifically and, with 
capital to back it up, far outstrip the efforts of 
his native neighbour ; and so, though spending 
more on hi3 trees, he will get larger returns and 
learn that there are few trees which repay so well 
any trouble or money expended upon them as 
the coconut. Tho very permanency of the plant- 
ation, with enhanced value (of land year by year, 
is a point not to be forgotten ; and though it will 
not yield enough profit to send its owner home — 
a millionaire — in a short time, it will always form 
a competency for him and his children, ay, and 
their children perhaps. The activity of the natives 
in the North-Western Province above Madampo 
ia most marked, especially during this and last 
year — old gardens have been cleaned up and re- 
planted, new gardens have been formed, and from 
Chilaw to Puttalam, formerly a vast stretch of 
jungle, the road is now fringed with well-kept and 
thriving gardens, some small, some large, and 
eucli monsoon bees farther extension. Transport 
is handy, land is cheap, and there is a ready 
market for all 0D6 can grow in tho way 0£ 
* Not to ! Though the coconut lias been so long 
established as to have fruod a permanent and ou- 
onial homo here ; yot it is clearly proved to have 
ouio to Ceylon, most likely from the Indian Archi- 
elago, whore dc Cundolle thinks this palm bad its 
rign.— Jiu. 
ground crops. The one want of the district ia 
English capital and English enterprize — given this, 
and in a few years this district will be the finest 
and most famous in the island. 
George D. Miller. 
Rajakadaluwa, Chilaw, July 1887. 
OBSERVATIONS ON COCONUT PLANTING. 
(By a Native.) 
The natives, especially in the southern districts, grow 
coconuts better than any planter here in the Western 
Province. They are generally small land-owners, and 
all the lands excepting of course paddy fields are 
planted with coconut trees. The cultivation is con- 
tinuous ; when the 1st batch of trees gets taller, they 
plant another batch, &c. It is not uncommon to see 
coconut trees of three distinct ages on the same land. 
I mentioned that the native cultivator of the Southern 
Province does better than the planter who gets hia 
estate manured and digged with considerable expense. 
The fact is that the soil and the climate of the 
Southern Province agree better. The coconut may 
be called a very hardy tree. It thrives in sandy 
soils as well as in the most hard cabooky hills, but in 
the former class of soils it produces much better. I 
have seen in the Southern Province some trees in 
sandy soil yielding above 50 nuts each in a single 
season. But another observation made by me is, that 
commencing from Galle, the coconut tree produces 
very well on the sea coast, but as we get nearer to 
Colombo we see a falling-off in the produce, and 
at last from Kalutara upwards, we see a lot of trees 
near the coast, but with almost bare tops. But how 
can we account for this falling-off in the fertility 
when it reaches Colombo. The same kind of soils at 
Galle produces five times better. My opinion is that 
this is owiDg to the change of climate.— W. A. D. S, 
Minuwangoda. 
« 
ASSAM COMPANY. 
At the meeting of the above company, held on 
Monday, the following report was presented : — "Your 
directors present to you their report of the oper- 
ations of the company for the year, which ended Dec. 
3lst, 1386. The quantity of tea packed and despatched 
from the gardens during the past season amounted 
to 2,339,0061b., which is 551,19-llb., less than the super- 
intendent's estimate, and 249,7691b. less than was 
packed in the previous year. This short outturn has 
been accounted for by Mr. Philips in the following 
terms : — ' I. Deficient rainfall during the early part of 
the year, and tho prevalence of cold weather through- 
out July, August, and September. 2. The efforts 
made to gather finer leaves than in 1885 in the early 
part of the season caused a diminution of quantity. 
3. The necessity of easy treatment of the trees in 
the gardens in all divisions, to enable them to re- 
cover lost vigour, and to maintain them in future good 
yielding condition. These causes specially accounted 
for short crops in the gardens of the Satsooeah and 
Gelakey divisions, and the easy treatment of 1886 
will undoubtedly produce good results in 1867 both 
in quantity and quality. Your directors are not 
satisfied of the sufficiency of these causes to account 
for the disappointing results of this year. They have 
come to the conclusion that considerable changes are 
necessary in tho working of the company, and they 
have under their consideration a scheme for its re- 
organisation and management, under which packing 
of tho tea of each large garden will be done on tho 
spot, instead of being dealt with at the central factory 
in Nazcrah. This, and a more direct responsibility 
on the part of tho managers of the divisions, will, 
tho board hope, moot somo of tho difficulties under 
which our administration has been labouring, and 
produco bettor results in future. Owing to tho large 
quantity of Indian and Ceylon tea imported, prices 
were lower last year than tiiey have ever been before; 
and although tho first shipment! of our crop wore 
of excellent quality aud sold well, the gonorul aver- 
ago price fell as the soles advanced to lljd. per lb . 
or Ud per lb less than was obtained for the crop of 
