September !, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
211 
modes of transplanting and manuring followed 
there, as well as in the Jaffna Peninsula, where 
the conditions of land and labour are reversed. 
But the argument used is that in the Eastern 
Province the additional outlay (labour being worth 
about four times what it is in Southern India) re- 
quired for the more careful cultivation does not 
pay. In fact the matter goes back to the question 
on' which the opinion of agriculturists at home is, 
1 believe, divided : does high farming pay ? 
So far, it seems to me, the only point estab- 
lished by these experiments is that far too much 
seed paddy is sown, as a rule, in accordance with 
English views ; but, on the other hand, it must 
be remembered that for each field almost it is fixed 
by experience, and that it varies from one bushel 
an acre to nearly four in places. This is to pro- 
vide for all contingencies and it is known it will 
not all germinate. 
All honour to Mr. Green for his efforts to im- 
prove cultivation, and I trust he will accept this 
criticism in the spirit it is offered, viz., to keep 
clearly before us the real results obtained, so that 
in pressing any particular improvement on practical 
native agriculturists we are not relying on theoret- 
ical results, which may end in disappointment when 
put to the test on a large scale. 
As mentioned in the paragraph extracted by you 
in Friday's issue, over 80 bushels per acre is not 
an unusual crop in Mannar district without any 
transplanting or deep ploughing ; and over a large 
portion of the irrigated lands in the Eastern Pro- 
vince, I have heard it asserted by competent author- 
ity, the average cro-p per acre is quite equal to Mr. 
Green's " 108-told crop " of 18 bushels from the half 
acre. 
The above reflects to a good extent what we 
wrote yesterday. As we understand the matter, — 
given land of equal quality and equal in genera 
circumstances of liability to pests, &c. ; given also 
seed of equal quality, the ordinary native will till 
in the old fashion and use four bushels of seed 
grain getting an 8-fold return. Under the scientific 
system, three bushels of seed paddy are saved to 
begin with, while from one bushel of seed properly 
planted out in thoroughly tilled land a return of 
over 100-fold is obtained. Deducting the value of 
the three bushels of paddy saved, let the expend- 
iture be compared to see if the increased yield has 
been obtained at a paying outlay. Of course, the 
liability of the soil| to exhaustion if greater under 
the new system, ought to be taken into account. 
+ 
CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPOBT. 
T1IK CAUSE OF CEYLON TEA AVERAGE PRICES BEING 
80 MUCH ALIKE ALL ROUND — CEYLON PLANTERS AND 
THEIR INDIAN BRETHREN — A COMPLIMENT TO THE 
"T.A." — CROTON — COCA — MANURING NUTMEGS — COFFEE 
IN DUMBARA — A CREAMY TEA — THE WEATHER AND TEA 
FLUSHING. 
2!)th August 1887. 
The free exchange of views which is so charac- 
teristic of Ceylon planters, is doubtless one of the 
reasons, if not the chief reason, why in the raco 
of tea priceB there is so close a heat. When 
you look down a I .Inn Tea Circular the range 
of values is not very wide. The great majority of 
estate-! keep pretty close together, even [1011) the 
first start, when all allowances are made for line 
or ooarae plucking and the various natural elements 
which favour one over the other. It is to get 
away from the ruck where tho dilliculty comes in, 
and tim e who do this are, as; a rule, willing enough 
to put you in the way of following, if you have 
a mind to. If from tho first wo all had had to 
I, nd our own way, and there had been that same 
uxclusiveuesa hero, winch characterises tho tea 
planters of India, where to enter a neigh- 
bour's factory, without his permission, is a 
serious breach of planting etiquette, and inform- 
ation is often refused without the sanction of 
the Calcutta agents, the place of Ceylon teas 
in the markets of the world would not be so proud 
a one as it is today. This " shoulder to shoulder ', 
policy has stood us all in good stead in the past' 
and will doubtless continue to do so in time to 
come. I heard the other day rather a high compli- 
ment paid to the worth of your Tropical Agriculturist, 
in that it was thought that you did Ceylon some in- 
justice in giving to the planters of the tropics, through 
the columns of your monthly, so much valuable in- 
formation, and thus placing them abreast of the 
times here. If there be secrets in connection with 
any of our agricultural pursuits, they are not close 
ones. That frank readiness to assist with counsel 
and advice, which so distinguishes the planter of 
Ceylon, and to which he owes so much, is but 
reflected in the wealth of accurate information 
which gives the Tropical Agriculturist a high place 
among journals of its kind. To condemn such a 
policy, is to condemn ourselves, for the only secret 
which is known amongst us is the open secret. 
Croton is in the shade at present. Last year the 
pest of caterpillars which reduced the bush to 
bare poles was regarded with dread, but this season, 
so far as I know, the caterpillar is not. But if 
the croton tree is vigorous, and the crop more than 
usually plentiful, the price has declined, as I learned 
from a man who sold last season at B27 a cwt. 
and has parted with what he now has at B8 1 
This, however, is cheerful to one who shipped 
some months ago, and was called upon for a cheque 
to make good the loss the shipment involved. The 
proceeds did not cover the freight and charges ! 
The cultivation of coca goes on in a quiet way. 
Some people seem to believe in it, and there is 
a demand more or less for plants and seeds, which 
are to be had at the Boyal Botanic Gardens, 
Peradeniya. If half the things you read of in con- 
nection with coca are true, it is a treasure. It is 
valued by the occulist and the vet, it assuages 
hunger, and arrests waste, and lately it has been 
discovered that even man can get drunk on it — 
note it is a superior kind of intoxication they 
say. If with all it produces, if such a thing can be, 
this adaptability to meet the wants and weaknesses 
of beast and man, coca does not turn up trump in 
the near future, it will be because those who have 
its interests in hand don't know how to push and 
advertise them, and not because Ceylon men huve 
forgotten to plant it. 
In the culture of nutmegs there is little else to 
be done than keeping the trees free from parasites, 
a pest to which they are very liable. To manure 
nutmegs has been considered as the next thing to 
killing them. " That is how they died out in the 
Straits," has for many years been the closer to all 
further enquiry in the matter. A final word on the 
subject. We live however and learn; and I have 
to record a successful experiment in nutmeg manur- 
ing, with the result of a very much increased yield. 
The Chinese who killed the trees in the Straits had 
for a system of manuring digging a trench round 
the tree, just outside the furthest reach of the 
branches, and although not many roots were de- 
stroyed, still such damage was done as to lead to 
the disastrous results we have all heard of. The 
now stylo, which 1 am assured is a success, means 
a surface manuring underneath the boughs, and 
close up to the tree. The ground is slightly pricked 
all over not to disturb or injure tho close network 
of roots, and the manure is scattered over it, 
and allowed to find its way in through thp action 
of the rains, and oilier uatuial means. 
