4' i a 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, i 887 
in bone dust, sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, 
and all the abominations arising from organic de- 
composition. * 
This reminds me of Dan O'Truff, a coconut plan- 
ter of former days, who had an unshrinking appre- 
ciation of stinking thi:«gs. On one occasion he 
put some tons of poonac into a pit to ferment, and 
there it lay till the passengers along the public 
road held the snout, and mended the pace. When 
the mass was at its nastiest, Dan had it stirred up 
for inspection, and snuffing up the fumes with 
enthusiastic relish, criti in ecstatic approval, "Ah! 
That 's the stuff ! " 
Henoeforth, I will be ready to discuss coconut 
cultivation in a candid spirit with all comers, and, 
as new light appears, I will not shut my eyes to 
it, shine from whence it may, but to cavilling 
critics who set up in thi trade on scanty capital, 
and that mostly borrowal, I will be dumb. 
Coconut cultivation is essentially a matter of ex- 
periment, and the bolder the experimenter the 
better chance of success, whereas he who brings rules 
and analogies and untested theories from outside only 
fetters his own hands, and contracts his own field of 
action, tying him down to a narrow routine or send- 
ing him eff in a wrong direction misled by 
preaccepted theories, or early imbibed prejudices. 
It is the business of the coconut planter to 
obtain the greatest possible amount of produce at 
the lowest possible expenditure of capital. It will 
be well for the planter to know the leading 
principles of vegetable physiology and agricultural 
chemistry, but the habits and wants of his cultiv- 
ated plant should be his stock study, pursued early 
and late and under every circumstance that 
appears wherever he goes. If he brings a free mind 
and a free hand to his task, he will accept no 
theory old or new without bringing it to the test 
of experiment, and he will reject nothing without 
the same test. Though coconut planting as an 
investment is now above half a century old, so 
small is the intelligence that has been brought to 
bear on it, that both scientifically and practically it is 
still in its infancy ; still planters perform the most 
injurious operations not knowing what they do, and 
were it not that the coconut tree survives under 
more bad treatment than any other plant, tens of 
thousands would have perished. For instance, it 
will hardly be denied that the coconut sends its 
roots out far and wide, in search of its specific 
pabulum. I have measured a primary root washed 
out on the shore that was forty-six feet and 
may have been much more, as it was broken off -; 
and I have seen some that have wound their way 
through six feet of cabook. I suppose it will not 
be denied, that the principal feeding ground of 
the plant is well within one foot of the surface. 
With those facts so legibly written that those who 
run may read, the common way of applying 
manure is in a circular trench round the stem, 
varying in diameter and depth, according to the 
individual idiosyncracy of the operator, some going as 
close to the stem as three feet and going two feet 
deep, others take a wider circle and less depth, but 
howewr modified the system, it severs from the 
tree the whole army of roots, with their myriads 
of sucking mouths, just as deep as the trench 
is" earned, The wise wight of the Siyane Korale 
owns to a depth of eight inches, yet with strange 
inconsistency falls foul of me, for periodically 
breaking up and aerating the whole surface to 
the depth of only six or seven inches, because, 
forsooth, I must cut roots in the operation. Saul 
slays thousands, but David slays tens of thousands. 
The writing of this guide and friend o f the coconu t 
* AristideB was sentenced not to penance but to death. 
Bo, 
planter bristle with errors in fact which are less 
excusable than errors of theory, as impeaching the 
accuracy of his eyes. As I am for this time 
at the end of my tether, I can only promise 
him some facts of my own, and some theories 
on first-rate bcientifie authority, on another occasion, 
that will rather astonish him. W. B. L. 
COUNTEIES IN WHICH TO PUSH CEYLON 
TEA: WHY NOT CHINA? 
November 12th, 1887. 
Deab Sib, — There has lately been some little dis- 
cussion in your paper as to the best methods and 
places of pushing " Ceylon Tea," in the doing of 
which I think we all agree that a long, strong push 
and a push altogether is the best we.y possible. 
I have tried, as no doubt many of us have done, 
to create an interest in the fragrant leaf as pre- 
pared in Ceylon, and 1 have found it much appre- 
ciated in Malta, Crete, and the Midland Counties. 
I am glad to see our tea is to be represented at 
Glasgow and Melbourne, as it is sure to do a great 
good, if only people inquire for Ceylon tea there 
as I saw them doing at the Colinderies. It was 
there 1 was somewhat surprized to see a gentle- 
man, evidently by his pigtail and general appear- 
ance, an inhabitant of the Celestial Empire, 
thoroughly enjoying a oup of Ceylon tea in the 
Ceylon Tea House. Now, if he enjoyed it, why 
should not his millions of compatriots have a 
chance of so doing by our supplying it to them 
(as I see by a recent paper " they will not drink 
the poor class of tea they export")? I feel sure 
that if after conquering Glasgow and Melbourne 
the P. A. had a few rupees to spare from the tea fund 
they would be well spent in introducing our lower 
grades of tea into Chinese teapots, or in Singa- 
pore where there is a large tea-drinking popu- 
lation.— Yours faithfully, HENEY H. KIRBY. 
MR. J. L. SHAND ON THE PUSHING OF 
CEYLON TEA, AND WHAT HE HAS DONE 
AT SERIOUS PERSONAL LOSS. 
Nuwara Eliya, 12th Nov. 1887. 
Deae Sir, — Mr. Shand sends me enclosed saying as 
much or as little as I like may be published. Please 
publish those parts you think should be known 
to the public— Yours, &c, H. K. RUTHERFORD. 
My dear Rutherford, — I read your t-umpet call in 
the train yesterday on my way, and I hope it may 
arouse the apathetic, and that your practical sugges- 
tion of a " voluntary tax " may be carried out. 
You are withiu the mark (and any broker or dealer 
of repute would tell you so) in saying that South 
Keusington and Liverpool Exhibitions have put 
a penny per pound on to Oeylon teas, but you 
are wrong in thinking when Glasgow Exhibition 
is over, the United Kingdom will have been con- 
quered. There is to be an exhib tiou in Bir- 
mingham IK xt year, and there, or wherever men 
do congregate, no opportunity should be lost of pushing 
our enterprise. Let the Ce\ Ion grower know that if we in 
any way relax in our efforts to maintain that superior 
publicity which we have ■■ cquircd, we must be con- 
tented to take a back seat and prices will at once fall 
to Indian levels. I was beginning to get somewhat 
lukewarm about Glasgow uutil last mail came. My ex- 
perience hert (fbcughl consider I have fully achieved 
the object I came for) has b en personally a bitter one. 
Admitting that we must advertize if we want to retaiu 
our position, an 1 that the recan be no such advertizing me- 
dium as an exhibition if it is properly doue, and admitting 
further what all Ceylon meu who have been here I think 
do admit that it has been well done by me here, I think 
I have met wi h but scant support. I have already ex- 
plained to you the circumstances under which 1 felt 
obliged to suddenly take up the Liverpool Exhibition. I, 
of C( urse, never expected to come out a loser, for justice 
