January 2,1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
4*5 
To the Editor of the " Ceylon Ohsevvev.'" 
TRANSPORT OF TEA LEAF. 
Deak Sir, — Can you or any of your correspondents 
inform me what is the greatest length of time 
that green tea leaf ran be transported in baskets 
(containing from 50 to (i0 lb.) without the leaf 
deteriorating? ENQUIRER. 
lit depends very much on the weather and dis- 
trict, we believe: in comparatively dry Uva, the 
distance and time would necessarily be less than 
in Ambagainuwa or the Peak districts ; but perhaps 
some of our planting readers will give their exact 
experience.— Ed.] 
FRUIT CULTURE IN CEYLON. 
Dear Sih, — 1 have been reading a recent Kew 
Bulletin on Tropical Fruit Culture and a despatch 
from the Colonial Office calling for reports on the 
subjeot. Could you not make public the reply 
elicited from this colony ? Considering that portions 
of our great Empire are scattered over the face 
of our planet, there is no doubt that Morris's 
initiative in this matter is both practical and far- 
seeing. At any period of the year fruit of all kinds 
should be procurable in o r wealthy European 
oities. Trade is so conservative and so apt to run 
in the same grooves that persistent aotion is re- 
quired to accomplish any improvement. The fruit 
trade could bo developed in Ceylon, but it will always 
be a small auxiliary. 
To begin wMi, we want hotter varieties of oranges 
&o. than we now have for our own consumption, 
and the nursery is not yet made at either Pera- 
deniya, Honaratgoda, or llakgala. 
OLD PLANTER. 
ERYTHROXYLON COCA AND ITS CULTIV- 
ATION IN CEYLON. 
Dear Sir —In- answer to your correspondent, I 
have been growing coca for some years, chieily for 
the seed, and am now extending the cultivation 
in view of leaf harvest which promises to be most 
remunerative. 
Germination commences on the treo, as may be 
ascertained by dissection of the fruit, of which I 
send a lew under nnothor cover. Seeds should 
therefore be sown while quite fresh, on the surface 
of good loam and shaded from tho sun. After 
this no special cultivation is required. The plants 
can be put out like tea, three to four feet apart, in 
good land and sholtcred, which, in common with 
most other products with whioh I am acquainted, 
they prefer to poor soil and exposed ridges. 
Markham, in his cinchona book, chap, xv, tells 
us that tho average yield of leaf in Peru was 
800 lb. per acre, and that the profit from a coca 
farm was 15 per cent. This seems too good to 
be true ; but 1 do not think ho exaggerates the 
yield, and, even at l)d per lb., present prioes of 
leaf in London averaging Is 3d, the profit should 
be considerable. Machinery iB not required, and, 
as far as I can judge at present, tho trees may 
bo allowed to run at their "own sweet will," leaves 
being taken olT as fast as they an ivo at maturity. 
Fruit-bearing couimonees at eighteen months, and. 
when seed is no l< lev T I •■' | u i i ••< I . e.ui of curse be 
checked and tho energies of tho plant directed to 
producing loaf. 
To return to Markham, liu tolls us also that 
Joseph do Jussien, a confrere of La Coiidauiiin', and 
in whose honour tho shrubby variety of C. calisayn 
was named 0. josephiana, spent fifteen years in 
Peru making a large collection of coca plants, of 
which he was robbed by a servant. This had such 
an effect upon tho savant that he returned to France 
bereft of reason. This was in 1771. You may 
give my name to your correspondent, to whom I 
shall be willing to give any other information 
which it is in my power to supply. — Yours <fcc, 
w. c. w. 
JAFFA A YAMS IN THE UNITED STATES. 
Chumiakam, Jaffna, Oet. 17th, 1887. 
Sib, — Five years ago when I studied Hughes' Physical 
Geography iu Jaffna College, I came to understand that 
plants originally confined to one hemisphere could grow 
equidly well in the other under favourable conditions of 
soil and climate. At that time a thought of sending 
our Jaffna yams to other parts of the world entered 
into my head. I waited for an opportunity of doing 
so. When I became acquainted with an American friend 
(living iu Geyrgia) by letter-communication I men- 
tioned these yams to him. He was anxious of having 
them, so last February I sent to him some yams in 
each of the following vaiietiPS : — 
1. Rasavally — Royal yam. 
2. Ratthavally — Blood yam. 
3. Karauy — Medical yam. 
4. Mullan — Kice yam. 
5. Vally kelaugoo — Garden yam. 
6. Oolakky vally — Pounder yam. 
7. Battaly — Sweet yam. 
My friend says that tho yam' grow well there. 
I enclose herewith that part of his letter which gives 
an account of the jams, and the post-card which he 
sent some time after writing the letter. I have no 
douM that you will like to read them since you give 
much attention to this departmentalso. 
I was induced to writo this thinking that it will do 
some good to She public. — I beg to remain, sir, your 
obedient servant, ISAAC PAUL. 
(Letter from America referred to). 
The yams have reached me at last They came this 
morning, and I write at once to let you know of their 
arrival, and to tell you what great curiosities they are 
to us all. Some of them are immense, audit is hard 
to realize that a plant, related to our potato, can grow 
to such a size. The yams have all pproutcd, and a sprout 
from one of the largest grew, through one ot the holes 
in the box, to a height of about five feet or more. All 
the clerks at the freight depot here were auxious to 
know what kind of a plant that box coutaiued hud you 
can imagine how astonished they wero when I told them 
it was n box of yams. I have shown them to a number 
of friends today and they were all glad and astonishd 
to see them. Some of the yams, lam afraid, will not 
grow, as they have been packed so long, hut ttic greater 
part of them seem to be in a tolerably good condition, 
and I tliiuk they will grow nicely. I will plaut some 
at my home, and 1 hive promised to 6end some to 
friends of initio. I do hope we will succeed in raising 
then:. One friend, to wnoui I have promised some of 
the yams, has a very tine garden and is quite a successful 
fruit grower. He lives in South- Western (Jeorgia, about 
miles from here. I was at his homo some days ago, 
told him about these yams, and promised to send him 
some us soon as they arrived. 1 think the soil there 
is well adapted to them, and am sure he will do the best 
he cau towards cultivating them. 
Chunuakam, Jaffna, Oct. Ifth, lt>,s7. 
After nuiiliug tho letter, 1 roceived auothor post- 
card from iny Amorican frioud. Mo says the yams 
grow fiuoly. The troo yam is n great curiosity. Tkt 
ti'i inini is tho Knvany vain which 1 call iu tho letter 
as tho ' medical yam. Sometimes this grows to the 
size of a pumpkin. 
I did not writo you iu tho letter tho way of Culti- 
vating mid taking can- of these yam.-, thinking that 
you nro acquainted with it. 
Aus. Oct. 7th. 
