THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [June i, 1888. 
What Cinchona is coming to is a subject which 
interests a lot of ua. That certain rise which was 
ahead, and which was calculated on by most growers 
is evidently ahead still, and looks as if it would keep 
there. And yet bark is not altogher despised, for 
it was but the other day I heard of one enter- 
prising Moorman who was nibbling round a box 
etored for the rise which does not come. It thrilled 
the seller when the Moorman on being told that 
the planter was willing to trade asked the price 
of the bark, per hundredweight ! And it has 
come to that at last. To me there seemed at first 
something unholy in the idea of a priceless article 
being disposed of in such a gross way, but that 
is a kind of feeling easily got over. If buying 
by the hundredweight comes more kindly to the 
Moorish mind than by the avoirdupois pound, 
well let us suppress our emotions and suit ourselves 
to our buyer. 
The Cacao blossom, which was so full of promise, 
has passed off in many places without leaving 
much fruit behind. Some districts have noc anything 
to show for it at all, but there is a pretty 
general opinion that the June and July blossom will 
be all the better of the present failure, and that 
the prospects for a bumper autumn crop are very 
good. Certainly the vigour and healthiness of the 
trees are such as to attract the attention of even 
the unobservant. How this wealth of leafage and 
Bturdiness of growth come about at the end of 
the driest season Ceylon has had for many years, 
is somewhat of a hard problem to solve ? It may 
be that much of the cacao in bearing has past 
that critical stage which is said to end with its 
eighth year, and now that it has passed through 
its adolescence, it is going to do something for us 
in a manly way, and be done with infantile com- 
plaints for good. Whether this be the right reason 
or not, it is highly satisfactory to note in the 
meantime that cacao never looked better. 
GOLD IN THE SOUTHEEN PROVINCE. 
(From a Correspondent.) 
We learn that the local authorities are 
somewhat incredulous as regards the recent gold 
fields. Some weeks before the announcement in the 
papers, the Assistant Agent at Matara, was told of the 
finding of gold in small quantities at Dewurangala 
and was shewn a small piece, but it was so small 
that he did not make a fuss over it, though he duly 
recorded the fact in his diary and informed the 
Agent. Mr. Dominico subsequently brought the 
matter to the notice of the Government Agent with a 
view to a sum of money being entrusted to him 
for exploration. (Mr. Dominico had previously 
claimed to have found gold in the Pasdun Korale 
and made a similar application which had not been 
acceded to.) 
Inquiry made on the spot does not confirm the 
reports in the papers, though the local gemmers adhere 
to the story of small finds. If the larger nuggets 
shewn in Colombo were found as stated, the secret 
has been well kept, but there is no local rumour 
of a rush such as there is when there is a good 
find of gems. Orders have been given, we hear, 
1 0 offer Mr. Armitage every facility in his enquiries 
and search, and Mr. Allen of the Survey Department, 
who is a qualified geologist, will probably proceed 
there also. So the truth will soon be known. 
4. 
THE PRICE OF FUEL. 
We gave R12 per ton yesterday as the rate paid 
by Government, for wood fuel delivered at railway 
stations up tho line. This we learned on good 
authority ; but we begin to think that our informant 
meant this as the price of the quantity of wood 
which is equal to a ton of coal ? In Colombo, we 
learn on mercantile authority, that wood fuel is 
delivered at the mills (through the facilities for 
water carriage by the Kelani and canals doubtless) 
at the rate of 20 cents per cwt. or R4 per ton, 
and, as three or four tons of timber are required 
to make an equivalent to one of coal, — the cost 
of the latter in Colombo being R18 (to R20) per ton, 
the comparison would be generally taken as R12 or 
R16 to R18. Wood fuel is, therefore, still consider- 
ably cheaper than coal. This, of course, applies to 
Colombo ; the conditions in the planting distriots 
must vary according to their distance from the 
railway, local reserves of forest and chena, <fcc, 
while the cost of coal or coke is largely enhanced 
by distance of railway carriage. 
HIGH-GROWN CEYLON TEA. 
The following is the opinion of Mr. F. Street 
on a sample of tea grown in the Nuwara Eliya dis- 
trict, sent him by the proprietor : — 
"The sample sent me this morning possesses exceed- 
ingly fine flavour. I know of none better in Cey- 
lon. Had you asked me the district in which it 
was grown, I should have unhesitatingly said 
Haputale : the tea possessing the characteristic fla- 
vour of that district. I think if the tea-maker withers 
less and rolls more, it will give the liquor more body 
and fullness, whioh, in my opinion, is its only defi- 
ciency in the cup. The leaf is too mixed, choppy, and 
brownish, but this can be easily altered. The 
leaf is a little highly-fired, but not burnt, and should 
arrive in London in prime condition. The tea in 
its present unassorted state is worth about Is per 
lb. in Mincing Lane." 
4. 
THE TIMBER AND FUEL SUPPLY 
QUESTION. 
So long as a good artificial fuel is not discovered 
and the cheap lignite from Siam is not available, 
and so long as the chief dependence of the railway 
rests on wood fuel as the cheapest procurable (coal 
being only partially used), so long, no doubt, the 
Officers of the Forest Department will be expected to 
pay special attention to securing full supplies of wood 
within easy reach, say two miles on each side, of 
the railway. Native chenas and even abandoned 
estates so situated j might well be purchased and 
planted up. We have no doubt that Col. Clarke 
and the Forest Officers are devoting close attention 
to this matter. We quite believe in the duty of 
Government conserving and growing forest for the 
servioe of the public, but this does not certainly mean 
what " X. Y. Z." (see page 809) seems to consider 
legitimate, that estate coolies should be at liberty to 
collect "firebrands" from Government forest, 
" virgin " or artificial. We have never been able to see 
any distinction between stealing from private parties 
and from the Government, — the latter holding all 
property in trust for the community. As a gene- 
ral rule we must depend on Government to supply 
the market with such timber as is grown in 
Ceylon. Forest growing would require too muoh 
capital, which would be for too long a period unpro- 
ductive, to render the pursuit profitable to private 
individuals. We speak generally, for we can quite 
imagine a tract of chena or an abandoned estate, 
below 2,000 feet altitude, and not far from a rail- 
way station, yielding a little fortune to a man with 
capital enough to enable him to wait until the 
fifth or sixth year of a closely planted hundred 
or two hundred acre tract of lunumedilla trees. We 
do not know that good patana at a high elevation, 
planted closely with blue gums and wattles, might 
not also turn out a good speculation. The 
