THF. TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1888. 
trace of either would suit a light tramway or a railway 
on ihe Lartigue system should that system be 
finally approved of by competent engineering 
authorities as a mountain climber. The want of 
good timber for building purposes is even now 
beginning to be felt ; and erelong, unless some such 
outlets as above are made, the want will become 
really urgent. I would suggest the establish- 
ment by Gcvernment of a sawn timber and fuel 
depot at Matale railway station, from which 
planters and others could draw supplies ; such a 
depot would I am sure prove a source of profit to 
the Gove.nment. 
To return to the fuel question, as far as coolies 
are concerned, the fuel must be in the form of wood, 
peat or coal : the latter would have to be accom- 
panied by a revolution in the buildings on most 
estates. Coolies need and will insist on something 
more than a small fire to cook by ; the idea of tea 
prunings proving a sufficient supply is surely the 
Kuit of some very unobservant nature. 
What the coolie requires more especially in such 
eold districts as Dimbula and Dikoya is a good 
healthy blaze to crouch over, and dry his cloth 
and cumbly after a day's work in the driving rain 
and mist, and if he is denied this supply of heat, 
which is a necessity to his well-being, he will seek 
the sylvan slopes of the older districts. From 
Matale and Tamankaduwa the supplies of timber 
and fuel must be principally drawn : the supply 
of either is practically unlimited, and given good 
outlets, either in the form of cart-roads or tramways, 
whichever prove cheapest in formation and upkeep, 
we could doubtless provide the necessities of the 
upoountry districts at reasonable rates. 
The case against Government in the matter of 
grants-in-aid is a good one ; and we should allow 
them no peace until we obtain satisfaction. In 
Matale East and Laggala the Government have sold 
to planters alone lands to the value of some 
R350,000 ; their return for which is so far something 
less than 5 per cent in grants-in-aid. The only 
grants being the bridge over the Rattotaoya and the 
Laggala road. Were only half of the sum obtained by 
the sale of Crown lands returned to the district in 
the shape of the much needed outlets referred to, 
either as tramway or read, the solution of the fuel 
question would be not far off. Finally on the subject 
of the Lartigue or any other system of light railway 
likely to prove suited to our wants, surely the pro- 
posal to lay the railway over existing cart-roads is a 
great mistake : the one great advantage of the Lartigue 
system seems to me to lie in its capability of 
penetrating country difficult of access by the ordi- 
nary broad cart way. If Matale district is to be 
served, there will be no railway to Oabragala at all ; 
you may give the Matale planter credit for knowing 
what are his wants. The vote will go square for 
a Rattota and Laggala route. 
There was surely something of the facetious in 
the proposal of your contemporary to connect 
Madulkele (already only 10 miles from Wattegama 
by a railway of 25 miles to Matale 1 Equally amusing 
is the tirade against the unfortunates of Jaffna, 
because they expect a railway; but what seems to 
him quite unpardonable, a broad gauge. In his 
attempts to throw discredit on the really flourishing 
settlement of Jaffna (Jaffna of the few roadside 
caddies), the Ed. " C. T." seems to forget that the 
caddies of the great Empire lie just over the way. 
E. G. R. 
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GARNETS. 
Gawler Place, Adelaide, South Australia, 
21st May 1888. 
Dear Sib, — 1 send you an Adelaide paper, in 
which you will see a small paragraph referring 
to some South Australian garnets I sent over to 
Colombo to get cut, and which, if inserted in 
your paper, may be of interest to some of your 
readers. In spite of all that has been said to 
discourage the enterprise of gem-miniDg in South 
Australia, several of the Companies are still 
going on in the hope of finding real rubies. 
—I am, yours faithfully, A. M. DRUMMOND. 
South Austbalian Garnets. — Messrs. Druminond 
Brothers, of Adelaide, recently sent to Ceylon to be 
cut a parcel of stones obtained from the Tug River 
Gem Mining Syndicate's claim in the MacDonnell 
Ranges. They have just received from Messrs. 
Armitage & Co., of Ceylon, the firm to whom the 
stones were sent, a letter in reference to the matter 
and two small parcels, one being the Australian stoues 
as cut ana the other samples of Ceylon garnets in 
the rough. Messrs. Armitage write: — "The moment 
we saw the stones you sent we recognized them as 
garnets. No mineralogist or lapidary could mistake 
them for rubies. Their hardness is a sufficient test 
to show that they do not belong to the corundum. 
We send herewith six Ceylon stones (uncut garnets), 
which we value at 16 rupees per lb." Sixteen rupees 
are equivalent to about 23s of our circulation ; and 
judging by appearances the South Australian garnets 
are certainly superior to these samples of Ceylon 
garnets which have been sent out, being clearer and 
more free from flaws. It seems, therefore, that even 
as garnets, the local stones have some commercial 
value. The stones referred to are on view at Drum- 
mond Brothers. 
SEA SAND FOR USE IN CONCRETE. 
May 22nd, 1888. 
Dear Sir, — With reference to your remarks in 
Saturday's issue re the preparing of the sea sand 
for use in concrete, I am not aware whether Mr. A . 
W. Burnett did say that sea sand did not require 
washing ; but this I do know, that he was more 
particular than any engineer I have ever known in 
the country, with regard to the washing not only 
of the sand but of gravel and stone, his test 
was to rub it on his white handkerchief ; if it left a 
stain it had to be rewashed. No better concrete 
was ever made (of the same proportions) than at 
Maligakanda ; not only that, but the cement was 
tested daily, and I am sure the record is to be seen, 
yet. The reservoir failed, not (in my opinion) from 
bad work, but from faulty design. 
Mr. Kyle's shed for the cement was necessary at 
the Breakwater, but not at Maligakanda, as there 
was an excellent store on the ground, and being a 
mile from the sea, makes all the difference, as I have 
reason to know from experience, — Yours truly, 
CONCRETE MAKER. 
[Mr. A. W. Burnett did say most expressly to one of 
the conductors of the Ceylon Observer that no wash- 
ing was required to divest sea sand of saline 
particles. He pooh-poohed the idea of the 
salt doing any harm as absurd, and staked 
his professional reputation on the good 
quality of the concrete in the flooring. But the 
Committee, of which Col. Clarke was President, 
condemned this very concrete as porous, and so 
admitting water to the imperfect cabook foundations, 
thus leading to the catastrophe. Mr. Burnett's 
confidence in the soundness of the laterite founda- 
tion and the good quality of the concrete was 
fully reflected by us in an article in the Observer. 
The greater, therefore, was our disappointment and 
mortification at the adverse judgment on both 
points of a highly qualified and impartial Committee. 
The decisions of that Committee we feel now com- 
pelled to accept rather than the individual 
opinions of the Waterworks Engineer and our 
present correspondent.— Ed.] 
