August j, i38S. j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 113 
Mr. Fletcher inquired whether it would not bo a 
good thing to get together a largo number of cocoons 
and exhibit them at the next Show, also to ascertain 
where Mr. Reeves reared his cocoons. 
Mr. Reeves : — At Kowdnpellella. 
Mr. J. H. Eaton, by way of affording some informa- 
tion on the subject, said that about 30 years ago a BIr. 
Barton had a largo number of silkworms and a great 
many mulberry plants in his garden in the Southern 
Province, lfo invented or discovered an engine, and a 
good dial of the silk went out of the island and it 
proved a profitable concern. 
Mr. REEVES in reference to what fall from Mr. 
Fletcher said that Mr. Haly had referred him to a 
gentleman (Mr. Braine of Kurunegala) who, for some 
years, had been collecting moths and cocoons, and if 
the Association would write to him he would he glad 
to send some of his collection to be exhibited at the 
forthcoming Show. 
Mr. Bobbon suggested that Dr. Trimen might be 
able to givo some information with regard to the plants 
the moths would live upon etc. 
The Chairman said the Lest would bo to write to Dr. 
Trimen, Mr. Braine, and Mr. Green for information 
about the silkworms and of their food, the different 
species, etc., etc. 
The outcome of the discussion on sericulture was 
that cocoons should be exhibited at the forthcoming 
Show, Mr. Reeves to draw up a pamphlet to be trans- 
lated into Sinhalese and circulated. 
CEYLON UTCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT. 
HOW CEYLON HAS ADVANCED WITH TEA — THE " TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST' ' NEW SERIES— CEYLON TOBACCO SHIP- 
PED BY THE AMSTERDAM SYNDICATE. 
23rd July 1888. 
Perhaps one of the most striking illustrations 
of the advance Ceylon has made in the way of 
tea cultivation is to be found in the pages of the 
last edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica : under 
the article "Ceylon" there is the following: — 
" Tea.— The cultivation of tea has recently been 
introduced. A small quantity of pure tea is pro- 
duced annually, and finds a ready market in the 
island. It has not yet beoome an article of ex- 
port." In these few words the future king is 
heralded and dismissed. Since the article on 
'Ceylon" was writton the great Encyolopiodia 
has been slowly progressing. Volume after volume 
has been issued, and now thai this noble work 
has reached its "twenty-third volume we come upon 
tho article "Tea." The writer lias it that "at- 
tempts were repeatedly made to introduce tea 
culturo in Ceylon under both Dutch and British 
authority. No permanent success was attained till 
about 187<*> when tho disastrous elTects of coffee 
leaf-diseaso induced planters to givo serious atten- 
tion to tea. Since that poriod the tea industry 
has developed in Ceylon with marvellous rapidity, 
and it has every prospect of taking tho first rank 
among Sinhaleso productions." To emphasise this 
wonderful growth there is a table of the British 
tea trade, and in it the progress Ceylon has made, 
which is a striking contrast to tho paragraph 
"Tea" under tho articlo "Ceylon" published a 
few years before 
'• Pekoe," we are told, "is derived from pak-ho 
(white hairs), the pekoes showing the fine downy tips 
of the young buds : Souchong is from tiaau-chung, 
littlo plant or sort : Congou from kung-fu, labour." 
Tho " Oolongs " which aro tho taste of tho American 
pooplo are named after a particular district, and 
mean " black dragon." 
Tho compiler of tho articlo "Tea," Mr. James 
Paton, may bo a trustworthy enough guide : he is 
oortainly an all-round man, for he writos among other 
things on "Safe," " Shoeiuaking," and "J'obucco " 
as. Willi Still I would rather some other follow 
15 
would try the following, which Mr. Paton offers under 
the directions for manufacturing black tea : — •" Be- 
tween the fermenting and firing operations it is 
desirable," ho says, "to expose the leaves to tho 
direct sunlight for an hour or thereby. This 
cannot always be done, as it is impossible to keep 
the fermented leaves after they have attained 
their proper state : nevertheless the best result is 
always attained in bright weather, when it is 
possible to expose the fermented leaves to the sun"! 
How does it come about that we are offered 
rubbish of this kind ? One would have thought 
that an article like tea, in which so many of tho 
British public are interested, would have had a 
specialist to write on it, instead of being handed 
over to the care of a compiler, who was as ready 
to take up shoemaking and iron safes, as the 
cultivation and manufacture of the tea plant. In 
the " bibliography" at the end of the article, the 
work of Ceylon authors is wholly ignored, which 
may perhaps account in part for such a humbling 
exhibition, as the above extract displays. Certain 
it is, if the compiler had followed them, he would 
have known better about manufacture than he does, 
and his article would have been more of a credit 
to tho great work, to whose pages he has contri- 
buted such questionable stuff. 
While on books, let me congratulate you on the 
improved appearance of the Tropical Agriculturist. 
The new style of index is a great change for the 
better ; easy to refer to, and taken in at a glance. 
As to the contents, they are as varied as ever, 
and "wrinkles" on all kinds of out-of-the-way 
products are common enough. To keep pace with 
the Ceylon planter the original scope of the 
magazine must need constant revision. Now you 
will have to go into leather, as I hear of an 
intention at the Matale side of utilizing old coffee 
cisterns for tanning. Hides about there are 
plentiful, and Ceylon leather can well stand being 
improved, both as regards smell and texture. Why 
the native leather should be so very inferior and 
so odoriferous there is really no good reason as far 
as I know. If India can produce good dressed 
hides, Ceylon need not, nor will be, a day behind 
it, if tho venture be energetically tackled, and by 
the proper men. 
The first shipment of tobacco from Ceylon grown 
by tho Syndicate of Amsterdam brokers has already 
been made, and as it is cured by an expert it 
will be interesting to observe what price it will 
fetch. The former high pricas which Ceylon 
tobacco got and which wakened us all up, were, 
I am told, the result of " a fluke." They did not 
represent the true value of the article, and it 
came about in this way : — The Dutch brokers 
had heard of the experiment of growing tobacco 
in Ceylon on a big scale, and being jealous and 
wanting to see what kind of leaf could bo pro- 
duced, they sent orders to London to buy tho 
Gylon article. When the tobacco was exposed 
for sale, the keenness of the foreign buyers excited 
tho homo trade, and as the former had positive 
orders to buy, the price ran up, and the Ceylon 
grower was landed with a good thing. This is tho 
tale that is told to me. I don't protend to bo 
behind tho scenes ; but with patience we will learn 
by and byo what Ceylon cured tobacco is really 
worth. There is one thing, the Amsterdam brokers 
did not allow the grass to grow under their feet 
after they had seen tho Ceylon leaf before em- 
barking in the venture themselves But we aro 
always told it was n't because the tobacco was 
properly cured, oh no ; or that its market value 
was likely to show a protit for tho growor. Far 
from it, indeed how could this be, (or thu know- 
ledge oi how to euro properly does not osist ia 
