220 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1888. 
variety of topics, perfection could possibly be 
attained. Our columns bear witness to the objec- 
tions raised about certain cinchona statistics. In 
addition, a number of corrections have reached us 
on different portions of the Directory : most of 
which will be embodied in Errata for the rest of 
our edition. The error we most regret is giving 
"Deltotta" in place of "Hewahetta" as the post 
station for Rookwood, Hope, Katukelle, Amuna- 
mulla, Columbia and Eastland estates. This 
should he noted both in the Estates and General 
directory by readers. 
On page 293 of our Handbook, it is stated that 
the N.-G. Lloyd's Steam Co. have a subsidy of 
£10,000 per mile, which is a mistake, as the total 
paid is only £220,000, and this is coupled with 
onerous conditions as to reductions in passage 
rates to civil servants and military. Of course 
the German Government pays nothing for the 
carrying of mails. 
At page 530 the market price of Lanka Com- 
pany's shares is given by mistake at 10s, whereas 
they have never been below £5. The capital of 
Mariawatte, Dunedin Co. is given by mistake at 
R75,000 in place of £75,000. 
♦ 
MAZAWATTEE TEAS AGAIN. s 
[I herewith enclose you a circular that was sent 
out to me from my sister, to whom it had been 
sent. It speaks for itself as to what is doing in 
provincial towns in Scotland as well as England 
with the name of Ceylon. — Cor.] 
High Street, N. B., July 1888. 
Madam, — I have made arrangements for the sale of 
the celebrated Maziwatfee Ceylon teas, which are now 
generally acknowledged to be the finest in the world. 
Connoisseurs and those who really appreciate fine 
teas, can scarcely realize the revolution caused by the 
successful cultivation of tea in Ceylon. 
To find a parallel in quality for the finest blends of 
Ceylon teas, one would have to recall the delicious 
China teas of thirty years ago. 
The prices are 3s, 2s 6d and 2s per lb., and they are 
now packed in any size of packages. I shall be pleased 
to send sample § lb packets on receipt of stamps or 
order. — I am, Madam, yours obediently, 
« 
COCONUT PLANTING IN THE WESTERN 
PROVINCE. 
FIBRE-REFUSE — MULCHING— SALT — HEAVY BEARING CO- 
CONUT PALMS— WEATHER. 
SlYANE Korale, Aug. 1888. 
The extract you recently gave from the Planters' 
Monthly, I believe it was, on the value of fibre- 
refuse as a top-dressing affords evidence from 
an independent and unbiassed source, of the sound- 
ness of the position I always held against Messrs. 
Symons and Sbaud. I wonder whether it is instinct 
or intelligence, surely the latter, which leads the 
natives in the Cinnamon Gardens to largely use fibre- 
refuse to improve the texture and mechanical condi- 
tion of their hungry soils. If the mill-owners in 
Colombo who find this stuff a nuisance were to press 
it into conveniently sized bales, I am sure it will 
be largely used in coconut cultivation. 
Mulching with rnaana grass was practised to some 
extent on estates adjoining patanas in the hey-day 
of the coffee enterprise. In damp situations it was 
supposed to warm the soil, and in low-lying districts 
to afford the soil the needful shade, was>h was en- 
tirely stopped by it, and weeding became unneces- 
sary where it was practised. Finally when decayed 
if it was worked into the soil with lime, it proved 
a very acceptable top-dressing. The objection that 
mulching draws the roots to the surface is unfounded 
for what is drawn to the surface are the root-hairs 
or feeding rootlets, and these are produced as occa- 
sion requires. Ciunamon planters unconsciously prae- 
sise mulching round their peeling sheds with the 
scrapings, which are the epidermis or outer corky 
covering of the bark. This is possibly as poor a 
substance* (as one can come across manurially), yet the 
bushes that are so treated seem to grow perceptibly 
and produce fine, succulent, well-grown sticks that 
yeld fine bark. Why is this, but in gratitude 
for the protection their roots receive from a substance 
which is as retentive of moisture and as impervious 
to the rays of the sun as fibre dust itself. 
In the Tropical Agriculturist for June, an Indian 
planter grows enthusiastic over the virtues of salt 
agriculturally. Chlorine plays a very unimportant part 
in the economy of nature and is placed last in the 
order of importance of the mineral constituents 1 of 
plants. Yet, as common salt, it is said to occur 
pretty freely in vegetation in the earlier periods of 
its growth. Salt though not of much value as a direct 
food of plants is valuable as a "digester" of food, for 
it has the property of rendering available the 
valuable plant food contained in the soil. Whenever 
its use has increased the crop of cereals, the in- 
crease is attributed more to the property it has of 
stiffening straws and enabling them to bear the 
weight of their ears and not allowing them to lie 
prone and be destroyed, rather than to having acted 
directly as a manure.f Its chief value, however, lies 
in its affinity for moisture. I have so far spoken of 
the value of salt generally, but in coconut cultivation 
salt has an especial value, for it is found in the mi- 
neral constituents of the tree from the fronds down to 
the roots. The salt-saturated soil of the sea-shore is 
the first and natural home of the coconut tree, at least 
as far as this island is concerned. An excess of salt 
seems to act beneficially rather than otherwise from 
its earliest stages of growth. If plants before being 
put out are steeped in salt water, they withstand the 
ravages of white-ants and receive a favourable start as 
well. If a handful of salt be sprinkled in the holes 
at planting, not only are the ravages of white-ants 
averted, but the plants are enabled to pull through a 
dry season as well. 
This affinity for moisture ought to render salt invalu- 
able in coconut cultivation, especially in localities se- 
verely affected by drought. No better and simpler il- 
lustration of the affinity of salt for moisture can be ob- 
tained than by exposing in the opon a sack used for 
salt. The sun will bleach it and render it perfectly 
dry, while in the morning it will be found reeking with 
the moisture it has attracted from the atmosphere. 
Will not some of the intelligent and spirited planters 
and proprietors in the Mahaoya Valley, also known as 
the Hippy Valley, experiment with sal ton an acre or two 
of their lands most affected by drought, and give it a 
crucial test, now that its properties have been promi- 
nently brought under notice. It can be applied broad- 
cast, after the soil has been turned with plough or ma- 
motie, with the last rains of the N.-B. monsoon. No 
fear need be entertained that the salt will be washed 
out of the soil, for clays have the valuable property of 
retaining the too soluble salts. To give the experi- 
ment a fair test, I suppose it will be necessary to ap- 
ply salt liberally, say half a ton the acre. At 75 lb. to 
the bushel this will be about 15 bushels to the acre. It 
is not too much to expect Government to aid in the 
experiment by supplying the salt at the price it is 
supplied for export viz. R2'25 per ton. The cost per 
acre will then not much exceed R10, say RI5 
inclusive of everything, and that sum is not beyond 
the means of the happy proprietors of this fruitful 
valley. Government ought to encourage the free use 
of salt by supplying it for agricultural purposes at 
* We have watched the heaps of scrapings at Mr. 
De Soysa's store pass into mould which could not be 
distinguished from good soil. — Ed. 
t This is curious, if reliable. We have always 
understood the stiffness of straw, to depend on the 
amount of soluble siliciouB matter in the soil. Prob- 
ably the action of salt renders- quartz soluble. — 
Ed. 
