312 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November t, 1888. 
Sir, — My attention has been drawn to a statement 
made by one of your correspondents on " The Tea We 
Drink " as to the sale of tea, purporting to be from 
Ceylon, in packets bearing the nances of estates which 
do not exist. 
As agent in London for the Planters' Association 
of Oeylon, I recently received instructions from my 
principals to purchase such packets as seemed to bear 
a false description, and, if advisable, to institute pro- 
ceedings against the under vendors the Merchandise 
Marks Act. 
In the course of my inquiries, I have met with many 
packets of so-called Ceylon tea, on which the name of 
the estate or garden was given. In only one case was 
the name that of an existing Oeylon estate, and in that 
case, though the cover was labelled "Pure Oeylon Tea," 
it was admitted at once that, only twenty-five per cent, 
of the tea was really from Ceylon. In one other case, 
however where the name of the estate was fictitious, 
the tea was all from Oeylon. 
As a rule, no doubt, the teaa exposed for sale in 
packets in this country as " Pure Ceylon" are mixed 
tea. :. :■' \ 
I am glad to have this opportunity of stating, through 
your columns, that the sole object of the Planters' 
Association of Ceylon in this matter is, if possible, to 
secure the observance of the law, and not in any 
way to interfere with any reasonable action on the 
part of dealers, grocers, and other distributors to meet 
the public taste. For it is fully recognised that it is 
on the regular trade channels that planters must, iu 
the main, rely for the disposal of their produce. 
Tea drinkers might do their share in helping us to 
attain the object in view, by taking some little trouble 
to ascertain that the tea they buy is really what it 
pretends to be. — I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
W11. Martin Leake. 
City Chambers, 65, Fenchurch-street, London, 
Sept. 18th 
IMPEOVED AND PROFITABLE PADDY 
CULTIVATION. 
Office of the Director of P. L, 
Colombo, 8th Oct. 1888. 
Sib, — I have the honour to forward for your 
information an account of cultivation of paddy 
with the improved plough and by "planting out," 
received from the President of the Village Tribunal 
of the Gangaboda Pattu in the Matara district. 
The particulars of cost and profit given are 
interesting, and it is to be observed that the 
President's experiment was one conducted inde- 
pendently of this department. — I remain, sir, your 
obedient servant, H. W. GREEN, 
Director. 
Tihegoda, 28th August 1888. 
H. W. Green, Esq., Director of Public Instruction. 
Sir, — I beg to submit the following details in con- 
nection with the experimental cultivation I conducted 
during the last yala season. 
The Uduwa tract is a very large expanse of paddy 
land usually cultivated during both the maha and the 
yala seasons of the year. An artificial channel affords 
all the necessary facilities for irrigating it. Some 
parts of the tract are very rich, but it is not so all 
throughout. The plot I selected for planting paddy 
is about one acre in extent, or, as the villagers would 
say, little more than one-third of an amunam or 18 
kuriuoB in sowing extent. Its soil is admitted to be 
worse than the average in the tract. 
Thifl was ploughed with the new plough at the 
beginning of February and water was let in at once. 
It was ploughed again at the middle of March with 
the native plough. At iho beginning of April a few 
buffaloes w<ro drawn over it for a couple of hours. 
Five or six days after tho dams were repaired, the 
ground was levelled, and a sprinkling of manure cow- 
dung w&b made. Paddy plunts wero then rooted out 
from the nursery and left on the land for two days 
and the planting itself was done immediately after, 
a plant six inches apart. 
I think I 6hould state that the plants bad two dis- 
advantages at the outset, no water was let in the field 
when the planting was going on, and my coolies 
planted tho shoots too deep ; both were the results of 
want of experience iu the new system. These and 
the filling up of the beds with water no sooner the 
first ploughing was done, had their effect on the plants. 
The putting forth of the shoots was not quite regular 
which I attribute to the deep planting, but the growth 
which was luxuriant and the number of shoots put forth 
were ultimately such, that they exceeded the 
best anticipations of the most experienced cul- 
tivator. The average bush consisted of fifteen shoots, 
and the plants all round were vigorous. I exhibited 
two of the bushes at the Agricultural Show with the 
approval of the Assistant Government Agent. 
Weeding and cropping of the tops of the leaves are 
two of the necessary operations which this system 
of growing paddy requires, but I was unfortunately 
not able to see them attended to. 
Reaping and threshing out the grains were of course 
done in the ordinary way. 
The following is an account of the expenses incurred 
and the yield obtained : — 
PLOUGHING WITH THE NEW PLOUGH. 
Hire for one pair buffaloes for J a day ... 
do do extra do 
Hire for one driver 
do additional boy 
PLOUGHING WITH THE NATIVE PLOU 
Hire for 2 pair neat cattle ... 
Hire for two driver ... .„ 
Hire for mudding by buffaloes 
Repairing the dams 
Levelling the beds 2 men 
Manure cow-dung, a sprinkling 
Cost of fence (portion allotted for the ext.) 
Rooting out and transplanting 12 women 
and 2 men 
Reapingand stacking 6 men 
Threshing and winnowing 12 men 
Nursery. 
Filling the nursery.. 
Fencing two kurnies extent 
Value of seed paddy, two kurnies . . 
Second tilling, sowing, &c. 
Yield. 
48 bushels and 3 seers. — Value at Rl'25 
per bushel 
Straw 
Sale of fence sticks.. .. .. 
R60 65 
The adjoining portion of this land 26 kurnies in 
sowing extent cultivated iu the ordinary way cost, 
when the labour is computed, R1P71 and yielded 27 
bushels in corn and 70 cents worth of straw and 
fence sticks. 
Considering the nature of the land selected the re- 
sult obtained is very satisfactory; with the gaining 
of experience in the system, and the cultivation of 
larger extents the cost might be very much reduced. 
There are fields in this district which give this 
yield and in some more in the ordinary native way 
of cultivation, using of course a larger quantity of 
seed paddy, and if they can all be made to produce 
increased crops in proportion to their richness of soil 
by the new system, they yield and the saving in seed 
paddy will be enormous. 
The superiority in weight and in fulness are two 
of the peculiarities which the paddy raised by the 
planting out system possesses over that obtained in 
the ordinary way. The former quality, I believe, is 
considered peculiar to grains containing more nutri- 
tious matter, and is a result of superior cultivation. 
— I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) J. P. Goonktilleke, President. 
R 
c. 
on 
40 
00 
40 
00 
37* 
00 
12 
H. 
00 
50 
00 
75 
00 
50 
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37J 
00 
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37£ 
00 
30 
2 
00 
1 
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3 
00 
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82 
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R12 
59 
