November r, 1888.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
337 
PLANTING : FEOM MATALE EAST THEOUGH 
UPPEE AND LOWEE DUMBAEA, 
KELEBOKKA FEOM THE TOP OF HOOLANKANDE — ME. GOR- 
DON REEVES' FINE TEAS - POENGALLA AND ITS FINE 
JATS OF TEA : MB. REID TO " MEND HIS WAYS " — DAM- 
BOOLAGALLA AND ITS WELL-EQUIPrED TEA FACTORY — 
BELUGAS AND CABEAGALLA — OODELAMANA AND NICHOLA- 
OYA — WEWELMADDE — THE LARTIGUE RAILWAY AND 
ROAD FOE LAGGALA — HOW TO DEVELOPE MORE TEAFFIC 
FOE THE MATALE EAILWAY. 
One of the most impressive if not most beautiful 
pictures of upland cultivation in the island during 
the " clays of old " when coffee was in its prime, 
was that obtained from the top of Hoolankande estate 
overlooking the length and breadth of the Kele- 
bokka valley. As described in the "Handbook for 
1859," "it is a perfect picture of green and un- 
dulaling beauty, the framework being the lofty 
peaks and ridges of the everlasting hills : the blue 
sky and the rolling haze affording alternations of 
light and shade, which nature alone can bestow : 
which the most gifted painters alone can imitate." 
Emerging from the jungle, we fain would stay 
on the spot some time, albeit the shadows of evening 
are closing in, for the old familiar scene is well 
worth looking over. But, alas! how changed since 
1859, or even 1864 when I first saw it. The 
framework of everlasting hills is still there ; but 
the picture is one of patchwork rather than of a 
uniform undulating green. Tea has by no means 
filled up the blank created by the dying out of 
coffee, though when the -young clearings mature, the 
old picture will be more nearly restored. Kele- 
bokka was always regarded as an exceptionally 
good coffee district, especially in its middle and 
lower divisions. The higher fields never did so well. 
Now, in tea, we should expect the reverse to be 
the case, and certainly for fine flavour and 
good prices Hoolankande tea will compare 
favourably with any other in the island. There 
can be no question that Mr. Gordon Beeves un- 
derstands his business asateamaker, for, though his 
exceptionally high average may be partly explained by 
the scanty gathering, so far, of less than 100 lb. made 
tea per acre, yet this cannot explain why others 
in the district not making more than 120 to 150 lb. 
per acre do not get as good prices. At the same time, 
even for the "finest plucking," anything under 
200 lb. would seem too little, though, no doubt, it 
may " pay " with vtry fine prices and low expenditure. 
On the other side of the hill, Brae has shown — in its 
fields yielding up to 700 lb. an acre, and this season 
averaging all over an average of 500 lb., — what can be 
done in the neighbourhood, and we have no doubt 
that year by year, the average yield for Kelebokka will 
increase for a long time to come. The tea plant in 
these old districts takes time to get down to the 
" virgin subsoil" as the favourite saying goes. 
Facing Belugas and Damboolagalla and passing 
over the shoulder of the hill into Cabragalla and 
Poengalla, we are on classic planting ground if 
any such can be spoken of in Ceylon. At every 
step we are reminded of old friends : T.vtler and 
poor Sangster Martin, Catto and A. H. Baillie gone 
to their rest ; while B. J. Mackay, Chippindall 
and Stewart Jolly are still to the fore, we 
are glad to think, to read how their old 
'•totums" are being revived into prosperity 
with tea. Por one of the best and most uni- 
form jats of tea in the country— a pertect 
pictuio of vigorous young plants of a high-caste 
type, — commend mo to Poengalla, the property of 
43 
Capt. Boyle, e. n., whose son is a young officer in 
the Battalion of Gordon Highlanders shortly ex- 
pected in Ceylon. Good careful planting might 
be expected with Mr. George Eeid as Manager, 
and he had the advantage of " Logie" placing 
at his disposal a full supply of the best Seaforth and 
Horagalla seed. The result of putting out only 
strong vigorous plants is seen in a better, becauso 
more uniform, display of jat than I have hitherto 
observed on any clearings of the same age in the 
country. Now that the indispensable, all-impor- 
tant work of planting is finished, I have no 
doubt, Mr. Reid will find a little time 
" to mend his ways," at least in the direc- 
tion we entered from Kelebokka, a descent 
on which road enabled us to do penance 
for past misdoings as much as any poor sinner 
travelling to the shrine of his patron saint, 
and who may have forgotten to boil the 
peas in his boots. No need for peas inside, 
coming down that corner of Matale East 1 But 
what are such trifles when compared with the 
brave sight of promising tea fields on every 
side offering a cure for sore eyes, and despon- 
dency about the fate of old districts, and the 
hospitable welcome awaiting the visitor in the bunga- 
low. This division of Matale East can not only 
boast of some of the best tea we have seen, but 
if half we heard be true, it has on Damboolagalla 
(Mr. Joseph Fraser's plantation) a model Factory with 
tandem waterwheel and all requisite rolling, dry- 
ing, &c. machinery admirably arranged, On the 
opposite side of the valley we glance over the young 
promising tea fields of Oodelamana and Nichola-oya, 
and farther down we pass through a splendid sheet 
of tea on Wewelmadde which in this new product will 
no doubt repay Messrs. Moir and Hadden for the high 
price they gave for the property a few years ago, on the 
faith of being handsomely remunerated by large coffee- 
crops. Now not a coffee bush remains, and very soon, 
a cup of coffee in an estate bungalow on the Matale 
ranges will be a thing unheard of, unless the house- 
keepers take to importing the fragrant berry from 
London, as is already done by more than one up- 
country Ceylon resident 1 
The success of "tea" in the fertile valley of 
Matale and alongside the course of the railway 
nearly all the way to Wattegama is almost entirely 
a question of rainfall, the soil being very suitable. 
I confess to having learned with regret of the extent 
to which in some parts of the Northern districts, 
both cardamoms and cacao had been, and were 
being cut out, to make room for the more popular tea. 
The several routes proposed for the Lartigue 
Eailway across the valley from the town to the 
Eastern ranges were pointed out to me, but as 
already stated, I consider that the necessity for 
beginning at the end of either the Eattota or 
Kandanuwara cart road seemed much greater. 
Two points which ought to rule the projectors 
of any form of transport relief in the Matale 
district are very clear, namely, that any rail line 
or new road should serve to concentrate, and if 
possible bring new traffic to the Matale railway 
fine ; and secondly, that the endeavour should be 
to give early relief to the estates at present not 
served by a cart road. If the first instalment of 
a Laggala road is to pass on above Hoolankande 
and down by Brae, it ought surely to join with 
the end of the Kandanuwara road and so serve 
to place all that neighbourhood in communication 
with the Matale railway station, in place of some 
of the Matale East estates as at present sending 
their produce by the Madulkele road all the way 
to Wattegama. Catching such traffic for Matale 
should recoup Government for any outlay 011 the 
road. It is quite evident to old residents in the 
