November i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
cultivation in the time of tho early planters. 
Mr. Andrew Nicol — " the poor but industrious 
planter" and pioneor of Rangala— has just been 
telling us of the time when he had to send coolies 
into Kandy regularly for their rice supplies. He 
lost thereby three days of each man, taken up 
on the journey to town and carrying back for the 
long distance his burden of rice. The won- 
der is, under such circumstances, how coolies 
remained in the country at all. Nor was this all : 
they were liable to be pillaged by regular gangs 
ol village robbers on some of the routes. In one 
case, a squatting village of Moormen had to be 
smoked out (without troubling the Government 
or the law courts !) before the Kangala and 
Knuckles coolies could pass unmolested : the said 
villagers for a long time levying a regular toll 
on every bag of rice passing by ! 
In Lovver Dumbara— or Dumbara proper, we had 
the pleasure during a brief visit to Pallakelly of 
being taken over Mr. Vollar's tobacco clearings, 
and no less than five large new fermenting, drying 
and curing sheds. The latter are very extensive, 
and plainly show that the preparation of the 
tobacco leaf in a state likely to attract purchasers 
at good or fancy prices, is no child's play. The 
lielus with the fresh-looking tobacco plants with their 
large cabbage like leaves looked very promising, 
and it was satisfactory to learn from Mr. Vollar 
that so far from his old tobacco fields being 
abandoned, or becoming waste land, the nourishing 
young cacao shaded by luxuriant Cearii rubber trees 
we admired so much.werc growing on the ex-tobac:o 
lields of two or three years ago. To Mr. Voliar 
belongs tho credit of bringing out Messrs. Schappe 
and Meyer to invest in tobacco in Ceylon, for it 
was his consignment of leaf from Dumbera that first 
attracted their attention hither. Mr. Vollar's first 
consignment sold at from 5d to 3s lOd a lb., the 
gross return bein^ e^ual to some R100 per acre. The 
Syndicate began by purchasing Mr. Vollar's crop 
in store at a very fair price. Since then, they 
have planted on their own account and se- 
cured Mr. Ingletou's services; but unfortunately 
through the prolonged drought, their Kurunegala 
venture this season, is not likely to bo a 
success. In Dumbara there can never be any 
great extension of tobacco cultivation as 
there is no reserve of land available save what 
has been already cultivated as chena with " kurak- 
kan " (dry grain) Ac. The Syndicate would gladly 
take up 10,000 acres of land for their purpose if 
only it were available. As it is their biggest 
purchase is likely to be 700 acres in the Mutate valley 
north of ltattota. 
It will bu interesting to see how our ex- 
ports of tobacco increase during the next few 
years through European operations. Wo can 
generally distinguish such exports, because the 
large quantity of native grown unmanufactured 
tobacco sent out of the island, always goes to 
India. In 1885, two packages went to Franco; 
and in 18811, 10 owt. to Australia ; while in 1887, 
there is a return as follows :— " Unmanufactured To- 
bacco to tho United Kingdom, produce of Ceylon, 
273 cwt., 3 quarters l;t lb." valued locally at K7,t)00. 
Of Mr. Vollar's consignments we learned in the 
early part ol this year : — 
< >vrr l.'i.OUO lb have gone home i:i 1887 : 
GO bales 16th March 1 cwt. each 
77 a -Ith July do. do. 
Tho case i s different with " cigars," of which the 
United Kingdom got a small package in 1885 and 
2J8 lb. in 1888, while Australia got 110 lb. in 1SH.1. 
In I 187, there wero no Ceylon oigors sont to the 
United Kingdom, only 1 packngo to Belgium, 1 to 
British India of 80 lb., and 87 lb, to Australia. 
For the expired portion of the present year, we are 
indebted to the Customs for the following return 
of our tobaoco exports ; — 
Countries to 
Articles. which ex- 
J j-j^J Total, 
ported. -Ss^g 
° s ja .5° & 
5 
3 
— 177 — 330 — 507 
_ _ 1 _ i _ 
Pkgs. lb. Pkgs. lb. Pkgs. lb, 
Tobacco, 
cigars . .United 
Kingdom 
Australia 
— Unmanu- 
factured United 
Kingdom . . — 8 — — — 8 
It is interesting to know that the present is the 
Jubilee year of tobacco cultivation in Deli. We 
read in a Straits paper : — 
" In May hist it was exactly 25 years since Mr. J. 
Neiuhuis, then manager of a tobacco estate in Java, 
started to Deli at the prompting of a syndicate at 
Rotterdam. There he laid the touudation of a colony 
which showed uumistakeably what Dutch enterprise 
can do. The early years of tobacco growing in Deli 
certainly had the advantage of being exempted from 
the adversity and mischance, which, in spite of every 
precautiou and care, too often prove fatal to planting 
operations in the neighbouring colonies. It must be 
admitted that fortune at the outset had singularly 
favoured Deli. Iwleed planters there have had ever 
since an almost unbroken run of good luek. Much of 
the success and prosperity is undeniably due to the 
enteprising sphk ol the early pioneers, who managed 
to overcome difficulties by determination ana accommo- 
dation to circumstances." 
No doubt, the great secret of success in Deli has 
been the productioa of tobacco ieaf of an exquisitely 
fine quality. Of all crops, tobacco is the most ex- 
haustive, and as the Deli planters do not manure — 
as the natives in Coylon constantly do in thoir 
tobacco gardens — Sumatra may soon, like Java, be 
doited with localities growing nothing but along- 
alany, the Huh grass of Ceylon. 
As a sign of the times, it was interesting to note 
in passing between Kandy and the Dumbara Valley, 
the establishment of a trait and vegetable market 
at a point on the roadside some distance outside of 
Kandy, where the villagers sold their produce 
wholesale to dealers who came out from the town 
to meet them there. 
Tea and New Pboducts.— The substitution of tea 
gardons for coffee plantations has continued at an 
increased rate throughout tho year. Bazaars again 
lino tho roads in every direction, and employment is 
being given to large numbers of contractors and artisans 
from the low-country. The yield of tea has been most 
oncouraging. Cacao in Matale and Dumbara, carda- 
moms iu Kangala and Medainaliauuwara, aud oven 
old coffco m Bogawautalawa and Upper Dikoya, at 
tho high prices which ruled during tho year, restored 
somowuut of tho old brightness of planting life in tho 
Province, An interesting attempt was started iu the 
close of tho year by a Qermau planter from Sumatra — 
Mr. Meyer — ;o iutroduco tobacco cultivation ou a largo 
scale. At my suggestion, he visited in succession Dum- 
bara, where he succeeded, I believe, iu inducing a planter 
of great local experience (Mr. Iugletou) to join him iu his 
speculation, aud then Matalu, whore he hopes to Mud a 
suitable block of land, aud then the Seven Korales. 
Tobacco has been for years grown successfully un Uaja- 
wela in Dumbara, and I doubt uot Mr. InglcUm was 
nblo to show him line sp ciniens of Ceylou-gro« n 
tobacco. Ho bus not yet found any largo block iu 
Mntnlo sufficient for his purpose*, though Mr. liur- 
rows is doing all ho can to further his withes. — Mr, 
Shiirix'i Administration li<i>oit. 
