340 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1888. 
NEW AREAS OF CULTIVATION. 
The Matale District was among the very first to feel the 
ruinous effects of leaf -disease and the other natural causes 
that wrought the destruction of coffee, until its very 
name became a synonym for decay and desertion; but it 
has also been among the first to take advantage of 
the introduction ot new products; and its prospects from 
a planting point of view are now as bright as three 
years ago they were hopelessly gloomy. Abandoned 
coffee land is being put into tea on every side ; and 
the prices fetched by Matale teas in the London 
market are a sufficient proof of the success of the 
experiment, as also is the large increase of goods traffic 
ou the Matale line. It is almost impossible at present to 
form any accurate estimate of the acreage thus treated : 
it will be easier to obtain reliable figures at the end 
of 1888, Matale possesses advantages which very few 
other Districts can rival in the shape of splendid 
soil, a good supply of water-power for machinery pur- 
poses, and easy access to firewood, which give every 
reason to hope that this revival of prosperity is not 
merely temporary, but will be steadily progressive. 
Perhaps, however, the best reason of all lies in the 
proved energy and determined enterprise of the 
Matale planters. A great deal of new land has been, and 
is being, opened up for tea planting in the neighbour- 
hood of Matale, notably at Ukuwala, Bandarapola, 
Balakaduwa, aud Blkaduwa. There is not the 
slightest doubt that this area of new cultivation 
would be greatly and rapidly increased, but for the 
extreme difficulty (alluded to under III. 2) of ascer- 
taining what land is available and what is not. 
There is hardly a planter in the District from whom 
complaints have not been received on the subject. 
It is not that there is the slightest desire to in- 
terfere with native rights : it is the utterly unsettled 
condition of these rights and claims at this critical 
time which affects detrimentally the interest of 
claimants and would-be purchasers. Surveys have 
been received in this kachcheri during 1887 of 
land applied for in 1879. The mere mention of this 
fact will show that there is tome ground for the 
complaints of intending investors. The consequence is 
that there is a strong temptation to buy on doubtful 
titles without reference to the Kacljcheri at all, which 
ofton has disastrous results for all parties concerned. 
The area under cacao is steadiiy increasing, but more 
slowly than that under tea, as it is much harder to 
find suitable land. Every effort is being made to in- 
duce the native owners of small gardens in Matale 
south to plant cacao under the shade of their coco- 
nut trees and plantain trees, where it would flourish 
excellently; and some satisfactory progress has been 
made in this direction. But it will be two or three 
years yet before the natives generally see the advan- 
tage of taking to this product in place of their hope- 
less coffee. A great many of these gardens and a 
great deal of the cliena land in Matale would also 
grow cotton and tobacco plentifully; audit is there- 
fnre to bo hoped, in the interest ot the District, that 
the Ceylon Spinning and Weaving Company, and the 
enterprise of Messrs. Meyer and Schappi — Sumatra 
tobacco planters, who are anxious to acquire a large 
grant of land here — will meet with the success tliey 
deserve. There is a great deal of land, too, in Lag- 
gala Pallesiyapattu (Matale east) which is admirably 
adapted to the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, and 
probably of cacao and coconuts.— Mr. Burrows' Adminis- 
tration Report. 

TEA CULTIVATION A GEEAT SUCCESS 
IN TEAVANOOEE. 
15th Oct. 1888. 
Tea plucking — the average pur cooly — has a won- 
derful influence on the imaginative man when away 
frorn his books. It is hard to know what is 
"the record;" but when one with a poetic 
turn is talking on the loose, ho astonishes his 
hearers if he does not astonish himself, at 
the extraordinary deliveries his people do bring in, 
I heard of a man in the rising neighbourhood 
of Ukuwala who has had forty pounds a head 1 
That 's not bad ; and if he goes on at that rate 
he will upset your tea estimates. An unquestion. 
able return comes from Maskeliya. Last week 
three hundred coolies brought in an average of 
twenty-seven pounds each. 
It is said that Travancore is going to be the tea 
country of the world, and although Ceylon will be 
hard to beat, those who know the capabilities of 
Travancore are inclined to back it. What do you 
think of 400 lb. of made tea per acre from one 
and a-half to two and a-half year plants? "He 
must mean green leaf," is what the knowing 
ones here say, but there they are wrong : made 
tea is what is meant. Let him who is able to 
receive it receive it ; to me it seems incredible. 
One thing is certain : that the tea growers of 
Travancore are going to go in for the best methods 
and the latest tips, and to get these they have in some 
cases sent over their native assistants to pick up 
tea work in the Ceylon factories. Peppercorn. 
THEFTS OF COLONIAL PEODUCE AT 
THE LONDON WHAEVES. 
A most extraordinary revelation has just been 
made through the medium of the Thames Police 
Court which cannot fail to confirm many Ceylon 
planters in the bad opinion they have entertained 
of the management and disposal of their produce 
after being landed in London. It must serve, too, 
to awaken the suspicions of the entire planting 
community ; and as the matter is one that eminently 
calls for the attention of our local Chamber of 
Commerce and Planters' Association, we give all 
the particulars available by the present mail. Per- 
haps the case will be one for the London Ceylon 
Association to inquire into ; for it is clear that 
a great deal of rascality may have prevailed for 
a long time back, of which only a sample has 
now been presented to us. We have a private 
letter on the subject from a leading Colonial 
Merchant in the City who is as indignant as any 
planter can be, and who speaks his mind and indi- 
cates his suspicions rather plainly. We call attention 
also to the very commendable attitude of the 
representative of Messrs. Lewis & Peat in the 
Mincing Lane Auction Boom (as reported along 
with the Police Case in another column) ; but we 
submit that it augurs a rather low tone among 
his surroundings when the offender was able to 
brazen the matter out, and more especially when 
Mr. Figgis's outspoken condemnation was not 
seconded by a general response in the room in- 
dicating that the offender should walk or be turned 
out ? Be that as it may, it is quite evident that 
the present affair cannot be hushed up ; for apart 
from the London Trade journals noticing it, we 
learn that The Times, Daily News, Telegraph, 
Chronicle and Financial Times have had references 
to the matter, and we are prepared in the Observer 
and Tropical Agriculturist to keep open the 
discussion as long as there is the slightest suspicion 
of a sufficient check not being applied. 
It will be seen that the charge made against 
the Manager of the New Crane Wharf was one of 
stealing " gum " belonging to Messrs. Eedfern, 
Alexander & Co., " guttapercha " of Messrs Hetten- 
bach Bros., and "coffee." " tapioca," &c, &c, of 
other importers, and of selling such produce on 
account of the Wharf Co. concerned. The most 
serious matter in our eyes id that one official 
after another connected with the Wharf treated 
the transaction as an ordinary onel Is it there- 
fore too much to suppose that very many tons 
of colonial produce had been disposed of in the 
samo way before it struck the Police to stop the 
two vauloads that form the subject of this charge ? 
