December i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3«i 
(f). The mixture of a plan a' ion of quick growing 
trees "to jiekl good firewood in 20 years;" and the 
use of the area at the 8>mie time lor sheep grazing 
is quite "too too." A sight, of tin- bare hills on which 
the grazing is now allowed, about tbri-e-ibiirtbs with- 
out a shrub, and about one-fourth bate rock or slip-, 
ought surely to convince any one (the fu l l'- iutt r- 
niodiatu Department included), that it IB absurd lo 
object to grazing anywhere, especially of course in 
artificially planted areas. 
(y, h and i). Presumably through the "proposed 
contractor" ? 
6. 'J he Municipality having paid the "pre posed 
contractor" (say) from two to three lakhs for the 
preliminary works proposed by the writer ol tin- Idler, 
will of course make a handsome profit by selling at 
R30 per 100 maunds. 
7. The ''contractor" again ! 
8. The well-known btast of the writer of the letter 
about twelve months ago was that tLe Forest De- 
partment might shut up its depots, as before the 
stock of fuel then in hand was worked out nothing 
but coal would be used in Darjeeling and the Tea 
gardens along the line ot nun>ay. 
9. The Mui.K-i| alily asked the "foreign feeble in- 
termediate Department" to undertake the re-stocking 
of this area about IS months ago, but on heiug in- 
formed that it must forego its grazing revenue for 
some years, took no lurther action in the matter. 
( The subject of I uel supplies for Nuwara Ehya, now 
that the railway is being extended in its neighbour- 
hood, is well worthy of attention. — Ed. T. A?\ 
PLANTING IN THE LOWCOUNTRY, 
WESTERN PROVINCE, CEYLON, 
WIMOMK RELIEF 1-KOM THE DUY WEATHEB — THE AD- 
VI.NT OB I HE N.-fc). MONSOON — TEA AND 0THEU PKO- 
DUCTS NOT RESPONDING 1 • lilt. UA1MS AS HERETO 
I UKK — Mil. DLACKKTT'S HXPEB1.UENT WITH Ills COTTON 
ANI> HIS VOUNO TEA PLANTS — THE HAPITIGAM COR- 
RESPOND I NT's STATEMENT THAT A THKE NEVEB ON EE- 
IIKAHS NOT SUPPOllTKll IIY 1 V 1'HWKNCK— PROFIT FROM 
I'IN.NAMuN VI- ICY IOW, L' JPAKKlJ WITH THE EOW PK1CE 
vov. thi: SPILE. 
Siyane lvorale, End of Oct. 1688. 
We had a pjeasant relief Irom the dry weather, 
which haa lohi revet ely on sh forma of cultivation. 
1 sup, .os, tin- llu, will beloikcii upon as the date of 
tht* advent ol the N.-E. monsoon with us, if by " mon- 
r.. .mi is understood the raiua which accompany it. 
The tail on ihe Dlgilt of the 11th gaugtu 4 inches, but 
no damage wan done by it, us the ram was slow and 
continuous. Not io with a bhower which fell subse- 
quently and which came down in buckelluls on a soil 
m.iui atl d lo deple ion. A tail ol 1^ inches during the 
space of an hour .lui'-a-half cannot but do immense 
damage, While contemplating the amount ol damage 
1 w»h to witness the next morning, 1 felt thankful that 
my lot was not on the dills where such heavy falls do 
nu amount of mischiut that is positively heart-rending. 
At least such was my experience when resident on the 
hills. 1 uaed lo sickiii iiur ihe damage ol a rain- 
storm and the loss of tons ol valuable soil Irom Blips, 
burst drains and ever widening ravines. The rains 
blH been so long acomiug that they canuot undo the 
miaobiel that has already been done. \\ e w ill realize 
it next j cur iu diminished crops and sinall-siavd aiid 
Impi rfeotlj formed nuts. While in former years 
cinnamon wiib the first of all cultivated products to 
respond to thermal nuns, after the two severe and 
I rol oiged droughts Ol this year, the bushes have not 
made :my nppn einbli- change in their appe nuice till 
iiow. Tea too baa been so hard hit that it ttushta but 
In llffeieatly, 
Mr. ltinckett'a experiment with cotton between his 
young i. i plaits is interesting. 1'otton , s ,„, doubi 
mi exhausting crop, I ut I di> not think there is much 
reason tu apprehend Hint the leu plants will miss ihe 
element* ol lertuity removed In in the in the cot- 
ton erop. For the first year the roots ol Ulfl lea plants 
will not have travelled much out of tin- coufim ■■ ..I the 
holes they were planted in, and by the tim-i the roots 
reach the ground the cotton fed on, is it unreasonable 
to hope that Dame Nature will have stepped iu and 
supplied most, if not all,tbe constituents ihe cotton re- 
moved ? 1 think it will be wise and withal beiii licial to 
the tea plants and the soil lor the shade il will afford 
them, to plant cotton the first }ear in tea clearings. 
Mr. Hughes Ought to be able to give an authoritative 
opinion on the subject. It is not very clear howevor, 
how Mr. Blackett intends reducing the cotiou plants, 
after harvesting the crop, into ashes and returning them 
to the soil. Where is the burning- totake place? If 
taken out of the field, the cost will more than counter- 
balance the benefits of the application. Will if not be 
better and far cheaper to bury the bushes in situ ? 
Will not the effects of the green manuring be more 
marked and the benefits accruing to the soil more 
lasting ? 
Your Hapitigam Korale correspondent records it as 
his deliberate opinion that a coconut tree never over- 
bears. And what are the grounds for such an opinion ? 
A tree opens 1G flowers in a year, and i ach rluwer con- 
tains on nu average 20 germs. If all come to maturity 
each tree ought to bear 32l) nuts per annum. Not one 
iu 100,000 trees be;irs even 300 nuts, therefore no tree 
overbears. This urgument carried to its logical con- 
elusion will be, that no tree that dies not mature nil the 
flowers it produces overbears. Is this supported by the 
experience of anybody ? What tree ever matures all 
the tender fruit it bears, and yet are there noinstances 
of trees overbearing ? Let us take coffee for ex- 
ample. During the time it was reigning monarch, in- 
stances were not rare of fields setting flowers with a 
promise of fruit at about a ton the acre. Tender berries 
were dropped subsequently calculated at over half of 
what came to matunty, and yet these fields were 
known to have been nearly snuffed outright by over- 
bearing and had to he carefully nursed to be brought 
round and were for years thrown back. How is it tliat 
nature did not right itself here and take care that the 
shiubsdid not over-bear. Are we to put the plain 
interpretation on " I have deliberately arrived at the 
opinion that a coconut tree never overbears," and look 
upon the nut-bearing tree as an exception to the general 
rule? This will be rendered easy if some reasons wi re 
adduced for this. I have repeatedly seen youug trees 
bear a heavy crop one year and take a rest the 
ill xt year with a small crop, and trees that bore heavily 
once take many years to recover entirely. 
1 have heard itask<nl what is the value of ah acre of 
cii namon laud at the present day with the very low 
price for the spice. A compact little estate very 
lavourably situated and midway between Colombo aud 
Negombo, and within four miles of a railway station, 
recently changed bauds at R200 the acre. That will 
naturally be looked upon as the market value of cinna- 
mon laud; but this land was somewhat neglected in 
recent years. For land in a state of high cultivation 
and in a favourite locality I think RsOU per acre could 
still bo had from those on the look out for an invest- 
ment. And what is the yield per acre ? In tbo''Plaut- 
ing Molesworth" the yield per acre is given on the 
authority of two old planters at a bale of 100 lb, I 
have known estates yield double this, but that is 'ex- 
ceptional. What is the income per acre? A bale of 
cinnamon unassorted can be bad at present for about 
RB&i Against this must be set 
Superintend) uce per acre say ... RIO 04) 
Peeling per bale ... ... is^y 
Kangani ... ... ... i.qo 
Weeding twice a year ... ... 10 00 
Pruning do ... ... 3 00 
Total per bale ... K3900 
How is ciniKimou made to pay it ? will be naturally 
asked, and how is it valued at R300 per acre when the 
yield per aero h R4 I. si thou the expenditure F 1 will 
answer that presi utly. The figures are not mine. Ac- 
cording to the authorities I qooted superintendence is 
given "t R12 to lo por aero. I mndu it R10, Pruning 
la (riven at litl. I have made it R3. 1 have tnken no 
account of inn 1 est on capital, cost ol tools, upkeep ot 
buildings, and cuutiugunoics, Ac, aud yet people make n 
