March i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
593 
COFFEE PIONEERING IN CEYLON: 
THE BAMUAltAUOTUWA LANDS. 
AN OLD COLONIST TO THE FRONT. 
We liad a call today from Mr. John Dent Young 
o£ Rosita, Dimbula, and formerly for some 27 years 
of the P. W. D., and who still retains all his 
bright intelligence with a wonderful degree of 
aotivity considering all he has passed through. A 
walk of 30 miles, albeit in the Diinbula climato, 
in a single day, is no small feat for a man of Mr. 
Young's age, considering that nearly all his life 
has been spent in the tropics, and a great part of 
it in trying unhealthy divisions of the island. 
Mr. Young has had to come to Colombo on the 
present occasion through a fear that the Agent of 
the new Province and the Forest Department were 
bent on including the Bambarabotuwa forest-land — 
which he cutout and purchased on behalf of con- 
stituents, 15 or more years ago — in the Crown 
Reserve Forest forming in that division of Adam's 
Peak. The Gazette notice seemed, to say the least, 
"vara suspeechious " in its language; but a visit 
to the Surveyor-General's Ollice showed clearly 
that the lands purchased by Mr. Young and others 
in the ''forties" are carefully marked on the 
Official plans as private property aud cannot be 
inoluded in any survey as Crown reserve. Ho far, 
good. In one case, we believe, a block of land 
at Gilimale belonging to the late \V. G. Forbes, 
of the Civil Service, is to be taken up by the 
Crown, his representative to get in exchange an 
equal area of good land olsewhere. This enables 
a Crown boundary to be rounded off. 
There is every chance of the Dambanibotuwa 
lands being found well suited for tea cultivation. 
Agar's Land and Dik Mukalane estates show how 
well the staple succeeds in that neighborhood. 
Mr. Young's reminiscences of his promising work- 
in the "Forties" is full of interest to the planters 
of the presont day. How difficult it must be for the 
OOOUpantB of comfortable bungalows, or railway or 
evon road travellers from Nawalapitiya upwards, to 
loaru of Mr. Young and two other Europeans 
commencing their exploration for lan '• , by starting 
from the Kundyan headman's house in Kotmale 
valloy and for ten days to a fortnight afterwards, 
never being out of forest, save when they climbed 
a hill or emerged on a patana, nor feeing a sign 
until alter wandering through Lower Dimbula, 
all up Dikoya and Bogawantulawa and back over 
Horton Pluins, they finally cmorgod at Wilson's 
Bungalow ! From the top of Kotagala, they 
looked over the wilderness of the Peak, and 
oue of the company a Ritle Officer and Sur- 
veyor, exclaimed to Mr. Young, " You can have as 
much of this as you please for :>s an aore." 
but although much taken with the Bo:;awantalawa 
lbnat and soil, as Major RogerB said to Mr. Young 
afterwards at Badolla :— " I know it well, have 
often been there, very line but unapproachable, 
you might as well think of planting ooffee on 
N many acres of the Indian Ocean I" The Major 
himself had begun planting on Kuhagalla and 
Baputale estates ubovo ilaputale Pass, ai d he directed 
Mr. Young to look out for land in that neighbor- 
hood ; but lor the samo reason of distance from 
''"•id .'-">1 liilmur. ii i.pi-i.ii,..| iii tip i'ium of Mr. 
C. Bhand, Mr. Young travelled on until abovo 
' Biilunnoda he came on forest valleys that he 
thought more accessible. Here ho cut out bound- 
ary, ior 700 aoros. then 2,000 aores . and with Robert 
Diwion 2.000 moru ucros, and all was purchasod 
without competition m .V; mi aero. He then be- 
thought him of gutting for himself and principals 
a big slice over the hills towards Dikoya ; but tho 
QoTernmeal just thon raisod tho prion to £1 an 
acre, snd bis capitalist:) would hot pay that. Be 
began planting coffee, and outting a road whioh 
eventually extended over 20mile3and which still exists 
as a good bridle-path if the wooden bridges were re- 
paired. (There was no grant-in-aid system in those 
days.) The coffee grew apace, but very soon tho 
grub made themselves manifest and to such 
deadly purpose as Mr. Young has never since 
seen or heard of in any other district. He 
fought with the enemy as long as ho could, but 
trees without feeding roots could not bear profit- 
able crops, even if the prices had not fallen and the 
bad times which brought widespread disaster arrived. 
Among his visitors while at work under the 
shadow of Adam's Peak range, was the other 
Sabaragamuwa pioneer, Mr. Charles Shand, who 
was busy opening his land on the opposite Rak- 
wana range ; and it was while journeying with 
Mi. Young in the Bambarabotuwa forests, getting 
wet and hot, and again rashly bathing and sitting, 
exposed afterwards, that Mr. Shand got hia first 
and last attack of rattling dysentery — such as, we 
we have heard old medicos describe, was 
j common enough in the pioneering days, but is 
never seen now. Mr. Shand had to be carried in to 
Ratnapura where — with the aid of a friend's medicine 
chest fortunately just arrived from home, — he 
speedily recovered his usual good health. The Bam- 
barabotuwa forest-land has never been touched 
since Mr. John Dent Young retired from the coffee 
experiment on 200 acres about 10 years ago. 
We had a look at the region in 1872, when 
"Old Colonist" pointed out the scene of Young's 
and Crtiwell's early labours, during our famous trip 
from Galle to Morawak Korale, Kolonna, Rakwana, 
Balungoda, on round the Uva districts :ind Dimbula. 
It is quite possible that erelong Bambarabotuwa may 
become the scene of active work again. 
THE GREATEST HEIGHT OF A COCONUT 
PALM. 
In our letters on the Bentota Railway Extension 
we referred to the great height of some of the 
coconut palms cut down, and mentioning 110 feet 
and upwards as having been measured by Mr. 
Cantrell, we asked if anyone had ever measured 
a tree of greater length. That challenge ha9, so 
far, met with no response, and we infer therefore 
that there is no authentic case of a taller palm 
in Ceylon. We have to announoo that the record 
has just been beaten: Mr. Paton Gray, the Assistant 
Engineer, having measured a giant of 117 feet. 
OOFFEli IN WYNAAD. 
We have received the following from a correspon- 
dent iu South 'Wyuaad : — " Spike is coming on 
nicely, aud the white ants are swarminc, which is a 
hopeful sign of comiDg rain. The leal disease has 
almost d.sappeared, and, thank goodness ! has not 
done us much barm. You could almost count on your 
lingers the estates that have really suffered any- 
thing, and they are all coming round again though 
when l hey had borne hoavy crops the year before, 
aud so bad but little new wood, it was a severe pull 
on them of course. Although the weather is so hot 
aud dry, the trees, both young and old, keep on 
growing and putting out new wood and blossom. 
Whoa we have rain every estate will be white iu 
foriy-oight hours after tho Brit shower. Thero is 
opening still going on, chiefly in this dintriot, but 
some in North Wyuaad also ; nearly nil tho open- 
ings ore by old planter! aud proprietors, which 
is a far more healthy sign than if they were 
moru speculations. I don't think the crops this 
roar will bo much more than a _, i average ; 
young coffee seems likely to bear heavily, but th« 
Old 'rees don't appoar inclined to distress themavlvoi. 
tlood average crops, at pro«»nt prices, will pay very 
Did I] I oan aMQItl yOU and at •tooks tfoui low 
