6 9 8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1889. 
You are better informed than I am as to the market 
value of cotton, but this crop at the lowest price 
cannot fail to be remunerative. The profit on seed 
(which would in this case weigh about 400 lb) has to 
be added. 
(5) You will observe that Tinnevelly seed is en- 
tirely excluded from the purview of this letter and 
of its annexure. 
(6) I think that it would be well to endeavour 
to induce tea planters at low elevations to plant 
cotton in their clearings. It would be useful, as 
shade would almost certainly be profitable on its own 
account and would serve to bring the industry under 
the notice of the neighbouring villagers. — I am, sir, 
your obedient servant, (Signed) F. H. Price, 
Actg. Asst. Govt. Agent. 
The Hon. W. W. Mitchell, Colombo. 
COTTON. 
Hints foe the Cultivation op the Ameeican and 
Egyptian Vaeieties in the District of Kegalla. 
I. — The richer the soil the better. Avoid shade. 
Chena land, even though steep and rocky, is suitable. 
II. — The seed being very oily, loses its vitality quickly. 
Do not allow it to become damp, but keep it spread out 
in a cool place. Sow as soon as possible after its 
receipt, but wait for a wet day. 
III. — It is of primary importance to sow at such 
a time as will result in the crop being ready for pick- 
ing in dry weather. 
Secondarily, the seed must be planted on a showery 
day. 
IV. — Two pounds of seed are sufficient to sow one 
acre. 
"V. — Plant the seed in places 3 f t. x 3 ft. or 3 x 4 
apart. Before planting break up each place with a 
fork or mamoti, 4 to 5 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches 
square. Plant 2 seeds, 3 to 4 inches apart, in each 
place, at a depth of not more than an inch. 
VI. — If one out of every two seeds grows, there will 
then be 4,800 plants to an acre, if planted 3 ft. x 3 ft. 
3,600 plants to an acre, if planted 3 ft. x 4 ft. 
VII. — The season for sowing is approximately from 
1st July to 15th August. The crop will be ready from 
1st January onwards. The American variety ripens 
2 or 3 weeks earlier than the Egyptian. 
VIII. — Pick the cotton when the capsules burst, 
leaving the capsules on the tree. 
IX. — Thoroughly dry the cotton in the sun, clean it 
and separate it from the seed. 
X. — The cotton should be separated from the seed 
by a gin which is easily worked and very cheap. 
♦ 
CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT. 
THE WEATHER AND VEGETATION — BLOSSOMS ON COFFEE 
— HIGH PRICES OF COFFEE AND A REVIVAL OF PLANTING 
— FUEL FOR TEA FACTORIES AND THE IMPECUNIOSITY OF 
THE NATIVES : THE DEVASTATION OF JAK TREES — RAIL- 
WAY WEEKLY RETURNS AND COCOA — THE LOW PRICES 
AND THE CONSUMPTION OF TEA ON THE CONTINENT 
OF EUROPE— LAND FOR TOBACCO CULTIVATION. 
11th March 1889. 
The rain we had about ten days ago was very 
welcome, but we want more. There are signs 
however that it may be back soon, which would 
be oheery enough, for there is no big rush of flush 
or small rush either. The trees are pretty 
much at a standstill, and what is willing to lead 
a forlorn hope and show the way has to struggle 
with the cold wind, and does not come to much. 
All the same it has been a very much better 
season than last year. 
The rain brought out a blossom on the coffee, 
which however is not so good as one would like, 
especially with the price at the 100a. From 
higher up I hear of really good blossoms, refresh- 
ing to the eye, and filling the heart with hope. 
If they but set well, there should be a good 
me in ttoro for the fortunate possessore. It is no 
wonderful that the high prices ruling for coffee is 
creating a desire to try the planting again, and 
already there are several who purpose making 
the experiment on a small scale. One company, I 
hear, has received instructions from home, to have 
a fair-sized bit planted up with coffee as a trial, 
and to extend if there be any kind of promise of 
success. The planting is to be done under shade, 
and the seed to be imported. Doubtless there is a 
good deal of risk in a venture of this kind, but 
when it is spread over the many, the loss should 
not be very heavy if it be a failure ; while it has 
the advantage that several districts will be tried, 
and in some perhaps the fates may be favour- 
able. 
One thing is pretty clear, — that the coffee which 
abides at present but poorly represents the vigour 
of the old : neither will it stand the invigorating 
treatment of the days of yore. It would be easy 
enough to stimulate it into over-bearing and. 
snuff it out. Indeed, even a very moderate crop 
sadly tries it, and those who may be tempted 
by the high prices to indulge in high cultivation 
will doubtless get a return, for coffee is very 
willing, but the effort may prove like the song 
of the dying swan, sweetest, just before it expires. 
The chance to be run is that it may over-bear 
itself and go out. Still, who that has any coffee 
left does not want to see it do well ; all the same 
there is the fear that it may be killed with 
kindness ? 
The need of fuel for our factories and the impecu- 
niosity of the native are bringing about rather an un- 
fortunate state of things in the villages of those dis- 
triotB where wood is scarce. You don't like to see and 
hear of jak trees being cut down for the furnace, 
for the fruit forms a part of the food of the 
people ; and although the ready money which is 
got for the fuel means for the time being a 
season of plenty, still there are the lean years 
in store when a jak-fruit would prove a godsend 
and when it won't be got. Later on this un- 
thinking devastation will, without doubt, have very 
unpleasant results; in the meantime Appuhami 
hears how Thinappu has made so much a yard 
for firewood, and at very little trouble, save that 
of felling a tree in the ancestral eighth of an 
acre, and piling it up, As he too is in need of 
money and has been ever since he can remember, 
he also goes in for the cutting of fuel ; as his 
domain has none of the princely proportions of 
Thinappu's, there is no room for choice, and 
so if the money is to be got the jak has to 
come down, and alas 1 does come down. The 
Sinhalese villager has lots of patience, but it 
tries him waiting for another jak to grow. Until 
then he helps himself to his neighbour's, with the 
usual results. 
How is it that in the different classes of goods 
of which the railway authorities give us, tegular 
weekly returns of caoao is omitted ? We have tea 
and coffee, cinchona and rice, coconuts and 
plumbago, but cacao is nowhere. 
Travellers on the Continent of Europe tell us 
that the low prices for which good tea can now 
be got is very much stimulating the consump- 
tion, and is likely to continue to do so. Coffee 
is said to have got its hold there when tea was 
at a prohibitive price, but now that it is getting 
come-at-able by all, through tea approximating 
to coffee in value, and tending as if it were to 
be the cheaper of the two, it stands a fair 
chance of running a successful race with the 
old favourite. In foreign hotels there is no diffi- 
culty now to get a good cup of tea, and as the 
case with which it is made gives it a marked 
advantage over coffee, the prospects of its mor 
