June i, 1889.] TH^ TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
811 
goes a long way. So much so that Mr. Arthur 
Thompson when in Ceylon intimated to the pro- 
prietors of tea plantations in the neighbourhood of 
Nuwara iiliya, that if there were only a sufficient 
quantity sent to London of distinctively delicate- 
flavoured high-grown oeas from that neighbourhood 
to justify a separate claBsification as "Ceylon- 
Darjilings," the owners would probably be bene- 
fitted considerably. Meantime, the test of the 
general superiority of Ceylon, over Indian, tea is 
afforded by the higher total average of prices for 
the former, and we trust the difference between 
these averages is to increase, rather then abate, in 
the future, of course in favour of the Ceylon planters. 
♦ 
PUSHING CEYLON TEA DOWN SOUTH. 
(Extract from the letter of an ex-Ceylon 'planter to 
an old chum in Ceylon.) 
There is no wholesale sale of tea to be managed 
at all at invoice prices just now, but I am doing a 
little with the men who travel with the tea ; not 
quite paying expenses yet, but still only a little short, 
and it will improve. This morning, however, one of 
the best men who bad sold most, says that most of 
those who bought first won't buy again I So this is 
disappointing : one or two of the other men are doing 
very fairly. I am going to carry on this way of 
selling the tea for some time yet, and to try if I 
can get 10 men with sufficient perseverance to carry 
on until each sells 10 lb. a day. If they can sell 100 lb. 
per day at 2d per lb. to me profit, chat won't be so 
bad, but they are not people who have perseverance, 
so I have my doubts, and perhaps this line of business 
may collapse altogether. I have got a Salvation Army 
chap started today; if I can get them to go in for 
it, it will be a good thing, for there are thousands 
of them here, and they do an immense deal of 
good. I sent the Colonel a present this morning of 
i lb., at all events he has stood secu.ity for one 
of their men who has started today, 

TEA-PLUCKING ON A HiLL PLANTATION. 
Up the hi irie s:e they go, 
Each along a truck, 
Busy plucking up the leaf, 
A baske on cc-C i back ; 
Silent y advancing, ses 
Gather they the flushing tea. 
Down along *he slopes they come 
Both the hands at work — * 
'Mid the band the conductor f 
Sees they shall not shirk ; 
From the shrub the leaf they take 
That shall grateful liquor make. 
Round about each bush they go 
Picking all that's "-ood: 
Plucking proper leaf, but not 
The hardened — as they should ; 
Hearty work intelligent 
Yields a gc ~d return, as meant. 
So through life, or up or down, 
Should we still endeavour 
Not aio! i or rich or .^reat 
To become or clever ; 
But with sober work a,ud sure 
To b 'Id up what shall endure. 
Alfbj!d G. Nicholas. 
Portswood.Nuwa-a Eliya, Apru 11th, 1S89. 
«- 
THE FORESTS OF CEYLON AND RAILWAY 
SLEEPEttS. 
We have been much struck by the announce- 
ment that the Egyptian Government has been 
negotiating with the Forest Department of 
• The pluckers here U3e both hands simultaneously, and 
are very smart at their work. 
I I do not know what conductors generally are. The 
man here is the soul of honour aud the essence of honesty- 
one who knows it to be true that work should be thorough. 
South Australia with reference to the supply by 
that colony of an enormous number of sleepers 
required for the railways of Egypt. If arrange- 
ments can be entered into for this supply, it is 
said that its provision will give employment to fully 
300 men during the course of the next three years ! 
It would seem to be manifest from this demand 
made upon a source so far distant, that difficulty 
is beginning to be felt in obtaining the number 
of sleepers required from the countries nearer to 
Egypt which have hitherto afforded the supply. If 
we are right in drawing this conclusion, it would 
appear to be certain that a similar difficulty must 
erelong be experienced by ourselves with regard 
even to the comparatively limited mileage of 
local railways. When we consider the enor- 
mous areas of forest that must have been 
annually cleared during the last thirty years or more 
in Norway, Sweden, and Canada, to meet the needs 
of railway repair aud extension, we may feel 
no surprise that the drain upon them must be 
rapidly affecting the capacity o: the forests in those 
countries to meet'an annually increasing demand. 
The day cannot be far distant, we should say, 
when a decision must be arrived at in 
Ceylon either to resort to metal sleepers or to 
accept reliance upon the products of our own 
forests. It does seem singular to those of us who, 
from some of the many commarding points of view 
whioh are furnished by our magnificent moun- 
tain ranges, have looked down upon the extended 
spread of forest covering our lowcountry, that 
with suoh abundant tree growth close to our 
hands, we should yet be compelled to draw our 
supplies of sleepers from far distant lands. Of 
course we are well aware of the reasons which 
have led io this arrangement and fully acknowledge 
their iorce ; but the economic causes now seem likely 
to meet with reversal in the not far distant future. 
Tne weight of our island woods and difficulties of 
transport have hitherto been the main factors 
controlling this question in the matter of relative 
expense, Leaving out entirely several other con- 
siderations, it has been proved to be cheaper 
to obtain sleepers from Europe than to cut 
them in local reserve forests and transport them 
over jungle roads to any point as yet touched by 
our railway system. But, as we have said, this 
economic condition may shortly be reversed, and 
it behoves those charged with the conduct of rail- 
way affairs in this island to look forward and to 
consider, in good time, what may be done in 
advance of the difficulty we apprehend. We 
hear it constantly said that none of our 
more abundant timbers, such as pali or iron- 
wood, or the almost equally common satinwood, 
can be utilized for the purpose of sleepers. The 
fibre of such woods, it is stated, is too close to 
admit of their being efficiently prepared by creo- 
soting to resist the attacks of white-ants or the 
almost equally destructive effect of the damp climate 
of our higher lands. 
If such be the case, would it not be wise for 
our Forest Department to turn their attention 
to propagating such trees as may be found 
suitable for railway purposes, in the several 
situations throughout the country which must 
be available for the planting of fresh growths ? 
Experiment has already been made with many 
trees _ that are not indigenous to this island, 
and in many cases those experiments have resulted 
successfully, and there is no reason why the 
Forest Department should not institute experi- 
ments on an extended scale after the fashion 
set by the very South Australian authorities 
whose forests are expected to supply Egypt. On this 
point, see the official information given on page 812. 
