June I, 1889.J THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
825 
Leaf-disease ic not unknown there, but it takes no 
hold of the coffee cultivated unuer artificial shade. 
In the past history of Ceylon, the shade clearings 
with coffee were almost entirely made in the natural 
forest thinned out. Most certainly we consider a 
shade coffee clearing on the Coorg principle, an 
experiment well worth trying in Ceylon at present. 
♦ 
Planting in the Seychelles : Me. E. H. Ed- 
waeds. — This old Kangala and Uva planter has not 
made his fortune in the Seychelles. So far from 
it, that after five years' work there in a letter 
just received, he reports his ' last state to be worse 
than his first.' Disease had killed nearly all the 
vanilla in which Mr. Edwards had an interest. 
Tea Notes. — The weather has been warm in Sylhet. 
Tea plucking has commenced in Luckimpore. The 
news from Sibsaugor is, tea is doing well. InNowgong 
the weather has been warm for the time of year. 
Stormy weather with light showers is reported trom 
Durrung. Seasonable weather is tbe news from Goal- 
para, Kamroop and Luckimpore. Darjeeling, 13th 
A^ril. — Promising for rain ; without it, there will be 
a closing of manufacture all round. Dehka Dun, 9th 
April. — So far we have had a very good season and 
most gardens are a long way ahead of last year. It 
looks rather like rain. —Indian Planters' Gazette. 
Sylhet Obange trees are being acclimatised in the 
Lucknow gardens, but as they require some shade from 
sun-scorching which occurs immediately after the 
rains, as also in the month of April, May and June, it 
is proposed to supply the desideratum by planting 
some thinly branched trees of moderate height among 
the orange trees to protect them from the sun, without 
however exhausting the soil to any great extent. 
For the present a trial will be made with the cultivated 
baer (Zizyphus jujuba) whioh is hardy and will stand 
frequent prunings. A good deal of attention has been 
given to the orange and lemon tribes aud several ex- 
periments have been made with the old and new 
varieties, so also with peaches, baers, plum and Arabian 
date palms. — Indian Agriculturist. 
The Season in Madras. — The following is the sea- 
son telegram to the Government of India by the Board 
of Revenue for the week ending 20th ultimo: — "Rain- 
fall slight in Gunj^m, Vizagapatam, Madura, Tinne- 
velly, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem and Malabar; none 
elsewhere. Standing crops generally good, but suffer- 
ing trom want of rain in Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Chin- 
gleput, North Arcot, Trichinopoly, and Tinnevelly ; 
wet crops withering in parts of Cuddapah, Anantapur 
and Coimbatore. Pasture deficient in Ganjam, Vizag- 
apatam, Cuddapah, Bellary, Kurnool, North Arcot, 
Madura, Tinnevelly and Coimbatore. No great fluctu- 
ations in prices ; prices of rice and ragi falling in Gan- 
jam. General prospects favourable, except iu Ganjam ; 
improving in Ooimbatore. Labourers employed on last 
day of week,— on Rushikulya works, 5,618 ; on Gopal- 
pore Canal, 2 570 ; decrease due to outbreak of cholera 
on Taptapaui road 483." — Madras Mail. 
The Vicinity op Ndwaea Eliya seems to grow tea 
as well as it did cinchona, if not better. No one can 
go through the tea on Scrubs estate without being 
struck with its vigorous and healthy growth. There 
was none of thai pinched-up appearance which one 
might expect to find at such an altitude. The trees 
were large, and completely covered the ground, whilst 
the flush on them was a tbing to be seen and remem- 
bered. I saw a heavy gulden flush on tea which had 
not been pruned for two ye rs and nine months ! What 
do you think of that, ye ix lani Valley planters ! The 
tea was H;ragaHa jat, too, aud the altitude '200 feet 
above Nuwara Eliya. It requires to be seen to be 
believed. But the Scrubs estate is very much sheltered. 
It remains to be seen how the land below— on the 
Nanuoya road— belonging to Mr. Robertson of the 
P. W. p., now in Australia, will come on, exposed as most 
of it is to the full force of the South-West monsoon." 
— Local " Times." 
[Mr. James Robertson, P. W. D., ig still iu Ceylon.— 
Ed.] 
Tea on Old Coffee Land.— Mr. A. P. Sou- 
ter tells us that his oldest tea on Barcaple now 
about ten years of age, and on one of the poorest 
fields as regards soil, has never hitherto given more 
than 200 lb. of made tea per acre. But this season 
the trees have so much improved in growth and 
appearance — have the roots at length reached 
" the virgin subsoil " ? ! — that a crop of 300 lb. par 
acre is considered quite safe. 
The Gbbhan Plantations in Samoa. — Mr. Sewell, 
the American Consul-General at Apia, in a 
report which has just been published and which 
is of special interest at this moment, says that the 
German plantations in Samoa comprise the greater 
part of the cultivated land on the north side of 
the Island of Upolu. The largest covers the entire 
western end of the island, and has an area of 
3,260 acres and a sea frontage of more than six 
miles. The total area of these plantations is 9,260 
acres. Their natural features are very diversified ; 
from the sea they extend far up the mountain sides, 
down which flow numerous large streams. They 
have been laid out with great care ; and in beauty 
of scenery and rich fertility the views among them 
cannot be surpassed. They are highly cultivated 
and are capable of producing anything that will 
grow in the tropics. They are mainly planted 
with coco-nuts, for the production of copra, the 
dried kernel of the nut. The annual production 
of this is between 500 and 600 tons. The clearing 
of the land for plantations is a laborious opera- 
tion, for it is densely wooded with a tough native 
growth. There are also many rocks, which prevent 
ploughing. After clearing, cotton is planted, and 
this is grown for three years ; then coco-nuts 
are planted and grass is sown, and until the trees are 
large enough to allow cattle to run among them, some 
cotton is still gathered. After six years cattle are 
admitted, for by this time the trees have grown so 
that cattle cannot injure them. Tne seventh year 
the trees begin to bear, and at 15 years alter 
planting they attain their prime. Ihe grass grows 
luxuriantly in Samoa, for drought is unknown there 
and cattle find among the coconut trees rich feed- 
ing ground. On the two largest plantations there 
are 1,600 head of cattle, many of them of good 
breed, imported from New Zealand and the Austra- 
lian colonies. There are also some fine horses 
upon them. Next to coconuts and cotton, coffee is 
the most important product and its cultivation is 
being increased, for it is tne best paying crop. It 
is of excellent quality, rivalling the finest Mocha, 
and commands a good price in the Hamburg- 
market, where it is chiefly sent. These planta- 
tions are worked by imported labour, for the Samoans 
will not work. Tnis labour is recruited chiefly 
from the islands to the west of Samoa, the .New 
Hebrides, Solomon, New Britain, and New Ireland 
islands ; also fiom the Ellice and Gilbert islands 
to the north, as a rule the labour trade is 
humanely conducted by the German labour vessels, 
yet it is not wholly robbed of its horrors. The 
labourers are under contract for three years service, 
at the expiration of which time they ate to he 
returned to their homes. This, however, is some- 
times not done, and the unfortunate people are 
landed among a hostile tribe who speedily kill or 
enslave them. Men, women, and children are re- 
cruited at wages of $3 a mouth, paid in trade. 
On arrival at Samoa the labourers pass an examina- 
tion before the Consul, and great care is tak^n 
that none come on shore against their will. They 
are well cared for on the plantations. A physician 
visits each plantation at least once a month. They 
are well-housed, and are led on rice, biscuits, aud 
yams. Their hours for work are regular, and Sun- 
day is a holiday. There are about 750 of them upon 
different plantations.— London Times, April 16th. 
