THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1889. 
bf the looms, so that the Company will have yarn 
as well as cloth to sell. 
A VILLAGE OF THEIR OWN. 
"But where will you get all your work-people 
from," Mr. Atherton was asked, for from the mill 
itself there is scarcely a habitation visible. " I 
suppose they will came tramping for miles like they 
used to do to the old coffee mills." " Oh, we don't 
fear any difficulty about getting plenty of work 
people," said Mr. Atherton ; " they would doubt- 
less come from a good distance, but it is our 
intention to build a village of our own close by. 
You see we have plenty of room. Just come and 
see the plan, and from it you will be able to see 
the extent of the ground at our disposal." Adjourn- 
ing to the cadj ah -covered mud-structure, with open 
sides, from which the manager at present directs 
the proceedings, and the plan being produced, it 
was seen how little in extent was the ground 
occupied by the present buildings compared to the 
area of the whole plot. This village will consist 
of decent cottages, both cabook walls and tiled 
roofs, which are likely to be much more comfortable 
than those to which the ordinary "working-classes" 
of Ceylon are accustomed. 
THE CLASS OF GOODS TO BE MADE. 
" Ah, that will be rather difficult to say," ex- 
plained Mr. Atherton in reply to a question as to 
what kind of goods they would go in for manu- 
facturing, " as there is such a variety of cotton — 
from Mr. Blackett's downwards. I want to begin 
with about 20's, and from that we would go up to 
the American drill, and in the course of time 
become producers of the finer qualities of yarn 
and cloth, — but that, of course, can only be after 
the workpeople have become sufficiently expert. 
Our start will be drills, sheetings, and the plain white 
cloths that the natives wear, towels, tablecloths, 
napkins, &c. All these things will be made on 
the premises. As far as I can see there will be 
a good demand for those honeycomb towels, as I 
find that they are not only used as towels, but 
as sheets and wrappers for the natives in colder 
parts of the island. From these qualities we shall 
seek to work our way to the finer quality of goods. 
The things to aim at producing in this country 
are camboys, which are made out of 40 yarn, but 
producing them means a dyeing establishment." 
PUNKAHS PULLED BY STEAM. 
In all the offices connected with the mill 
it is Mr. Atherton's intention to have punkahs, which 
will be worked from the engines. He has nearly 
completed a model of a little thing which he 
thinks is an almost perfect imitation of the motion 
of a punkah-puller's arm. Without this particular 
motion it is impossible to drive or pull a punkah 
properly. A straight pull would give a jerk to the 
punkah, and would not allow it to get back before 
the other jerk came. 
WORKING HOURS. 
The working hours in the new mill will be from 
daylight to dusk, no artificial lights ever being 
required. They will, however, only work six days 
a week, and not as in nearly all the Indian mills, 
and even for a beginning about 400 people will 
be employed altogether including men, women, boys 
and girls. 
THE SUITABILITY OF THE CLIMATE : 
ARTIFICIAL HEAT. 
Referring to one of the Australian letters from 
the senior editor of the Observer in which he 
gave publicity to the fear of a gentleman engaged 
in the cotton-trade that Colombo would be too 
damp for the manufacture of cotton, Mr. Atherton 
said he could not understand what the gentleman 
referred to (whom he knew), could mean, unless 
he was thinking of the south-west monsoon season. 
But the monsoon was no worse here than in India, and 
he thought the climate of Colombo was simply 
perfection. True, the heavy monsoon showers were 
not wanted for spinning, but they could overcome 
the difficulty thereby entailed. Although they were 
in a warm climate, and although they were putting 
on an iron roof, there were nights in the cold 
weather when they would have to have th« place 
artificially heated ! And very often in the day-time, 
too. There would be at least 600 lineal feet of 
steam-pipes in the spinning mill, which would 
answer the purpose of heating and drying the at- 
mosphere. These steam-pipes will of course ab- 
sorb the moisture. 
THE WATER SUPPLY. 
The great thing required about a mill is to have 
lots of water for condensing and boiler purposes, 
but freedom from floods. At Wellewatta there is any 
amount of water for working purposes, but the 
highest known flood level could not come near the 
mill. In looking round for a suitable place, those 
engaged to select a site saw very many places that 
appeared suitable at first sight, but some fault was 
always to be found until the present one was dis- 
covered. The water required for the engines will 
be drawn from the canal, about 500 gallons per 
minute being used. It will not, of course, be 
absolutely used, but it will always be returned in 
a very hot state, and unless there was a very 
large supply it would soon get too hot for 
condensing purposes. 
THE CANAL : MEANS OF TRANSPORT. 
The canal has been widened and deepened by 
the Company as far as from its junction with 
the river to the bridge on the road, and the 
Government have in hand the portion from this 
place to the sea, so that when this is deepened 
it will be easy to get to the railway from the Mill, 
thus saving a lot of cartage. At Wellewatta station 
there is already a siding running close to the canal. 
The canal is in communication with both rivers 
— the Kelaniganga on the one side, and the Kalu- 
ganga on the other, so that it is possible that 
some raw cotton may be brought down by the river to 
the mill itself. The canal, of course, will be of most 
use in enabling them to get fuel, which will consist 
solely of wood. It would cost four times more 
to burn coal than wood, the latter being so very 
cheap, and the whole of it being brought down 
by water. Close by the bridge the canal has been 
dammed, the sides having been walled in and 
landing piers built. A culvert will be made from 
the deepened part of the canal to the engines, 
and a road will be made to go right down to the 
landing place. The average depth of the canal 
from the dam to its junction with the river is 
5 feet. 
INDIA AND CEYLON AS RIVALS TO LANCASHIRE . 
Seizing the opportunity of getting the opinion 
of a thoroughly practical man on the present Iodian 
cotton trade in comparison and in rivalry to the 
Lancashire trade, our representative asked Mr. Ather- 
ton about the different conditions and prospects of 
both, and especially of Indian and Ceylon manu- 
facturers. In reply to his remark that Lancashire 
must labour under a great disadvantage by reason 
of having to import all her raw material, pay far 
higher wages, and work fewer hours than was the 
case with the Indian mills, Mr. Atherton said : — 
" The hours in India are certainly longer, but labour 
is not cheaper, for my experience has been that it 
takes from 3| to 4 native workmen to do as much as 
one average Lancashire man. The pay is smaller 
individually, but when you come to reckon up the 
total, the amount is quite as much in an Indian as 
