960 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[May 1, 1882. 
the way between, as also all the way down to sea-level? 
tea ise qually successful, and Ceylon will yet be a grea 
tea country. Of that there can be no doubt. Tea drying by 
such machines as the "Sirocco" removes one of the 
great objections, that of hot, night work, which formerly 
weighed against tea in comparison with coffee. I 
was sorry to learn, en route, that coffee grown in 
Ceylon from seed obtained from Nalknaad, in Coorg, 
possessed no immunity from leaf-disease. The ques- 
tions now are, if the variety of Liberian coffee which 
resists disease can be grafted on Arabian and up to 
what altitude it will grow ? In Kottiagalla Oya 
valley I saw the great contrast between still vigorous 
old coffee, and some only six years old, but from 
seed of trees enfeebled by leaf-disease. For the 
present, the planting of Arabian coffee is at a stand- 
still, unless there are small exceptions in TJva. 
I have now paid my third visit of inspection to 
Ledgeriana grafts placed on succirubra plants in situ 
and in the open air. There can be no further doubt 
of the perfect success of the discovery which, and 
all the consequences that must result to the planting 
enterprise of Ceylon, the country owes to Mr. Wm. 
Smith. Mr. Moens deals with stocks in flower pots, 
uses only the tips of Ledgeriana branches, and not 
only one covering of glass, but two are desiderated 
in his process. Mr. Smith grafts in the open air, 
with no shade beyond a bottomless, up-turned basket 
and a bit of sacking. He can graft ripe wood on 
well-grown trees, and not the tips merely, but all 
the branches of a good Ledgeriana tree are available. 
I hope., soon to deal fully with this grand discovery 
which, while conferring incalculable beuefit on Ceylon, 
will, I trust, result in fortune to the owner of the 150 
fine Ledgerianas which he says he owes to seed I gave 
him. Apart from the wonderful analyses, which are 
the true tests, I can say that the foliage-features of the 
trees are just perfect reproductions of Mr. Moens' 
celebrated Ledgeriana grove in Java. The precious 
seed of the Mattakelle trees is being carefully collected 
by «ieans of calico cages which envelope stems and 
branches. 
Close by them, in a beautiful shady piece of the 
original jungle, the genial owner of the Ledgers (one 
of which he values at £5,000, which, in fact he would not 
part with at that sum,) gave, a few days ago a ladies' 
and children's party which was a delightful success 
in the large numbers present and the perfect enjoy- 
ment which prevailed. The Laird of Mattakelle 
is not one of those who despairs because 
depression has overtaken the cjd coffee enterprise. 
He believes as I do that there is life in the old 
colony yet, and that robust vitality will fully return.' 
EXHIBITION OF CEYLON PRODUCTS. 
We are glad to see that our friends in Ceylon are 
setting themselves to work to secure in the museums of 
the island space for the exhibition of the different kinds 
of coffee produced in various countries. Their efforts 
have been backed up, and there has not been much 
difficulty in obtaining the required concession. One 
would have thought that it would have been hardly 
necessary to ask for room, because coffee is a produce 
of such interest to Ceylon that every assistance to 
examine what grows in other places ought surely to 
have been tendered by the Government. As we have 
often remarked, private enterprise does a great deal, 
and will do more, but there are little things in which 
the authorities can show an interest, and which act as 
a stimulus to efforts temporarily checked by bad seasons 
and unfavourable circum-tances. The collection of 
natural produc S is, one of these ways of showing 
internet, and from the means at the command of the 
Oovcrnmenl it is very easy for them to bring within the 
observation of planters many things of great use to 
them. Seeking as they are to find some new article to 
add to the producing powers of the country, it behoves 
the Government "to give them all the aid that is 
possible, and, in view of the losses sustained in recent 
years, nothing should be left undone which will con- 
duce to a revival of prosperity. Moreover, the 
expense to be incurred in making such a collection is 
very small, and can hardly be reckoned as anything 
beside the possible beneficial results. It is not too 
much to ask the Government to see to this, but there 
seem9 an amount of supiness and lack of energy in what 
should' be the guiding star. They should encourage in 
every way the opportunity for bringing to the notice of 
the planters all and every product which may be in- 
troduced with success into the island. — L. & C. Exprexs. 
MR. EDGAR LAYARD IN NEW CALEDONIA. 
From a long paper in the Field of Feb 4th, we extract 
a few sentences of some local interest as much on account 
of the writer as of the substance : — 
In The Field of the 16th April last will be found an 
account of the unexpected fishing I met with in the, 
to me, then unknown river at Moindou, on the west 
coast of this Island. I there and then "promised 
and vowed three things iu my name," and I now' 
intend to redeem my promises better than most god- 
fathers ordinarily do. 
First, I promised, if I lived, to so back again ; 
secondly, to try the fish with spinning bait and 
artificial fly ; and, thirdly, to write and tell my 
brethren of the angle all about it in The Field. 
I wanted to revisit Moindou in the months of 
August and September, when the huge old Erythrina 
tree9 that grow on the river bottom, or flat, through 
which the river meanders, were in all their glory- 
one gorgeous mass of scarlet and gold, and, as my 
kind friend Mons. Boyer toid me, swarming with parrots. 
I wanted to find one special kind of parrot — Glossop- 
sitta diadema — which I have not yet seen, and which 
is very rare. Alas ! man proposes, but God disposes. 
First, I got pitched out of my phaeton, and dis- 
abled my left arm, which leaves me with a perma- 
nent stiff wrist. Then my "better half " had a serious 
illness ; and so it was not till the first days of 
October that I found myself steaming along in the 
lumbering old "Croix du Sud," with her head pointed 
to Teremba. Our voyage was not a very eventful 
one. It was a dead calm, and the only living things 
visible were dozens of a brown-coloured sea-snake, 
which surrounded us on all sides for miles. Some 
were swimming lazily along, others lay motionless 
and heedless of the steamer as she ploughed past 
them ; some extended at full length, others coiled up. 
I see a discussion in The Field as to the climbing 
powers of these reptiles. I cannot say I have ever 
actually seen them climb up a hawser or rock either ; 
but I have heard so often of their being found on 
board vessels lying at anchor that I have no doubt 
they can climb up a hawser or chain, and I have 
both heard of and seen them in places on land to 
reach which they must have had some power of 
climbing and locomotion. Here they are not dreaded 
as venomous ; but in the eastern seae I have heard 
of many accidents. * * * * 
In my former account I mentioned that one of 
the fishes I caught, a kind of fresh-water herring, 
was said to be very abundant in the marshes and ponds. 
There was a lovely pond, or "tank," as we should 
have called it in Ceylon, within view of the house. 
It lay right on the boundary line of the coffee plant- 
ation ; so one side had been cleared of all but ihe 
gigantic erythrina trees, the other was Btill covered 
with fine forest, the branches of some of the trees 
sweeping down to the water. The big trees were 
still in flower, a grand mass of colour; and, as the 
