Oct. 2, 1893.] THE TROftCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
here he entertained, as no other planter could 
entertain, all and .sundry, from the Queen's repre- 
sentative down to the humblest coolie, and all were 
alike welcome to his table and the best he had 
upon it. It was from here he was chosen Chair- 
man of the Planters' Association and became mem- 
ber of the Legislative Council, a position he 
deliberately aimed at and steadily worked up to.* 
It was here the writer periodically paid him a 
passing visit, and generally found the patriarch 
suiTounded by a bevy of his favourite coolies, 
singing extempore songs and ever ready to laugh 
" At all his jokes, 
For many a joke had he." 
Meanwhile, the e.states were giving bumper crops, 
and everythino- he touched seemed to prosper. 
Pallakellie itself seemed a curious experiment by 
one who came to teach pruning and the clearing 
away of shade, but it succeeded ; and nothing 
could exceed the beautj' of the coffee as it grew 
like large patches of glossy shrubbery in a noble 
park. For some ten years the average crops on 
the Dumbara estate had equalled 10 cwt. per 
acre. Wealth accumulated, and the people did not 
decay, prosperity indeed only stimulated our 
friend to greater exertions and still more liberal 
giving. 
Dry Cycle. 
But the time at length came when the prosperity 
of Dumbai'a received a serious check, a cycle of 
dry seasons set in apd the crops became more and 
more uncertain. The trees indeed blossomed as 
of yore, and the bright red cherry too followed in 
abundance ; but alas the bean did not mature, and 
only floated like chaff in the cisterns. Dumbara, 
with all its rich soil and genial sunshine, could 
not be got to grow fully-developed fruit without 
■easonable moisture, and how to supply this too- 
evident want now exercised the active brain of 
Mr. Tytler. 
Irrigation. 
The Mahavelliganga rolled past. What so 
riitural to suggest itself as that these muddy 
Waters, cairying the riches from the hill estates, 
should be utilized in moistening the thirsty lands of 
Rajawella. And now comes the interesting story 
of the gigantic Waterworks, a story unfortunately 
too long for the space at my disposal, works ably 
conceived and admirably carried out. 
We have looked upon the elaborate make-shifts 
of the Egyptians for the conveyance of water, seen 
the stupendous aqueducts of the ancient Incas ; 
but nowhere in the world have we seen such 
powerful force-pumps in use, as those erected 
by Mr. Tytler. In "the erecting of these works, 
Mr. John Brown - since so well known as the 
pioneer of Uva Companies— first made his mark 
as Engineer and Colonist under Mr. Tytler's 
auspices. 
A huge turbine supplied by water from the river 
gave the motive power, by which a continuous 
stream of about 1,000 gals, per minute was carried 
to the crest of a ridge .500 feet above the pu'i^ps. 
On the crest of each minor-ridge the main pipe was 
* No more popular Chairman ever presided over 
tho Planters' ABsooiatiou, and to the last, the sight of 
"R. B. T.'s " gigantic " topee ' with its famous pug- 
gery, making for a P. A. meeting was a sure sign of 
a successful gathering with abundance of humour to 
season the business speeches. As M. L. C, Mr. Tytler 
was all too short a lime in office, and the Governor, 
Sir Henry Ward (who most warmly appreciated his 
ability and good qualities) greatly regretted that he 
bad not his (Mr. Tytler s) co-operation in the 
Lc^jislatuxe ivi *> longer peilod.—^. T,d% 
furnished with stop-cocks to let out the water-, 
which-was conducted by surface drains to each line 
of coffee and every coffee tree. But carefully 
thought-out and faithfully-executed as these costly 
works were, it must be admitted they did nob 
11 rove a financial success. Magical as the effect afc 
hrst seemed to be, it was found that the water 
percolated rather too readily through the open 
subsoil, and although it refreshed the coffee for the 
time, it did not even with liquid manure added, 
sufficiently sustain the trees to enable them to 
carry the crop to maturity. 
That coffee will thrive and prove eminently 
productive under irrigation, is of course well 
Known, and we have seen it bearing very abun- 
dantly where rain was never knoion to have fallen, 
bxrt only on perfectly flat land, regularly irrigated 
at night, and these conditions were not present 
or very practicable in Dumbara, %o that the 
success of the costly waterworks was far fr om being- 
such as Mr. Tytler and his many friends could have 
wished. In short, the irrigation works proved his 
first serious loss; but nothing daunted, his ever- 
resourceful brain was next directed to a study of 
the chemical composition of the soil, the gradual 
impoverishment of which he now saw with grow- 
ing concern. This was a study of years, the result 
of which we will come to later on. 
Takes a Trip Home. 
Meanwhile (1857), Mr. Tytler prepares to take a 
trip home, a visit which Aberdeen \\ ell remem- 
bers. He was then in the prime of manhood (38) ; 
weighed 18 stone ! but ever active, hearty and 
cheerful to a degree. The burly frame of the 
broad-chested planter became familiar on the 
Castle Gate, and a welcome sight at all public 
meetings, while his cheery salutation on the 
streets was enjoyed by gentle and simple alike. 
There ^yas something so intensely sympathetic, 
and at times so child-like in voice and laughter, 
that he invariably won the hearts of all wich 
whom he came in contact. But this was not the 
whole secret. He was passionately fond of giving 
— enough of itself to insure unbounded popularity 
in Aberdeen — liberal to a fault, though surely a 
fault that leant to virtue's side. The boys thought 
so ; would double round corners, change bonnets, 
and do as they did in the days of dear old Dr. Kidd» 
But in this case it was not to get a double hla^n- 
ing hilt anither saxj)ence, or even a " fite penny" 
as K. B. T. would call the florin with which he 
delighted to astonish the recipient. 
Most unselfish of men ! He cared nothing for 
money, as money, and looked with the greatest 
contempt on the poor creatures who accumulated it 
for the sake of hoarding : 
" You see what the Lord thinks of money by the 
sort of people he gives it to keep"— he used to say. 
The Volunteer Fiasco. 
It was at this time that the famous Volunteer 
movement broke out amongst the Ceylon planters, 
and when he threw his celebrated letter like a 
bombsiiell in their midst, it caused intense excice- 
ment. He ridiculeil the moveme.it as an impos- 
sibility and an outrage on commonsense, could see 
nothing in it but " an idle vapouring of undignified 
playing; at soldiers," that " the planter was paid 
lor duties which no man of honour would negiecb 
for the purpose of volunteering," that "proprie. 
tors at liome who were already torturing their 
ingenuity how to get the two ends of high expen- 
diture and short crops to meet, would dcrivo 
little consolation from seeing in the Obsr.rccr, that 
their Superintendents were zealous \'oluntuers "J 
finally, he vecomineuded Jii« friend- in Mutal'j 
