Nov. I, 1893.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
30s 
THE TEA PLANTING INDUSTET IN CEYLON. 
Just aa we have pointed out the location of wh^t is 
left to U8 of " Oofiee," it may be well briefly to 
brirg under review the great divisions or oentres of 
" tea " oultivation in the island. We may well 
be told that tea is everywhere, or BBked where it is 
not, within the reoogoised planting country of the 
mountain zone and muoh of our South-Western 
lowoountry ; but by grouping certain diatriots to- 
gether and showing the total area in these covered 
by the tea plant, we may get a maoh bet'er idea of 
the importance of the Beveral divisions. In doirg ro 
we may first give an approximative estimate of the 
area under tea from an altitude of about five 
thousand ftet above sea-level and upwards ; aeoondly 
between five thousand down lo about tbree-thou- 
sand-five-hundred feet altitude ; thirdly from the 
latter limit to say two-thousand fatt ; fourthly 
between two and one thousand fept ; and fifthly 
under a thousand feet altitude end in the low- 
oountry proper. Premising that the aggregate area 
planted for Ceylon is taken, according to the latest 
Directory returns, at 273,000 aorep, our estimate 
of approximative areas at the different altitudes 
works out as follows : — 
Feet. Feet. 
Acres. 
Tea above 
(or olosa on) 5,000 about 
10,814 
1)0. 
do. 
3,500 and nnder 5,000. 
125,851 
Do. 
do. 
2,000 do. 3,500. 
70,707 
Do. 
do. 
1,000 do. 2,000.. 
81,050 
Do. 
un''er 
1,000. 
34,693 
Tot«l 
273,205 
Next we may at tempt some grouping as respects 
districts. Taking first the great expanse of cultivation 
between Great Weaiern and Adacn's Peak and in- 
cluding Lower Dikoys, we get of tea planted, as 
follows :— 
Aci-es. 
Dimbula — area under tea . . 39,980 
Dikoya do. .. 26,855 
DikoyaLower Ho. .. 7,150 
Maskeliya do. .. 17,760 
Total . . 90,745 
Or as nebr as po3Bible, one-third of the total area 
planted in the country, and certainly by far the 
most valuable third. Let ua by way of contrast place 
tlie Uva group of difltricts, going as far as Matura'a 
on the one side and Balangoda — though this may 
seim rather beyond iho Uva climate— on the other. 
We then get a letura us follows : — 
Acres. 
Haputale area under tea . . 9,050 
„ West „ .. 1,086 
Balangoda „ .. 1,890 
New Gal way ,, . . 545 
Udapussellawa ,, . . 5,957 
Maturata ,, . . 4,496 
BaduUa „ .. 5,989 
l'a.8saj:a ,, . . 3,606 
iVladulaima and Nuwara 
Kliya ,, ,. 5,620 
Monaiagala ,, . . 245 
Total . . 38,484 
Here, we h..ve uI/jU'. one-aeventh of our 0 1 
area undrr t«a ; but then it must be r mi mber.d 
that in this division there are over 20,000 acres 
of ooffne and an appreciable area of cinchona 
at^a-npt only G 000 aori B nf onfffle and very little 
Oinubuiiu 111 Lue D.muuia-Diku, a group- 
It may be well next to show the area under 
lea in the districts North end South of Kand: 
respeotively. la the Northern, North-WeBtern and 
SO 
North-Eastern divisions, we have :— 
Acres. 
MataleEast <fe Laggala— area under tea 6,638 
Matale West . . . . 2,881 
„ North .. 828 
Kelebokka . . , , 4,227 
Knuckles .. ., s'^gog 
Nitre Gave . . . , 329 
Rangala .. ., 4,397 
jVIeda ■iahanuwara . . . . ygy 
Hunasgiriya ... .. 3,061 
Panwila and Wattegama . . . . 1,716 
Dumbara . . . . 65 
(And let us add) Knrunegala . . 1,396 
Total ., 30,114 
Or less than one-ninth of the whole extent under 
tea and less than half the acreage included in 
the next group. South and West of Kandy, we 
place : — 
A ores. 
Hantane — area under tea 4,349 
Hewaheta Lower 3,065 
„ Upper 3,558 
Nilambe ... 4,402 
Pussellawa ... 11,358 
Ramboda ... 3,718 
Pundalnoya ... 3,010 
Kotmale ... 7,662 
Ambagamuwa ... 5,539 
Yakdessa ... 1,933 
Dolosbage ... 13,166 
Kadngannawa ,„ 2,626 
Alagala ... 1,887 
Total.. 66,273 
Thia takes the second place, the proportion being 
very nearly one-fourth of the whole. 
Finally, we may give all that remain together aa 
" Loweountry," although the Rakwana, Kukulu and 
Morawak Korale districts are scarcely in that 
category : — 
Acres. 
Kelani Valley — area under tea 18,679 
Kegalla and Polgahawela . . 1,153 
Kalutara . . 7,660 
Udagama . . 3[293 
Other Loweountry Disitricti . , 5,843 
Kuruwita 
Rakwana 
Morawak Korale 
Kukulu Korale 
36,628 
S65 
3,135 
2,790 
1,016 
Total... 44,134 
In this total we have nearly one-sixth of the grand 
aggregate for the island ; but as time rolls on, 
if only encouragement is offered through prices 
keeping up, we may expect the lowoountry to show 
a further oonsiderable deTelopment. {See next page.) 
THE ORIENTAL BANK ESTATES 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
REPOET OF THE BOABD OF DIHECTORS. 
The following is the report of the directors which 
was to be presented to the shareholders at the Seventh 
Annual Ordinary General Meeting, to be held at 
Winohea'er House, Old Board Strfet, London, EC 
On Thdbsdat, Sept. 28th, 1893, at nook. 
Ti e direotcrs preeont as follows to Shureholdem 
their report of prooeedings together with tbe accom- 
pa. ying balance sheet for the seventh year of the 
working of the Compmv. 
The great Mauritius hiir-i-anp of the 29th Ap'ril fn 
last year took place during the period uiii-or roviow 
^'■^ sffeoted the cropR whio". h' c:"n tT ho rrape^ in 
S(pt(iaiber last, iht .a.,, of wlii li has lutoly bc»n 
completed. 
