THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[Nov. I, 1893. 
made by all whose forest reeerves melted away, when 
plantmp every acre with coffee and cinchona was the 
rage. That the tea plant has found a congenial home 
In at least these higher regions of Ceylon may be 
deduced from an experience in 
HAKGALA GAEDENS 
—■which the courteous and intelligent Snperintend- 
ent, Mr.'Nock, is fond of showing to those interested. 
The plot of China tea put in there in the early days 
-—the Gardens were opened in the year of our arrival 
in the island (1861)— was some years ago condemned 
to be removed and superseded, and coolies with knife, 
axe and raamotie were set to work to clear it out- 
even the fireatick was eventually used— but of no 
avail; the roots could not all be got at, and from 
these new shrubs have sprung up : so that Mr. Nock's 
experience is of tea being in this respect as great 
a nuisance as the despised wattle— there is no getting 
rid o*" y"'^ *o clo so! 
In how * 'isit to these highland 
Gardens delif."^""' *° jaded toiler from the 
seaside? We renou' acquaintance with all the old 
and many new favour.'.^®"-, "^o'e again with 
ever-new delight the grace u. head of fronds of the 
most attractivB of all tree-fern^. M^ophila cnnita. 
It is something to be proud of that Ceylon should 
have indigenous to it— common enough in uplard 
glens and in gardens in and around Nuwara £liya. 
— the tree fern which Colonel Beddome. the great 
authority on Indian ferns, pronounced the finest of all 
the Asiatic tree-ferns ; and no less interesting to 
learn from Mr. Nock that none of the West Indian 
varieties that he had seen in Jamaica, and none even 
of the Australasian tree-ferns, are to be compared 
to it in gracefulness and beauty. In Hakgala, there 
is a specimen not far short of 20 feet in height with a 
head of fronds wonderful to see. In contrast we have 
the New Zealad silver-tree fern, striking and attrac- 
tive in its way. The Gardens had suffered from a 
rather prolonged drought before our visit, but this did 
not affect the splendid specimens of introduced trees : 
— in Japnn cryptomerias, cnpressus, the flame tree, 
'pinus longifdlla and a host besides. The giant for 
growth, at least in girth, is an acacia denlbalx, cod- 
demned by planters for its troublesome spreading 
habit from the loots, but which in this case in the course 
of 12 years has developed a circumference not less than 
8J to 9 feet, say 3 feet diameter at the stoutest. 
NKT7 TEGETABLES. 
Mr. Nock's gr^at service to the community in 
introducing useful vegetables from the West Indies 
is well-known. The tree tomato is now widespread 
in many of the higher districts and most productive 
and useful is it found to be. No less so are the cho-cho 
and some vegetables which are admirably adapted 
for native cultivation, but which it is found most 
diflBcult to get the Sinhalese to take in hand. 
They would fain go on as their fathers did before 
them ; and yet that persistency has its reward is 
shown by the way in which the people of Uva 
cultivate potatoes at the present day and for many 
years back. Of course, we have here an introduced 
vegetable which at the beginning of the present 
century was quite unknown to the Sinhalese, but 
which now they quite appreciate, at least in Uva- 
So we encouraged Mr. Nock to persevere until he 
sees the villagers far and near growing his " cho- 
chos " and " arracachas " and realizing that they 
are more useful even than the tree-tomatoes and 
nearly as much so as potatoes. And then in re- 
ference to the last-named vegetable, how much has 
been done at Hakgala by introducing fresh seed (the 
value of which the natives most fully appreciate) and 
a great number of varieties. In this respect, as in 
the introduction and growth of new fruits, black- 
berries, strawberries, cherries, pears, figs, apples, 
Mr. Nock has done very valuable work of late years 
at Hakgala, and no one could be readier, or more 
interested, thau he in helping any native or planter 
wiio may wish to profit by his experience m ex- 
perimenting with any of these new introductions. 
We have alluded to a recent drought at Hakgala. 
Here are the figures foe tl^e expired niae iQontha 
•f the year compared with the same period of 
loan. 
1892. 1898. 
Inches, Incbei. 
810 ... January .. 5 25 
3 09 .. February .. 119 
3'8l ... March .. 11-55 
7 61 ... April .. iU 
9 33 ... May .. 6-49 
711 .. June ... 1146 
6-42 ... July ... 5-82 
4- 60 .. Aogast .. 281 
5- 96 .. September ... 1-27 
56 03 Total .. 47-99 
47-99 
8 04 Deficiency. 
The deficiency is thus over eight inches, and more 
particularly have August and September been short, 
notwithstanding verv wet weather occasionally on 
the Dimbula side. "But that is a common exp'ri- 
ence ; for while Nuwara Eliya as well as tne 
western districts have had for three or four days 
now abundance of rain (in this last Son'-Wester), 
Hakgala with all Uva and indeed— as I learn as 
I write — Maturata, have had no rain whatever, but 
are bathed in sunshine. 
There is no need to allude to the delightfal view 
from Hnkgala ; for we had the more novel as well 
as interesting oatlook over Uva afforded from 
MK. LIPTON FOB INSTANCE. 
In purchasing the Dambatenne-Laymas Group, it 
is unaerstood tne coffee was reckoned as very little 
worth- as likely to disappear before long, and jet 
last year this fortunate proprietor got no less than 
8,000 bushels of this valuable product. He is now 
the owner of nearly 1,000 acres of tea and the 
Dambatenne portion is among the very finest in the 
island. Indeed the higher you go in Hapntale (as 
in some other quarters) the finer the tea se^ms to 
be. It will be hard to beat in India or Ceylon the 
St. Catherine portion of the far-famed Nayabedde 
belonging to another and even more extensile pro- 
prietor, whose dealings in Cevlon (from the time he 
was known as the most capable and euccessfal Bank 
Manager the East ever f.rx) have been almost 
uniformly successful. We jcfer to 
MB. O. S. DUFF 
who has never spared his capital in doing justice 
to his plantation properties in so many of our more 
notable districts. We have it on competent im- 
partial authority — that of a Matale proprietor and 
Inspector of estates, ^not the ez-Haputale resident 
who had to do with the planting !) — that there is 
no finer field of tea in the island than that which 
mns up to over 6,000 feet altitude on the St. Catherine's 
division of Nayabedde. We have frequently 
referred to the great success of 
TEA ON PATANA LAND IN UVA 
— and this opens up a vista for extended cultivation 
in the neighbourhood of Badulla, Passara and belovr 
Narangalla, which we scarcely like to dwell on at 
a time when Sir JohnMuir and his colleagues are 
threatening in another quarters to inaugurate the 
era of over-production. One thing is certain : that 
the Secretary of State must r. lax his law about 
CHOWN LAUD OVER 6,000 FEET 
SO far as tbe country betwee"ki Dimbula and Haputale 
is concerned. It will never do to have a Railway 
running some 12, 15 or even 20 miles with scarcely 
any contributory traf&c en route. We are aware, of 
course— no one knows better — that the terminal trafiSc 
at The Pass which practically commands Uva, was 
the great object in view. But as owners of the 
railway and trustees for the public interests, the 
Government are surely bound to, at least, a^ord 
the opportunity of developing industry and traffic 
alongside their own railway stations and sidinga 
through one of the healthiest regions in the island. We 
do not so much think of the sale of forest-land for the 
purpose of tea planting, though there ara select 
valleys between Nuwara Eliya and Hapntale, where 
lota might well be cut out and sold at from BlOO upwards 
per acre probably, with the ooudiiion that a oertein 
