48q 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* fjAK. i. 1894. 
No. XXXIII. 
UpcouDtry, Dec. 7. 
De&B Sib,— Mr. Shelton Agar conld give you somo 
valnable iHforujntioD re "Tea cultivotion in Ceylon : 
gooil crops and guoil prices." Agat's Lacd, I think, 
took tho oake iireometime in price and I fancy 
without Buy great outlay on cither factory or mach- 
inery. Now I fancy both have b' eu improved, but 
where are the pricB ?— Yours truly, 
AN OLD COFFEE STUMP. 
[The same qaestion may be asked of a good many 
estates besides Agai's Lund ; for inslanco Rookwood, 
Blackstoce, Hool.anlcando iind even PortewooJ, May 
we not understand hope tliat the proprietors found 
coarser plucking, moie «rop and lower prices, pay 
better -Ed. T.A.I 
No. XXXIV. 
Dec. 8. 
Dbae Sir,— With reference to the letter of "25 Years 
a Planter", I should eay speaking from experience, 
that given ^rood j;Vt, and good sail, good tea can be 
made at a low elevation eay 400 ft, to COO ft. 
Tea made at that elev»tion hiia not wh»t is known 
■8 "hill flavour" so marked as tea grown at a high 
elevation; but if properly niannfaotured it his a 
malty flavour which seonres a good price; and what 
is wautirg in flavour in made np in strength and 
thickness of liquor. To find out and cirefully c;irry 
out the style of manufacture suitable to the ts- 
tate baa a great deal to do with making gooH tea. 
That means attention to the virions details of mr- 
Dufacture, withering, roUinc, etc. From poor soil, 
good tea cannot be made in any profitable quattity. 
The yield per aoro is greatly affected by shelter and 
aspect. Flavour is pjrely a con'tituent cf the scil. It 
can be preserved or lost in the icannfaoture, but 
cannot be prodnoed. AYithout ecientifio knotvledge 
such as suggested by Mr. John Hughe?, I do not 
think we will be able to account for the different 
results from apparently similar ecils cn adjoining 
estates. This very question has been put to me by Mr. 
Kutherford eince his arrival in the island. — Yours 
faithfully, A TEA PLANTER SINCE 1879. 
No. XXXV. 
Elevation, 4,200 to 4,1)00 feet, Dec. 8. 
Deae Sir, — "25 Years a Planter " is right as to 
elev»tion, soil and good jat being required to give high 
price teas with large yields ; but fhould have incladed 
climate and cultivation aod not have ignored advant- 
ages in manufaotnre. All these must be favourable in 
order to get the ^?y/iesf prices with the largest yields. 
There are good profits and fair teas made under 
less favourable conditions ; tut the above results are 
not obtainable without them. 
Given vafural advantages, there is, as a matter of 
fact, considerable difference in rssnlts which can only 
be accounted for by extra care in onltivation or manu- 
facture — in detail- 
I have known whole fields on some estates, badly 
planted at first, otter failures, and after several years 
the trees were uprooted, and the same ground re- 
planted under proper treatment and up to the present 
moment they are one <ind all giving fine yielc's of 
leaf ; and so with manufacture, much depends on the 
Factory accommodation and machinery, and how to 
use all to best advantage and make the most ot the 
leaf from the field. 
I have found at this elevatirn a good Assam 
Hybrid give best results, but I have never been able 
to get the fame results all the year roond without 
changing the pincking. If highest prices are to be 
maintained, it is absolutely neces'jary to pluck finer at 
certain seasons than at others and of course tbis 
means less quantity for the time; and so it is entirely 
a question of which pays the be.it ; and the deraanri of 
the' home market easily settles that. W. 
CACAO, COFFEE AND TOBACCO IN 
NORTH BORNEO. 
BY AH EX-CeTLOM PLiNTBB. 
SandaksD, Nor. 19. 
My Dear "Objeevke."— I think your T.A. ia 
more intereBting than ever with its Biographical 
Notiy and hand.'some Portraits. Your noten on 
R. B. Tytler'a career are partiouiarlv so and I 
specially note bia reliance, si well justified, on 
cacao, to which I am giving a good deal o( 
attention. I think we have an ideal climate for 
oacao, hot and moist with no prolonged drought, 
a3 /OH will Bee by the adjoined table and notes : — 
■f?ipiin 2 
o apuqa 9q» 
ai Jiti oi[% 
n 
g I3i bX«p-j9a^ - 
o 
^ -Svp ouo UI o 
a 118} }«31A«I9H 2 
3 is 
M I- ^ o " r 
O o n * ~ 
•* — 2 J5 « 
10 i "P IS 
^ § * C • 
ii|s.H 
• « o •= 
' C 9 
"2 0..0 
® « = o c 
2 a 5 
•^■-85 - 
2 g 
05 O 
o eS c O 
j3 v ^ ^ a 
5^ ^ 
•sfBp-ieAV S 5 2 
^ - 00 u3 CO 
ll»juita i ^, er. 
a <3 
n 
CO ^ ■- ° 
o o * 
' © © *S G o S 
— ^- o 
<« =— 5 
> ^ D ^ V ''73 2 
» a ? - « 
:« . 6 ^ J, ■ 
a a. IN •<*" O ' Z 
<! S^s ° 
Toritipau is the name o( the coSae estate I opened 
after my return in 1891 where there are now 105 
acres in Liberian coffee and 32 being planted. As 
an experiment we pat in an acre or two of 
Arabian coffee which has grown very fast and one year 
old plants have blossomed freely and the blossoms 
are setting. This is probably doe to our cold nights, 
and the low temperature is probably due to our hill 
system of which you Ceylonites have little con- 
ception. We began about a mile and a ba'f from the 
Fea and at sea level, tut we are working up and 
I think the top elevation within our oicn land 
must be 2,000 feet ; we have a splendid water supply 
and (plendid soil. I wish some of yoor fellows 
would come and Fee the Liberian, the first plant- 
irg of which are bein? topped «t o feet 6 inches, 
and there is a little crop and I can show seme 
very satisfactory racao, the planting of which is 
receiving from me and the manager, Mr. Thos. 
Johnston, a great deal of care. Of conrae, we have 
