March t, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 625 
not even the merit o£ being well drilled. 
The" Saienee fever" waa upon the land and 
younger 80D3, the humaa debrie of tbe professions, 
declared themselves soicatista and too often 
obtained responsiLle posta. Tbe 'confidenoo 
triok' oancot be played often on the same 
person, least on thit of an Bngliah Company. 
Their corporate argument waa " this man is a 
failure. So ia aoienoe applied to arts." " Let us 
stick to our fetish empirioiam." They did so ; but 
Germany's fetish in the meantime was, ' teohnioal 
sohools." So that now Goldsmith might re-oon- 
struot, Qould he live again, his famaua lines to 
" tr-tde'a unfeeling train give up the land and 
repossea the swain." 
Tha moral is obvious and one hopea more likely 
of adoption in Ceylon than at homp. Scienae 
sharpens your trade toola — it ia like Touchstone, 
the whet-stone cf the wits. Use this whet-stone 
or shall we say use it more. That this letter is 
written by one who has only been in the Colony 
a few months will not cause its re.j action, that 
the mentor is what is usually called a man of 
Boieuoe, will not discount the advice given, tbe 
writer having experienced Cejlon hospitality io 
emboldened to believe. — Yours, &o. K. W. T. 
THE TEA ENTERPBISE AND SCIENTIFIC 
EXPERTS. 
Dear Sir, — There's a good deal of good sense in 
much that "F. W. A'." urges in his letter to you ; but 
his remarks are too general to do much good in such 
an absolutely non-scientific community aa we find 
in Ceylon. He must say out more clearly and 
definitely what he would have ua do ? You, Mr. 
Editor, make soma effort to do thia in your 
separate paragraph, for there you enumerate 
Chemical, fiatomological, and Botanical experts aa 
necessary advisers for planters, presumably as 
residents in our midat ; and to give you your 
due, Sir, you have done all you can towards helping 
the planters in theaa matters, as witness the 
valuable contributions of IMr. M. Cochran in the 
Tropical AgricuUuritt, and your persistent ad- 
vocacy of employing the services of him and Mr, 
Hughes. 
Now, being mentally troubled with a scientific 
twist myself, I am not likely to argue against 
the wisdom of bringing BoiencB to bear upon all 
our trades and occupatioua. 1 think this is dona 
far more extensively in England than " F, W. K." 
would make out, or is perhaps aware of; still it 
is quite possible that Germany is forging ahead 
in advance of our manufacturers in Euoh matters; 
but it would be interesting to hear what leading 
and experienced English manufacturers themselves 
have to say in the matter, and quite ceoessary 
to do so bafore being alarmed by such irrespon- 
sible wailinga as those uttered by "F. W. K." 
We may let that pass, however. Let England 
look after herself. Germany is a poor country, 
and only by doing her best can she pay her way, 
and it will take her all her time and all she 
knows to keep pace with France and America. 
Of course, we feel her competition moat in our 
Colonies, and it is peifeotiy sickening to see so 
many articles marked "made in Germany." It 
will take a good many years to convince Eng- 
lisrhmen that thia ia not the "Hall-mark" of 
rubbish, compared to what his own country pro- 
ducoa ; but let our manufacturers and our striking, 
domineeiing workmen look to it, and let us kn jw why 
thia is thus. Look, too, at the vile mud from the Seine 
and the Po forced upon us in the name of "butt; r," 
rot a jariiole of which everaaw the cow, while Ireland 
^YKatea her energies in geuaeUa^ ^u^ wocae than 
useless patriotism, and New Zealand and Australia 
look calmly on— cither of which countries could 
keep ua supplied, at less cost, with the wholesome 
product of the cow. I wonder if this tinned 
clarified mud is also imported into Australia itself? 
1 remember yeorj ago, before such preparatio a 
were known being always able to buy the most 
delicious Irish salt butter in kegs : where is it 
now ? Importers greedy of gain have forced this 
vile substitute upon us. 
But to the point : suppose every District Associa- 
tion had possessed its own Chemist, Entomologist 
and Botniist in 1867, would that have stayed 
the ravages of Hemileia Vastatrix, or delayed 
the fate of coffee for one single day ? Well, Sir, 
leaving this question for you to answer also, 
let us imagine these three experts already ap- 
poioted, established and at work in our midst, what 
would they find to do? Take tha Ohemiat : — ia 
not Mr. Cochran at hand to analyse any soil or 
manure, any planter might desire to have ? 0£ 
course he would have to p\y a good fee, but 
would the official chemist work for ua all for 
nothing ? His liTe would be preity burthenaoma 
in that case, and who would decide whose turn 
should come first ? Or setting Mr. Ooohran aside, 
is England now so far off and the " Sample 
Post" so expensive, that any planter who likes, 
or the Planters' Association compulsorily on 
their behalf, cannot get their analyses done 
far cheaper and better at home ? But, perhaps, 
the official Chemist would go about the country 
preaching and teaching. What? — Now, take tha 
Entomologist. Does not Dr. Trimen in hia 
communication to the Observer of 2ad Feb. (see page 
589) to which I have already referred, give the best 
answer to like qieationa concerning this expert ? 
"Everybody knows that plants are the natural 
food of insects," he says, " and the home of 
innumerable fungi, and must be aware that only 
in a few obvious cases, as when extremely abun- 
dant, any damage is done worth mentioning." 
And he alec remarks : — " Sending every insect or 
fungus they may chance to find already amounts 
to an absurdity." What would the poor offioial 
Entomologist's life be worth if he were compelled 
(and it not compelled I see no use for him) 
to examine and report upon every mortal 
insect sent to him? Else how would he work? 
Then as regards the Botanist, what would hig 
hands find to do that Dr. Trimen does not do, or 
is not ready to do for us ? 
Well, all this reads very much like cold water 
and discouragement ; but I mean that only in de- 
precation of too hasty action. Let our political 
" Planters' AsEociation" turn their attention for 
once to Scientific Agriculture. Perhaps some of us 
outsiderp, who now hold aloof would then join them. 
Let this Association of planters as such — not aa 
Euoking politicians striving to qua'ify themselvea 
for the Legislative Council) — assisted by tha 
advice of the scientifts already named: (Trimen, 
Cochran, Green, Armitage, &o.,) first formulate a 
scheme, definitely setting forth rchat it is ice want^ 
and what ice expect each of the experts named to do ; 
for if these experts be appointed — however they may 
be paid, before this essential first step ia taken 
and is well considered and defined, only a ridiculous 
ilasco would result. As you know. Sir, Science is 
almost my religion, and it is to keep it from being 
made absurd that I thus Ecek to restrain action 
that is aimless and chaotic, until formulated and 
made clear. It ia those men who know least 
about Science (amongst whom in these three 
dipartments I am one of the moat ignorant) 
who eiueot most and demand that "experl^'J 
Should be inftvllible, TE^^I^^L£, 
