8^4 
tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. IJune i, 1894. 
huDters bringing in 20 to 30 " KuruminiysB " end 
several of the led " Eandapanuwas " as the result 
df a morning's hunt ; while it was traly mournful 
to see the efieot of the tatter's attack oa some of the 
largest palms, through burrowing in tbeir side and 
the larva penetrating to the vital core of the 
palm. At the same time, tlie ingenuity with 
^hich, under experienced direction, a sharp cooly 
was engaged in the attempt to save some of ilie 
trees so attaoked, was very interesting to watch. 
There is another great drawback, in the fact that 
this region alongside or Notth of the Deduru-oya 
— 80 favourable to the growth of ihe coconut, io the 
mixture of sandy-alluvial brackieh Eoil if we may so 
term it — is by no meacs congenial to human beings, 
at any rate during eeveral months of the year. No 
doubt amelioration may bf\ anticipated here, as 
has been the case in the Maha-oya Valley, as clear- 
ings extend, and more care is taken about residenocai 
oooly lines and the water supply. The benefit 
already conferred on the villagers by the money of 
the planters distributed amongst them for felling, 
clearing and other work, is very considerable, and 
we look for extended operations until all the way 
from Ohilaw to Futtalam and for a good many miles 
off the road, there is one continuous scene of cul- 
tivation with the palm which already so especially 
AiBtiDgaiBhes and benefits Cejlon. 
THE LAND OF COCONUTS AND TOBACCO. 
THREE DAYS IN THE NORTH-WEST: NO, II. 
When we say three days, we mean one day getting 
to Chilaw ; the next day inspecting beyond the 
Deduru-oya; and the third day returning to Golorabo. 
Still, the greater part of the travelling was done in 
the North- West Province. Now of all our provinces, 
this is scarcely the one to be associated with 
" prosperity " and yet in this reapect, the Acting 
Government Agent (Mr. King) whom we met with 
the District Assistant (Mr. Noyes) at Chilaw, 
may challenge any native district in Ceylon in 
competition with the Marawila division of Ohilaw ; 
while in regard to "revenue" where have the 
Government such a deposit of wealth as in the Salt 
Depot at Pattalam ! 
It is the correct thing to speak of 
THE DBrVE TO NEGOMBO 
as through one long avenue of palms ; but there are 
considerable intervals, and after leaving the river, 
the road being rather narrow, we were most con- 
scious of continuous rows of plantain shrubs, whose 
great flapping leaves met almost across or above 
the coach. The temptation to cultivate plantains 
as well as other fruit, for the supply of the ready 
Colombo market must be very great in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Municipality. Our impression is 
that after a few miles out on the Negombo road, 
native coconut gardens are far more regularly 
planted and better looked after than they are 
along the roadside south of Colombo. How great 
a blessing to the owners of the latter if an "Agri- 
cultural Headman" had the power to go over all 
native palm and fruit-gardens ia order practically, 
to prevent the overcrowding of palms or other 
fruit trees. "Villagers too often think that the more 
plants and trees they cram into a tiny plot of soil, 
the better off they are, the consequence Jbeing that 
there are mauy equare miles of good occupied land 
in the lowcountry not giving half or one-fourth the 
quantity of food or other produce it would yidd 
under a system of proper cultivation. 
The road is in good order along our Negombo- 
Ohilaw route ; we notice the many admirable 
cross and branch roads ; the neat little Jayella 
resthonse, nestling by its sluggish stream, and by 
and bye the first of the regular cinnamon planta- 
tions—once so famous, now so low in the scale of profit 
yielders — attract attention. The nearer we get to 
{^egombo, the bettei; (he cultivation and growth, 
and the more frequent the sigDs of a well-to-do 
people- 
NIGOMBO 
itself is a wonderfully busy town ; such crowded 
bazaars ; such a multiplying of boutiques 8>oce we 
were last there, and sore signs of prosperity, two great 
new Roman Catholic churches — or cathedrals— 
rising up within very short distance of each 
01h^r ! 
We have sometimes speculated se to whether Palm 
brsuches and loives sre a« fr' e!y Uftd iu ( eyIoD as in 
italv aod elsewhere by Roman Ca'bolie cirBmunitip* 
on Palm Sunday ? The D.ite Palm is »o ntilieed 
in Italy and in parts too far North for it ev< r to 
)>ear fruit, this pnlm is cultivated becftuee of it« 
leaves aud branches in which a regular trade tak«-e 
place, for ceremonial ae<::B. Farther North iu Europe 
the leaves and branches of otber tre^ (for the 
Doncp, called palms) are used, epecially those of the 
willow. This is coticed by Dr. !$eeman in his inter- 
c'ting " History of the Pdlms," and he quotes Ih* 
charming lines from Goethe : — 
" In Rome upon Palm Sunday, 
Tbsy bear true palms ; 
The cardinals bow reverently, 
And sing old pealms : 
Elsewhere, those psalms are fui g 
'Mid olive branches : 
The holly branch napplies tbeir place 
Among the avalanches : 
More northern olimes most be content 
With the sad willow." 
Krom Negombo northwards to the Toppur village 
(with a crowded bazasr scarcely ioftriMr to 
that of the district capital) we have a deise 
pupulation. The very neat as well as strong Toppur 
iron bridge (acroes the Maha-oya) ^as made in the 
Government factory and a trip over it always make 
U3 regret that it should be to narrow : co two 
vehicles oau pass each other on it ; while two or 
three feet more m width would have made all the 
ditference. 
We ace now iu the 
NOHTH-WKBTERN PBOVIKCE, 
and at first the change does not strike one as much 
for the better ; but later on as we pass into the 
fertile Marawila district, with its deep chocolate- 
coloured soil, its grand avenues of palms with eucti 
loads of nuts as are seldom seen anywhere else, we 
note a difference. Hence, right on to Chilaw we are in 
a land of plenty, so far as the traveller can jur'g.'. 
The people all look sleek and prosperous; tbeir gar- 
dens well taken care of and properly planted. We can- 
not speok of the Urge plantations wbieh lie off the road 
including some highly spoken of belonging to Messrs. 
Scbrader, DeSoysa and others before we get to the en- 
tranae toHorekele. The late Mr. De Soysa has lefthi« 
name In the Marawila district by the erection of 
the very neat-looking and useful Hospital; ildara- 
wila resthouse seems a quiet little p'ace, standing 
back from the road and seldom used, perhaps, save 
by the Chilaw Magistrate when he holds Cifcuil Court 
there. On oar way back, we had the opportunity in a 
garden near the road of seeing a veritable cnriosity 
in a oooonut palm mthfour distinct heads, all bearing 
fruit. At Mount Lavinia there can be seen one with 
two arms % # bearing nuts ; but i I the Mara- 
wila one \f is doubly curious >^ l^and ought 
to be spe T cially photogra ^'^^'^ phed and 
the result ■ sent to Kew. The I native 
coconut gardens here are very I valuable ; 
some of 15 to 20 acres were | pointed 
out as for sale— upset price R800 per acre ! 
MADAMPE. 
As we pass Horekele and approaoh Mudampe we 
come on further properties of the Messrs. De Sojea, 
De Mel and Jeronis Peris. 
From Madampe, 
ALL THE WAY TO CHILAW, 
the cultivation becomes more diversified, and stray 
specimens of the Palmyra indicate our entrance into a 
