Aug. i, 1894.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
MARAGOPIPE, LIBBRIAN AND OTHEE 
KINDS OF COFFEE, AND NEW 
PRODUCTS GENERALLY. 
We call attention to "J. M. " 'a interesting letter 
on page 134, in reference to tha Maragopipe coffee 
referred to the other day by our correspondent, Mr. 
T. Christy. 
We cannot learn of any one else in the island 
who has experimented with this coffee in tha way 
described by Mr. Christy. " J. M." gives us some 
interesting information of his experience and his 
exhortation cot to be in-patient over experiments 
with nc?/ products is very well timed. As regards 
other varieties of coffee received, or tried in 
Ceylon and elsewhere, we have the following 
response from Mr. E. Woodhousa to our hquiry: — 
"Yes : I certaiuly obtaiaei a number of samples of 
different kinds of coffee from the Wett Coast of 
Africa, bat it is so !oog ago that I have been trying 
in vain to recollect by what channel they reached me. 
They oame in little b\.gs, 5 or 6 of Lhem if not more ; 
but on opening them up I found to my disappoint- 
ment they contained cleaned beans instead of parch- 
ment, and consequently useless for sowing purposes, 
and they were therefore consigned to the. cup. The 
tiny beans were excessively bitter and by the way 
they were all small-sizad beaos, with ona exception, 
ana that was a sample of the laige Liberian variety 
which waB tried with suoh litt'e suooesi in Ceylon. 
The Central African coffee I saw in Zanzibar in 
1878 in the house of one of the principal slave- 
deaiing Arabs who said it carna f;om the Like 
Tanganyika. The beans were small with something 
of the appearance of the ' monkey ' coffeo collected 
on the estate upcountry. I may here remark that 
the L.beria.'i cherries I saw grown in Selangor were 
juicy enough to be put through a pulper, without 
elrlHoulty, whereas tha Ceylon Liberian (t understand 
cannot be pulped with any degree of satisfaction. 
This difference was acknowledged by an old Pus- 
sellawa kangani who showed me over the Batu. 
Cave estate belonging to Mr. Hill, audalsoby the 
ex-Ceylon Superintendent of Pengeraug in Johire." 
We further call attention to the letter (on the 
same page) of a planter who thinks the colony will 
not be in a sound position until among other things, 
we are exporting 250,000 cwt. cf Liberian ceffee. 
We should certainly like to see that day ; but muoh 
fear the export of all kicds of coff ae from Ceylon 
will not reach that figure again before the olo3e of 
the present oentury, At tha same time, overy 
little helps, and we are much in favour of caretul ex- 
periments in small o!earings suah as "J. M" and 
some others of our estate proprietors have initiated. 
PLANTING IN SOUTHERN PROVINCE. 
(From Mr. levers' Administration Report for 1893.) 
it is difficult to estimate the area under TKA. 
ft was est. mat. d last year by Mr. Elliott to bs 
5,000 acres iu the Qallo am 4,C00 iu the Matara 
Districts. Xh.ro has certainly been au increase 
in the acreage, because Siuhale je a-e n > ,v open- 
iug up s u-.ll gardens all over the district. I have 
coilucie 1 tLio fo. lowing iulorma.ioa regarding the 
ua-.ive gcowiug of tea, but I canuot guarantee 
the ligu.ei. 1 am told i: coa s a native RluO 
to clear and plant uu ace of forest, and R30 lor I 
au annual upkeep, and ihac an annual profit of 
K65 au acre is ootaiued when ttie tea chines into 
bearing. 
e-i.s.NAMuN. — The area has inoroase 1 in the Gillo 
District fiom 3,340 arccB iu 1892 to 3,875 iu 1893. 
It is said Mint an aero of ciauaaicn laud does uot 
now give a profit of rnoru than RS per a:imm. Thu 
cultivation heenas to be carried on more from sou. 
tiiaeut and btroug caste fculiug thau iroua its being 
luorative. 
17 
Sugab. — There is a deorease in the aoreage in 
cultivation of cane, as only 804 aorea are estimated 
to have beau under crop, as against 1,040 iu 
1892. The yield waa estimated to have bean 6,912 
cwt of sugar. The cost of cultivating an acre cf 
cane is said to bo R65 a year. The deorease attri- 
buted to the necessity for allowing land to remain 
fallow, which hal teen cultivated f>r threo suceessive 
) ears. 
Citboneixa Oil.— The area under tLia produce 
appears to have been normal. 
THE UNITED PLANTERS COMPANY OF 
CEYLON, LIMITED. 
The Directors now present to the Shareholders 
their Third Annual Report, with the accompanying 
Accounts to the 31st December, 1893, and are pleased 
to be able to show such a satisfactory result, bearing 
in mind the depression that existed during the greater 
part of last year. 
The quality of the Tea was fairly well maintained, 
and the yield considerably increased, but prices on 
the whole showed some slight falling-off from the 
previous year. 
During the year 236 acres of new land hava been 
planted iu Tea, and are doing wel 1 . 
The Accounts now presented show a Balance of Pro- 
fit of ,£6,590 Is. lid , after paying an Interim Dividend 
at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, all Current Ex- 
penses and upkeep of Machinery and Buildings, and 
after writing £2,000 off the Factories and Machinery 
Account, £1,000 off the New Clearings Account, and 
making further provision for the Superintendents' 
Fund. 
The Directors propose to add £950 to Reserve Ac- 
count bringing the amount of that Account up to 
£4,000, to pay a Final Dividend of 3i per cent., free 
of Income Tax, making 6 per cent, for the year, and 
to carry forward a Balance of £808 6s. lid. 
The Directors have again to place on record their 
appreciation of the excellent care and attention 
bestowed by the Superintendents on the Estates 
under their charge. 
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT KYASSA- 
LAND. 
Mr. E. Woolhouse has placed at our discosal 
the following information received from Mr. H, p. 
Johnston in a letter dated 5th July ; — 
In regard to Nyaesaland, land is very cheap at 
present ranging from a!mo3t nothing m the border 
districts to 2/6 in the settled country. Tha average 
rainfall is 55 inohes annually. The country is ex- 
ceedingly well timbered and well watered by 
running streams. The mortality at present among 
Europeans is 6-5 per cent, though this proportion 
is considerably reduced when the deaths of people 
killed in warfare or hunting accidents or in 
infancy are deduoted. The deaths from malarial 
fever aud dysentery— tha only two diseases of any 
seriousness — amount to about 3 per cent. 
The n^tuial aspaot of the oountry is exceed 
ingly beautiful. The soil is nearly everywhere' 
fertile. Native labourers very abundant and very 
oheap, wages ranging from about 2s 63 to 3s 
a month besides food which costs Is par 
week. Customs duties, taxes, &i, are very low. 
Some of the planters reckon that with ordinary 
good luck and with present prioes, 100 per oent 
profit may be made on ooff.e dirootly the trees 
oome into beariag. 
There is a direct line of steamers (the German 
mail line) between Bombay and Tshiude (Ohinde) 
at the mouth of the Zambesi. 
