ig6 
Proceeds of lei could be utilised in furtheradv r ising 
or carrying on the ccheme for a farther period, hi 
addition to the ordinary touting for orders I woald 
start a weekly auction s»le in New York a'd sell 
the teas at whatever thfy will fotcb. Our R-pre- 
£,ent a tive could priut circuit aiivertifin,? the lo's 
and distribute samples ami ug the t'ea'ers large and 
small in New York, giving i't the smio tirue full 
partioulirs of enlo, lettii git be ku'.wu that lie meant 
to sell the tea. An anctioi ter woulJ • f course ba?e 
to be ernp'oje"). In this way be might sell to com- 
mence with some 20.0C0 lb. a week or ai ranch more 
asmayeeom advisab e. In a short time tbn method 
is bound to attruot buyers, ai d I kc no reason why 
n second Mincing Lane should not ariie in Nt;w York. 
Ma^iy will object to this f cheme on the ground ttat 
it may menu loss. I oTon't nijself <h'nk the mult 
will justify such a fear but even if it dots mean a 
loss, are we not going to n[x nd money ia putting our 
teas' into consumption ? Surely tie plan ot Billing by 
auction will accomplish this mt re thoroughly lhau by 
bribing newspaper editors. Some may suggest that 
the teas bought in New York might be re-shir ped to 
London, but although this might bo attempted the re- 
sulting profit would be so im .U that dealers would 
soon tdnd out that it paid them better to fell again 
in America. The subject is one capable of being 
enlarged upon to any extent but th» forepoiog will 
s'lfficiently indicate tbo viewj of "TOPHER." 
TEA IN THE AGRAPATANAS. 
Aug. 13. 
Weather.— We have had over 43 inches of rain 
utj 10 date from 1st January and want a lot more 
vet to keep us well supplied with water for the 
vear August, so far, has been more like S.-W. 
weather than July was, and though this keeps back 
the flush it is seasonable and is what we really 
wont in' this district. With plenty of moisture 
in the ground and hot sun later on we should 
easily make up for bad flushing put now I have 
noticed that in dry weather for the last few years 
we have had much less supply of water than we 
used to have at command formerly There will 
be very little tea sect down from the=e distriots 
or some time yet. 
CACAO-GROWING IN THE EAST AND 
WEST INDIES. 
(By a Ceylon Planter.) 
I have grown cocao for 20 ye?ira nor?, and fo r 
a long time I know that we pinned our faith 
to the Criollo. The Forestero came in only 
recently, and different varieties of it may now 
be seen in the Peradeniya Gardens, but long 
before its introduction officially, there was a 
well-known introduction of the plant made by 
certain private proprietors in Ceylou. The Ceylon 
Company, then a Company of coffee planters, got 
out a wardian case of plants, and Mr. Ferdinandus 
of the Boyal Botanic Gardens was requested to 
bestow his skilful care and attention on them 
for a while till they could be safely transplanted. 
He for the successful care bestowed on them 
by' him, obtained a number of plants for him- 
eelf These in Mr. Ferdinandus' garden grew up 
into handsome trees, under favourable condi- 
tions and beoame eventually the parent trees, 
whence pods were obtained for many Ceylon 
plantations. There may have also been other 
Planters who afterwards imported the foreign 
varieties, but this is one source to my own 
certain knowledge, and I hud the facts verified 
bv Mr Ferdinandus some years ago before stating 
them in my lecture delivered shortly after at 
Matale. 
The Trinidad Boyal Botanic Gardene|Bulletin for 
April is certainly of interest to Ceylon cacao 
growers, since referring to the Criollo cacao, of 
Tiioidad, it ie asserted " that it is now becoming 
clear that the Ceylon cacao, which they importel 
some forty years ago. was y rut ably of the old Criollo 
type ie., natural y white-seeded, and that this 
type has bstp practically V-t except in form to 
our Trinidad plantations." Also the statement 
following as to Low it wts lost should prove a 
warning to growers in all other countnep, for 
similar conditions may ariee at any time in other 
countries, and exterminate this variety. With all 
its superior c'aime the Criollo variety is a delicate 
plant, a^d we in Ceylon would fain stick to it still ; 
bat that there is no saying when it may yield to 
the ravages of Jlelojicltia, or a drought, or to excess 
of moirture during abnormally wet seasons. What 
happened in Trinidad, where the Criollo found a 
home for many years, before it came to Ceylon, 
in .y occur at any time in Ceylon also and indeed 
some few years ago Helopeltit played such mischief 
in our plantations that the Planters' Ascooiation 
appointed a Commission to inquire into the condi- 
tion and state of oil lira on the cacao estates. In 
one garden belonging to Mr, G. A. Ferdinandus, 
assistant to Mr. Thwaitee and afterwards to Dr. 
Trimen, in tbc Boyal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 
I personally witnessed the burial of pods under 
the very trees that bore them, bo virulent was 
the a'taok that it was thought the only certain way 
of destroying the pest, and sure enough there was 
comparative immunity secure 1 trie following year. 
What happened in Trinidad was this, to qno'.e 
from the Bulletin, and !' we have it on record that 
our cocoa was attacked many years ago by disease 
and a!i.," t annihilated and complete ruin fol- 
lowed, and thtit it was only resuscitated by the 
introduction of the Forestero olass of cacao which 
we know has a deep purple bean." 
As regards colour of bean referred to by the 
writer it is not due to soil or climate. We never 
had but the white beau till the Foresteros were 
introduotd into Ceylon j and hybridization alone 
is accountable for the diff.rences in shade oocur- 
ing among our hybrid Foresteros. It is important 
aho t> no.e that cur oacao are not cure Foresteros. 
Mr. Ferdinandus' plants, I mean the prarent 
stock, did not stand alone, without the older 
variety near them ; and ibe Peradeniya Gardens 
have had Criollo cacao, for ever to long a time 
before the introduction of tbe new varieties. 
Anl when seel or plants were obtained from 
these Foresteros they generally went to already 
planted estates where thera were acres upon acres 
of the Criollo varieties already standing. So that the 
so-called Foresteros of Ceylon have much of the 
superior quality of the Criollo in their favour to 
recommend them in the market. 
Experimental Tea-culture is Bussia. — In a 
report on the Tea trade of Hankow, it is stated that 
an experiment in the cultivation of Tea in Bussia, 
which has been before tried without sucoess, has 
recently been repeated, Tea plants having been 
sent from China to be planted on the slopes of 
tho Caucasus. It is a private enterprise, but the 
ground has been granted by the Government. About 
2,000 plants have been sent at great expense, and 
in obtaining them there wts a certain amount 
of difficulty, the people in some distriots destroying 
the plants on their way down to Hankow. Though 
the plants are said to have arrived in Bussia in 
excellent condition, the experiment is not con- 
sidered likely to prove more successful than the 
former one. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
