THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. r, 1894. 
COFFEE PLANTING AND PROGRESS 
IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 
With two Surv^ora at work here there is every 
prospMit of a sal a of agricultural laud Ufore t' e rt.d 
of toe ye r — but iu the meantime Europ au plaol n 
Kre b nig kept out of th'i District, It .a a pleasure 
to rcp >rt thai, the Europeans, who have teoeut y ta'-en 
up land here give clear proo' that the;, mem busi- 
ness by appointing European Managers to open up 
t ie r estat if-'. Mr. A Frsjth has a miniger here 
(Mr. Innes) ; Mr. Ba ley, who bought COO acres 
from Mr. Lira Bwce Keng, has a manager here 
(Mr. Walker ); Mr. Rodger, who was recently granted 
500 acres, has a mmasrer waiting in Klang till be cau 
get on to the land (Mr. T. Gibson) ; Mr. Ay'esbury 
has also secured the service? of au Englishman here 
who is to stert opening up the 1,000 aof?s of 
jungle lan1 which is to be kuown at (he Forlorn 
Hope Estate. 
Mr. Huttenbaoh's ooff^e mill, complete with engine 
and machinery, h now finished aud in working order. 
Oa the 17th of August, H. 11. T mku Dm C lio, who 
has been so ene-getic 'if late in opening up his 2,000 
aori>8 of agricultural land acro<« tbe river, left K aug 
forPecang, bein? ca'.ldd away by u-gent private affairs. 
On the 24th of August the Di t ict Engineer aud 
myself walked along the KUog-KoaU Selingor K'>ad 
from Kapar to the boundary at Sun„".-i Sardau?, aud 
were both of opiniou thut the ro-d whs emiuoutly 
suited for the contraction of a light railway to con- 
ned Klang and Kuala Selangor. I have sixe writtt-n 
iu to the Government on the subject. 
On the 30th an 1 31 3t Mr. WaUh a i<l myself wejra 
engaged in assessing the amount of cmpen-at ou to 
be paid to the 30 p op e ttirough whose uuu the in w 
Kuala Railway will p ss. I estimate the ammiit of 
compensation to be about §1,700. Mr, Wulsh's 
assistance was most valuable. 
Work on the Klang-Kuala Selaor,or Road is still 
progressing — the earthwork is practica'ly ti lishe i, 
want of pipe dulverts and bridges preventing com no- 
tion of the wi rk being chronicled. — Se'angor Govern- 
ment Gazette- 
«, 
HOME AND LOCAL TEA TASTING. 
Mr, John Hughes' views on th9 above topio as 
communicated to our London Correspondent re- 
open a question that was some time ago dis:u3:el. 
It has of late been alleged that the discrepancies 
between the verdict of home and locil tea tasters 
have a significant effeot upon the biddings at 
the Minoing Lane tea auotions. If tbis haq any 
foundation in faot — and we are not prepared to 
dogmatise one way or the ether — it is evideut 
that the allegation has a more practical bearing 
than was supposed during the forme/ disouasion. 
It eeemoJ then to be apparently only a 
matter effecting tho convenience of the hom3 
traders in tea. It is now one that would ap- 
pear to affect the profits made by the plan- 
ters. There is, therefora, some reason why we 
should again consider the question in its more 
modern bearing. Mr. Hughes eaj'3 that t3a infused 
in Glasgow is quite a different thing to tea 
infused in London. The liquor in the first case 
is far stronger and of more excellent flavour 
than it is in the second. Mr. Hughes attributes 
this to the sottnesa of the water drawn for ih9 
supply of Glasgow from Loch Katrine. He further 
gives a presumed analogy iu this respect between 
our Ceylon water supply and that of Glasgow. 
The London water he pronouaoeB io be relatively 
" hard " and he assigns this as the reason lor ihe 
different results obtained by tei tasters here in 
Colombo apd in London. This discrepancy he 
admits mayaffjct the sa'es. Why, wt would ask. 
fhould not d's'iiled water be used in all oases ? 
We believe that in water co prspareJ, the proportion 
of mineral elements present that constitutes hard- 
ness, is t ltog-^ther eliminated. There sure'y can be 
no erejial reason why this purifi, d water, 
which mast be of tbs same quality is all koaluie*. 
shjuld nut b'. adopted bj tue etrnd&rd for us? 
The varying praoiioee now aooptrd, no doubt 
cause the discrepancy of judgment to vhen 
r fe-cict is m >de. If these were mo Jified in the way 
we have pointed out, this discrepancy would dis- 
appear and tue suppose 1 valid objection taken to cur 
local sales of tea might be removed. According to 
Mr. Hughes' view, it would teem to be likely that 
praot.sei deal rs are more willing toaccptlocal ver- 
dioisthan those given by tbtir own taekre. From the 
former th->y obtain a higher grading than they 
\v Hill themselves be justified in giving. But the 
ou'sicle bujers c in have no equivalent opportunity 
for judging, and the* therefore are said occasional/ 
t j proncuueo the teas tVy purouaee t j bs interior 
in qmlit. to the description gwtn of them. 
THE BEGINNINGS OF COCONUT PLANTING 
IN CEYLON : 
REFERENCES TO THE COCONUT PALM IN 
THE " MAH^VANSA." 
Brides the two r-fer nc°s to the coconut pa'm 
which we hive already * in u i me | we g n( j t [, e 
fo 1 iwing in the " Mahavans Ptrta I au I H: — 
(Chapter XXV, pag-i 98). Duriogtbo battle between 
Dutug rnanu and Elala (about 1G1 e c.) Gotha (one of 
the former's warriors) ia said to have t >t j a 
coconut tree pud M'ha oi. (another wa rior) a 
l * . ii 'i 1 1 tree— With which ih y slaugh^rei the 
Damih'.s. 
In C ibpter LXX! V ip^ge 211i the following parage 
ooeur :— "He (Piakraraa Banu— 1164 U 1197 ad) 
also alorncd toth 6idee of the road with fruit- 
bearing tree?, as the kmg-aoconu., plantain, ar:cs, 
coconut aud such like ; and with water jais filled 
with bunohes of beautiful flowtrp, and with many 
kinds of banners aud flags, and with lamps, censers 
and suoh like." 
Then, in Chapter LXXXVI, page 294, we read 
that King Piakrama Bahu II (1240 to 1275 a.d.) 
is sail to have thought within himself saying: 
"Great inle.d his (Minister D.-vapatiraja b) piety, 
for onci h? praye! that he might become a Buddha, 
and p:antei a coconut, having earnestly prayed 
and r-so'.vcd (thai some eion ehruld ba shown 
him thac h's desire would be lulfilkd;, ui.d lo, 
there opened up three buis from the thr <? eyes 
thereof " And ths King order.-d his Minister 
(a^nong other tbin^^) — " At tho BLi xatiitha Vibara, 
where tha King NiFSarxka planted an orchard, do 
thou likewise, in ray name, L»y out a larga garden 
fall of coconut sn^ ^ther frui.ful trees." — Of course 
this refers to the Bentota-Kalucara coconut plant- 
ation which huS been already alluded to in our 
columns. 
In Chapter XOVII, page 335, we find the following 
reference : — " And this ohief of men (Sri Vira 
Piakrama Narendra S'nha — 1701-1734 a d.) formed 
a suburb nam^d Kuoda;ala, nigh unto thf chief 
city, iu the large cocoaut grove hard by the beautiful 
bank of the river," etc. 
In Chapter C, page 357, Kirti Su Baja Sioha 
(1747-1780 a.d.) is said to have honoured the 
Tooth-relic daily with (besides other thinge) green 
and yellow coconuts, 
