Dec. i, 1894.] THK TROPIC \L 
AGRICULTURIST. 3S3 
TRANSPORT. 
At last having gathered in a crop of some 4,200 
bushels of parchment coffee, I commenced to trans- 
port it not by tavalams but by coolies, for tavalam 
cattle had not come to the district this season for 
some unknown reason. Three times a week all 
able hands conveyed each of them two bushels of 
parchment coffee to John's Hill rice store, the pro- 
prietors being Messrs Pitts and Bird, of Kandy. I 
found the coolies did not object, though they felt 
the pull up the John's Hill, some three-quarters of 
a mile long. But if the transport of crop was 
difficult, what shall I say about the 
WEEDING OF THE ESTATE. 
A very ocean of green weeds was before me — an 
estate of 200 acres completely covered with grassy 
weeds when young, and full of stalks when old, it 
was most appalling. 
This carpet of weeds had been glowing long before 
njy arrival on the estate and we could not spare a 
hand to weed the place for some months, for the 
simple and very sufficient reason that we needed all 
the coolies' services to. pick cherry. The crop in 
this district was gathered in 90 days virtually, though 
we gathered small pickings for 100 or even 110 days. 
Thus it was that with heavy and increasing crops 
in succeeding ■ years, coolies could not be spared to 
continue the weeding in crop time and it mattered 
not how clean the estate had become by 9 months 
weeding and the burying of all weeds by day's-pay 
weeding. During the crop time the estate was al- 
lowed to grow weeds without let or hinderance. The 
pfon of weeding adopted by planters in general, 
was to let the coolies pull up with the hand the 
long weeds first of all, shake them well, then with 
mamoties or caranrfies to weed clean the land of 
small weeds, shaking them and putting them in 
small heaps. Lads weie told off to bury . all 
weeds and cover them well with soil, and in 
a i wet soil with rain constantly falling on these crops 
o£ buried weeds quickly decayed, and became 
humus. We were only able to weed this estate 
through and through four times a year, and this we 
did only by putting a very large force of coolies 
daily out of crop time to weed the place. Such 
was day's-pay weeding, on weedy coffee estates in 
Ceylon in the year of grace 1858. It was an ex- 
pensive, unsatisfactory process, an unmitigated nuisance, 
— really absorbed half the labour of the estate fo"r ' 9 
months out of the 12 — year by year ; and to make 
the matter worse, when the weeds grew up for a few 
weeks, the coolies took advantage of the fact, for in 
picking cherry, they gathered the ripe cherry by 
bii.nchen, and then deftly separated the ripe berries 
from the green ones, throwing the latter into the 
weeds at their feet and it was impossible to see 
them, in fact, they were lost. Here were coffee 
estates yielding handsome crops yearly, seeded through 
others with the seeds of the goat-weed, how did 
it arise, why were these coffee estates, all the old ones 
in this district allowed to get into weeds? What was 
the cause of it ? Either 
LABOR 
must have been very short at times, or expenditure 
must have been very greatly restricted, for undue 
restriction of expenditure would result in a short 
supply of Indian labourers ; anyway a ride through 
the district just before crop, was a rather gloomy 
and depressing one, notwithstanding the 'merry look 
of bumper crops of bright red cherry, for the simple 
reason that the weeds in profusion were half as high 
as the coffee trees. Lastly, though the goat-weed 
was not a very hurtful weed, it was a very prolific 
and quick growing one, spoiling the appearance of 
an, estates and giving the coffee planter immense 
anxiety, worry and trouble. With this weeding, and 
transport of crop, 
PRUNING 
was, however, begun and carried on, when the coolies 
did not carry coffee. The able men were employed 
pruning the trees. 
for which he has been trained, and the entire herd is 
divided into companies of from two to eight. — Echo, 
Oct. 2. 
INDIAN PATENTS. 
Calcutta, the 11th October 1894. 
Applications in respect of the undermentioned in- 
ventions have been filed during the week ending 
6th October 1894:— 
Improvements in Driers. — No. 284 of 1894: — Thomas 
Craney, of 621, Harrison Street, Bay City, Michigan, 
United States of America, manufacturer, for improve- 
ments in driers. 
NoN-CONDlICTINIl COVERING FOR STEAM PlPES, &C. — 
No. 286 of 1894.— William Don, Engineer and Mer- 
chant, of No. 1. Clive R>w, in the Town of Calcutta. 
India, for an adjustable non-conducting covering for 
steam-pipes, A'c. — Indian Knijiucer. 
A NEW WAY TO GROW MUSHROOMS- 
Some years ago I saw a system of Mushroom 
culture which was very successful indeed, and a 
description of the method may be interesting to 
readers. The man who adopted the plan had been 
seeking a simple way of securing Mushrooms all the 
year round, with the least possible trouble, and his 
efforts had resulted in his finding that lor which he 
had sought. The method was as follows : — He ob- ■ 
tained a good-sized crate, strong, and with a good 
bottom, such as hardware is sent by rail in. The 
staves at one end were all cut out, simply leaving 
the top rim to keep the thing together, for with- 
out that the crate could not have supported the 
be! laid upon it. The crate was turned upside 
down, and the bed prepared and spawned in the 
v.sual way, so far as the outer crust of it was 
concerned. But there was not nearly so much manure 
used as in the ordinary hot-bed, for the heat was 
obtained in another way. When the bed was made 
the inside of the crate was hollow ; but the open end 
had been left uncovered, the close end being all 
built over with the bed. The method of heating was 
by placing inside the crate the Grass cut from the 
lawn. This within a few days generated sufficient 
heat to develop the Mushrooms in the bed. When 
the heat appeared to be exhausted, the spent Grass 
was taken out and fresh placed therein. This, it will 
be at once seen, is a very simple plan, and one that 
could be worked almost anywhere. Of course, the 
Grass will not last nearly as long as a well-made 
Mushroom bod, but there is no limit to the number 
ot times it may be renewed. The gentleman at whose 
place I first saw this method adopted told me that he 
had found his beds last three or four times as long 
aH under the old system, and that he secured by 
means of it a more regular and better supply of 
Mushrooms. It can be employed either indoors or 
outside, though it is, perhaps, more suited to the former 
conditions.— C. G. — From " Cottaye Uai-Jening" for 
October. 
EARLY DATS IN CKYLON.— NO. II. 
COFFEE-PLANTING IN DAYS OF OLD. 
( Ry an old Planter ) 
And now the days were bright and hot, but the 
nights were chilly and mornings cold. 1 realized 
that fact when mustering the coolies in the curly 
morn. I had been working from morn to eve, ex- 
posed to a blazing sun lor many years in one of 
the driest and hottest climates of the 'Western 
world, and felt the change of climate, but cold-water 
bathing and woollen wraps, enabled me to stand the 
DAILY SI-DUES CHANGES uF Tl'.MPERATURE 
of this high Northern district. I found that the 
parchment coffee dried better and was of a better 
colour, 1 always thought so, when cured in the 
North-East monsoon. 
