Jan. i, 1895.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
NEW AND OLD PRODUCTS IN CEYLON. 
'■THE SECOND STRING " : COCONUTS, CACAO 
OR LIBERIAN COFFEE. 
Although recent observation and experience 
have tended to throw doubt on the -wisdom of 
aay resolute restriction of tea cultivation 
here, it is very gratifying to observe that 
Proprietary Planters and Plantation Companies 
are recognizing, in a practical fashion, the un- | 
wisdom of putting all their eggs into one 
basket. The lesson which the collapse of coffee 
taught the community is not one to be readily 
forgotten ) yet that there has been a rush into 
tea and that large expanses, if not whole 
districts, have been put under that one product, 
admits of no doubt. The observant and accom- 
plished Director of the Botanic Gardens took 
up his parable annually in his interesting Ad- 
ministration Report, and preached against 
the prevailing tendency as calculated to de- 
vclope, if not to invite, the attacks of 
insect and fungoid pests. He seem d for 
a long time as "one crying in the wilder- 
ness" ; but what the voice of science has not 
been able to accomplish, is being gradually 
effected by the louder whispers of finance. Ex- 
perience of low prices and the apprehension of a 
yet greater fall, have induced some Planters, at least, 
to turn their attention to other products which 
are believed not to have been overdone yet. 
Not only so ; but there was, and is, a strong 
feeling that measures should be taken to 
prevent any farther extension of the acreage 
under tea. There was much at first sight to 
commend such a course ; and the reasons might 
have been conclusive in favour of it, did we 
possess a monopoly of Tea production, or had 
the limit of the successful growth of the plant 
in other climes been reached. It can in no wise, 
however, benefit us to impose restrictions on 
ourselves — thereby neglecting lands admirably 
suited for the product — in presence of exten- 
sions elsewhere, and even of the introduction of 
the cultivation into altogether new territories. 
Without, therefore, absolutely inviting and en- 
couraging extensions, nothing in our opinion 
should be done, either to stay the hands of the 
Government in the disposal of Crown land, or 
to prevent proprietors adding to their acreage, 
under the stimulus of large crops and satis- 
actory dividends. The counsel to strangers not to 
go into tea is naturally liable to suspicion, so long 
as dividends, in some cases up to 30 per cent, con- 
tinue, and tea in full bearing is valued, albeit by 
their owners, at £50 sterling an acre. 
There are those among us who believe that 
the Chinese-Japanese imbroglio will enable us to 
secure a firm foothold in desirable markets, and 
that once that is effected, there is little to fear from 
over-production. Others of a less sanguine 
atemperamnt and of a more cautious habit are 
not inclined to regard as likely to be permanent 
any advantage that may be gained at the 
present juncture ; and without any loss of faith 
in tea, they prefer to have a second string to 
their how. Such are beginning to find in Coconuts, 
Cacao and Liberian Coffee, the desired alternatives. 
We certainly commend the action of Companies 
and capitalists who are possessing themselves of 
coconut lands in favourite districts, instead of 
adding to au already extensive acreage under 
tea. Coconuts have always been tegarded as a 
sale investment, if somewhat slow, and yielding 
moderate returns ; but as times go, anil with the 
demand, enhanced by Desiccating Mills, the returns 
are more promising. The combination of tea 
with coconuts in the same fields is a different 
matter ; and there is naturally some difference of 
opinion touching the wisdom of the combina- 
tion. That they will grow together is beyond 
doubt. We know of some estates in the low- 
country, notably in the Heneratgoda and Ye- 
yangoda districts, in which fields of the com- 
bined products leave nothing to he desired as 
regards appearance .and promise. The tea flushes 
splendidly up to 400 or 500 lb. per acre ; and 
the coconut plants seem more vigorous aixl 
healthy for the disturbance of the soil which 
the monthly weeding of tea ensures, than 
tliey would have been if pasturage protected 
the feeding roots from the severity of the 
sun. But how long will this last? It is well known 
that ti.e roots of coconut plants — though planted 
25 or even 27 feet apart — approximate as their 
fronds do, until, when the latter meet, the 
ground is quite a net work of roots from stem 
to stem. ^ hen the soil is thus occupied by the 
roots of trees, what chance have shrubs, however 
hardy, of a healthy growth ? In rich, well- 
drained soil the tea may not die out ; but will 
it yield paying flushes, especially with the over- 
hanging shade of the palm ? We must say we 
are doubtful of the success of the combi- 
nation, after the 8th to the 10th year ; and 
the experience with coconuts and cinnamon in 
the same field, which seldom, if ever, give desir- 
able returns after a certain period, tends to confirm 
our doubts. But in the meantime, tea, as a 
temporary crop, pending the maturing of the 
coconut palms, is doing very well. 
Discredited by reason of its numerous ene- 
mies, and the extraordinary tumble-down in 
prices, which the last twelvemonth has 
witnessed, Cacao is, nevertheless, one of 
the most valuable alternative products for 
the Ceylon Planter — always premising a good 
soil and a sheltered aspect. The insect and 
fungoid enemies are such as can be overcome 
with care, and the prices, even as they are, are 
not to be despised ; while the high reputation 
which chocolate bears as a specially rich and 
nourishing food, and the ever-increasing uses to 
which it is put in confectionery and in ilavour- 
nc dishes, cannot fail to create a steadily in- 
creasing demand. 
Perhaps few products have caused greater 
disappointment in Ceylon in the past than 
Liberian Coffee — due to a considerable ex- 
tent to the extravagant hopes built on its 
apparent robustness. We know of places in 
the lowcountry where it has been so treely su- 
perseded by tea — is not this the case in the 
Kalutara district ? And where even as a subsi- 
diary product it has well-nigh disappeared. But 
the survival of bushes and unpruned trees in 
some localities, many still exhibiting somewhat of 
their quondam magnificence, suggests the prob- 
ability that the conditions essential to the suc- 
cess of Liberian Coffee as a permanent product 
have not been long enough or sufficiently studied. 
Its liability to leaf-disease and especially the suc- 
cess of tea have discouraged experiments. Our own 
observation is that unpruned trees and hushes 
pruned high —5 to 6 feet — and having moderate 
shade, have not succumbed to the disease. There 
is every encouragement for experiments in the 
ruling prices, which, there is good reason t'» 
believe, "ill be maintained for a long time t<> 
come. In this connection it is interesting to 
note what a correspondent writes to one of our 
veiling contemporaries ; and it would he useful 
