PfcB. t, 1895.] 
THK TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
No. II. 
Dkar Sir, — Referring to the closing lines in the 
extract you give from " Buehm's Handy-book of 
Meteorology," Buchan, of course, like all practical 
scientists, sits on the moon influence theory, but in 
saying that the " moon's influence on barometric 
pressure and thence on the winds and the temper- 
atures, has not yet been even attempted to be 
proved," he is wrong, and has overlooked Atago's 
declaration in book xxi. chap, xxxvii. page 321, thus : 
•' It was ascertained at Paris, by tiifelri year-i ob- 
servations, that the mean height of the barometer 
at th • moon's quadratures and syzgies " (when, if 
tb i moon caused high tides in the atmosphere, they 
would pass over Paris, high and low.) '■ that the 
differences differ only by a thousandth of an inch, a 
quantity evidently less than the errors of observa- 
tion "; which, of course, means there w is no differ- 
once at all ! — Yours truly O. J. 
TECHNICAL TEACHING: THE AGRICUL- 
TURAL AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS : 
How to Improve Coconut Culture. 
Veyangocla, .Ian. 21. 
Dear Sir, — The words which fell from Mr. John 
Ferguson, at the prize distribution on Thursday 
last, have naturally suggested a few thoughts to me 
as a coconut planter ; but will you allow me, before 
giving expression to them, to congratulate the Go- 
vernment on its gradual appreciation of the true 
educational needs of the country. It would, perhaps, 
have done wisely to have recognized the importance 
of technical teaching earlier; but in view of present 
efforts it would be ungracious to snarl at the past. 
If it has been slow in awaking to a sense of its 
Obligations to the agricultural interests of the coun- 
try — and unquestionably they arc the most important, 
as on them hinges the material prosperity of the 
people — and if it may be convicted of some dilatori- 
ness in establishing a Technical Institute for the 
development of industrial arts and manufactures, it 
has not run away with the notion that facilities for 
the acquisition of knowledge bearing on agriculture 
and handicrafts supersede the necessity for encouraging 
general education. It is only those whose general 
education has been neglected who could imagine 
that one form of instruction could supplant the 
other, instead of supplementing it; and it is 
gratifying to find that the Governor is deaf to the 
clamour which arises periodically from certain 
quarters ; and that apparently it gives him as much 
pleasure to promote the advancement of general know- 
ledge in institutions like the Royal College, as to 
give countenance and encouragement to special or 
technical teaching in institutions like the Agricultural 
and Technical Schools. His Excellency wisely takes 
note of the fact, that the condition and tastes of every 
class of the community arc not identical, that it is 
impossible to direct them in one or two grooves, 
that even if it wore possible it is not desirable that 
the training of youth should have reference merely 
to a future calling or profession, that special know- 
ledge is best built up,on a broad foundation of sound 
general knowledge, an 1 th it the State is the greatest 
beneficiary from variety in the tastes and pur- 
suits of the people under its care. It has been made 
the subject of reproach to the Ceylonese, that they 
hive been attracted to the learned professions and 
to quill-driving. They are not singular among 
nationalities in the exhibition of such tastes; nor 
could thev have been weaned from thciu by 
the attraction of the goiya's crupper or the 
blacksmith's forge. With the means of know- 
ing that agriculture need not begin and end with 
paddy field mud, and the manufactures with the 
smithy's grime, the better class of Ceylonese are 
Bure to bo drawn over in larger numbers to the 
railings for which the foundations are to be laid at 
the Technical and Agricultural Schools, than to the 
professions to which they have hitucrtg boon natu- 
rally attracted, 
Now to coconuts ! Mr. Ferguson w<usi have rathear 
startled most of his hearers, and! perhaps a> 
' goodly number of his readers too, by Ms* state- 
ment that the produce of the coconut palm is 
of higher money value than that of the great Tea- 
industry. And yet, on the assumption that there are 
700,000 acres under coconuts, the annual value of 
the produce cannot be less than that of Tea. The 
explanation of its making less noise than the 
fragrant leaf is that whereas the latter owns the 
proprietorship of only hundreds of prominent ener- 
getic men, the former counts thousands of proprietors, 
the majority owning only a few trees each, and a. 
great number only a few acres each ; and these 
have neither the intelligence not the influence to 
make much noise. Add to this the fact that the capital 
invested in coconuts is almost wholly local capital; 
and one can at once understand why the industry 
is not as prominently before the public in the news- 
papers as Tea. 
I have referred to the estimate of 700,000 acres 
under coconuts as an assumption. I do not mean 
thereby to impugn the estimate as incorrect, but 
as based on information which is notoriously care- 
lessly compiled. Every Tea Planter knows his acre- 
age and supplies the information annually to the com- 
pilers of the Directory. Only the acreage of the larger 
coconut plantations is thus returned to the Direc- 
tory, Will Sir Arthur Havelock give practical proof 
of his penchant for precision by requiring every Revenue 
Officer to obtain from every headman the name and 
extent of every coconut plantation in his division, 
and, in the case of small and dwelling gardens, the 
number of trees in each. Every kachchcri could 
then supply approximate figures, counting 70 trees 
to the acre; and the Government would then have 
the means of judging whether Mr. Ferguson's esti- 
mate — compiled I suppose mainly from the Blue Book* 
whose untrustworthiness is proverbial — is near the 
mark or not. But taking 700,000 acres as correct, 
the number of trees (f>0 millions) must be fairly 
approximate, as also the yield of nuts — 1,200 mil- 
lions — which would be between 20 to 25 nuts to the 
tree. Where I am disposed to revise his esti- 
mate, is in regard to the value cf the annual 
crop which, at R50,000,000 would assume 'an aver- 
age of over Rll per thousand nuts. This is de- 
cidedly too high for the year, though the rates 
ruling at the present time may seem to justify it. 
A safer calculation would be R3f> per 1,000 and that 
would workout 12 million rupees, or about the same 
value as our Tea Exports ! 
This, however, is a commercial question. What has 
a special interest for the agriculturist is Mr. Fer- 
guson's suggestion, that the average yield per tree 
might easily be increased to 30. I heartily agree 
with him. The neglect with which the coconut tree 
is treated is simply disgraceful ; and the slightest 
attention to village gardens should result in doubling 
their yield. Not the least of the drawbacks against 
which the hardy palm has to contend is over-crowd- 
ing; but the gardens between Colombo and Mount 
Lavinia, which have vexed Mr. Ferguson's agricul- 
tural soul are as nothing compared to those farther 
south, on which it would not be impious to invoke 
a botanical cholera to sweep oh' the redundant popula- 
tion. During a recent journey to the southernmost 
point of Ceylon, I passed numerous and extensive 
patches, in which the trees were almost as close 
as in a nursery and in which they cannot possibly 
bear more than half-a-dozju nuts each tree, even 
if so many. Indeed I saw several plantations which 
could not be less than 20 years old in which the 
trees had not a single nut, but which, judging from 
the girth of the plants and the nuts on isolated trees, 
should be yielding 10 to 50 nuts per tree if they had 
been properly planted. It would not be enough to cut 
down every other tree from some of these patches. 
Three trees out of every four would be nearer the 
mark ! lam rather conservative about the interference 
• Not so ; see " Agricultural Review " in our" Hand- 
book and Directory" — or rather wait lor tbo new 
edition.— Ed , T.A, 
