55^ 
THE TROPICAL AGRlCUL'l U tUfc I . 
1' til; i , 1 lyj. 
"Various planting notks. 
, "TlIK POSITION (IK Tl)A IMiIVITIV ?! is 
dealt Hiith in a letter to the Hour: mid Union <>' 
Mti'l which we quote mi another page, tlie 
object of the writer being mainly to point ehl 
what lie considers to In; wine <»f the danger- of 
the future. He warns planters against being in 
too great a hurry to make extensions ami thus 
aggravate the labour dtlicultics, ami counsels 
tliein "to fortify their existing plants ami in- 
crease their reserve funds,'' pointing out th.it 
eW it is upon enlightened cultivation ami the judi- 
cious treatment ol the hushes that the staying 
powers of a garden must depend." All this is 
very sensible ami to tic point. 
" FlEU) AN'll ( • A I! 1 1KN GftOPS -of the North- 
Western Provinces and Oudh, with illustration-.'' 
— Part lit of this valuable work has just 
been sent us by the Department of I.aml 
Records ami Agriculture for the North.- Western 
Provinces. The work is compiled by J. F. 
Duthie, is.A.. iM,.s., Director, Botanical Depart - 
inent, Northern India, and printed at Koorkee, 
at the Tboiiiason Civil Isngroeering College 
Press. There are 100 lithographed plates in 
the three volumes — 35 in the folio volume 
before us and altogether the compilation must 
be a very useful one. We quote from the 
Preface as follows: — 
"The first part of this work published in 1882. and 
the second 111 the following year, contain nearly 
all the field crops and the more important of those 
Which, are usually found in native gardens. The 
plants referred to in this, the third and concluding 
Bart, are, with few exceptions, garden crops, grown 
in comparatively small patches, and mostly for home 
consumption." 
Rivals to Ceylon Plantki:*— •• Ceylon plan- 
ters must look to their laurels.'' This is the 
advice which is given by the MadeeitS 'Urn s in 
an article dealing with the proceedings at the 
recent meeting of the Selangor Planters' AsSoci- 
atioii. It says :- — 
"There is a community rapidly consolidating itself 
in Selangor, that bids fair to rival the Ceylon men 
in point of enterprise, though not perhaps in adver- 
tising. The Selangor planters ai"c steadily pushing 
ahead. They are not only working together, but they 
are displaying the true spirit of progress." 
As an instance of this, reference is made to a 
resolution to obtain the services of a shorthand 
writer. We most certainly approve of reporters 
being admitted to the general meetings, but we 
must remark that the proviso " with the under- 
standing that they submit their reports to the 
committee for approval before forwarding them 
for publication " does not show that the Selangor 
men have very much colidenee in the ability of 
the newspaper chroniclers of that State, or else 
that they want to start a kind of censorship of 
the press which is quite foreign to British ideas ! 
Sales of Native Tea Leaf.— Mr. T. R 
Walker writes : — 
" I find there are purchasers of green tea leaf in 
Gampola willing to take in leaf of any description ; twice 
during the hist fortnight my agent rejected two 
offers of what he considered a suspicious character, 
but which found buyers in town. What will some 
critics think of your Badulla correspondent's letter 
re the Uva Company's new tea factory being a 
great boon to the surrouuding small tea estates 
and native proprietors who wish to sell their leaf." 
A native industry in tea-growing of very consi- 
derable importance is bound to spring up in 
Uva, and especially round the town of Badulla 
and it is a very great boon to haye a suhstan- 
■ tial factory at which the natives can sell their 
protjuct • but certainly caution must bo exercised 
here as in (lamp-da and Nawal.ipitiv a, to raieck 
thieving and the wile of stolen leaf, as far us 
possible. Our o^ , ^.*llii>^^ c-mtuuipirary ha* the 
following editorial unto: - 
" We know of no part ii the Island where native* are 
g ling in for the cultivation of tea more ctt<?:isiv.?!v 
than near Hoirani in llie Panidure district. N'm 
icily so, but i'i most oi-o, the plots are wel)-c m I 
lor and as carefully cultivated as on iiu>t estates. 
The proprietors, moreover, haw ki-vc i al tacto ries m the 
neighbourhood willing to purchase their leaf. 
TKA : PlUiKITS AMI CoMI'AMKS. - A v eter.iu 
planter writes : — 
" What a lot of croaking there is beard about the 
yield often. Can any of these croakers go back to 
coffee and give as good an account of yields and 
profits ? I think not. Here we are over 500 lb. made 
ten per acre after the place had been in coffee for 
H.~> to 40 years and made fortunes for the proprie- 
tors, and now paying in tea 111 per cent ! What more 
do you want? We are not given to rush into 
print to let the world know what we are doing ; 
out old Dolosbagie can give a very good account 
of itself. It is not a (,'ood sign, however, to see so 
in my Companies starting up. No man with a good 
paying estate and no incumbrances would form a 
Company one would think. It i> a capital way of 
getting out of difficulties to form Companies or if 
you have not enough coin to get along with. In 
good old coffee days, proprietors did not hinfc of 
Companies. Why so in tea — a much more stcadygoiug 
concern. Too much money got ; eh !" 
A word of warning may be necessary about multi- 
plying Companies; but our correspondent will agree 
that each Company must by judged on it* own 
merits, and no one can take exception to London 
merchants, who had unwillingly to take over pro- 
perties in the dark days of depression, transferring 
these, now they are prosperous anil prolit-yiehf 
ing, to Companies. Then in some cases there 
is true economy in a Company which brings two 
properties to work through one factory, or a pro- 
prietor may wish to realize part of his capital 
while still holding a large share in hi* property; and 
then it is a decided advantage to individuaf plan- 
ters to have the means of investing small savings 
through shares; while it is also urged that Com- 
panies do much to support the local tea sales 
and this is a matter of considerable importance. 
Ceylon Planters is Nyassalasd. — It is with pleasure 
that we note that Mr. J. H. Cvrson has decided to 
take up land in Nyassaland for coffee. Mlanji, where 
he has selected a block, is said to possess a magni- 
ficent climate and a most prolific soil, whilst, accord- 
ing to Mr. Carson, labor is both abundant and cheap 
— about - 2s a month, paid in calico. We understand 
that Mr. Hy. Brown, late of Ceylon, who is largely 
interested in the district, is to have charge of Mr. 
Carson's place, and we sincerely hope that the venture 
will turn out satisfactorily. Why should not a com- 
pany be formed in Ceylon for the purpose of taking 
up land in this part of Africa now proclaimed British 
territory ? The prospects are evidently excellent. 
The Latest Uva Company. — A Badulla man writes 
as follows: — "Uva seems to have been selectel 
lately for the hunting-ground of the company pro- 
moter. First we had the Nahavilla Estates Companv: 
then the Pine Hill Estates Company bought Naha- 
kettiya in Haputalc. The Uva Estates Company 
came next to purchase Damnicria. Battawatte and 
Gampaha from Messrs. Matheson & Co.. who. I he ir, 
are parting with all their interests in Cevlon. The 
price paid was £2S,000, and a fair price too. The 
last is the Ouvahkellie Company, which has pur- 
chased that estate from Mr. W. P. Kellock, it is 
said, for £11,000. I hear the Company are negotia- 
ting for the purchase of other estates in the district, 
Mr. Kellock leaves shortly to take up his residence 
in New Zealand, where he has relatives, and where 
he intends to settle down." 
