May i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
749 
WHITE ANTS IN TEA. 
TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PLANTER." 
Sib,— In reply to " Chunder" I am pleased to in- 
form him that when I was an assistant in one of 
the largest concerns in Cachar we used buttermilk 
and kerosiue oil against this pest, in proportion of 
about 10 to 1, with very fair success, the bushes 
thus threatened not being attacked again for several 
years, in no case again in the same year. 
Before applying the remedy, the branches and 
trunk of the affected bushes were well scraped, and 
the roots opened to about 12 inches round the stem 
with a forked hoe. The branches were then washed 
with a piece of cloth soaked in the fluid and an 
ounce or two sprinkled round the roots ; after a day 
or two fresh manure was applied and covered up 
again with soil. This work has to be done immedi- 
ately after pruning. 
CACHAR. 
FOREIGN TREES AND WIND BELTS ; 
KAOLIN. 
{General Notes lij " Old Planter.") 
Haputale, April 7. 
THE WEATHEE. 
Mine may be called a monthly letter, I presume. 
Since the 3rd of last month, when I last wrote to 
you, the weather has made a great revolution here. 
The land was then as hard and dry as a sun-burnt 
brick ; but now we have daily showers — mostly of 
an evening — and copious ones too. Last night we 
experienced a young flood. The little South-West 
monsoon has been with -us the last 10 days or so; 
and as for rain the planters say pothum ! ! — Those 
estates that make up crop estimates to the end of 
June will score well, provided these daily rains soon 
cease. These recent showers have made the trees 
and patanas quite green and fresh, and the tea 
estates look well now and flush is before us on all sides. 
FOltEIGN TUBES AND WIND BELTS. 
The appearance of many ancient coffee estates now 
promising tea-totums, has been greatly improved by 
the judicious planting out of various kinds of foreign 
trees, in copses and on barren soil, and of all the 
varieties I like best the feathery grevilleas ; not only 
do they turn good wind belts, but when not too 
closely planted, tea thrives well ; and what is of 
great importance to the planter, the tea plant grows 
well on very poor soil on wind blown belts, and 
where even the tea plant cannot grow or flourish. 
The other day during my wanderings on this es- 
tate, I noticed some specimens of 
" kaolin " 
or white China clay, and it seemed to me to 
be of a superior quality and abundant. I will 
send you a sample, if you so desire, for I cannot 
help thinking that valuable China-ware might be 
made of this kind of kaolin in Ceylon, and I have 
no doubt that there is plenty of it on the tea estates 
in Uva. Japan excels in classic ware, makes and 
exports splendid vases and tea sets, &c. ; China makes 
beautiful semi-transparent China ware : why should not 
CEYLON CHINA 
be manufactured without delay'! I have not the least 
doubt that if an experienced Staffordshire potter were 
here and he were sufficiently encouraged, the best 
kinds of crockery would soon be made in Ceylon ; 
for the Sinhalese race are deft of hand as natives, 
and can make artistic work when well paid to do so^ 
THE SHIRE HIGHLANDS AND 
NYSSALAND. 
To any one who lias misgivings as to the 
climate, resources and prospects of the highland 
portion of British Central Africa, we cannot do 
better than recommend a perusal of the chatty 
ami instructive volume published by Blackwoods 
for Mr. John Buchanan, C.M.Q,, on "the Shiro 
Highlands.'' "An excellent: country with a bright 
future before it," is Mr. Buchanan's verdict; 
and he wrote chat in lss.~> alter "nine years' expe- 
rience in Africa — live as gardener apd agricul- 
turist in connection 'with the Blantyre Mission, 
and four as a planter of coffee and sugar on my 
own account." Since tiien Mr. Buchanan has 
put in ten years more as planter and we have 
not heard of his health suffering in the least 
or of his faith in the future of Nyassaland — 
especially as a coffee-growing country — being 
in any way affected. He speaks of large tracts 
of land well adapted for coffee, with a very fair 
supply of labour at a small cost ; and that the 
only drawback was cost of transport to the coast, 
which every year is lessening, while seeing the 
facilities increased 1 . He says nothing — any more 
than our own correspondent, an ex-Ceylon 
planter — about the failure of crop in the second 
year ; while his description of the climate at 
3,000 feet above sea-level with an average 
temperature of 50° and a rainfall of from 50 
to 60 inches, makes us ask what it must be at 
4,000 to 6,000 feet, seeing the mountains go up 
to 8,000 and even 10,000 feet in British Central 
Africa ? 
It is quite obvious to us, now that the Cey- 
lon planter who lately took such a despondent 
view of the "situation" in Nyassaland, never 
readied the Highlands proper at all. He spent 
his time in travelling at the lower elevations 
where no doubt he was exposed to malaria just 
as much as he would be in the Maliaoya Valley 
during the worst months of the year. As regards 
labour, there seems no reason to doubt a sufficient 
supply for a long time to come, more especially 
seeing how the Slave Trade is being completely 
shut up in British territories. Finally, from 
Mr. Johnston's Report we learn of Nyika plateau 
at 7,000 feet, 1,250 square miles in extent with a 
delicious climate and fertile soil while the plateau 
of Mlanji (no doubt close to Mr. Carson s land 
to be taken over by the Nyassaland Coffee 
Company) is said to have a rainfall of 75 inches 
with a climate described as "perfection" and 
plenty of good soil. 
KELANI VALLEY RAILWAY. 
At too late an hour this afternoon to do more than 
acknowledge receipt and glance at contents, there 
reaches us a Report on the preliminary inspection 
of the country between Colombo and Karawanella 
by F. J. Waring, Esq., C.M.G., Chief Resident 
Engineer, Railway Extension, Ceylon, covering 
four close printed pages of foolscap and embel- 
lished by a map showing a line running from 
Wellawatte on the sea coast to Karawanella in 
the heart of the Kelani Valley. We can only 
today quote the following paragraphs : — 
The route I have described would be to the point 
G some 38§ miles in length from Wellawatta, and on 
it the following is a list of the stations which have been 
mentioned to me as necessary in order to fully attract 
and serve the traffic of the district, with their respective 
approximate distances from Wellawatta : — 
Mirihana 
Paunipitiya 
Pitipana 
Padukka 
Miles. 
3i 
13J 
171 
Wagga (Neuwat- 
tuduwa) 23 
Miles. 
Kosgama 26 
Avisawella (Houi- 
ton estate) 31 
Dehiowita 3f>l 
Karawanella 3SJ 
I regret it is impossible for me to accurately balance 
and decide the relative advantages and disadvantages 
of the present route and that via Veyangoda, for a rail- 
way to serve the Kelani Valley, as considerations other 
than those of an engineering nature appear to me to 
have a very important bearing on the question. 
From an engineering point of view I think tho route 
to Karawanella, now under consideration, will, per 
mile, be on the average cheaper than that from Vcyan- 
