Oct.  i,  1892.] 
271 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
it  be  mfble  o|  wood  or  brass  or  iron  the  struotnre 
through  which  the  motion  is  transmitted  in  the  de- 
fendants’ machine?— and  that  question  I answer  in  the 
affirmative.  The  rotatory  motion  imparted  to  the 
upper  rolling  surface  which  is  not  in  the  plaintiff’s 
machine,  is  transmitted  by  gearing  above  it,  but  that 
gearing  rests  on  and  is  attached  to  the  cate  or  jacket. 
The  defendants  lay  stress  on  the  part  taken  by 
the  bow  brackets,  but  these  also  rest  on  the 
case  or  jacket.  Even  if  in  the  Triple-3ction  rol- 
ler no  part  of  the  upper-rollicg  surface  comes 
in  contact  with  the  jacket  in  ariy  other  way 
than  that  the  spindle  which  passes  into  the  roller 
ia  connected  to  that  jacket  by  the  two  bows,  etill  this 
communication  transmits  motion  to  the  rolling  sur- 
face and  in  the  transmission  the  jaoket  plays  a neces- 
sary part.  The  upper  rolling  surfaoe  has  a horizontal 
as  well  aa  a rotatory  motion  and  that  rotatory  motion 
is  given  to  it  by  means  of  the  jacket.  The  weight 
of  evidence  proves  that  the  two  machines  are 
ALMOST  IDENTICAL. 
and  thisevidence  is  consistent  with  the  impression  which 
a study  of  the  modols  has  made  on  my  miud. 
TEE  PLANTING  ENTERPRISE  IN  THE 
DISTRICT  OF  MATALE. 
A report  from  the  Government  Agent  of  the 
Central  Provinoe  with  no  mention  of  the  planting 
enterprise,  is  surely  the  closest  of  poisible  ap- 
proximations to  “the  play  of  Hamlet,  with  the 
part  of  Hamlet  omitted  by  special  request.”  The 
omission  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  P.  A. 
Templer  took  charge  of  the  Province  late  in  the  year. 
Not  only,  is  there  nothing  in  the  report  on  the 
Kandy  district  about  the  position  and  progress  of 
planting,  but  the  same  silence  in  regard  to  the 
great  enterprise  of  the  colony  marks  the  report 
on  the  Nuwara  Eliya  district.  That  we  have  in- 
formation regarding  the  position  of  the  planting 
enterprise  in  the  district  of  Matale  is  due  to  Mr. 
Hugh  Fraser,  with  whom  tea  on  Bandarapolla  has 
been  suoh  a marvellous  success.  We  recently 
wrote  of  the  district  of  Matale  as  fallen  from 
its  onoe  pre-eminent  state  as  a coffee  producer, 
without  having  as  yet  retrieved  its  fortunes  by 
means  of  tea.  The  description  is  essentially  true, 
although  Mr.  Fraser  shows  that  good  progress 
has  been  made  with  tea,  and  that  no  district  in 
the  island  has  been  more  successful  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  cacao.  The  statistics  for  coffee  plaoe 
the  poor  old  dethroned  monaroh  in  a far  worse 
position  than  we  imagined.  To  those  who  re- 
member Matale,  West  and  East,  the  Kelebokka 
Valley  &o.  in  all  their  glory  as  coffee  yielders, 
how  melanoholy  must  it  be  to  contemplate  the 
iemains  of  a deceased  potentate  represented  by 
such  figures  bs  944  acres  yielding  1,159  owts.  or 
at  the  rate  of  1 ’23  owt.  per  aore  ! But  there  are 
70  acres  out  of  the  944  young  and  not  in  bearing, 
53  aores  having  been  actually  planted  in  1891  by 
some  enthusiast  who  believes  that  " there  is  life 
in  the  old  dog  yet.”  But,  oh  1 we  see  it  is  not  the 
old  Arabian  dog  but  the  young  Liberian.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  13,517  acres  of  tea,  yielding 
3,607,000  lb.,  and  the  3,806  aores  oaoao  yielding 
6,272  owt  , are  but  harbingers  of  a time  when 
the  glories  of  the  ooffee  era  shall  be 
excelled  by  that  of  ‘‘new  produots.”  Much  of 
the  district  is  so  low  in  elevation  that  the  climate 
is  suitable  for  the  cultivation  not  only  of  Theo- 
broma  cacao  but  of  the  coconut  palm  (Cocos  nucifera,) 
so  frequently  confounded  with  the  chocolate  shrub 
by  people  “at  Home.”  With  so  many  and 
varied  resources  there  is  no  reason  why  Ma'ale 
should  not  flourish,  although  tho  deoree  has 
gone  forth  and  is  made  absolute,  that  rail- 
way extension  northwards  shall  not  start  from 
the  Lsbatipn  in  Matale  town,  but  from  Pol- 
gahawela  and  Kurunegala.  We  can,  understand 
what  Mr.  Saxton  says  about  gingelli,  an  oikyielding 
plant,  not  flourishing  on  recently  exhausted  ohena 
soil.  But  per  contra  to  what  he  writes  about 
paddy  fields  being  injured  by  silt  from  estates,  we 
have  in  another  administration  report  a oomglaint 
by  a native  headman  that  since  the  abandonment 
of  coffee  estates,  the  paddy  fields  below  them, 
failing  to  receive,  as  of  old,  weloorpe  supplies  of 
manure  washed  down  from  the  estates,  have  failed 
to  yield  at  their  former  rate.  The  portion  of  Mr. 
Saxton’s  report  on  the  Matale  distriot  which  deals 
with  ‘‘  cultivation  ’’  is  as  follows  : — 
Mr.  H.  Fraser,  of  Bandarapola  estate,  has  favoured 
me  with  the  remarks  below  about  various  products. 
I had  sent  a circular  to  all  the  planters  in  the 
district  with  the  object  of  obtaining  accurate  figures 
for  the  Blue  Book  return,  but  my  efforts  did  not 
meet  with  universal  response,  although  I had  pro- 
mised to  treat  the  individual  returns  as  confidential. 
Mr.  Fraser  has  been  more  successful,  and  the  result 
of  his  inquiry  is  embodied  in  the  statement  annexed 
to  his  remarks.  It  contains  more  accurate  figures 
than  those  I sent  in  for  the  Blue  Book  return. 
As  I have  previously  stated,  a good  deal  more  paddy 
laud  has  been  cultivated  this  year  than  in  preceding 
years.  I have  issued  several  esweddun  lioenseB, 
most  of  them  for  lands  which  have  been  out  of 
cultivation  for  a considerable  time.  There  are  also 
a few  applications  for  the  restoration  of  more  tanks, 
as  people  see  the  benefits  derived  from  those  already 
restored. 
There  is  hardly  any  tea  cultivated  by  natives, 
the  only  piece  I know  of  being  a small  garden  on 
the  Elkaduwa  road  planted  by  an  estate  kangani. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  cacao  has  been 
planted,  but  there  is  immediate  application  for  the 
seed  as  soon  as  I receive  a parcel  from  the  Pera- 
deniya  Gardens.  There  has  been  a good  deal  of 
gingelly  (tala)  cultivation,  which  is  somewhat  of  a 
novelty  ; but  the  general  impression  is  that  it  requires 
new  soil,  and  does  not  give  a good  return  on  chena 
land  recently  cultivated. 
The  cultivation  of  garden  produce  must  have  de- 
clined in  some  places  where  the  owners  of  land 
have  been  selling  their  properties  to  planters,  as  at 
Ukkuwela,  Warakamura,  and  other  places.  Fre- 
quently they  sell  right  down  to  the  edge  of*  their 
fields,  leading  to  their  paddy  being  covered  up  with 
silt  from  the  new  clearings. 
Jak  and  mango  and  other  trees  are  being  ruth- 
lessly cut  down  for  estate  purposes,  and  no  one 
takes  the  trouble  to  replant  any.  I tried  to  get  rid 
of  a large  number  of  jak  seedlings  from  my  own 
grounds,  but  no  one  thought  the  offer  worth  accepting. 
Mr.  Fraser  writes  as  follows  : — 
Tea. — Although  not  all  equally  well  grown  in  all 
the  divisions  of  the  district,  yet  in  most  localities 
near  and  far  apart,  it  has  become  thoroughly  estab- 
lished, and  there  are  well  authenticated  figures  of 
yields  in  old  coffee  and  chena  lands,  in  third;  and 
fourth  year  of  plucking,  of  from  450  to  750  lb.  an  acpe. 
The  total  area  under  tea,  young  and  old,  in  the 
Revenue  District  of  Matale,  is  approximately  13,517 
acres,  producing  3,607,346  lb.,  averaging  266  lb. 
per  acre. 
Deducting  1,540  acres  young  tea  from  the  total 
area,  13,517=11,977  acres  plucked,  averaging  301  lb. 
per  acre. 
Six  hundred  and  fifty-seven  acres  have  been  added 
during  1891  to  the  area  under  cultivation  in  tea,  divided 
over  all  the  districts,  but  principally  in  Laggala, 
Matale  East,  Matale  North,  and  Ukkuwela. 
It  is  quite  apparent,  should  tea  continue  to  be  the 
important  staple  it  is  at  present,  that  the  Matale 
Districts  have  as  long  a lease  of  prosperity  before  them 
as  any  quarter  of  the  Island. 
Cacao  is  another  product  which  has  helped  Matale 
to  compete  successfully  during  recent  years  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  and  there  are  magnificent  ex- 
panses of  this  cultivation  in  several  portions  of  the 
district.  The  area  under  it  is  approximately  3,806 
acres,  producing  6,272:  cwt.,  averaging  165  cwt 
per  acre. 
