Nov.  r,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
337 
TROPICAL  PRODUCTS:  THEIR  CULTIVA- 
TION IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES. 
Ceylon  as  a Field  fob  Planters. 
Before  a general  meeting  of  the  members  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce,  held  on  the  25th 
June,  Sir  Arthur  N.  Birch  (late  Lieut. -Governor  of 
Ceylon)  in  the  chair,  Mr.  J.  Ferguson  (Hon.  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  Royal  Colonial  Institute 
and  of  the  Imperial  Institute)  delivered  an  address 
on  the  “Production  and  Consumption  of  Certain 
Tropical  Products  with  reference  to  their  cultivation 
in  Ceylon,  namely,  Tea,  Coffee,  Cacao  or  Cocoa,  Coco 
Palm  Nuts,  Fibre  and  Oils,  Cinchona  Bark,  Cinna- 
mon, Cardamoms,  Rubber,  Pepper,  Ac.” 
He  said,  Sir  Arthur  Birch  and  Gentlemen, — I fear 
that  you  will  have  been  anticipating,  from  the  rather 
discursive  title  of  my  paper,  that  it  is  to  cover  a 
very  large  area,  and  to  lead  you  into  the  consider- 
ation of  a mass  of  varied  statistics.  But  I will 
spare  you  the  latter  as  much  as  possible  this  after- 
noon, and  will  endeavour,  in  the  treatment  of  my 
subject,  to  be  concise  enough  to  suit  even  a city 
audience  in  business  hours. 
My  object  is  to  refer  (1)  to  Ceylon  as  a field  and 
school  for  the  tropical  agriculturists ; (2)  to  some  of 
the  staple  products  cultivated  in  that  island,  and  ex- 
ported thence;  and  (3)  to  the  present  position  and 
prospects  of  such  staples  with  reference  to  the  world’s 
production  and  consumption  thereof. 
Ceylon  is  well-known  as  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  attractive  of  British  dependencies.  It  is  a 
paradise  to  the  botanist,  but  of  scarcely  less  impor- 
tance to  the  naturalist  generally;  and  it  is  histori- 
cally, socially,  and  scientifically  interesting.  But  it 
is  from  the  planting  and  commercial  point  of  view 
that  we  are  now  to  regard  it,  and  I would  begin  by 
saying  that  the  island  is  one-sixth  less  than  Ireland 
in  area,  and  has,  to-day,  a population  of  about 
3,050,000.  For  situation,  while  poetically  described 
as  a pearl-drop  on  the  brow  of  India,  it  may  be 
said  to  occupy  a central  position  in  Southern  Asia, 
its  capital,  Colombo,  being  now  the  greatest  calling 
and  coaling  port  for  the  mail  and  commercial  steamers 
in  the  Eastern  seas.  At  this  time,  when  the  London 
press  is  full  of  the  records  of  disasters  from  hurri- 
canes, volcanic  eruptions,  and  big  fires,  the  position 
and  circumstances  of  Ceylon  are  of  special  import 
to  the  British  capitalist,  the  merchant,  and  planter ; 
for  we  can  speak  of  an  almost  complete  immunity 
from  cyclones,  such  as  occasionally  ravage  the  shores 
of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  our  north ; from  the  earth- 
quakes and  eruptions  which  distinguish  Java  and 
the  Archipelago  to  our  East ; and  from  the  hurricanes 
bred  in  the  Gulf  of  Mozambique,  which  periodically 
devastate  the  sugar  island  of  Mauritius,  and  the 
Zanzibar  coast  in  the  west.  The  wind  and  rainstorms 
which  usher  in  the  monsoons  occasionally  inflict 
some  damage  on  our  crops,  but  there  is  no  com- 
parison in  this  respect  between  the  risks  attaching 
to  cultivation  in  our  island,  and  those  experienced 
in  Mauritius  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago. 
With  such  advantages,  and  with  ready  and  com- 
paratively cheap  means  of  transport  to  the  European 
markets,  with  a good  system  of  roads  and  railways 
in  the  island,  and  with  a favourable  climate,  it 
might  be  supposed  that  Ceylon  should  be  the  paradise 
of  the  cultivator  and  exporter.  But  here,  as  else- 
where. it  has  been  demonstrated  very  clearly,  in 
spite  of  occasional  exceptions,  that  only  in  the 
sweat  of  his  brow  is  the  planter  or  business  man 
to  earn  his  livelihood,  or,  at  any  rate,  his  competency. 
Although  covered  with  vegetation,  which  is  always 
green  and  luxuriant,  Ceylon,  has,  on  the  whole, 
but  indifferent  soil— only  here  and  there  are  there 
rich  alluvial  sections,  or  valleys,  or  plateaux,  with 
fertile  deposits.  The  great  compensation  is  in  a 
forcing  climate— the  constant  alternation  of  sunshine 
and  rain  over  at  le.ist  the  populous  south-western 
division  of  the  island;  so  that,  as  the  exaggerated 
illustration  runs,  if  you  stick  an  iron  crowbar  in  a 
macadamized  road  in  Colombo,  it  must  needs  begin 
to  sprout.  Certainly  no  such  thing  as  a dry  fence 
can  exist  with  us,  since  every  post  and  stick  touch- 
43 
ing  the  earth  is  soon  ready  to  send  forth  shoots. 
Our  tropical  rains,  too,  are  peculiarly  rich  in  am- 
monia— a very  important  matter  where  leaf  production 
is  concerned,  and  one  to  which  I shall  have  to  re- 
fer by-and-bye,  and  there  is  scarcely  any  month  of 
the  year  without  some  rain,  though  the  temparature 
is  high  enough  to  minimize  its  effects,  save  in 
respect  of  vegetation. 
The  next  great  advantage  for  the  planter  in  Ceylon 
is  a good  supply  of  free,  cheap  labour.  The  immi- 
grant Tamil  coolies  from  Southern  India,  under 
proper  management,  are  among  the  most  docile  and 
useful  of  field  or  factory  workers.  Many  years  ago, 
in  the  height  of  coffee  prosperity,  when  scarcity  of 
labour  was  often  the  cry,  it  used  to  be  said  that 
the  planting  enterprise  in  Ceylon  depended  entirely 
on  the  Tamil  coolie,  and  that  a number  of  abun- 
dant grain  harvests  in  Southern  India,  superseding 
the  necessity  for  his  leaving  home,  would  bring  ruin 
to  the  Ceylon  planter,  who  might  as  well  shut  his 
store  door  and  return  home.  Since  then  there  has 
sprung  up  a considerable  supply  of  indigenous,  or 
resident  Tamil  labour  in  the  island,  while  this  is, 
in  certain  districts,  supplemented  by  Sinhalese  men, 
women,  and  children,  who  have  taken  kindly  to  the 
light  work  of  tea-leaf  plucking.  Still  our  plantations 
continue  to  be  very  largely  depended  on  immigrant 
coolies,  and,  with  the  competition  offered  to  us  in 
Southern  India,  by  the  Straits  Settlements  and 
Burmah,  it  is  quite  necessary  that  everything  pos- 
sible should  be  done  to  encourage  and  maintain  an 
ample  flow  of  such  immigrants  to  Ceylon. 
We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  Ceylon  is  the  best 
field  and  school  in  the  world  for  the  training  of 
the  tropical  planter.  This  saying  is  based,  not 
simply  on  the  interested  opinion  of  our  very  good 
selves,  but  on  the  observation  of  scientific  gentlemen 
connected  with  Kew,  or  other  botanical,  agricultural, 
and  chemical  institutions,  who  have  visited  us;  of 
travellers  who  have  been  able  to  compare  plantation 
work  in  different  colonies ; and  on  the  evidences  of 
intelligence,  skill  and  experience  in  the  development 
of  our  local  enterprise.  A young  man  properly 
graduating  as  a planter  in  Ceylon  is  bound  to  ac- 
quire much  practical  knowledge  respecting  the  best 
treatment  of  the  plant  and  soil  on  which  he  is  en- 
gaged; in  regard  to  the  proper  management  of 
coloured  labour— fand  nowhere  are  labourers  treated 
more  kindly) — including  the  learning  to  speak  the 
coolies’  language  colloquially;  he  is  expected  to 
understand  not  only  the  mysteries  of  seed  nurseries, 
of  planting,  draining,  and  road  making;  but  to  be  able 
to  design  and  superintend  buildings,  whether  in 
wattle  and  daub  for  cooly  lines,  or  in  brick  and 
stone  for  his  own  bungalow  and  factory,  and  the 
more  he  is,  or  becomes,  of  a practical  engineer, 
land  surveyor,  and  even  physician  for  his  coolies, 
the  better.  To  know  something  of  chemistry  and 
geology,  of  soil  constituents  and  manurial  applications 
is  no  drawback,  but  the  reverse  to  such  colonists. 
Many  of  our  planters,  alter  they  have  learned  the 
nature  of  their  work,  are  snxious  to  experiment — - 
backed  by  the  expert  in  Mincing  Lane,  the  machi- 
nist, or  the  analytical  chemist,  or  by  all  three,  in 
the  hope  of  turning  out  a better,  or  better  prepared 
product,  of  securing  a more  abundant  crop,  without 
injury  to  the  plants,  or  waste  of  soil;  or  of  econo- 
mizing in  their  field  or  factory  work,  in  freight  or 
other  expenses,  by  some  mechanical  contrivance  or 
improvement.  For  such  improvements  there  is  still 
plenty  of  scope  in  connection  with  nearly  every 
department  of  tropical  agriculture.  Supported  by 
the  local  press — (and  Ceylon  produces  an  organ, 
the  monthly  Tropical  Agriculturist,  unique  among 
English  periodicals,  and  which  finds  its  way  to  the 
Agricultural  Department  in  Washington,  whilst  it 
is  highly  valued  all  over  India;  in  Australia,  East 
and  South  Africa,  Central  and  South  America,  in 
fact,  all  round  the  tropics) — there  is  a constant 
interchange  of  ideas,  experiments,  and  criticism  in 
our  island.  Therefore  it  is  no  wonder  that,  to  have 
earned  the  reputation  of  being  a reliable,  experienced 
planter  in  Ceylon,  should  pretty  well  be  a passport 
to  respect,  if  not  profitable  employment,  in  any  part 
1 of  the  tropical  world.  Ia  this  region  the  Ceylou 
