Jan,  2,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
489 
- ■ - - 
To  the  Editor. 
THE  TEA  ESTIMATE  FOR  1891— AND 
WHAT  MIGHT  HAVE  BEEN. 
Upoountry,  Deo.  10th,  1892. 
Deab  Sib, — I see  that  the  battle  of  the  estimates 
has  oome  round  again.  I oonsider  that  with  normal 
conditions  of  the  weather  the  Observer's  estimate 
for  the  present  season  would  have  been  fully 
eeoured  ; and  that  with  both  normal  conditions  of 
weather  and  a oontinuance  of  the  style  of  plucking 
of  even  a year  ago,  the  estimate  would  have 
been  considerably  exceeded.  Had  the  estimates 
of  individual  estates  been  published  at  the  begin- 
niug  of  the  season  I fanoy  the  total  figures  would 
have  made  all  of  us  “ sit  up." — Yours  truly, 
AN  OLD  COFFEE  STUMP. 
CEYLON  AND  LIBERIAN  COFFEE 
PLANTATIONS. 
Kegalla,  Dec.  10  1892. 
Sib,— Tea,  as  the  staple  produot  of  Oeylon.has 
taken  up  the  attention  of  the  Oeylon  publio  so 
much,  that  the  other  produots  hitherto  called 
“minor”  have  attracted  but  little  attention.  Every- 
thing is  to  be  done  at  the  Columbian  Exposition 
obviously  to  boom  Oeylon  tea.  Oeylon  cacao,  oinchona 
and  even  oeffee  Arabics  or  the  rising  Liberian 
are  thrown  in  the  shade.  There  are  two  pro- 
duots, however  which  will  need  no  exposi- 
tions to  help  them,  and  these  are  cocoa  and  Li- 
berian ooffee.  Home  ridioulous  articles  appeared 
in  your  columns*  by  a writer  who  complained  bit- 
terly of  his  unfortunate  experience  in  his  oocoa 
plantation,  and  who  expeoted  that  his  wild  vapourings 
would  be  endorsed  by  others.  If  there  was  muoh 
truth  in  his  statements,  oacao  would  have  oeased 
to  be  a Ceylon  product  years  ago.  The  exports 
have  been  increasing,  and  so  has  the  price,  and 
who  would  not  now  exchange  a 400  aore  tea 
totam  for  100  aores  of  caoao.  There  were  a 
great  many  wrong  ideas  about  the  cultivation  of 
this  produot  now  fully  exploded,  viz  , that  it  can 
only  be  grown  “ in  pockets  ” amongst  the  hills 
and  on  flat  and  undulating  land,  &o.  Cacao 
is  seen  now  thriving  exceedingly  well  even  on 
what  is  called  steep  land,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  coconut  trees  have  been  successfully  raised  on 
hill  6ideB.  The  only  enemy  is  really  the  wind 
and  even  its  il'.-effeot  oau  eisily  be  prevented 
by  growing  belts  of  trees  early  in  a olearing. 
There  is,  however,  plenty  of  lsnd  available  where 
the  wind  does  not  play  havoc  and  such  parts 
of  an  estate  expot  ed  to  winds  need  not  be 
planted  and  it  must  be  a singularly  very  bad 
plantation  where  the  unsuited  portions  exoeeds 
20  per  cent,  of  the  average.  It  is  difficult  to 
make  folks  understand  that  you  cannot  “ run 
up  ” a oao&o  plantation  as  you  oan  a tea  olear- 
ing. Coffee  and  tea  are  shrubs,  and  you  oan 
make  a showy  olearing  in  a few  months,  but 
cacao  culfivation  is  as  good  as  an  orchard  culti- 
vation. In  never  so  poor  or  rich  soil,  if  the  first 
steps  of  making  good  large  holes,  removing  woody 
matters  when  filling  the  holes,  to  prevent  attacks  of  | 
termiteB,  shading  thoroughly,  &o  , &o.,  are  carefully 
attended  to,  and  the  plants  put  down  or  even 
seeds  at  seasonable  weather,  success  must  follow 
and  the  percentage  of  deaths  will  be  very  small, 
and  can  be  easily  set  right  by  a second  repeti- 
tion of  the  proper  oourse.  Any  ordinary  kangani 
will  plant  up  a tea  clearing,  and  stiok  in  the 
plants  “any  way  and  anyhow”  and  the  weather 
beiDg  favorable,  you  can  feel  comfortably  as- 
sured that  the  plants  are  coming  up,  and  view 
your  tea  field  with  your  glasses  from  afar.  Caoao 
planting  is  a different  matter.  Personal,  and  may 
I say  close  ocular  inspection  of  almost  every 
plant  laid  down,  and  that  being  selected  and  in- 
telligent ooolies  is  essential.  Then  only  fifteen 
months  of  oonstant  core  is  needed,  shading,  &a., 
the  plant,  and  whether  the  shade  trees  are  well 
up  or  not,  the  plant  will  be  found  neediDg  no 
further  attention,  save  that  in  poor  soils  only, 
after  the  seoond  or  third  year,  trenching  and 
manuring  will  be  needed  and  perhaps  repeated 
every  third  or  fourth  year.  A yield  of  3 owt-  per 
aore  is  really  very  ordinary.  Proptr  cultivation 
can  raise  it  to  6 cwt,  and  with  the  cld  prices  of 
R50  p6r  owt.  and  the  small  rxpenditure  needed  for 
upkeep,  why  should  not  this  produot  be  expeoted 
to  be  in  a few  years  henoe  considered  as  the  more 
lasting  and  more  reliable  and  paying  product  than 
tea  ? The  highest  price  is  paid  for  this  produot 
in  Europe,  and,  with  little  or  no  booming,  has 
been  going  on  to  bring  it  into  the  large  markets. 
The  quantity  shipped  is  not  a fiftieth  part  of  what 
those  in  the  trade  are  ready  to  purohase  (at  per- 
haps even  the  former  prioes)  before  they  ory 
“ Hold  1 enough  !” 
As  to  Liberian  ooffee  even  at  R8  per  bushel 
and  leaf-disease  notwithstanding,  there  is  a deoent 
margin  left  as  profit;  but  the  average  local  price 
of  R10  per  bushel  will  rule  for  at  least  ten  years 
henoe,  even  if  there  were  over  100.000  acres  yielding 
this  coffee.  Unfortunately  for  this  product,  when 
first  introduced  prioes  were  low,  the  yield  was 
insufficient  owing  to  too  distant  planting,  viz.,  12  by 
12  ft.  and  8 by  8,  &c.  These  distances  are  ODly 
good  in  extremely  rich  soils,  extents  of  10  to  20  acres 
of  which  are  hard  to  find 
In  the  ooming  year  the  Ceylon  publio  will  find 
that  more  attention  is  being  paid  to  these  products 
hitherto  unnecessarily  and  thoughtlessly  neglected 
for  tea,  the  all-absorbing  topio  now.  Arabian  coffee 
at  R17  a bushel  now,  and  Liberian  ooffee  at  R12  is 
sure  proof  of  a good  demand  for  these  products 
that  it  will  take  years  to  satisfy,  and  those  first  in 
the  field  can  expect  something  more  than  ordinary 
profits. — I am,  <&o.,  OLD  HAND.'  ’ 
TEA  BUYERS  IN  MINCING  LANE. 
Colombo,  Dec.  13,  1892. 
Sib,— I am  requested  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Ceylon  Association  in  London  to  hand  you  the 
enclosed  Correspondence  for  publication  and  I am 
to  ask  if  you  are  willing  to  gire  your  authority 
for  the  story  told  by  you  of  the  “ Tea  Buyers  in 
Mincing  Lane.”— I am  yours  faithfully. 
C.  E.  E-.-SYMONS,  Secretary. 
[The  illness  of  our  senior  who  was  responsible 
editor  of  the  Observer  in  Ootober  last,  makes  a diffi. 
culty  in  regard  to  the  identification  of  the  informant 
as  his  name  cannot  be  recalled  by1  our  predecessor 
here.  He  was  a gentleman,  we  are  told,  who  had  then 
reoently  arrived  in  the  Colony  and  who  on  telling 
his  experience  to  some  one  in  the  Fort,  was 
advised  to  come  to  the  Observer  Offioe  and  relate 
it.  Pending  the  attempt  still  being  made  to  get 
at  the  name  through  the  shipping  list,  and  Mr. 
A.  M.  Ferguson’s  recovery, — in  the  hrpe  that  he 
may  recall  it — we  oan  only  request  the  gentleman 
* i In  a contemporary’s. — Ed.  T.A, 
62 
