THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb.  i,  1893. 
504 
I am  busily  engaged  opening  a large  coffee  plan- 
tation. We  have  nearly  3,000  acres,  mostly  good 
for  codec.  In  1801  I planted  250  acres,  this  year  I 
planted  another  150  acres,  and  next  year  I shall  plant 
another  100  acres  and  finish  by  June  1893.  I have 
300  acres  of  virgin  forest  fallow,  which  is  rotting 
away,  and  which  I shall  plant  up  in  1895  and  1896.  I 
shall  not  do  any  planting  in  189-1.  I am  just  now 
beginning  to  build  my  receiving  cisterns,  store,  and 
barbacues.  My  power  is  furnished  by  a Pelton  wheel, 
with  an  80  feet  fall  of  water. 
W.  J.  FORSYTH. 
[We  hope  to  hea  soon  again  from  Mr.  Forsyth 
—Ed.  T.A.] 
NEW  PRODUCTS. 
We  are  glad  to  find  that  the  attention  of  Planters 
is  being  prominently  directed  by  the  Editor  of  the 
Observer  since  his  return  to  the  Island  to  the  wisdom 
of  extending  the  cultivation  of  other  products  than 
Tea.  Dr.  Trimen  has  in  annual  Report  after  annual 
Report  pleaded  against  the  practical  restriction  of 
upcountry  cultivation  to  Tea ; and  we  have  ourselves 
—whether  in  reviewing  Administration  Reports  on 
the  Botanic  Gardens,  or  in  dealing  with  Customs 
and  commercial  statistics— condemned  the  apparent 
devotion  of  Planters  to  a single  product.  To  be  sure 
Cocoa,  Cinchona,  Cardamoms  and  Coffee  are  culti- 
vated in  a fashion;  but  there  has  scarcely  been  any 
extension  to  mention  in  any  of  them.  The  acreage 
under  Cardamoms  may  have  increased  somewhat; 
but  not  to  an  extent  to  arrest  attention  ; and  perhaps 
wisely  so.  Spices  must  be  reckoned  among  luxuries; 
and  the  demand  for  them  does  not  expand  with  the 
supply — as  Cinnamon  Planters  know  to  their  cost. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  there  has  been  any  increase 
in  the  acreage  under  Cocoa.  Even  allowing  for  the 
delicacy  of  the  plant,  at  least  in  its  younger  stages, 
its  love  for  sheltered  nooks,  and  its  impatience  of 
wind,  there  is  not  a sufficiently  determined  effort,  we 
fear,  in  any  district  to  find  out  spots  suitable  for  its 
cultivation.  At  the  prices  which  have  ruled  through- 
out the  year  if  not  beyond  it,  Cocoa  ought  to  pay 
handsomely.  Why  then  is  it  neglected  to  the  extent 
that  it  is  ? The  chief  reason  probably  is,  that  ^ its 
returns  are  not  as  quick  as  in  the  case  of  Tea. 
It  is  the  old  story  of  hastening  to  be  rich.  Without 
being  able  fully  to  endorse  the  views  of  a corres- 
pondent who  has  just  been  singing  the  praises 
of  Cocoa  most  lustily  in  the  pages  of  our  contempo- 
raries, we  do  think  land  may  be  found  in  which 
experiments  might  be  undertaken  with  almost  the 
certainty  of  success,  not  only  in  upcountry  distiicts, 
but  also  in  the  low  country.  Its  gradual  extension 
among  the  Natives  in  sheltered  gardens,  is  a pleasing 
feature  ; but  this  cannot,  at  any  rate  for  a consider- 
able time,  appreciably  affect  the  Exports.  With  re- 
gard to  Coffee,  it  is  most  difficult  to  form  or  pro- 
nounce a decided  opinion.  The  prices  which  the 
fragrant  bean  now  commands  in  the  markets  of  the 
world  are  such  as  should  encourage  its  cultivation. 
And  it  has  the  advantage— if  it  be  an  advantage- 
like  Tea  of  yielding  quick  returns.  But  Iiemdeia 
vastatrix  is  not  the  only  enemy  with  which  the 
shrub  has  to  contend,  as  the  few  who  own  coffee 
land  can  sadly  testify.  If  “Once  bit,  twice  shy 
explains  the  unwillingness  of  Planters  to  commence 
planting  new  clearings  with  coffee,  or  to  extend  the 
acreage  they  already  have,  the  explanation  docs  not 
app'y  to  the  maintenance  of  the  lard  under  the 
product  without  shrinkage.  How  is  it  that  the  acre- 
age is  steadily  dwindling  and  the  exports  decreasing? 
Black  bug,  green  bug,  unfavourable  seasons  are  turn 
about  offered  as  explanations;  and  the  Plinters  are 
too  hard-headed  a race  to  offer  1 hem  without  just  cause. 
But  is  this  really  conclusive  against  fresh  experiments  ? 
May  not  the  conditions  under  which  the  plants  have 
grown  and  borne  fruit— their  productiveness  having 
been  stimulated  by  topping  and  pruning— be  fatal  to 
their  longevity?  Because  these  can  no  longer  survive 
or  be  profitably  cultivated,  does  it  necessarily  follow 
that  cultivation  on  fresh  land— on  virgin  forest— should 
pot  be  tried?  To  be  sure,  witl*  Tea  regarded  as  a 
certainty,  and  Coffee,  even  if  our  theory  be  accepted 
as  a risky  experiment,  people  naturally  prefer  the 
former  to  the  latter.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  in 
the  interests  of  the  community  generally,  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  planting  enterprise  particularly, 
that  wealthy  Companies  and  well-to  do  individuals 
will  make  experiments,  even  on  a small  scale,  to  test 
the  practicability  of  reviving  Coffee  cultivation  in  new 
fields.  Even  Liberian  Coffee  fetches  prices  which 
are  abundantly  satisfactory  : and  although  we  cannot 
say  we  are  believers  in  the  immunity  of  this  species 
from  leaf-disease  or  even  in  its  ability  to  resist  at- 
tacks better  than  the  Arabian  variety,  we  do  not 
despair  of  its  continuing  to  flourish,  if  it  be  allowed 
to  grow  as  it  does  in  its  native  habitat.  In  our  limited 
experience,  trees  which  have  not  been  topped  resist 
attacks  of  leaf  disease  better  than  bus'  es  which  have 
been  topped  and  pruned;  while  there  has  not  been 
the  same  mortality—  if  indeed  any  trees  have  died — 
among  them  from  that  specific  cause. 
In  writing  as  we  do,  we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
Tea  is  in  a bad  way  ; or  that  the  cry  of  over-pro- 
duction is  a valid  one,  at  any  rate  here.  Newmarkets 
are  taking  away  all  that  we  are  producing  at  remuner- 
ative rates.  Those  who  speak  of  the  small  margin 
of  profit  which  Tea  leaves,  in  order  to  secure  some 
concession  in  transport  or  otherwise,  unconscious  y 
do  much  harm  to  a very  promising  and,  we  may  » dd, 
profitable  enterprise.  Tea  pays  generally,  and  very 
handsomely  in  particular  cases.  Plantations  which 
do  not  pay  are  those  which  should  never  have  been 
opened;  and  it  is  impossible  to  treat  any  product  in 
a way  that  all  who  engage  in  it,  whether  wisely  or 
unwisely,  should  be  able  to  grow  rich  on  it.  To  the 
warning  that  Tea  is  profitable  because  of  the  de- 
preciated value  of  the  Rupee,  the  simple  answer  is 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  prospect  of  its  appreciation. 
The  world  is  prepared  to  take  up  all  the  Tea  we  can 
grow;  and  to  pay  better  prices  for  it,  too,  than  fur 
t he  product  of  any  other  country.  Still,  the  unwisdom 
of  p acing  all  one's  eggs  in  a single  basket  lias  been 
demonstrated  again  and  again  in  other  countries, 
and  very  painfully  here  in  the  case  of  Coffee.  It  is 
for  that  reason  we  should  be  glad  to  know  that  other 
products  are  not  neglected  while  Tea  is  being  at- 
tended to.  And  that  suggests  the  need  of  real  at- 
tention. Are  Planters  doing  justice  to  their  bushes, 
on  which  a very  unusual  strain  is  placed  by  the  severe 
pruning  and  the  continuous  pluckiug  to  which  they 
are  alternately  subjected?  The  returns  of  manure 
imported,  and  the  information  touching  cattle  estab- 
lishm  nts  on  Estates,  do  not  point  to  any  general 
appreciation  of  the  ne  d of  giving  back  to  the  soil 
some  part  of  the  constituents  regularly  taken  away 
from  it.  It  may  be  too  late,  in  many  cases,  before 
this  is  realised ; and  it  behoves  the  Planters’  Associ- 
ation and  the  Press  to  draw  very  serious  attention 
to  the  matter. — Ceylon  “Examiner." 
4. — 
i'  ats  ! — Tnlkirg  about  rats,  ‘ays  the  N ilgiri  News: 
these  at  times  make  their  sppcarance  in  ravenous 
swarms  that  stop  at  nothing.  We  were  informed 
'he  other  day,  by  a planter  of  long  standing, 
tint  even  the  very  calves  and  cattle  on  his  estate 
were  not  exempt  from  their  depredations.  On 
one  occ  sion,  by  the  attractive  bait  of  a little 
gram,  placed  in  juxtaposition  to  his  cattle  shed, 
he  succeeded  in  killing  ns  many  as  twenty  by  a 
single  shot,  and  he  repeated  the  experiment  with 
sucoess. 
The  Cuhbent  Cnor  er  Coffee  in  Bbazil  has 
beeD  reduced  by  about  300,000  bags  in  consequence 
of  the  want  of  labour.  This  want  tends  to  increase 
in  a very  sensible  degree,  and  causes  a large  advance 
in  the  wages  paid  by.  planters.  The  disorganisation 
in  the  transportation  service  adds  another  very 
serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  cultivation.  The 
next  crop  has  been  estimated  provisionally  by  a 
delegation  of  ccffee  faotors  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  at 
2,700,000  bags,  subject  to  the  character  of  the  season 
up  to  i'ebmary  next.— Capitalist,  London,  Jan.  7. 
