520 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb.  i,  1895. 
able  addition,  but  in  the  mountains  the  streams  are 
clear,  except  when  there  are  plantations  above.  The 
clearing  and  cultivation  of  the  planter  ocoasion  a 
sediment  in  the  streams  near  his  estate,  which  is 
distinctly  traceable  below;  a fact  which  has  a direct 
bearing  on  the  influence  of  forest  cultivation,  and 
the  necessity  for  reservation  of  land  above  all  town 
supplies. 
THE  SINHALESE  BAD  FARMERS  AND]  ENGINEERS. 
The  Sinhalese  is  sometimes  a bad  farmer,  and  very 
often  a bad  engineer.  Thus  a Government  agent  is 
compelled  to  report  that  “ The  distributing  channels 
have  apparently  had  no  attention  paid  to  them,  the 
old  native  courses  have  been  adopted,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  new  ones  left  nearly  altogether  in  the  hands 
of  the  Vanniyas.  These  men  know  nothing  of  levels,  and 
consequently  do  not  always  select  the  best  Hue,  though 
the  people  arevery  energetic  and  willing  to  spend  money 
to  obtain  water.  To  secure  this  in  many  places  the 
level  of  the  surface  of  the  fields  iB  reduced  several 
feet,  with  a loss,  of  course,  of  the  best  soil  which  is 
heaped  up  in  banks-”  There  is  little  or  no  excuse 
for  such  blindness  a9  this  discloses.  Water  will  reach 
its  own  levels.  Other  conditions  are  quite  favourable. 
The  red  soil  of  the  uplands  must  be  very  stiff  since 
it  permits  channels  to  be  constructed  with  a fall  of 
over  ten  feet  to  the  mile  without  erosion.  The  narrow 
cheeks  made  to  retain  the  flow  in  the  rice  fields 
appear  to  maintain  their  consistency  very  satis- 
factorily, so  that  tbe  natives  have  an  easy  task  before 
them  if  they  supplement  these  many  natural  advantages 
by  knowledge,  judgment,  and  < nergy. 
The  problem  in  Ceylon  relates  for  the  future  less 
to  irrigaton  than  to  the  irrigator.  Tbe  law  is  liberal ; 
its  administration  intelligent,  and  its  results  admirable. 
The  market  is  favourable,  and  success  is  only  limited 
by  the  courage  and  capacity  of  those  for  whose  use 
the  water  has  been  diverted  or  stored.  Fast  as 
rice  cultivate  n has  extended,  population  ha9  increased 
faster,  and  the  imports  grow  year  by  year  in  spite 
of  the  duty.  Everjthing,  therefore,  waits  for  the 
cultivator,  everjthing  is  ready  to  his  hand,  he  has 
but  to  stretch  it  out  to  grasp  bis  reward.  Before 
we  reproaoh  him  for  his  tardiness  and  timidity  we 
had  better,  perhaps,  assure  ourselves  that  in  Yiotoria 
we  are  not  open  in  some  degree  to  a similar  criticism 
even  at  the  present  moment. 
— & — - — - 
UYA  PLANTING  REPORT. 
Badulla,  Jan.  3. 
Weather  is  most  extraordinary  and  most  unseason- 
able. The  wind  is  N.-West  instead  of  N.-East  and 
is  very  strong.  A bright  and  hot  sun  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  clouds  and  rain  we  should  have  at  what 
is  usually  the  wettest  time  of  the  year.  While  the 
western  slopes  of  Namunakula  had  a fair  amount 
of  rain  and  mist  in  December,  the  eastern  slopes 
had  practically  none.  This  is  a pity  in  more  ways 
than  one.  We  want  rain  to  ripen  up  the  remaining 
coffee  crop,  and  the  unexpected  break  has  played 
havoc  with  those  clearings  which  were  planted  in 
the  early  part  of  December.  It  has  been  the  most 
treacherous  planting  season  I remember. 
Coffee  still  looks  bad.  Bug  is  in  the  black  stage, 
and  fields  affected  with  this  pest  look  particularly 
unhappy;  all  coffee  however  looks  bad  just  now,  for 
at  this  dead  season  of  the  year,  there  is,  as  always, 
a heavy  fall  of  leaf,  which  makes  ridges  and  weak 
features  look  thin  and  poor.  The  wind  has  accen- 
tuated this. 
Tea. — Tea  never  does  much  in  this  district  in  the 
end  of  December- January,  and  this  year  is  no  excep- 
tion. There  is  very  little  leaf  coming  in,  and  factory 
hands  are  having  an  easy  time  of  it.  A few  weeks 
more,  however,  and  they  will  have  quite  as  much 
as  they  can  do.  A little  pruning  is  being  done 
and  a considerable  acreage  will  be  down  before 
the  end  of  the  month.  The  past  six  months  have 
been  very  favourable  for  growth  of  leaf,  and  returns 
are  everywhere  better  than  last  year.  There  has 
beta  a mu«h  smaller  acreage  put  into  tea  thjs  year 
than  usual — due  probably  to  the  splendid  prices  coffee 
is  now  fetching ; and  what  has  been  planted  will 
not  all  be  very  regular  at  a year  old,  I fancy. 
General. — The  work  on  our  new  roads  has  not 
been  commenced  yet,  but  I understand  that  they 
will  be  in  full  swing  in  another  few  week*.  The 
railway  cuttings  are  now  visible  almost  to  Baudara- 
wela,  and  1893  will  te  a great  landmark  in  the 
history  of  the  province  ; energy  and  progress  are 
visible  everywhere ; and  if  only  tea  will  keep  at  a 
moderate  paying  figure  the  next  ten  years  will  see 
a wonderful  change  in  ‘‘Outcast  Uva.”  There  is,  I 
hear,  to  be  a great  function  at  the  railway  opening 
in  April. — The  general  meeting  of  the  Association 
is  fixed  for  11th  February. 
TEA  CHESTS  IN  PEERMAD. 
It  is  curious  how  the  tea  chest  industry  has  sprung 
up  of  late,  and  how  competition  has  cut  down  prices. 
When  it  first  began,  full  chests  of  mango  wood  cost 
Re-  1 4 annas  on  the  coast,  or  wherever  they  were 
made  ; gradually  they  went  down,  till  now  you  can 
obtain  the  same  kind  for  11|  annas  at  Alleppy,  and 
though  some  firms  are  keeping  up  their  prices  they 
will,  of  course,  have  to  reduce.  Probably  11  annas  is 
about  the  margin  they  will  pay  at.  Besides  the  coast 
firms,  innumerable  natives  have  also  undertaken  the 
trade,  and  if  only  they  could  be  relied  on  to  execute 
the  orders  punctually,  would  monopolise  the  trade, 
being  nearer  the  hills  and  consequently  being  able 
to  pat  them  on  the  estates  cheaper.  But  this,  and 
the  regular  native  failing  of  being  unable  to  resist  a 
little  extra  profit  by  infirm  timber,  is  fatal  to  their 
doing  as  well  as  they  should  do.  I have  made  chests 
myself  on  the  hills,  with  native  carpenters ; but  could 
never  turn  them  out  under  12  annas  on  the  place,  and 
then  the  time  required  to  season  the  timber,and  difficulty 
at  above  3,000  ft.  in  getting  suitable  timber  in  large 
quantities,  would  always  he  a bar,  though,  at  a 
little  lower  elevation  with  a circular  saw  worked  by 
power,  it  should  pay.  Chests  are  always  made  of 
light  wood  of  the  Mango  or  Cotton,  which  is  of 
little  use  otherwise ; so  it  is  a source  of  revenue  to 
the  Sircar  caused  by  the  planter,  which  I am  sure 
the  Forest  Officers  appreciate.  The  chests  are  of  3 
sizes,  called  full,  half  and  quarter-  and  contain  about 
100  lb.,  50  lb.  and  25  lb,  respectively.  Many  Estates 
put  these  exact  amounts  in,  and  this,  I think,  is 
the  simplest  and  best  way.  If  the  weights  are 
really  correct,  the  Customs  people  take  it  as  bulked, 
otherwise  with  uneven  weights,  they  rebulk  the 
whole  break.  All  packages  are  called  chests,  unless 
'otherwise  stated  clearly  by  the  shipper  ( b ) stands 
for  boxesi.e.  J chests,  (£c)  for  chests,  (p)  for  packages 
i.e.,  full  chests,  (x).  Prices  marked  thus  represent 
the  biggest  offer  made.  All  brokers  stick  to  these 
rules,  and  send  circulars  weekly,  with  the  price  of 
each  grade  of  tea,  and  the  average  price  of  the 
whole  break.  In  calculating  the  average,  a ohest  is 
taken  at  100  lb.  2 half  chests  or  4 boxes  to  equal  a 
chest. — Cor,  M.  Times. 
•*> 
Tea  Prospects. — Two  items  of  considerable  interest 
to  the  growing  body  of  shareholders  in  Indian 
tea  companies  are  published,  both  relating  to 
railway  enterprise.  One  is  that  the  Bengal-Dooars 
Railway  is  likely  to  be  ready  for  passenger  traffio 
in  April  and  for  the  conveyance  of  goods  rather 
earlier,  while  the  fact  that  the  line  is  one  of  the 
cheapest  in  India  gives  promise  of  easy  rates. 
The  Dooars  being  one  of  the  leading  tea  districts 
in  India,  the  construction  of  this  railway  is  of 
no  little  importance  to  the  industry.  The  Assam. 
Bengal  Railway,  which  will  bring  the  Assam  tea 
gardens  much  nearer  the  ports  of  shipment,  is 
also  being  aotively  oonstruoted. — Financial  News , 
London, 
