Feb.  t 1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
52t 
■»' . -.-1- 
To  the  Editor. 
CEYLON  CACAO  PLANTATIONS. 
Kegalla,  Dec.  18tb,  1892, 
Sir, — With  refe'enre  to  the  letter  of  “ Danger  ” 
commenting  on  mine,  I apologise  to  him  and  to  you 
lor  describing  certain  letters  as  articles.  As  to  my 
description  of  those  letters,  I think  I can  count  a 
majo  ity  of  those  who  have  had  experience  in.  cacao 
endorsing  my  view  of  those  letters.  It  strikes  me 
that  “Danger’s”  letter,  if  not  a ‘ wild”  one,  is  to 
say  the  least,  very  peculiar  and  deserves  little  notice. 
He  Bays  ‘ L;t  the  bare  simple  truth  be  told,  and  if 
the  enterprise  cannot  stand,  by  all  means  let  it  fall 
and  the  1 lower  down  he  upholds  the  gist  of  my 
contention  by  saying  “ cacao  wants  no  writing  up, 
but  it  has  some  special  requirements  that  have  teen 
duly  1 oted  both  by  old  and  modern  agriculturists, 
«nd  for  any  young  investor  to  ignore  these  and 
looal  experiences  as  well  would  be  extremely 
foolish, ” and  so  say  I. 
In  my  letter  I d d not  mako  anyone  believe  that 
fortunes  can  be  made  in  this-  cultivation  as  did  after 
aU  only  a fraction  ot  the  coffee  planters  in  the  best 
of  times.  Nor  did  I intend  to  insinuate  that  there  are 
-no  enemies  to  contend  with.  Would  the  fact  that  occa- 
sional droughts  or  the  appearance  of  red  spider  deter 
tea  being  planted  in  Ceylon  now  ? As  to  Government 
rai'way  rates,  thieves,  and  the  refusal  of  Government 
to  lash  them,  these  are  minor  matters  that  can  be  to 
a great  extent  remedied  by  preventive  measures  and 
agitation  and  combination  on  the  part  of  those  in- 
terested. 
I still  maintain  that  the  price  of  cacao  has  in- 
creased considerably,  the  ocoaBional  rise  and  drop 
of  prioes  from  125s  to  105s  notwithstanding,  Com- 
pare the  present  average  annual  price  with  those 
of  former  years,  commencing  from  the  earlier  years 
of  this  cultivation,  and  my  contention  will  be  found 
to  be  correct.  “Danger”  says  the  crop  is  short  by 
2,000  cwt. ; but  the  year  is  not  out,  and  the  cacao 
orop  is  late  this  year  in  ripening.  The  cultivation,  I 
maintain,  is  increasing  though  I regret  to  say  chiefly 
by  the  natives,  as  the  returns  at  the  K chcheries  will 
show.  As  to  the  destructive  agencies  in  the  West 
Indies,  we  are  not  concerned  about  them,  and  if  that 
is  to  be  a deterrent,  tea  planters  had  better  let  their 
enterprise  fall,  because  red  spider  plays  havoc  in  the 
Assam-gardeQ8.  E'even  years  ago  a stu  dy  coffee  planter 
ot  DimbuD,  who  in  his  earlier  years  had  travelled  and 
was  in  some  business  in  China,  described  the  tea  enter- 
prise in  Ceylon  as  adding  more  “ coals  to  fire  ” 
when  leaf-disease  was  impoverishing  the  island  ! 
P-or  man,  if  alive  now,  how  astonished  be  would  be  ? 
I oortainly  never  advocated  planting  cacao  alone  : 
there  is  too  much  wa9ta  ground  that  could  be 
utilized  interplanticg  other  products  till  the  plan- 
tation is  well  established,  and  what  is  to  be  inter- 
planted  depends  on  soil  and  locality.  Liberian 
ooffea  is  about  the  best  for  the  purpose.  Come 
down  from  your  wind-blown  soil-washed  dismal 
bills,  where  even  weeds  and  mana  seem  loath  to 
grow,  and  seloot  lands  in  the  lower  kill  ranges  and 
valleys,  leaving  questions  of  delightful  climate 
aside,  and  you  may  get  the  land  that  will  yield  that 
you  want.  I have  heard  some  ask  what  is  the  trench- 
ing system.  It  is  this.  Cut  a circular  trench  2J  to 
3 feet  from  the  tree  15  to  18  inches  deep.  The  soil 
raised  should  form  an  outer  bund  or  walling.  Fork 
up  carefully  the  soil  left  between  the  trench  and  the 
tree.  Throw  in  a compost  of  everything  available : 
cattle^  dung,  ashes,  leaves,  twigs,  coarse  bones,  husks, 
&c.  Trees  that  after  yielding  their  maiden  crops 
have  fallen  back  will  again  develop  and  yield  nearly 
double  their  former  crop,  and  the  cost  of  this  system 
once  in  three  years  is  not  more  than  that  was  spent 
annually  in  manuring  3,000  to  4,000  coffee  trees. 
OLD  HAND. 
TEA  SALES  : THE  HOME  V.  COLOMBO 
MARKET. 
Dear  Sir, — Is  it  better  to  sell  your  tea  in  the 
Local  Market  or  ship  it  to  London  ? To  enable 
your  readers  to  answer  this,  allow  me  to  state  that 
X,  Y,  Z three  different  properties — have  their  leaf 
manufactured  in  one  faotory  as  if  all  belonged  to 
one  estate.  X ships  to  England  all  its  tea  in  breaks 
of  about  7,000  lb. — Y and  Z sell  in  the  local  market 
under  their  respective  marks,  in  breaks  of  about 
4,500  and  3,000  lb.  eaoh. 
X London  sales  averaged..  7-80d. 
Y Colombo  do  do  39-33  cts. 
Z do  do  do  4334  ,, 
If  you  deduct  l^d  per  lb.  for  freight  and  all 
London  charges,  X’s  net  average  is  6-30d;  and  as 
exchange  for  3 months’  credits  during  12  months  end- 
ing 30th  June  1892  averaged  about  Is  4£d,  you  have 
37-80  cents  for  X’s  tea  against  39'33  cents  and 
43- 31  cents  with  the  advantage  of  cash  on  delivery 
less  the  small  local  charges. — Yours  truly, 
A LOCAL  SELLER. 
[We  Dotice  from  last  volume  of  our  Tropical  Agri- 
culturist, page  282,  that  the  same  experience  pretty 
well  was  recorded  for  1890-91.  A’s  tea  getting 
44- 36  cents  at  home  ; while  B’s  sold  for  47-03  oents 
and  O’s  for  49  56  oents  locally. —Ed.  T-A.] 
LAND  AVAILABLE  FOR  THE  EXTENSION 
OF  TEA  CULTURE  IN  CEYLON : TOO  MUCH 
OF  A GOOD  THING. 
Upcountry,  Dec.  20th. 
Dear  Sir, — “ Wanderer  ” in  your  issue  of  the 
17th  inst.  says  “ there  is  not  much  to  inorease 
in  the  hill  districts  ” and  further  on  “ there  is 
any  amount  of  land  in  native  hands  in  the  low- 
country  quite  suitable  for  the  tea  weed.”  Now,  as 
to  the  former  it  depends  on  what  he  considera 
“hill  districts:’’  but  if  from  2,000  to  4,000  feet  can 
be  considered  such,  I think  there  is  still  a large 
extent  available  for  tea  in  private  hands  (not 
natives  ) I take  from  your  Directory  for  1891  — 
the  only  one  I have  at  hand  at  the  moment: — 
acres. 
Balangoda..  ...  17,015 
Eakwana  . . . . 12,903 
Kukulu  Korale  ...  5,895 
Morawak'Korale  ...  13,258 
Total  ..  49,076 
Cultivated  ..  ...  8,871 
Balance  ..  ..  40,205 
Mr.  Mantell  can  give  you  the  quantity  available 
in  the  hands  of  Government,  which  will  be  a 
nioe  addition  to  the  above.  Where  then  could 
there  be  a better  field  for  “ Creepers  ’’  to  try 
their  hands  at  reducing  the  price  of  tea.  As  for 
ohena  land,  this  is  the  home  of  it,  and  dozens 
of  Mariawattes  can  be  carved  out  of  it.  Anyone 
wishing  to  see  for  themselves  what  can  be  done 
in  the  way  of  tea-growing  in  this  quarter,  should 
visit  Chetnole  estate,  I mention  this  estate  as 
it  is  a very  handy  one  to  get  at  from  Balangoda, 
and  is  in  the  heart  of  the  chena  country. 
AN  OLD  COFFEE  STUMP. 
TEA  CHESTS  WARRANTED  AGAINST  DES- 
TROYING FLAVOUR  OR  WARRANTED  NOT 
TO  DESTROY  THE  FLAVOUR. 
j Dear  Sir, — The  arrival  of  the  Acme  Tea  Chests 
is  most  opportune,  as  they  are  made  of  steel,  and 
I therefore  oannot  impart  any  foreign  flavour  to  the 
J tea.  They  are  made  by  machinery  and  are  there- 
66 
