March  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
its  E stern  frontage,  and  a cirt  road  (bridges  not 
yet  fii  i-bed)  bisecting  it  ion,  i'udii  ady.  There  is 
some  very  fine  land  1?  ing  between  our  b ook  and 
P.ill<g;ma  to  the  Sou  b,  perhaps  1,500  acres,  and 
more  land  wiih  fine  roi  to  the  North;  but  the  rain- 
fall rapidly  diminishes  in  this  direc'ion;  in  fact  every 
mile  would  show  a decrease  of  probab  y 10  inches 
bs  far  as  the  Tamankrdua  boundaiy,  win  re  tie  fall 
is  probably  not  over  60  lmhes,  cf  which  90  per  cent, 
would  cnme  down  in  November,  Dpci  mber,  and 
Jannarr.  Our  land  is  v,  ry  w>  d sheltered,  neary 
the  whole,  quite  90  per  mnt.,  being  heavily  timbered 
and  contain  g much  valu.ble  wood — ebony,  balmilta, 
wewsrani,  etc.  The  soil  is  a r ch  loam,  many  feet 
deep,  with  a fair  admixture  of  fine  Sind.  The  wbo'e 
block  is  either  n<  aTy  level  or  gently  undnlatii  g, 
intersected  West  to  East  by  a single  l>w  and  rather 
gravelly  ridge,  perhaps  § a mile  wide.  That  cocoa 
will  grow  in  the  district  I took  the  trouble  to  ascertain 
fir  mvself  some  ye-ra  since,  by  distributing  seeds 
of  fine  varieties  obtained  from  Go  nambil,  and  tbe 
tr>ea  grown  irom  this  sei  d produced  pods  over  8 
inches  in  lens- 1 h at  3 years  oid,  with  th>-  beans  well 
developed  We  hope  to  work  our  lonceision  almost 
entirely  with  local  labor,  employing  Tamils  only  for 
Bp1  cial  work.  The  climate  is  not  really  unhealthy 
much  of  the  disea-e  existing  hemg  clearly  attribut- 
able to  low  living,  bad  food,  miserable  dwellings  built 
wi  b no  regard  for  dryness  of  £1  or  and  wall.  Palle- 
gama  is  an  exception  to  'he  rule,  being  a very 
fi  nr"  king  village  of  some  40  >ii  habitan's  with  several 
fine  Hretcbes  of  luxuriaut  paddy,  groves  of  coco  ut, 
a,  t .r  ca  pdms,  lying  iu  a bend  of  ihe  & dngi  nga. 
I have  known  this  country  for  the  list  18  years 
and  have  always  believed  that  there  was  a fu  ure  in 
store  for  it  1,000  years  ago  the  valley  of  the  Ka  u- 
ganga  was  probably  one  of  the  richest  in  Pey'on.  I 
see  uo  reason  why  it  should  mt  once  more  become 
the  soene  of  prosp  ruv-  There  is  certau  ly  no  more 
beautiful  corner  in  tbe  island  th-n  th“  neighbourhood 
of  Palbg  m- ; and  it  may  fairly  be  ca  le  1 a spurt-i- 
mati’s  paradire,  for  it  affords  every  va  iety  of  spjrt 
both  wiih  the  hound,  the  rifle,  and  the  rod." 
There  oan  be  no  doubt  therefore  of  our  being  face 
to  face  with  a most  interesting,  planting  experi- 
ment in  a new  part  of  the  country,  and  one  which, 
if  successful,  may  lead  to  a large  exte  sion  of 
oul  ovation  aQd  to  the  great  advantage  of  tbe  local 
population  as  well  as  of  the  Government.  The 
laiter  are  to  provide  a decent  outlet  to  join  the 
Northern  road  at  onoe,  and  it  is  in  view  of  an 
extension  of  cultivation  in  this  direction  that  we 
pleaded  for  the  trending  of  the  future  Anuradhapura 
railway  North-eastwards,  so  as  to  make  it  easy 
of  aooess  to  the  planters  of  the  future  by  the 
Kaluganga,  Ambanganga  and  Luke  Mincry  and  in 
the  rioh  Tamaukaduwa  district  There  is  no 
reason  why  this  region  Bhould  be  exceptionally  un- 
healthy whea  properly  opened  up,  and  as  the 
beginning  of  a work  which  may  be  fruitful  in 
important  consequences,  we  wish  the  quartett  of 
leasees  all  possible  suooess  in  their  ven  ure.  We 
fully  approve  of  tea  being  excepted  by  Government 
from  the  list  of  products  to  be  planted  in  the 
and  thus  specially  granted. 
THEFTS  FROM  CACAO  PLANTATIONS. 
We  have  received  expressions  of  opinion  in 
favour  of  a Sub-Oommittae  beiog  appointed  at  the 
Planters’  Association  Meeting  to  report  on  the 
best  mode  of  dealing  with  the  serious  evil  brought 
to  light  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Martin  and  Mr.  O.  Gibbon. 
Oae  uame  that  ought  to  be  added  to  our  Provi- 
sional Committee  list  is  that  of  Mr.  Melville 
Waite  ; but  indeed  the  list  Of  Cacao  planters  as 
ahown  in  our  Directory  is  a long  one  and  includes 
besides  those  already  mentioned,  the  following 
{tmoDg  others 
5&7 
Wm.  Milre  of  North  Matale  P.  H.  Davidson  of 
North  Ma’ale;  G.  A.  Wja  t,  Matale;  L.  B. H. 
Dickenson,  Matale  Ttomas  Jepp,  Matale;  E.  Taylor 
Grigg,  Mati  le;  J.  B.  T.  nnant,  Matale;  J.  Inch, 
M'tale;  Sin  on  E.  Purdon,  Metale;  W.  Penny, 
Matale  ; R J.  Farquharson,  HaEtane  ; P.  D.  Y ung, 
Matale;  A.  J.  Thomas,  Morankunda ; E.  Scott, 
M'rankanda:  Allred  Payne,  KurunegaL;  D.  M. 
Davidson,  Hui  asgeriy«;  C.  H.T.  Wilki  son,  Dumbara  ; 
C.  W.  Sinclair,  Dnmbara  ; R bert  Brown,  Raja  ; 
Hugh  Miller,  Teldeuiva ; Dr.  V.  Duke,  Kandy  ; J. 
Muntou,  Matale  proprietor;  J.  A Roberts,  Pussel- 
lawa  ; H.  C.  Iumau,  Pussellawa  ; J.  T.  Hawke, 
Orion,  Gampola,  j R.  Bountead,  Wattegama  ; W.  W. 
Parrinton,  Watt'guma;  R.  N.  Anley,  Wattegam<; 
S.J.  Sparkes,  Pasiara  ; J.  H.  Betts,  Passara ; J. 
H.  B.  Goekburn,  B*dulla;  S.  McNicol,  Pundalnoya ; 
F.  H.  Shelley,  Madawalatenua ; P.  N.  Braiue, 
Galagedara. 
To  these  may  be  added  the  different  Visiting 
Agents.  One  caoao  planter  writes  “ Your  edi- 
torial is  not  one  whit  too  strong,  and  I ’ll 
have  to  write  myself  in  support  of  strong  measures 
shortly.”  Another  gentleman,  who  does  not  seem 
to  have  suffered  so  much  as  his  brethren  in  the 
Watagama  and  Matale  districts,  writ-  s : — 
“ I am  glad  to  see  that  you  are  giving  the  true  note 
on  the  cacao  question.  Here  we  suffer  too,  but  not 
to  the  extent  evidently  that  they  do  in  Matale  and 
at  Wattegama.  My  experience  is  that  the  robberies 
are  committed  by  our  own  coolies,  and  much  of  it 
goes  to  be  exchanged  for  arrack  and  toddy.  I h . ve  had 
three  thefts  this  year,  and  finding  the  watchmen  had  a 
good  effect,  for  they  hunted  out  the  supposed  rogue  — 
a drunken  fellow  —who  was  cleared  oft  the  place  at 
once,  as  there  was  1 o legal  evidence  against  him, 
although  the  moral  proof  was  strong  enough, 
otherwise  I should  have  had  him  up.  As  to  selling  to 
Moormen  - there  are  Moormen  and  Moormen — I have 
done  it,  the  cacao  going  straight  to  the  station  from 
the  estate,  and  the  price  I have  got  for  the  produce 
in  this  way  compared  favourably  with  London  prices. 
A lot  which  I sold  in  July  last,  54  cwt.  a sixth  of 
which  was  No.  2,  netted  £4  13s  8Jd  a cwt.  At  the 
same  date  in  London  a shipment  of  No.  1 alone 
realized  £4  8s  8fd. 
“ The  watching  of  a cacao  crop  is  a terrible 
worry  and  any  means  that  could  be  devised  to  bring 
the  petty  pilferer  to  his  senses,  and  the  receiver  to 
Government  stone  breaking  would  be  a welcome  relief. 
But  after  all  the  planter  must  depend  very  much 
on  his  own  exertion,  aided  of  course  by  every 
means  which  the  Government  can  legitimately  assist 
us  with.” 
— — — — - 
SUGAR  IN  BRAZIL. 
Altheugh  coffee  is  the  chief  produot  of  Brazil,  its 
capacity  for  producing  su  arisfar  greater.  The  cul- 
tivation has,  however,  been  checked  by  the  low  prices 
prevailing  for  several  years.  Sugar  refineries  have  b«en 
established  under  a State  guarantee.  The  number  of 
th-se  factories  is  stated  to  be  53,  tbe  capital  on  which 
the  Government  guarantee  interest  being  38,950,000 
milri  is  (4,381,875?.),  In  addition,  there  are  41  other 
sugar  f»c  ories,  wtnoh,  although  not  enjoying  a Go- 
vernment guarantee,  are  gran'ed  oertain  favours. 
The  Brazilian  Minister  of  Agriculture  states  in  his 
report  for  this  year,  that  ih«  results  obtained  from  the 
granting  of  these  concurs  ons,  have  not  answered  to 
the  expectations  of  the  various  Govirnments  whioh 
have  been  in  office  since  the  promulgation  of  the  law 
granting  them  in  1875.  In  order,  therefore,  to 
stimulate  rivalry  and  lessen  the  burden  falling  upon  the 
S ate  through  the  guaranteed  interest,  a decree  of  Oc- 
tober 4 h,  1890,  established  the  following  prizes  for 
such  sugar  factories  as  sha  l obtain  the  largest 
percentage  of  sugar  at  the  smallest  cost,  natmly,  50 
coutos  (5,625?.)  to  those  obtaining  at  least  50  percent 
of  sugar,  wiih  ut  d stinction  of  quality  ; 30  contos 
(3,375?  ) to  those  obtaining  11  per  cent;  and  lastly,  15 
contus  (1,687?  10s.)  to  those  obtaining  not  less  than  IQ 
per  cent  of  sugar,— Bulhonist,  Deo.  31st. 
