6o4  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  t,  1S93. 
After  what  has  been  said,  we  need  say  very  little 
to  show  that  burying  manures  is  in  no  way  ha-mful. 
Iu  the  first  plaoe  “Planter”  loses  6ight  of  the  fact 
that  the  cattle  manure  general'y  made  use  of  in 
estates  is  well  rotted  stuff  in  which  state  it  is  more 
immediately  available  as  plant  food,  and  in  which 
fermentation  has  practically  ceased.  The  burial  of 
unfermented  manure  is  not  hurtful  either.  Its  im- 
mediate  action  is  not  perceptible,  but  the  ultimate 
benefit  is  said  to  be  greater.  I would  be  sorry  if  I 
were  understood  to  be  arguing  in  favour  of  “ burying 
in  ” and  against  digging.  I simply  wished  to  show 
that  the  former  was  not  hurtful  in  the  way  attributed 
to  it.  Digging  is  a most  necessary  work  where  .it 
can  be  carried  out  safely ; but  “ Planter  ” will  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  there  are  some  planters  here 
who  don’t  believe  in  it,  although  this  looks  so  much 
like  discrediting  any  established  scientific  truth. 
— Ed.  T.A.} 
THE  ANSWER  TO  “A  PRACTICAL 
QUESTION  FOR  TEA  PLANTERS”— 
TEA  PRICES. 
Dear  Sir, — With  reference  to  the  inquiry  in 
your  issue  of  the  9th  instant,  I do  net  think  there 
is  evidenoe  to  show  our  tea  is  feeling  the  strain 
of  plucking  and  pruning,  or  that  we  can  ascribs  the 
disappointing  yields  during  the  last  eight  months 
to  such  a oause.  Young  fields  have  been  as  back- 
ward as  old,  and  unless  we  admit  that  the 
young  fields  are  naturally  weaker  than  those  planted 
earlier,  some  other  reason  must  be  found.  But 
we  know  that  in  the  coffee  districts  tea  was  first 
planted  in  the  weaker  fields,  and  gradually  and 
grudgingly  put  into  better  soil  as  coffee  ceased  to  pay. 
We  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  a oause  for  a 
short  crop  in  February,  viz.,  the  very  dry  weather 
since  middle  of  November.  The  deoline  in  prioes 
in  London  must,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the 
Contrary,  be  due  to  a tacit  combination  among 
the  few  large  packet  people,  none  of  whom  will 
give  way  in  prioes  charged  to  the  public,  even  when 
the  wholesale  market  shows  good  oause  for  a rise 
by  retail.  EXPERIENCE. 
MAXIMUM  YIELD  OF  COCONUTS  BY 
THE  OLDEST  EUROPEAN  COCONUT 
PLANTER  IN  THE  ISLAND. 
Dear  Sir, — Your  native  referee  would  have  been 
within  his  right,  had  he  measured  his  statements 
by  his  own  experience,  but  he  exceeded  hio  right 
when  he  called  80  cooonuts  per  tree  an  impossible 
yield.*  I have  nothing  to  say  agaiDst  his  averages: 
that  of  20  nuts  per  tree  is  rather  over  than  under 
the  truth  for  the  whole  island,  but  I have  myself 
gathered  250  nuts  from  a single  tree  in  twelve  months. 
Individual  trees  yielding  over  100  nuts  annually 
are  by  no  means  rare,  and  I know  patches  of 
Beveral  acres  that  fall  very  little  short  of  that 
average.  The  Mahaoya  fifid  of  the  Nalla  estate 
sold  the  other  day  for  R888  per  aore,  gave  an 
average  yield  per  tree  for  the  four  years  ending  in 
1891  of  over  60,  aDd  in  the  year  1891  no  less  than 
74  per  tree.  That  coconuts  grown  on  the  rich 
orumbly  loams  oommon  in  the  Eurunegala  district 
should  yield  not  only  80  nuts  on  pet  trees,  but  that 
average  over  acres  is  exactly  what  might  be  ex- 
peoted  j and  I have  no  doubt  the  report  that 
reached  you  to  that  effect  is  perfectly  correct. 
Even  on  soils  of  inferior  quality,  suoh  crops 
may  he  obtained  by  high  cultivation,  and  at  a 
oost  that  will  yield  a better  return  than  most 
other  investments  of  capital  in  the  colony,  but 
# Over  a “ considerable  area  remember, — pn.  J.‘.  <f. 
to  take  all  and  give  nothing,  is  the  immemorial 
native  system,  and  not  even  proved  facts  will 
change  it- 
I was  asked  by  the  trustee  of  the  Daniel  coconut 
estates  for  a valuation  some  months  ago,  and  I 
gave  one  to  the  best  of  my  judgment.  I kept  welt 
within  the  true  value,  aslhad  no  means  of  estimating 
the  effects  of  the  present  boom,  and  of  the  rapid 
decline  in  the  local  interest  of  money.  My  valu- 
ation turned  out  therefore  27  % under  that  of  the 
Cejlon  public.  W.  B.  L. 
No.  II. 
Dear  Sir, — Referring  to  a notioe  in  your  issue 
of  last  Saturday  on  this  produot,  I am  not  at 
all  surprised  to  learn  that  80  nuts  per  tree  per 
annum  has  been  the  yield  last  year  on  the  estate 
mentioned,  and  you  are  likewise  oorreot  in  stating 
that  20  nuts  j.er  tree  is  the  average  for  the 
island,  for  everybody  knows  what  coconuts  are  like 
in  a native  garden  in  the  midst  of  jak,  mangoes 
and  other  fruit  trees. 
The  sale  of  the  cooonut  estates  last  Saturday 
dearly  shows  what  ordinary  cultivation  will  do, 
for  to  my  own  knowledge  and  that  of  one  of  your 
referees  (Mr.  Lamont)  we  know  the  abandoned 
oondition  these  Nalla  estates  were  in  at  th6  death 
of  the  testator;  and  the  value  then  put  upon  it 
some  14  years  ago  was,  I believe,  only  K20.000  for 
the  whole  extent  which  realized  over  R140.000. 
The  average  per  tree  as  given  of  the  different 
blooks  and  the  prioes  these  properties  realized  at  laBt 
Saturday’s  sale  clearly  shows  what  attention  does 
and  what  value  is  set  upon  them  by  the  people  of 
the  country. 
There  is  no  doubt  Mr,  W.  H.  Wright  is  a most 
successful  oultivator,  a born  gardener,  but  his 
aotual  experience  of  cooonuts  is  limited  to  its  cul- 
tivation on  the  property  he  now  resides  od,  which 
1 learn  is  a model  of  an  estate.  I should 
however  like  to  hear  Mr.  Lamont,  who,  I have 
no  doubt,  will  tell  you  that  cooonut  with  fair 
treatment  from  their  infancy  and  in  favoured  local- 
ities should  give  100  nuts  per  tree,  other- 
wise there  is  something  radically  wroDg  in  its 
management. 
Coconut  plantations  are  now  receiving  more 
attention  than  hitherto,  and  it 's  a pity  that  more 
Europeans  do  not  go  in  for  it.  Their  cultivation 
is  not  now  confined  to  Negombo,  Chilaw  and  other 
maritime  districts  as  in  the  past,  but  is  extended 
across  country  from  s'Rtions  on  the  main  line 
from  Colombo  to  Polgahawela,  across  the  Kelani 
river  to  the  Kaluganga  and  the  Bolgoda  lake  and 
with  the  most  satisfactory  results. — Yours  faithfully, 
A COCONUT  ESTATE  PROPRIETOR. 
VARIOUS  NOTES. 
Ground  Nuts  can  he  successfully  substituted  for 
ooffee.  The  nuts  when  roasted  and  properly  ground 
and  manipulated  in  the  same  way  as  the  genuine 
article,  afford  a pleasant  and  refreshing  drink. 
Ground  nuts  have  been  used  in  America  for  many 
years  as  a substitute,  and  very  largely  for  adultera- 
ting coffee.— Nilgiri  News. 
Japan  Tea  at  Chicago.  —It  is  stated,  the  Japan 
Gazette  asserts,  that  the  application  for  permission 
to  send  a few  girls  to  Chiaago  in  order  to  give  an 
exhibition  of  the  tea  ceremonial,  floral  arrangement 
and  similar  accomplishments  at  the  tea  stall  was 
oonsented  to  by  the  Agricultural  and  Commercial 
department  on  certain  conditions.  But  as  the 
sending  of  these  girls  will  necessitate  a large  ex- 
penditure, it  is  thought  the  proposal  may  not  be 
carried  into  practical  effect.— O.  China,  Mail,  Feb,  1 6, 
