48 
THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTUKIST. [July 1, 1900. 
COCONUT PLANTING AND WEATHER 
NOTES FKOM THE N.-W.P., CEYLON. 
Marawila, June 2. 
It is a comfort to lie assnied, on so liigh an 
anthority as that of Captain Donnan, that we have 
yet to experience the " burst" of the big monsoon. 
Otherwise the prospect before coconut growers, 
especially in the drier districts of the Island, 
will be very gloomy indeed. The rainfall we have 
had so far ha? been very delieient and has gone 
but a very little way to counteract the effects of 
the previous dioughts (plura') on the north of 
Chilaw, before the rains of April. Water was not 
to be had for man oi' beast, except in the bed of 
tanks and of the Deduru-oya. A water-service 
had to be established for the coolies. Work liad 
to be knocked off two or three hours earlier than 
usual on several dnys in the week and the coolies 
driven like cattle to the river to b.Tthe and to 
wash their clothes, in order to keep them in 
heaUh, a penalr-y lieing attached to those vvho 
did not go. The water service for a bachelor's 
bungalow alone c s-. about six coolies a day. 
Rain fell heavily in April, four inches in one day, 
and about four times that during that, month and 
yet the complaint is want of water. Thove south 
of Chilaw were not so badly off tor water as 
depicted above, as the lands are low-lying and 
the soil sandy and water neaier the surface, yet 
nearly 12 inches of rainfall in April did not 
saturate the soil below a few feet. May has 
been a dry menlti with us ; rain has fallen on 
only six days and averaging a little over one-and- 
a-half inches, Under these circumstances it can 
well be imagined with what feelings of joy and 
hopefulness we lead Captain Donnan's opinion. 
It was only last week you repeated an oft made 
request for an Observatory for Ceylon It is 
passing strange that an omniscient newspaper 
editor did not then know that on the 24th May 
there landed in Ceylon from India a gentleman 
connected with the Meteorological Department of 
Madras, I heard him described as the Astronomer 
Koyal of Madras. He had certain packages 
marked "Meteorological Department, India." 
Possibly he came over to take observations of 
the recent solar eclipse. [Which, if our corre- 
spondent had read ihe Observer, he would haye 
known was invisible in Ceylon.— Ed. T.A.] 
_ 
SUGAR IN CEYLON IN DAYS OF OLD • 
Negombo, June 6 — The account of your visit to 
Baddegama, published iu one of the back numbers of 
the Observe)-, ia which you make reference to sugar 
cultivation iu the Southern Piuvince in the oldeu 
days, brought vividly to my recollection the attempted 
sugar industry in the Negombo District in the out- 
lying villages of Katukeuda, Petigoda, Delpakada- 
wara, Dalupathgedera, &c., in the " forties." A 
French gen'leman, named M. Chermont, acquired from 
Government considerable land in the villages men- 
tioned, and, with the aid of the others, who I think 
formed a syndicate, parcelled them up in lots of 
hundreds ot acres and commenced planting sugar- 
cane. Amone the Superintendents were 
HKBSWS. STEWART AND PHASER. 
The sugar plantation was carried on, ou a rather 
lavish and expensive scale, the superiutendentB and 
others drawing very large salaries and lior.se allow- 
ance. The outturn of sugar wan coarse aud rather 
brown and I think it did not come up to the price 
first calculated upon. The whole concern went to 
smash in the end of the " forties " or beginning 
of the '' fifties." I remember, as a boy, the large 
copper vats being carted from Katukemla, drawn by a 
large number of cattle aud deposited Dear the 
Negombo Restbouse, where they were lying fur some- 
time before removal to Colombo. The Corapanv, after 
abandoning the sugar cultivation, sold up the land in 
parcels which fetched at the rate of flie shillings 
the acre ! These (about 3,000 acres) were all bought 
up by Hendrick Kure, commonly called Andris Baas, 
late of Moratuvv'a. 
In one of these parcels of land, now owned by Lady 
De Soysa and called Katukenda Sugar Estate, might 
be seen the site of a former sugar mill. At the present 
time these lands are all flourisbiug coconut estates. — 
J. K. 
THE PAPAYA AS A PROFIT A13LE CROP. 
Now is the time to select large, well-formed fruit — 
fruit that lias ripened on the tree — -for seed. After con- 
suming the fruit, select all the dark-coloured seeds, 
rejecting the rest ; dry them in the sun, and sow in 
brandy cases, pots or pans, filled with le^if'.- ould and 
gaiJr ii loam. When the plants are froui threi? to tive 
mches high, transplant singly into small pots filled 
witn the same mixture. About the begiuning of July 
put out into the permanent qtiarter.s the plants are 
to occupy. Here dig holes, ten feet apart either way, 
two feet wide and two feet deep. Fdl these with 
well decayed cow manure and garden soil in equal 
parts, into which plant the seedingg. Here they may 
be left to take care of themselves. They will grow 
apace most luxuriantly. When they begin to flower, 
watch should be kept for male and female trees, so 
that the male trees may be left alone, and attention 
directed to giving an occasional surface-dressing of 
cow manure to the female trees. The fruits usually 
set very close together; but they should be thinned 
out at an early stage, to give the others an oppor- 
tunity of swelling and ripening. It is ouly by this 
means that you can obtain large well-formed fruit. 
The fruit ripens best during the hot, dry months of 
Blarch, April and May. At this time heavy watering 
would spoil the flavour of the fruit; therefore, jusc 
sufficient water ohould be given to enable tne fruit 
to swell. If you want good fruit, don't pluck till 
nearly ripe ; then kyep for 24 or 48 hours, according 
to the stage of ripeness, before using. 
T was much struck by " Hortus's " remark in his 
article referred to above. He says : By a careful 
selection of seeds, from male trees, which seem to 
have a special tendency for producing hermaphrodite 
flowers, I do not doubt that a variety could be pro- 
duced in a few years in which this tendency should 
become fixed, and form the special character. 
In the Calcutta market Papaya fruit realise from 
one anna to eight annas each accordmg to size. A 
single tree, bearing from twenty to thirty fruits at 
an average of four annas each, would give a return 
of six rupees per tree. A plot of ground, 100 feet 
square, would carry 100 trees, which, at even an 
average of four rupees per tree, would give a return 
of R400, of which, say, E350 would be net profit. 
Here is something that promise to yield a good profit. 
— Indian Ar/ricultunst. June ]. 
The Outturn of the Mysore Mines.— The 
Director General of Statistics in India having 
applied for particulars as to the quantity of gold 
in ounces and value in rupees produced by the 
Kolar Gold Mines from April 1899, to 31st March 
19J0. Messrs. Binny <k Co., of Madras, have been 
requested by the Mining Board to furnish com- 
plete returns to the Director-General. The 
National Bank of India, Bombay, have been 
written to sujjply them with particulars of 
gold delivered to the Bombay Mint since Janu- 
ary, 1900. — Pioneer, June 10, 
