Feb. 1, 1901.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
567 
II. 
Amherst, Uifai^ussellawa, Jan. 23. 
Sib, — In a controversy such as is aoin^ on, the 
subject of over-pioduction and its reineiiies, I am 
suiprised at your aduiitsing renvirks like tlicse 
contained in iiielirst t wo paras of Mr. A R Wiggin's 
letter.* They nii>;lit easily have been deleted. 
Abuse is no argument, and I do not suppose you 
are going id add a new suggested remedy to your 
list, viz., '■ abuse those who ave been deservedly 
elected as leaders by a plebiscite of planters." 
1 was ' ne of the Krst to write in opposition to 
the Rosling-Kutlierford scheme, bat I trust I have 
more sense and better taste than to consider every- 
one who disagree witli me or with whom 1 dis- 
agree, "paerile" and "brainless." 
To turn to Ihe object in view : — There is no rea- 
son to suppose that India will co-operate with 
Ceylon in any " curtailments of output " as long as 
Ceylon goes on using artificial aids to increase her 
yiebl , which India does not employ. Mr. Talbot's 
scheme does not suggest any "curtailment of out- 
put," but "an expansion of markets," and is sure to 
be much • ore popular than any scheme that means 
self-sacrifice. I presume that he does not mean 
that we are to give aw.xy 5 per cent, of our green, 
and 5 per cent, of our black, teas. The Indian 
planters should take the matter up. If there is no 
caste prejudice against drinking our teas, tliere 
must be a vast untouched market in the Indian 
towns for black teas ; and in Afghanistan, Thibet, 
&c., for green teas, as the Afghans and Thibetans 
seem to be great green-tea drinkers. 
Is it a fact that tippings make as good green teas 
as leaf longer from pruning? If so, surely it would 
pay green tea factories to buy tippings from their 
neighbours at prices tliat would be profitable to 
both producer and manufacturer. This alone would 
reduce the black tea output considerably and im- 
preve the quality of the tea at the same time ; but 
I may have beea misled on this point, as I have had 
no practical experience in green-tea making. — 
Yours, &c., NORTH C. DAVIDSON. 
ARTIFICIAL MANURES POISONING 
VEGETABLES. 
Kandy, Jan. 22. 
Dear Sir, — With I'eference to your extract 
in Ceylon Observer, Jan. 21st, entitled 
"Suggested Danger from Artificial Manures," 
I beg to inform you that cabbages and tur- 
nips, manured with superphosphates, are 
surely poisonous ; and I estimate the quan- 
tity of cabbages or turnips which should 
empoison a man to be atleast'owe to/i daily. — 
I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
DR. F. W. KOELER, 
Vegetable Soap. — There are several trees and 
plants in the woild whose berries, juice, or bai k, 
are as good to wash with as real soap. In tne 
West Indian Islands and in South America (says 
the " Family Doctor") grows a tree whose fruits 
makes an excellent lather and is used for washing 
clothes. The bark of a tree which grows in Peru, 
and of another which grows in the Malay Islands, 
yields a fine soap. The common soapwort, which 
is indigenous to England, is so full of saponinethat 
simply rubbing the leaves together in water pro- 
duces a soapy lather. 
* The letter was signed in full by a responsible 
colnuist, : had it been anonymous the case iwonld be 
different.— Ed. T.A, 
IN DAYS OF OLD. 
CBy an ex-Colombo " O. B.C. ekerc") 
Sitting by the "ingle neuk" in a long 
dreary, murky nicht in Auld Scotland, one's 
thoughts often turn to far off Ceylon, where 
the best of my years were spent, and an 
intense yearning for another glimpse of that 
lovely land creeps in upon one's soul as he 
recalls the many sporting adventures he had 
the pleasure to take part in with the many 
good old friends of his youth, who are, alas, 
no more! 
The writer's earliest experience of 
ELK HUNTING 
was in 1868 with the late John McLeod while 
Superintendent of Kadianlena, and to him I 
was indebted for my first visit to a planter's 
bungalow in Ceylon. 
On arriving from Colombo, it is un- 
necessary to say, I was received with 
that open hospitality and kindness, which 
were in those days extended to every 
stranger visiting them,, by the planters of 
Ceylon. Their open hearted ness was pro- 
verbial then, and, I believe, continues to be 
so up to this very day. Reclining in a long- 
arm chair in the verandah after a good 
dinner, and while enjoying a well-seasoned 
"Trichi," I can remember becoming much 
excited by the distant eerie cry of a pack of 
jackals as they began their nightly round 
of the Baharundrah slopes, hunting no doubt 
some unfortunate "moosul," and as their 
screeching became louder and louder, and the 
pack came close down through the coffee to 
within a few hundred yards of where we sat, 
it took my friend some considerable trouble 
to check my youthful and ardent de- 
sire to be up and join in the hunt, for 
I recollect it was a lovely moonlight night. 
Mine host having informed me, however, 
that he was going to show me another kind 
of sport on the following moriiing, and that 
we should require to be early on the move, 
I was reconciled to return to my comfort- 
able lounger, finish my smoke with the usual 
accompaniment, a " peg " of good old Scotch, 
thereafter to "roost" and dream of the 
morrow's chine. 
We were afloat before daybreak, and, 
when light dawned, well on our way, 
with a nice little level pack of hounds 
to the spot selected for our hunt. Young 
and vigorous as I was in those days, I soon 
found out that I was not in good enough 
training, once the hounds found, to keep 
within hail of them for any distance. All 
I can remember at this period is that, after 
going a couple of miles over beautiful patana 
land and through stiff jungle, I was quite 
out-distanced by McLeod and the dog-boys, 
and left so hopelessly in the rear that I had 
to succumb and seek' mother earth with 
"bellows no end to mend." How long I lay 
on the patnnas I cannot say, but it seemed 
hours before the huntsmen and pack returned 
with a handsome buck elk carried by coolies 
in the usual manner; and, though I had not 
the pleasure of being in at the death, I saw 
and had recounted to me enough of elk hunt- 
ing to satisfy me that it was about the finest 
sport extant. 
