704 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
The establishment of other industries has, however, not been lost sight of. The Botanist and the 
recently appointed Chemist have devoted much attention during the year to camphor, which seems, 
owing to the action of the Government of Japan, likely to prove worth cultivation in Ceylon. They 
have also commenced a detailed investigation into the chemistry and botany of the citronella and 
tobacco industries, 3Yith a view to discovering what improvements are possible- that may avert the 
threatened danger of collapse from overproduction and foreign competition. Further details are 
given below. 
The office and clerical work of the Department has increased very much during the year. 
The correspondence with planters and others on diseases, modes of cultivation, &c., is rapidly 
increasing, and takes up a very large part of the time of the scientific stafE. It is hoped to relieve 
this pressure during the next year by the publication of more frequent circulars, &c., which may be 
distributed instead of letters in answer to many of the most frequently recurring questions. A 
lithographic press has been recently obtained, and it is intended in future to illustrate the circulars, 
a proceeding which should add to their usefiUness. Their circulation continues to increase, and they 
seem to meet with approval from the agricultural public. 
The Library has been much improved during the year. The catalogue has been completed 
and sent to press, and will appear early in 1901. The offices of the clerks have been moved from 
their former inconvenient position near the Curator's office to two small rooms at the back of the 
Museum, and thus close to the Director's office. Office space is needed for the Entomologist and 
Mycologist, and can be provided at a very small cost by the alteration of two of the rooms under the 
Library, at present only available as godowns on account of their want of windows. 
In the Botanic Gardens themselves there is little to chronicle of special importance. Their 
general condition has been steadily improved. Many new plants have been introduced, and the 
buildings, conservatories, &c., have been put into better repair. In the two chief gardens and at 
Badulla the general condition of the plants is good, the buildings, &c., in good repair, and the work 
of the staff is efficiently carried on. The other gardens are not at present in a satisfactory state, and 
will be overhauled during 1901. 
The experimental plots of economic and useful plants have been extended as much as possible 
during the year, but the space at our command is too small to allow of really satisfactory experi- 
mental cultivation. 
A reorganization of the gardening and subordinate staff was proposed and sanctioned during 
the year (see Sessional Paper XVI. of 1900), and will be gradually put into operation as vacancies 
occur. An incremental scheme has been adopted, and the prospects of the officers concerned 
improved. Two posts, those of Assistant Plant Collector and Kankani, will be abolished, and three 
new ones, those of Herbarium Assistant, Clerk to the Curator, and Sixth Gardener, created. The 
total cost under the new scheme will remain as before. The total cost of the Department, including 
. special votes, has been Rs. 71,740, against Rs. 58,822 last year. The increase is due to the salaries of 
the Mycologist and Entomologist, and the retaining fee to the Chemist, with the slight increases in 
the other votes rendered necessary by the increase of the staff. The receipts from sales have been 
Rs. 4,658*52, against Rs. 6,114*41 ; the decrease is due to the lower price of rubber seed. 
3.— Notes on Economic and other Plants. 
Tea. — The past year has been one of depression for the industry. The export has risen in an 
unprecedented and unexpected manner to 148,431,639 lb. against 129,894,156 lb. in 1^199. Fortunately 
the export to Russia, now one of the largest consumers of Ceylon tea, has risen to 8,917,185 lb., an 
increase of 5 millions over 1899, and the exports to Australia and America show increases of 2 million 
lb. find 1 million respectively, while there has also been an increased export to France and other 
European countries. Nevertheless, so great has been the increase in production that 10 million lb. 
more than in 1899 have been sent to the markets of Great Britain, an increase of 10 per cent., which 
has been accompanied by a decrease of 10 per cent, in the average price (7"20c?, as against 7"96cZ. in the 
preceding year). The rise in the duty from M,. to Qd. per lb. has also helped to depress prices, 
especially of the lower grade teas. As the extension of cultivation, though practically over in 
Ceylon, is still going on in South India, Java, and elsewhere, it is probable that the full effect of 
overproduction has yet to be felt, and that the tea industry has now to pass through a trying period, 
which may lead to considerable alterations and reorganizations in methods of working, &c. Greater 
specialization, larger factories under specially trained managers, manuring and plucking for quality 
rather than for quantity, selection of the best and most suitable jats as regards quality of tea and 
power of resisting disease, replacement of inferior bushes and fields by better and by other products, 
careful precautions against disease, and improvements in methods of cultivation and manufacture, 
are some of the directions in which relief ro.ay be looked for. 
