612 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
(March 2, 190i 
district and ttie growers of cocoa, both European and 
native, agree iu thinking necessary, is nothing new. 
By Ordinance 22 of 1886 cinchona was protected in the 
following manner: — 
' Wht-never the ba,rl£ of the branch, root or stem of 
the cinchona shell be found in the possession of any 
person who is unable to account for his possession 
thereof, such a person shall be deemed and judged 
guilty of an offence and shall on conviction, be liable 
to tte punishments provided for theft of prasdial 
■products under section 368." To which lashes might 
be added. This protection was obtained for the up- 
country planters by Mr Thomas North Chi istie, and 
never pressed unduly on any honest man. Your Com- 
mittee wishes to point out that the Madras Act has 
failed, because it is found impossible to exercise sutfi- 
cient check over the owners of native gardens, and this 
is precisely the difficulty here. The Grenada Ot'di- 
nauce had to be amended, so as to make it similar to 
the Cinchona Oidiuance mentioned above, with the 
addition that any person convicted under it must be 
lashed in addition to any other punishment. In fact, 
it seeiis, in dealing with suob a subject that the 
protection given to cinchona in Ceylon, is the only 
feasible protection, as we find the Mauritius Ordinance 
for th^ protection of vanilla to be exactly similar. 
Your Committee recognises and appreciates the effort? 
made by the A G A, of Matale, Mr Alexander, to 
suppress cocoa theft, but individual effort is not the 
proper thiiif^ to rely on iu such a matter. Offijials are 
changed, then often the previous policy is reversed ; 
as an instance, we quote from the P. A. report of 1H95, 
in dealing with this subject. 
" The acting Government Agent, Central Province, 
has threatened the headmen thit unless cocoa stealing 
is prevented and put down, a force of police will be 
quartered and maintained at the expense of any 
village where sucb thefts prevail." This promise has 
not been kept. If it had been, it is probable that 
the demand for special legislation, would not have 
been necessary. 
Cardamoms. — Extension among European and 
native cultivator go on apace, almost every pocket 
of forest suitable is destined for this cultivation. At 
present, Matale district alone has probably 2,000 
acres under cardamoms, or about l-5th of the total 
cardamom acreage of the island. The cardamom 
estimate for 1902 was 600,000 lb, for the island, but 
the total ^rop shipped was 615,922 lb, and a large por- 
tion remains to be shipped during the early months 
of 1903 which will add considerably to this year's crop. 
The total estimates for 1903 are not likely to be short 
of 700,010 lb. 
Coconuts. — Coconut planting in Matale is steadily 
increasing both amongst natives and Europeans, but 
on European-managed estates they are generally 
grown as an adjunct to other cultivations, to that it 
is difficult to give an accurate idea of the area under 
this product. It is found that a dista,noe of 2.5' to 30' 
apart is the most suitable for planting in this district 
and where trees are in full bearing, the yield has been 
found to be exceijtionally good. There is no doubt 
that all the lower parts of the Matale Valley are well 
adapted to this cultivation, which should pay hand- 
somely. 
Para Rubber— Report by Mr P J Holloway ; — The 
chief points to be cleared up concerning this product 
are in what soil, and at what elevation can Para 
rubber be profitably grown: — On Kepitagalla there 
are trees growing from 500 feet to 1,500 feet above 
sea level, and on keeping a careful record of yield at 
the highest and lowest elevation, the result has been 
that the yield is practically the same, although the 
trees are smaller in growth higher up age for age. 
And so to soils, they seem to yield well in most soils, 
except in a sandy one, where they will not yield any- 
thing. As to yield I will quote from my letters to 
the " Times of Ceylon" and Ceylon Observer of Aug. 
22nd, 1902 :— 
Number of trees tapped once. ..3, 903 
pry rubber from 1st tapping ...2,128 
or just over half a pound per tree, some of these trees 
were tapped again and gave equal results, thus mak' 
ing lib rubber per tree per year. Each tree should be 
tapped twice a year and will yield more as it gets 
older. Trees tapped were 8 to 11 years old. 
And now as to cost of production. 
Dry rubber gathered from Jany. 
to May, best quality 1,802 lb 
Scrap ... ... 60 lb equal to 1,3621b. 
Cost of tapping and curing 1,862 lb rubber R570 63 
Transport rail fare, boxes, &c. .. 31 13 
Tapping knives, tins, &c. .. 36 60 
Total cost in Colombo.. R638 36 
on an average cost of 46-86 cts per lb sold at an 
average price of R2'63 per lb. The cost has been 
farther reduced to 45 cents at end of October, and 
later sales averaged 33 lid. The average quantity 
brought in by a cooly per day was nearly one lb 
when dry. Seed being plentiful and cheap, it would 
not cost R7 per acre to plant up this rubber on the 
suitable portions of existing estates. The exports of 
dry rubber will probably exceed 12 tons this year. 
The price of Para rubber has risen from Ss OJd at 
the beginning of the year to 4s at the time of writing, 
but the latter price bas only been procured by Ceylon 
marks — no other part of the world fetching anything 
within 6d of this price. 
Oastilloa Rubber grows well all over the lower 
parts of Matale, and seems to thrive iu a dry climate, 
and on hillsides, as well as in flat and damp situa- 
tions. On Ambanganga estate, which is devoted to 
the cultivation of this variety of rubber, the growth is 
exceptionally fine and promising. A? fas as experi- 
ments have gone in tapping trees of this variety the 
yield has beea satisfactory, and there is every reason 
to look for good results. 
The Hon. Secretary then brought up the following 
statement of accounts, which was passed : — 
1902 
December 31st. R. 
By balance from 1901 .. 94 
Do 63 subscriptions at R5 .. 315 
To stamps, postage, etc. ... 28 
Do printing ., 9 
Do stationery ,„ 45 
Do advertising meetings . . 33 
Do purchase of one deed box 
and one minute book 14 
Do rent Borron Hall ... 10 
Do donation, Hatton Nursing 
Home .. 
Do contingencies, viz : cooliea' 
batta, tolls, telegrams 
and commissions on 
cash and cheques . , 11 
Do balance carried forward 
to 1903 .. 237 41 
c. 
51 
00— Total 409 
39 
50 
10 
75 
11 
00 
R. c. 
51 
20 00 
25 
R409 51 
B H Jenkyns, Hon. Secretary, December Slst, 1903. 
Audited and found correct.— J B Tennant, January 
15th, 1903. 
MORAWAKKORALE PLANTERS' 
ASSOCIATION. 
THE ANNCJAL REPORT. 
The following Report of the Committee for the 
year 1902 was read and adopted on the motion 
of the Chairman : — "Your Committee, in submitting the 
first Annual Report of the Morawakkoiale Planters' 
Association, is able to congratulate you on the satis- 
factory status of the Association. 
Schedule, — The number of Eitates on the register 
amounts to eight. 
Meetings. — Five Committee Meetings and five (Jen- 
eral Meetings have been held during the year. 
General. — Your Committee have carefully watched 
the interests of the district during the jrear. 
FiNANCss.— A statement of acooaats is laid opou 
