744 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May 1, \m. 
the top of the Eastera Ghat a distance of 22 
miles. The line ia on the Ewing Mono-rail 
system, each truck carrying one ton and drawn 
by a pair of bullocks. The gradient is a fair one 
(1 in 40), but whatever the cause may he, it does 
not give entire satisfaction, the balance wheel 
being said to cut up the road way so much as to 
involve more expenditure than a double rail would 
cost. The terminus of the rail is at a pass be- 
tween the enclosing mountains and is said to be 
6,000 feet above the sea. From here the. produce 
is sent down rather more than 4,000 feet by a wire 
rope worked by a turbine from the bottom. ,The 
rope is in two secdons, the power being applied in 
the middle station by means of two dynamos (the 
second being in case of any accident to the 
first). The rope, an endless one, working round 
vertically placed wheels at both ends, carries about 
130 loads either way each day, each load being 
180 lb. The loads revolve with the rope at the 
rate of two miles an hour and are fastened to the 
rope by an ingenious grip which fastens automa- 
tically on to the rope and is held in position by 
the weight of the load. When the load reaches 
the terminus at the end, it is met by a horse-shoe- 
shaped rail which automatically lifts the load ofjf 
the wire and releases the grip. The wire is § inch 
in diameter and is capable of carrying 200 lb. 
At the middle station the two sections are con- 
nected by cog wheels, so that the load from one 
section can pass on to the other by the same 
contrivance. The turbine at the bottom is worked 
by a 9-inch pipe with a lead of about 1,200 feet 
and a fall of about 800. Here again there are 
double machines in case ot accident, which are 
capable of working up to about 50 H. P. although 
the actual amount in use was only 20 H, P. From 
the lower terminus there is a cart road of 9 miles 
descending about 1,000 feet to the low country and 
from thence a good road 45 miles to the Railway 
StPtion of Ammayanaikanur. To construct this 
TRAMWAY WIRE ROPE 
involved an expenditure, I was told, of about 
£50,0(iO and it not only pays an interest on the 
capital expenditure together with all working 
expenses, but also effects a saving of about 4 pie 
in the rupee on what the cost would be by ordi- 
nary means of traffic. The great advantage, how- 
ever, is that it makes it possible to get the pro- 
duce away and to bring up the food supplies 
without having to depend upon coolies and pack 
bullocks. Of course, all the money spent in open- 
ing out this large area, and in the employment 
of labour has not been without advantage to 
the Travancore Government although the produce 
finds its v/ay to British outlets. This is proved from 
the fact that the district, which was formerly an 
unproductive wilderness, is now made the head- 
quarters of a Revenue and Magisterial official — a 
liuropean officer,— and not only covers the cost of 
establishment but brings in a revenue of about 
R70,000 a year. All this productiveness, how- 
ever, is at present confined to the forest land. 
There are at least 150 square miles of grass land 
which are absolutely unproductive and no attempt 
has been made to bring them under cultivation. 
It remains to be discovered what cultivation 
would be best suited to this land, but with a 
country so well watered, and so favourably 
situated for climate and rainfall, it should not 
be impossible to find a remunerative crop, and 
it would seem to be the ideal spot for a European 
colony. The district now 
CONTAINS ABOUT SIXTY EUROPEAN PLANTEBS, 
including the Company's supervising staff and a 
few independent planters, survivors of the pioneers. 
Some of these are married and are scattered 
about the district in outlying estates, most of 
them beautifully situated as regards position. 
At the headquarter station Munaar there 
is a large tea factory, an association store, a club, 
and gymkhana ground. There is, moreover, a 
Volunteer detachment, and finally during my visit 
a Masonic Lodge was opened. The District has 
evidently a future before it and shows what can be 
done by the judicious employment of capital and 
energy. The original shareholders have, I was 
told, already received back in dividends and bonus 
about 60 per cent of their capital and now that the 
estates are coming into full bearing there should 
be a permanent dividend, though of course every 
thing depends upon the price of tea, which at 
present is the staple product. Given an average 
net profit ot £5 j-er acre, which does not seem an 
extravagant estimate, the return from the estate? 
aheady opened out should give 6^ per cent on the 
total capital. This is entirely apart from the 
latent possibilities ot development and with im- 
proved facilities of communication and cheapness 
of transport there can be little doubt that there is 
a wide field open for further progress. — Pioneer, 
March 14. J. D. B. G. 
PLANTING IN COORG. 
(From the Official Beport for :902.) 
As an indirect consequence of the depression in 
coffee, there has been a growing tendency to devote 
greater attention to the cultivation of rice. The 
extent grown with this crop (79,930 acres) expanded 
during the year by nearly two per cent, the harvest 
being a good average one notwithstanding an 
unusually long break in the monsoon. Per contra, 
dry cultivation, to which much less recourse is bad 
in Coorg, diminished ; the total extent (14,512) 
acres), of which almost all relates to rAgi, was 
some 13 per cent less than in the previous year, 
when the area under this crop was materially 
expanded by the irregular practice of kumri 
cultivation which has since been prohibited. 
There are two main outlets to tite Western coast 
through the valleys of the Sampaji and Perambadi 
Ghats. The high roads to the ports of Mangalore 
and Tellicherry run through these passes, which 
about thirty years ago were covered with dense 
forest. This gave jdace to coffee. Coffee succeeded 
for a few years and failed, the rainfall being so 
heavy that it washed away the soil no longer 
protected by the forest. Lanthana (lanthana 
aculeata) a shrub introduced in 1863, has now 
taken the place of the coffee and has overgrown the 
sides of these hills turning them into an almost 
impenetrable bush. 
The evergreen forests on the Western Ghats con- 
tain poon {calophylhim elatum), ebony {dio.ipyros 
ehnaster), ironwood (mesm ferrea] cedar (cedrda 
toona), satnpigfe (mischelia champaca). Owing to 
their inaccessibility, these forests are very little 
worked. The right of cultivating or collecting 
cardamoms in them is leased out, the area of the 
leased blocks known as cardamom ' males ' or hills 
being no less than 35,240 acres. Tiie cardamoms 
(elettaria cardamom%im) are grown in small clear- 
ings, the size of which is strictly regulated in 
order to prevent injury lo the forest. There is but 
