60 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Aug. 1, 1899. 
Keir, Dandaa & Co., finally offered to paroliase it at 
about one fourth of what it had cost. He would not sell 
but he changed his agents. The first BupetinteniJeut 
appointed by Captain Jolly began vigorously, but soon 
broke down and took to drink, I found the whole crop, 
.5,000 bushels of paichment, in the store ; the weeds 
■were in many places higher than the coSee ; the older 
fields had been once pruned by the process of cutting 
the primaries within six inches from the stem and 
the primaries had become like broom besoms, the 
jungle had been allowed to encroach all round the 
borders and a field that had first given its maiden crop 
had suckers six feet high. Finally the cooly force 
was refractory and insubordinate. 
My first report was a very gloomy one. I estimated 
that to get the place into anything like order £.500 
more than the previous average would have to be ex- 
pended in the first year and then no great increase of 
crop could he expected in the current year. In answer 
I was authorised to spend whatever I thought neces- 
sary. Though I expected much from a thorough 
weeding and pruning, the result left my hopes far 
behind — masses of blossom came out on the leafless 
wood and so much young wood rushed out that there 
was very heavy work in handling and selecting the 
ehoota that were to be left for ,the following year's 
crop, '■'•he crop of that first year was 
ILEVEN CWT. PEE ACRE 
and a good deal was lost from insufficient labour and 
from heaviest plucking occurring in latest months 
of the year, I expected to get some personal advan- 
tage from the result of my first year's operations ; 
but as it was not offered [it, I had to remind Captain 
Jolly that I had got no increment to my salary for 
eight years, while others many years my juniors in 
the service were higher paic^ than I was. 
My request was conceded as I thought not with the 
best grace ; and I found my resources hardly equal 
to ihe calls on them and began to think very seriously 
whether I should not seek lowcountry employment 
where my family could live at less than one half of 
what I was spending. I began therefore to make 
enquiries with that view and ultimately engaged 
with Mr. Kobert Dawson to take charge of Ratmalane, 
A CINNAMON AND COCONUT ESTATE, 
eight miles from Colombo, at a very much lower salary 
than that I surrendered.! knew, of course, nothing 
about the productions of the place ; but I trusted 
commonsense and earnest observation of facts would 
soon enable me to acquit myself creditably. 
Ihe first thing that I had to apply myself 
to was the study of the Kandapanuwa (coconut 
weevil) which threatened utter ruin to the coconut 
fields. By the end of a month I had arrived at a 
decided opinion and mode of treatment which put 
a full stop to that plague in the course of three 
months. The failure of Mr. Dawson in less than two 
years closed my connection with Ratmalana. I was in- 
troduced to Mr. E. J. Darley and highly recommended 
and he promised me the first opening that occurred 
under the agency of his firm and in the meantime 
I took service under Mr. David Wilson in Uplands 
Mills of which I was sufficiently tired when at the 
end o£ twelve months, Mr. Darley offered me charge 
of the twa estates of 
KIMBUIiAPITIYA AND ULUAMBALAMA, KADIRAXA, 
which I gladly accepted. After I had carefully studied 
the conditions, I sent in a report in which I recom- 
mended many changes and improvements. Mr. Darley 
did not as a rule approve of innovations and vetoed the 
most of my jiroposals. I however returned to the charge 
and gained several points. For instance I had proposed 
to sell off one half of the cattle on Uluanibalama : he 
wrote " the more cattle the more manure," I ruthlessly 
attacked that position and so clearly proved him in the 
wrong, that he yielded the point and bade me do my will. 
Some other points I gained, but much was rejected, so 
that I was at first a good deal hampered but verything 
comes to the patient waiter. Being forbidden to in- 
^ze^ise t^e cost q£ the oinpatnoo cuUivation, l ^-ent 
in for improving the system of manuring the 
coconuts where I wa's Ipfi with a freer hand. 
TheC'Conuis were ..bout 20yeH.rsold when I took 
chirge and ought to h ive been in full beaiing, but 
the yield was poor on the light sandy soil : little more 
than 1,000 per acre and with only the manure I could 
m ike on the place, improvement was rather slow in 
the early years of my incumbency, bat from the time 
I wis allowed to add three tons of bonedust an- 
nually, the increments became larger. The first year 
I had 230,000 nuts ; the twelfth 590,000 and would have 
had much more if I had been allowed more manure 
from outside the premises. 
The health of my family continued to give me much 
anxiety : my wife died in 1863, having been unable to 
leave her room for two years. 
In 1866 I entered into a second matrimonial ar- 
arangement which was very satisfactory while it 
continued, which was for less than three years. After 
my wife's death I fell into bad health and in 
1891 had to take a change to save my life : so I got a 
twelvemonths' leave an 1 went home. I had to return 
before the year was out, because I found tnat my 
locum tenens was very vigorously endeavouring to 
obtain the permanent appointment and on my return 
I found that he had succeeded in the case of one of 
the three properties left in his charge, the agency of 
which had been given up by Darley, Butler & Co. 
The other two, both belonging to the same person, were 
restored to me with carte blanche as to manuring 
coconuts and improving the cinnamon cultivation. In 
1873, the proprietor died and by his will all his Cey- 
lon properties were to be sold off at once which was 
quickly accomplished— in the case of Uluambalama 
much below its value. In those days there were 
few Europeans engaged in coconut planting and there 
was no employment for me in that line : so I retired 
to a small coconut property I had acquired in 
THE MAHAOYA VALLEY 
some years previous. As this place was very 
unhealthy and I suffered from fever all the time 
I was there, I accepted the offer of the pro- 
prietor of Ratmalana to again take charge of 
that estate and in 1878 I sold my Batakanda 
property and began to open a Liberian coffee and 
cacao concern on another land I owned in the Mahaoya 
valley. In 1879 I left Ratmalana an.1 engaged with 
Mr. A. M. Ferguson to open Eilandhu in the Hena- 
ratgoda district where I remained for seven yeara. 
Liberian coffee and cacao failed there as else- 
where in the lowcountry, and the place was planted 
with tea. In my own case I dropped the greater 
part of my capital in my Liberian coffee and 
cacao experiments and in 1886 settled down on 
my own property to work it up in coconuts in 
which I fairly succeeded, but as I ran short of 
funds in 1891, I sold out all my belongings in the 
Mahaoya valley and remained at large for two yeara 
when my son who had been for seven years assistant 
on a tea estate, lost his employment and I thought 
of investing my funds in tea to give him work. I 
had lent out a part of my money on mortgage, 
but had the misfortunes to have seven thousand 
rupees in the new 0 B.C. when it failed, so I 
hastened to invest anew what remained. The bargain 
I ultimately made was the worst of my many bad 
ones in the course my life ; but the salary allowed 
for management sufficed for economical living though 
no profits have accrued to the partners in the six 
years that have passed since I assumed charge. I have 
however enjoyed better health in the Ratnapura dis- 
trict than iu any of my former localities ; but old age 
is telling on both mental and bodily power. 
Writing on 3rd February, 1899, Mr. Laraont re- 
ported:— "I am well in health, but old age has told 
in dull senses and unsteady step, inc. If I live for 
ten days more I will enter my 82nd year." The Am 
hagamuwa pioneer is therefore now Nvell on in his 
83rd year, and that his physical and more especially 
