May 1, 1900,1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
761 
philosophy in this, although it is enough 
to scare a Western political economist. It 
is certainly time that there was a careful 
investigation by the several Government 
Agents and their Assistants as to the effect 
of the policy adopted from 1st January 1892, 
on the staple of our native agricultural enter- 
prise in the country. It may be supposed 
that the plumbago diversion complicates the 
matter ; but it should be easy to distinguish 
between ancestral fields neglected for the 
first time this year and those previously 
allowed to fall out of cultivation ; while, of 
course, the reason given by the owner for 
non-cultivation in each Ccise, should be specially 
recordedand can then be taken quantum valeat 
bv the Government and the public. The prac- 
tical value of such an Enquiry and Report 
in connection with the Administration of 
the rural districts and the welfare of 
the people, cannot be over-estimated. We 
actually find a London journalist of some 
weight, heading an extract from a local 
paper,— "Ceylon and aPossible Famine," basing 
this on the declension of paddy culture ; and 
any day there may he questions on the 
subject in the House of Commons. Governor 
fSir West Ridgeway must see, therefore, the 
wisdom of being in a position, as soon as 
possible, to afford reliable information if 
called on to do so by Mr. Chamberlain. 
Should it appear that the wild rush into 
plumbago is causing the ruin of " paddy," 
then it may be necessary for the Govern- 
ment to devise some check on promiscuous 
" mining " (and gambling) by the Sinhalese 
people,— a check that may serve to choke 
them oft' from a comparatively new and 
precarious industry, while urging, or com- 
pelling, their attention to the one occupa- 
tion to which they have been accustomed 
from time immemorial, and which has 
always been held in the highest esteem 
amongst them. 
^ 
THE COCONUT PALM AND SCIENTIFIC 
CULTURE. 
How delighted the late accomplished Mr, 
Davidson, coconut planter in the Jaffna 
Peninsula, would have been to have had to 
guide him, such a paper as Mr. Cochran 
furnishes today— see page 764 -for the 
benefit of all intelligent cultivators of the 
palm. There is a happy combination of 
practical experience and scientific in, 
vestigation in the results arrived at and 
the recommendations made ; and we should 
like to hear what such veterans as Messrs 
W. B. Lamont and VV. Jardine and the 
present experienced Managers of Franklands 
and Goluapokuna, have to say on the paper, 
before us and its several series of analy- 
ses. The great advantage obtained for 
the palms where the husks are allowed to be 
returned to the soil, is made very manifest. 
Manufacturers of coir fibre, etc., must 
necessarily compensate their gardens for the 
additional drain upon them. Mr. Cochran 
incidentally shows that the application of 
salt to coconut palms growing along the 
seaside is not required ; hut does that of 
itself not prove how much good salt should 
do to palms grown in the interior, away up 
the Mahaoya valley for instance ? 
PLANTING NOTES. 
" Agricultural Education in Greater 
Britain." — Under tliis heading, Frofes.?or Hedger 
Wallace read a paiier before the Society of 
Alts, on February 27tl). We are reproducing 
ifc in our montliiy periodical, hub meantime we 
give the paragraph referring to Ceylon : — 
la Ceylou the elements of agrionltiire are taught 
f.s a spe;;ifio subject in the Government schools, and a 
primer of agriculture has been published by the Direc- 
tor of Public lustruction. There is also a school of 
agriculture at Colombo which was opened in 1884, and 
lias ten branch institutions. From this school, to 
which a dairy is attached, agricultural instructors are 
sent into remote rural districts to illustrate improved 
method,. The school for a nnmbsr of years has also 
issued a monthly magazine and this, along with the 
Tropical Agriculturist, furnishes the agricultural litera- 
ture of the colony, a colony, I may add, which has the 
reputation of being itself the best training ground for 
the tropical planter. 
The 190) Tea Season has now fairly com- 
menced. A number of gardens in several districts 
commenced taking leaf in the middle of this month 
and prospects are reported fair ail round. Red 
spider is stated to have made its appearance in 
some Sylhet gardens after a dry spell, but a heavy 
fall of rain washed it away. It is too early to 
prophesy, but the general a,?pcct of tea affairs is 
propitious for the coming season. We note from 
(Government returns that in 1898 the area settled 
by time expired coolies in the Province of Assam 
amounted to 72,697 acres. It is explained that 
this does not show the whole amount of land set- 
tled with coolies, as it excludes the cor.siderable 
area rented from private owners, but the figures are 
sulhcientl.y suggestive, especially when contrasted 
with preceding years. In 1880 the acreage settled 
in this manner was 4,584, m 1885—8,196, in 1890 
— .32,380, in 1897 — 67,923. — Indian Gardening. 
Paba Rubber at the Straits.— We call at- 
tention to a letter (see psige 748) by our old (or 
rather young) friend, Mr. E V Carey, Chair- 
man of the United Straits P.A. and at one time 
a Ceylon planter, like his father, Mr Arthur 
Carey, before him. So important is the 
Para Rubber Industry in the Straits becom- 
ing, that the Chairman proposes (with ap- 
parently the countenance of Sir F Swetten- 
ham) that a special agent or expert should 
be sent to Brazil to report on the different 
modes of harvesting, preparation, &c. Now, 
we have no hesitation in saying that until 
full use is made of the information already 
available, such an expedition weuld simply 
mean a waste of money. In fact we question 
if any knowledge worth having could be 
added t ) what is already available from 
experts, tourists, travellers, journalists, who 
have ere now visited the South American 
rubber-yielding divisions and reported fully 
upon tiiem. Has, Mr. E V Carey, for in- 
stance, digested the information in our com- 
pilation, "All About Rubber"? If he has, 
we should like to know what he requires 
from an expert visiting Para beyond what 
is in that volume ? W e are not writing 
egotistically ; because the information referred 
to is not from our pen— it is taken from 
a hundred sources and deals with all rubber- 
growing countries, more especially Brazil. It 
wouldjbe well, therefore, for Mr. Carey's Com- 
mittee to study this volume and then to draw 
up a series of questions as to the points on 
which they wanted further enlightenment 
at the hands of au expert visiting Brazil, 
