106 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURLST, 
[AuftrsT 1, 1898. 
squally weather with driving showers, and very 
cold winds; tlie \)Oor coolies had a bad time of 
it. and (Iming the fortnight very little work was 
done on the estates, it being simply cruel to ask 
the cooly to go out to work, besides, the roads 
being i)retty well blocdvcd by fallen trees. Tavalanis 
were unable to get along to bring the necessary 
weekly supply of rice&c, so Kaniasaniy and Meena- 
tchy had to go to fetch the necessary weekly sup- 
plies themselves. 
THE DKKP 
and other inhabitants of the dense jungles must 
have had a pretty lively time of it too ; evidoitly, 
numbers (to judge by foot-prints in the clearinqs) 
have been friiihtened from the jungle by more fall- 
ing trees, and brjinches torn otf and tossed about 
their ears. Elephants were to be heard trumpeting 
all day and night long; they evidently having got a 
fright' as well. Now, however, the weather has 
elianged very muoh for the better ; today bf^ing the 
best day (to say nothing of its being Sunday) we 
had siiice the burst, and we only hope we have 
seen the worst of it. 
Cl.liAUiNC WoliK from what I understand is 
pretty well advanced, and should the monsoon 
prove a good one, a lot of tea will be planted 
out during the ne.\t few months. 
I had an opportunity lately of 
VISITING SOME COl-FEK ESTATES 
up in this quarter, the lirst I have seen since 
niy arrival in the district. The first held we en- 
tered was a nice sheet of coffee, and judging by 
the look of it, I should say it was between four 
and five years old, smallish trees, but they had 
a very hne crop set on them, ju-^t as much, I 
should say as they can comfortably carry, and 
in fact I should e.xpect to see a good many of 
the trees looking shuck towards end of crop, the 
small berries were looking remarkably healthy, 
as also the trees themselves, 1 scanned the trees 
all along the road-sides for our old enemies 
yreen bug and leaf disease, and was > ery pleased 
.1 could .not hnd a bug. nor a siml, of ihe disease, 
long may they keep away, anil IcL the old ■• Kii.^ " 
got^up liis head again. The next esuiie weca'ne 
too had evidently had a good crop the previous 
year, as there was not much crop on the trees, 
but a profusion of line healthy wood, and it ought 
to do well next season. There are some particu- 
larly fine coflee fields in the neighbourhood which 
I hope to have an opportunity of seeing later 
on, and for which I hope I shall have a good word 
to say. They certainly look remarkably fine in 
the distance, and 1 have no doubt they will pro\ e 
as good as they look, its to be hoped so at any 
rate. 
I am rather surprised your invaluable Trojnml 
Agricultural is not better known over this way. 
It is a periodical which I think ought to be in every 
bungalow, for the instruction, information and 
guidance, of each, and every superintendent, and 
manager of an estate. Again I think it is a sort 
of imblication which ought to be supplied free 
gratis by every Company, or urivate Troprietor, 
to their "Superintendents, managers iSrc., for I am 
sure the gain w.juld be theirs, ;uul the cost next 
to nil. Oh for a Fcrcfusoii's Directory as well, 
it would be like the I'ickwick pen a " boon and 
a blessinsr " to us, but we cannot yet everything 
in a day. M':-antime 
ROADS AND TELEPHONES 
seem to be the great rage, the former especially are 
much required, for what they call roads here, are 
most execrable, to say nothing of their being 
positively dangerous; if I could only think of a 
word which would define them better I would 
substitute it for " ilangerous." However tlii» will 
do, and you can imagine (he rei>t, but onc3 the 
road ; work on iiaiid just now in finished, things 
will be much better. Wliat we want in a light 
railway transport of all go»db includin;; rice 
&c. is our great drawback at present, and I 
must say it is no child's play. However " Nil Des- 
perandum " must be our motto, so let ue Kiick 
to it. Strange, v/e have not had a*in;fle clap of 
thunder with the S. W. Monsoon, but I noted 
we hail plenty of it during the last dying kicks 
of the N. -East Monsoon. Is this usual in Ceylon? 
Thunder seems to Ije the il is connecting; link here 
between the two — more anon. KI-ONDVKK. 
INDIAN CURKENCV: 
EXTRACT.S FHOM LETTER BY MR. H 
DUNNING Ma.LEOD. 
THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OP OrRRENCY. 
• • « • 
The Sumiiiary of the Principles declared by (reliable) 
writpru may be statfit thas : — (1) That if good fuU- 
wci){lited coin and clipped and degraded coin of th« 
same mctttl, or bxse coin, be allowed to circulate 
together, the good, full-weighted coin dibappears froui 
circulation and ihe degraded and base coin tlone 
remains current. ('2i That it ie not possible for gold 
and silver coins itsued in unlimited cjuantitiei to 
remain together in circtdation at a fixed legal ratio 
between the coins differing from the market ratio of 
the metals. i'S) That the coin which is under- 
rated invariably disappears from circulation, and 
the coin which is overrated alone remains current. 
(i) There cannot be two measares of value in 
the same system of coinage, however, large any more 
than there cau be two measures of length, weight, or 
capacity in the same country. These principles may 
be summed up thus : " The worst form of currency 
in circulation regulates the value of the whole 
currency, and drives all other forms of currency out 
of circulation." {h'j When the legal ratio of the 
coins remains) fixed, and the maiket ratio of either 
metal rises ab.ne or falls belo-.v ihe legal ratij of 
the tvin;- the metaU Hlteniiitely disphxca eiich otbt-r 
from ciruula'.iun, and that one i<l ne whi<.h is 
overrated remains carrtut, and the oue which is under- 
rated disappears from circula'.ion. 
These laws have been observed to be 
TRUE IS ALL .^GES AND COCNTBIEs, 
and are as firmly established as the law 
of gravitation. When it was proved by ex- 
perience that it was impossible to adapt the legal 
ratio of the coins to the varying market of the metals, 
and that they alternately displaced each other from 
circulation according as the market value of cue 
metal or the other rose above or fell below the legal 
ratio of the coins, Sir William Petty, one of the 
most scientific men of the age, demonstrated that 
the true principle was that oue metal should be 
selected as the standard, and that coins of other 
metals should only be used as subsidiary to the 
standard. This principle was advocated at great 
length by Locke in 1694 and by Harris in 17.50 was, 
thoroughly explained by Lord Liverpool in 180,'), nod 
was fully considered by the Goveniot-Geueral of 
India in Council in 1806, and adopted by them. It 
was uijou these principles tint tKe great recoinage 
in this couutry was founded in 1816, and tliey have 
now beoa re-Ogniscd as true, and adopted by every 
Govcnoment in the world, v.ith only a very few ex- 
ceptions. 
When the market v.ilne of a metal in bullion ex- 
ceeds its legal ratio in coin it is said to be at a 
premium, and every tjTO iu finance knows that when- 
ever either 
MET.VL GOES TO A PliEMlUM 
it at once disappears from circulation by'oue or all of 
three methods : either (1) by being hoarded away, or (2) 
