Oct. 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 275 
%i anneal harvest a)5proxim-itinp in value to that 
gathered from the area beaiing with our tea plani. A 
C rtaiii pioporliou of the -'harvest" is exported— in 
coooaut oil, up to 503,000 cwt. ; r-.opra " and "pooaa*'' 
('.he dried ksinel?), up to ^00,000 cwt. coir fibr , 
rope, a;;d yarn up to 1?0,00,I cwt. ; ;n cncoiuUs 
(14,000,00.i), as pulled or with the husk off; and 
in 'a new and fast-expandiug in ustry in " desic- 
cated coconut," 12 to 14 niilliou lb. Bat a large 
perhaps the larger, proportion of our coconut crop, 
is consumed lor food and domestic use hy the people 
of (he islMid, apart from the laigeand, unfortunately, 
growing quantity of arrack (the whisky or brandy 
of Ceylou), prepared from the sap of a numbir of 
palms' set apart fcr that purpose. Of other palms 
(palmyra, kitul, and areci chiefly) and fruit trees in 
great "variety, I count the Ci'-galese and Tamils of 
Ceylon liave ove.- :ijO,000 acres planted, and most of 
this yielding crops, as additions to the food supply 
and, " in some cases, esports. Of our famous 
ancient spice, cinnamon (which was carried fioni 
Ciylon and sold in Rome in the time of Augustus 
Caspar for the equivalent of £S sterling per lb.), t'lere 
are still about 35, 000 acres plantedin "eylon, the annuiil 
exports of llie quills end chips keeping in excess of 
3^ million lb. This industry is in Cevlonese (chiefly 
Singalese) hands. Cardamoms, pepper, cloves, nut- 
megs, and some other spices claim more attention 
from the European planters; but the cultivation of 
citronella, and lemon 'grass for essential oils is solely 
done by the natives, as also, of course, the great 
paddy or rice-growing industry in Ceylon. 
Since the abolition of paddy rents from January 1, 
1893, this industry is now " protected ' (the Cobdeu Club 
Committee consenting) to tiie extent of a Customs duty 
of 29 cents per bushel on all rice imported from India ; 
but the resu't so far has not affected our imports, 
which are as follows :— 
Bushels. 
1892 .. Imported from India .. 7,2S2,4U 
1893 .. do do ... 7,417,376 
1894 . . do do ... 7,556.505 
1895 .. do do ... 8,722,737 
1896 .. do do .. 7,591,413 
1897 ... do do ... 8,723.750 
If it should be said that the imports are for im- 
migrant coolies it must be answered that the total 
consnmption by them cannot exceed three million 
bushels, while local and imported rije competes in 
every baziar in tho towns and throughout the island ; 
and the poorest classes in our towns are solely depen- 
dent on imported rice. 
Finally I may mention that the trade in our only 
mineral of commercial importance, plumbago, is in- 
creasing in importance and we now export close on 
400,000 cwt. of it, largely to the United States, London 
Gomiiig next, while U-ermany and France have begun 
to take increasing quantities in direct shipments. 
But in regard to direct shipments to the Continent, 
our greatest satisfaction rests in the establishment of 
Bussian merchants in Colombo and their increasing 
shipments of our tea and coconut palm produce direcc 
tbence to Odessa. The llussian people next to the 
ijnglish are the bast judges of good tea, and, if only 
the" heavy duty of Qs Id per lb. were reduced, a great 
increase of tea consumption might be expected in 
the Russian Empire. I have ventured to address 
the Russian Minister of Finance, M. Witte, on the 
snbject, pointing out how tea in the United Kingdom 
hftd to pay a duty of 25 Id when Queen Victoria 
came to the throne, and how mainly through Mr. 
Gladstone, the duty no ,v stands at Id, with the re- 
salt that the consumption has increased from 30 to 
237 million pounds for from lb. to 5J lb. per head 
of population) while the revenue last year was 
£3,856,662 against .1:3,190,125 in 1837. 
Ceylon has from time immemorial been famous for 
its precious stones — rubies, sapphires, cat'a-eye", and 
moonstonos — and these continue to be freely foiiU'l, 
the digging and selling being in native hands a'ld 
the procesds largely carried away by visitors or des- 
pp.tched in registered postal packets. An Eug i5h 
syndicate with patent machinery is now enijeavyuriug 
to develoi) a, steady industry. 
Coincident with the rise of the tea industry, the 
revenue of the colony — which had fallen to 12.396,580 
rupess in 1833, the year of Sir Arthur Gordon's (Lord 
Stanmore's) arrival, and only recovered, under his very 
able Adminstration, to 16. '238. 769 rupees the year he 
left us (1800)— rose to 20,982,809 rupees for 1895 (the 
last ye.ar of Sir Arthur Savelock, who came in for a 
good time), and is estimated at 23,111,000 rupees for 
this, the third year of Sir West Ridgeway's energetic 
Administration. But clearly this, like everything else 
conneoted with our prosperity, must receive a check 
should the present cloud over the tea industry not 
be dispelled. 
I would just mention that, should the decision of 
the Indian Currency Committee prove unfavourable, 
the Ceylon tea planters and produce exporters generally 
are likely to press Mr. Chamberlain for an ameliora- 
tion of fiscal burdens in two directions, namely — (1) a 
reduction (with a view to eventual abolition) of the 
import duty on rice ; and (2) a reduction in the Gov- 
ernment railway traffic rates, which are out of all 
proportion higher than those charged on any Govern- 
ment railways in India. 
Apologising for the great length of this letter, may 
I wind up by saying that the two notable material 
facts in the history of Ceylon during the past 18 years 
are — (1) the rise of th» tea growing industry from 
9.000 acres planted in 1880 to over 370,000 acres in 
1898 ; (2) the immense growth and ever-increasing ex- 
piusion in the tonnage and trade of the capital, Col- 
ombo. The total tonnage of the pore in 18S0 was 
1,300,000 ; while last year the aggregate (inwards and 
outwards as before) had reached 6,704,747 tons. If, 
in place of being shackled with a long list of Customs 
burdens and restrictions, Colombo were to get some of 
the fiscal advantages of Singapore, or even Bombay, 
it would more and more rapidly become the great- 
port of Southern A siatand especially of Southern India); 
and such increase of prosperity for the port and city 
would be further cotliimed and extended if it were 
directly connected by an Indo-Ceylon railway with 
Southern India, as originally projected by the late 
Duke of Huckingham and Sir William Gregory, and 
towards which result the present policy of Mr. Cham- 
berlain and Governor Ridgewaj', to a certain extent, 
is directed. — I am, sir, yours respectfully. 
J. FERGUSON, of the Ceylon Obaeiccf and 
Tropical Agriculturist, 
Colombo, Ceylon, July 7. 
— London Times, Aug. 19. 
THE PLANTING INDUSTRY OF INDIA 
AND CEYLON. 
The following supplementary letter appeared 
in tlie London Times of August 20tli, the day- 
after our long report; on Ceylon was inserted. 
We think it will be allowed tliat the case for tea 
in India and Ceylon is put in such a li^ht as 
at any rate to discourage capitalists fron°specii- 
lating in a further extension of cultivation. It 
Avill be seen that, writing in July, we put the 
probable total export of Ceylon tea this year 
at 120 iniilion !b. (against 119 just fixed by the 
Planters' Conimittee) ; but the ex|)ort to the 
United Kingdom was only counted at about 100 
million lb. The large area of young tea— larger 
in Ceylon apparently than in India— cannot fail 
to attract attention. Finally, we urge a reduc- 
tion of the imperial duty on tea as well as the 
pushing of our teas in the American and Paissiau 
markets : — 
To the Editor of " The Times." 
Sir,— May I be allowed to supplement the 
planting statistics referring to Ceylon in my last 
cominunication by adding now the figures for tea 
and coffee for all India as well, l-'or tliese I 
depend chielly on the edicial returns (which, in 
view of the universal "laiul revenue," are far 
more reliable than any figures ia the Ceylou UluQ. 
