583 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUBIST. - [Feb. 1, 1899. 
To 
the EdUor, 
THE COST OF PADDY CULTIVATION 
Dkar Sill,— Bdow I give tlie expenses 
quired to Liing an acre of paddy 
re- 
acre of paddy iand into 
ciihivalio!! as was requesteil by your corre- 
Bpondcnt " B P" in your paper of the 6tli inst. 
The fi;<UiCS represent the expenditure required, 
and the jield in tiie Ekala (Jaela) district 
What has " F B" to say of the millions tliat 
are en<,'af.'ed in paddy cultivation in India, 
China, "Hiirma, ike. ? Had " F B" been an 
experienced paddy cnltivator, his words would 
have carried some weight, hut to c-nltivate for 
once only a sta{,'nant mQ<hly pool in a corner 
of a coconut estate, paying; no rej^arJ what- 
ever to the suitableness of the soil for the 
growth of paddy, and to denounce paddy culti- 
vation as "the most unreniunerative iudustiy," 
is most ridiculous : — _ 
Cost of plouKhing one aero three times (one man 
tfiMof; 2.^ days each time, ftt 374 cts per day 
Buffalo hire at 50c a pair a day for 7^ days 
Cost of sowing one aero (i a day's work) 
Cost of seed paddy, two bushels at Rl-50 
• per bushel 
Cost of manure, 5C lb, at B3 per owt. 
Coat of reaping an acre 
Cost of threshing, winnowing, etc. 
Cost of regulating water, etc. . . 
00 
60 
60 
50 
G9 
pretty closely looked int<» by experts ^ef ore tUey 
\entiire their capital. My sufigt^tioii iis not ap- 
idicable to the bit;h-lyingand yoanj; coffee district*, 
but to the old distjicts where I know for a fact 
that there are n^any hundreds of acru- [.lodiuing 
only 20') lb. per acre, and unil«r. Such acreiijje 
should, I hold, be ahan.loncd forthwith ; it can- 
not hope to make a prulit with the most t»cien- 
tilic manuring. The method of calcuUlion can 
be apjilieil to each individual estate, and a study 
of the sale list" will kIiow that there are a very 
large number of e>-tate8 wbotie aveiaae price is 
below 35 cents per pound net, at which I have 
made my calculations. Every million pound*, of 
tea taken ofl' tlie market at the pie(«eut time 
probablj' add« a cent to tbevalne of tlie remain- 
der, and it is the low-fjiade teas \\hi< b w««t 
niost relief, and will I think, inof«t qnii-kly find 
it in any lessening' of the <{uantily. Keductioii of 
quantity by working for quality does not pHy 
below 3,ft00 feet, but, at the same lime, lessening 
the quantity in many cases means more room for 
withering, an<1, therefore, the beet quality ob- 
tainable. I take as typical example an estate of 
350 acres, in which it is supposed that 50 acres 
give only "200 lb. and the remainder 4001b. per 
acre, and by abandoning the 50 acres it iseien 
that the ]>r«jGts aie not Itsfrened, and will pro- 
bably be inci eased by tb« rise iii the market, 
and the better wither. 
Total cost of sowing an acre 
Yield of two acres, 30 bushels at Rl-25 
bu?hel 
Va'uo of straw 
per 
B18 00 
B c 
37 50 
6 00 
43 50 
Deduct Expenses of sowing as above . . 18 00 
A net profit remains per acre of . . R25 50 
Reckoning that an acre of paddy laud be worth 
RISC, an income of 1!25 a year shews that the 
work brings an interest of nearly 16 p. c. on the 
investment. I have, of course, taken into con- 
sideration only the average yield in this district 
"(15 fold) but "some of the best laiuls yield from 
25 to 30 fold, but the expenses seldom exceed the 
figures 1 have given. The length of time a crop 
takes to ripen varies from two to seven months 
according to the variety of paddy sown and those 
icinds of paddy that take from two to four monlhs 
,are genevrJly known as bd/a ivi and in the paddy 
lands in ihe Kottli-Ceritral Province a,re usually 
sown twice a year yielding as a rule a much 
higher fold than in' the poor soil ja the low- 
couiitrv fie'ds. — Yours faithfully, 
'A NATIVE PADDY CULTIVATOR. 
Superintendence at Rl per 
acre, and a Conductor . . 
jSUowautes 
Weeding at Rl per acre . , 
General Transport 
Couliugeiicies 
Roads and Drains 
Bungalow, Lines, &a., up- 
keep 
Factory and Machinery at 
L ct. per lb. 
Tools and Baskets, &c. . . 
Pruning at R6 
Piuckiug 
Manufacture at 21 cts. .. 
Piickiiges at 2J cts. 
Carriage at 1 ct. 
Sundry Expenses, Insur- 
ance, (t'C. 
Charges in Colombo at 
l<:t. 
Visiiing 
R. 
4,320 
240 
4,200 
50 
GOO 
350 
500 
650 
150 
2,100 
12,500 
3,250 
2,f300 
1,3C0 
500 
1,300 
500 
"S 
R. 
3,720 
240 
3,C00 
50 
550 
300 
500 
600 
150 
l.POO 
10.800 
3,000 
2,400 
1,200 
500 
1,200 
SCO 
(2W 
R. 
600 
600 
60 
50 
300 
1,700 
250 
2<>0 
100 
100 
Total .. 35,010 81,110 
IMPROVING THE TEA MARKET. 
Agras, Jau. 24. 
Sir,— Every little helps at a time like the pre- 
sent, when iiiaiiy estates are existing on a bare 
margin of iu'dlit, and some even working at a 
loss. My suggestion wliicii would relieve the 
marlcct of a certain amoiiut of low-class tea has 
no doubl: i-een consideied by tiie greater number 
of I^sialc Inspectors, and the obstacle to carrying 
it into eflect is probably the disinclination of the 
.Couipanies to propose to their sharehoklers a re- 
duction of acreage, and, perhaps, the feeling of 
pri\ ate owners that to cut of? acreage is to lessen 
the amount to be obtained by a possible sale, but, 
if Shis be, the case, it is, more or less a delu- 
sion as purchasers no\v-a-days have the figures 
8,900 
350 acres produce 130,0001b. at 35 cts. net, equal to 
R45,.500, Ptofit R10,490. 
300 acres produce 12C,0001b. at 35 cts. net, tqual to 
R42,000, Profit RlO.SSO. 
It costs in fact 39 cents per lb. to produce the 
200 lb. per acre, v hich is sold at 35 cents. 
W.D.B. 
♦ 
The Director of the Kiiw Botaxic Gae- 
DEN.S hns just been knighted, and we beg to 
congratulate Sir William Turner Thi.stleton-IJyer, 
K.C.M.G., F.E.S., LL.D., on his well-earned ad- 
vancement. Son-in-law to Sir Jose]'h Hooker, 
the present Director liegan his useful scientific 
and economic career at Kew under the happiest 
auspices, and his work hitherto (and, we trust 
for many years to come) has been most beneficial 
to British Dejiendencies all over the world, as 
well as to science at home. 
