( 4 ) 
Coca. — The experiment plots of Enjthruxijlon Coca have been extended during the year, 
but there has been no demand for plants or seeds, except from Houth India. 
Kola. — The trees in the experimental plot at Peradeniya, planted in 1891, have flowered 
in 1898 for the first time. The dim ite here does not seem to suit them. 
Cardamoms. — The export of this product has slightly fallen, beiniL' 531,473 lb. against 532,830 
in 1897. The cultivation has been a very profitable one in some districts, and the area devoted to it 
is being rapidly extended in the northern districts of the Central Province. A caterpillar peet which 
has done some damage is described in Mr. Green's report. 
Other Spices. — The total exports of cinnamon continue to increase ; that of chips has risen from 
1,067,051 lb. in 1897 to 1,414,105 in 1898. Vanilla continues to be planted in small quantities. 
Of nutmegs, cloves, pepper, betel-pepper, ginger, &c., all of which are on trial in the gardens, 
there is nothing of special interest to report here. 
Cocoamits. — The cultivation of this palm continues to spread, and that largely in European 
hands. The export of most of the products of this palm has continued to increase : that of oil 
is 435,933 cwt., against 409,600 in 1897 ; that of copperah has risen from 106,601 cwt. to 506,277, 
chiefly in consequence of increased consumption in Russia; and all other products have also risen, 
excepting the nuts, only 12,027,714 being exported against 13.610,508 last year. The ravages of the 
cocoanut beetle are dealt with in the Entomologist's report. 
OtJter Palms. — The export of palmyra fibre has risen largely to 41,522 cwt., the largest 
quantity on record. The plants of sago palm {Mctroxylon) at Peradeniya and AnuTadhapura have 
continued to do well, and a few are available for distribution to thoeie who may care to experiment 
with this palm, which needs a swampy soil. 
India Rubber. — A great deiU of attention has been given to this product during the year. 
Mr. J. Parkin has spent the bulk of his time since March 20 in the laboratory here, carrying 
out chemical and physiological investigations into the processes of tapping and coagulation, &c. 
A tour was made in March to the Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts to .see the plantations of 
Pat^a rubber made by the Forest Department and on various estates. These trees are growing very 
well on the whole, and some have yielded very good rubber in promising quantity. The trees 
in the gardens have done well, and yielded a large quantity of seed, much of which was sold 
by auction at an average price of about Rs. 27 per 1,000. A large quantity of 6e(^ was also sold 
from private estates. 
Early in the year a circular was published dealing with the cultivation, tapping, and 
probable yield of Para rubber. The climate and soil necessary were pointed out, and the land 
really well suited to this tree in Ceylon was estimated at 10,000 acres, chiefly situated in the 
Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts. In view of what is stated below, and of the fact that many 
persons are planting the tree at comparatively high levels or in otherwise unfavourable localities, 
I take this opportunity of calling renewed attention to the above estimate. Unless some much 
improved method of cultivation is discovered, or the price of rubber rises even higher than it now 
is, the chance of a profitable return in unfavourable localities is small. The tree itself grows 
as well in Ceylon as in its native home, Brazil ; but the yield of rubber is very much less, and is less 
even than that obtained from similar trees in Java and the Straits. It should therefore not be 
planted in any but the most favourable localities available. 
The whole question of what tree to plant has however been re-opened, when, so far as Ceylon 
was concerned, it might have been thought settled in favour of the Hevea. By the aid of 
machinery it is now possible to separate the pure or nearly pure caoutchouc from the. latex or milk 
of any rubber-yielding tree, and the rubber so prepared has apparently the same quality, whatever 
tree it may have come from, and at the same time is very much purer than any natural rubber, even 
the best Para. When rubber thus prepared comes upon the market in quantity, the probable 
result will be that for some time it will obtain higher prices than any ever before obtained, but 
soon the price will fall to that now obtained for the best natural rubber, and the latter will fetch 
only a lower price. When the Hevea is tapped as has hitherto been done in Ceylon, there is always 
a large proportion of the latex which dries on the tree, owing to its extremely syrupy nature. This 
yields a scrap rubber, which at present fetches a good price, and it was upon this price that the 
estimate of pecuniary return given in the Circular was based. The price of this however, as has 
just been pointed out, will almost certainly fall. The rubber milk that collects in the tins or shells 
used in the tapping can of course be treated by machinery, and will fetch a high price, but the 
average price will not be improved owing to the poor value of the scrap rubber, which cannot be 
thus dealt with, and may even be lower than the estimate given. The whole question therefore 
stands in need of revision. 
Further than this, the use of the machinery equalizes the quality of the rubber derived from 
different trees, and now it is no longer important to choose the tree which gives the best natural 
rubber, but rather that tree which yields the most rubber. There can be little doubt that the tree 
which gives the best return- in this way will, for most districts of south-west Ceylon, be found to be 
CastiUoa, 
