U THE TROPICAL 
ad libitum. But we notice from tables of 
raiafiiH appended for six stations and 
extending over 3 to 7 years that the average 
rainf.ill is only 12 inches at Kisrnayu near 
the equator ; 28 inches for Larau ; 39 '29 for 
Malindi ; 43-49 for Talcaungn ; 47-92 for 
.Mombasa ; and 46-58 for Shimoni, the 
farthest South from the equator. This is not 
a very abundant rainfall fur coconuts 
.althoagh when gardens are low-lying and 
soil moist, as in many parts of the Chilaw 
and Puttalam districts, 46 to 53 inches of 
rainfall suffice. May seems to be the one 
very wet month, getting 18 to 26 inclies, 
or nearly half the year's total, tlie rest 
being fairly distributed over the other 
months. The mean temperature appears to 
be much the s.ime as on the Ceylon coast 
a little above 80 degrees. This African 
coast is by no means unhealthy for Euro- 
peans ; but tliere are no settlers so far, 
Mr. Whyte says, and yet he speaks of 
visiting " Mr. Anderson's plantation " — 
perhaps an official, like Mr. Skene and Mr. 
Farrant (Oollectors), Mr. Henderson (Assist- 
antv Mr. D. J. \Vilson, Capt. Justice, all 
acting under Sir Charles Eliot. He als« 
refers to an Italian Firm at Takaungu, 
which does a considerable business in rubber ; 
while he was kindly received at Mission 
stations, Mr. Whyte visited a portly Arab 
gentleman's plantation with very fine coconut 
palms— but planted too close, 24 feet apart 
(we wish there was nothing closer in 
native gardens in Ceyion) ; the proprietor is 
now going to try 50 feet(!) with inter- 
mediary products between. Mr. Whyte 
gave wise advice as to avoiding the drip 
from the palm leaves for the m_inor products 
and to take care the roots of the latter did 
not spread to those of the coconuts. Mr. 
Whyte , speaks of a dwarf variety which 
bears in its 4th year ; on one tree 6 years 
■old— only 2^ feet from the ground to the 
base of the fronds— he counted 91 nuts, not 
reckoning those "under the size of 
an orange " (oranges differ !). The nuts 
generally are not much smaller than ordin- 
ary ones. In Lamu island— an island of 
palms — he found a few of the Arabs, intel- 
ligently manuring— goat manure and coconut 
refuse being spread round the palm roots 
for a radius of 6 to 8 feet, witli wonderful 
results in heavy crops of nuts. 
But we must refer to some''other products. 
On Mr. Anderson's jReraise estate — " a con- 
cession," so he must be a settler— vanilla and 
tobacco are the products experimented with, 
and successfully, the tobacco being good and 
the damp sheltered valley chosen for vanilla 
giving special promise. Here Mr. Whyte 
found a few very handsome "Borassus" 
palms, growing above high water mark. 
Why does he not use the familiar name 
" Palmyra "—or is he like the famous F.L. S 
we met at a Linnaean Society's Dinner who 
could not recognise the " Palmyra " until 
we gave him its scientific name of " Borassus 
flabelliformis " — when he beamed with satis- 
faction. A good deal is told us of " rubber " 
as may be Judged from the extracts we give 
elsewhere ; and at Takaungu, quantities . of 
grain, ground nuts, oil seed as well' as 
AGRICULTURIST. [.Tuly \, 1903. 
coconuts are shipped coastwise. Elephants 
come near to tlie coast under forest and 
sub-forest (chena) in the wet season (" the 
succulent apples of the Landolphia rubber 
vine tempting them"). Mangoes, papaws, 
guavas and oranges, limes and pomegranates 
are plentiful at some points. Mr. Wliyte had 
a feast at Mtondva in large luscious " rupee ' 
mangoes. Fowls as large as in England .-it 
25 to 40 cents each and abundance of good 
fish -so that an industry in salting is recom- 
mended— were features elsewhere. Large 
crops of Indian corn, sorghum, manihot and 
climbing yams ; but-, none equal to the water- 
yam and delicate cush cusli introduced by 
Mr. Whyte into Ceylon from the West 
Indies. Herds of 100 head of cattle— very- 
like those of Ceylon, but with fine cows, 
with large udders astonished Mr. Whyte 
here and there. On one forest range passed, 
the soil was good enough to grow coffee, 
tea and perhaps cacao ; and farther on was 
an ideal grain, sugar and tobacco strong, 
black, rich soil, Rubber vines were common 
at several pcnnts. The virgu^ forests of 
Witu are specially praised,— hard-wood 
timber and rubber being amnng their riches. 
Simultaneously with Mr. Whyte's Keport, 
we receive Notes by Mr. J. McClounie on Pro- 
ducts of British Central Africa : coffee, tea, 
tc(bacco, rubber, fibres, beeswax, ginger and 
turmeric, chillies, gum, cotton and timber 
are all touched on and strangely enough coffee 
is pt-aised as now free from leaf disease in 
the Shire Highlands. The highest export, 
about 19,000 cwt., was in 1899 ; next year 
g ive 11,000 cwt.; and in 1901 about 15,000 cwt. 
We shall quote these notes in full in our 
"Tropical Agriculturist" as well as much 
from Mr. Whyte's elaborate and interest- 
ing Report.— If we were young, with a 
certain limited amount of capital and not 
afraid of " pioneering," we should be tempted 
to try either for a location on the coast line 
of British East Africa, or in the maritime 
portion of Orissa (South of Bengal) in order 
to plant and cultivate a garden of coconut 
palms ! 
■ » 
PEIZES FOR AGEICULTURAL AND 
PLANTING ESSAYS, 
We have been approached by a well-known 
proprietary planter with a request that the 
Ceylon Observer should give an additional 
prize in connection with the Essays on the 
"Pruning of Tea" which have been called 
for, since he considers that it is quite pos- 
sible that a third Essay in order of merit 
(out of the many sent in) may be nearly if 
not quite as worthy of a prize as No. 1 
or No. 2. Taking several experienced plant- 
ers into our confidence in respect of the 
wisdom of this proposal, we have been 
surprised at the diversity of opinions laid 
before us in response to our enquiry. 
One, a Manager in a large way, writes :— 
"I cannot really see what practical good the 
Pruning Essay is to effect : it will no doubt 
tell us much theoretically ; but when ^hs 
V.A. comes round with his pruning knife, 
it will be 115 per acre or clear!" While 
another who inspects many estates, though 
