64 THiB TliOPICAL AaMCULTURIST. [July 1, 1903. 
importance; and coconut butter has become a great 
industry in Germany. For 1,200,000 gallons of 
arrack consumed annually in Ceylon and 120,000 
exported, 300,000 palm trees at 4 gallons per tree 
may suffice (Mr. Ellis got 5 94 gallons from some 
rich trees) ; but an enormous uuniber of palms are 
devoted to sweet and even intoxicating toddy. 
Taking last year's (1900) return of Exports we 
work out number of nuts and trees as follows : — 
Coconut oil... 444,000 cwt. = Nuts 222 200,000 
Copra ... 362,457* ,, „ „ 72,000,000 
Desiccated ... 13,604,913 U'. ,, „ 40,000,000 
Coconuts No. „ „ 15,000,000 
(Poonac and Coir are got from Oil 
and Copra nuts.) 
Arrack, and Baker's and Sweet 
Toddy, say Nuts 1,500,000 
Total Nuts, .,350,700,000 
or not nearly one lialf of tlis coconut crop from 
Ceylon palms, apart from the trees not in beariuo; 
or past beariuii. It we take 18 millions tiees as 
yielding the above ; 20 for local foodf; and 10 
for youu3; and old palms, we get a total of 48 
million Coconut palms of all ages and qualities ia 
Ceylon. 
—tu. T.A.] 
A MA.CHINE FOR SHELLING ARECA- 
NUTS. 
Glasgow, May 20. 
Sir,— A letter appeared in an issue of your 
paper about the beginning of April, drawing 
attention to the wf>nt of a machine tor shel- 
ling arecanuts. If your correspondent will 
communicate with me, and forward samples 
of shelled and unshelled nuts, together with 
a note of the work he would like the 
machine to do and any other points he thinks 
may be of use, I shall be pleased to give the 
matter my attention.— Yours faithfully, 
JOHN A. McGILVKAY. 
[Will our former correspondent kindly 
communicate? — Ed. T A.] 
CACAO 
PLANTERS AND 
STEALING. 
COOOA- 
-In his report for 1902 
May 31. 
Mr. Alexander 
Sir, 
says,— 
"The experience of another year confiims 
the opinion which 1 expressed last year that 
a pass should be legally required for the 
removal of cacao within a defined area, 
and that the traders in cacao should be 
licensed and legally compelled to keep proper 
accounts." 
In fact, he suggests .that they should enter 
in a book what is brought into their houses 
or stores and what goes out, just as is dotie 
by Superintendents of cacao estates. His 
suggestion, if carried out, will go far to 
practically put a stop to cocoa-stealing and 
will inflict no hardship on any honest grower 
or trader. — Yours faithfully, 
CACAO PLANTER. 
* In 1898 the export of copra was as much as 
606,277 cwt. 
t Say that there are 700,000 families in 'Jeyloa, 
do they use 1 or two coconuts a day on an average ? 
Let us take 1^ and we get .383,000,000 nuts requir- 
ing about 20 million trees as above aud giving a 
tot«l of 47 millioa trees. 
COFFEE AND TEA : 
A LliSSON FROM THE PAST. 
Badulla, June 6th. 
Dear Sir,— I have just read in your paper 
of the 3rd instant an extract from " The 
Brazilian Hevievi^ " of April 21st, headed 
"The Coffee Crisis in Brazil: a Bad Look- 
out." It suggests to me a few points which, 
if you consider of public interest, you might 
publish. 
I. The maximum export of Plantation 
Coffee from Ceylon was 873,654 cwt. in 1375 
(beside 114 674 cwt. of native coffee, making 
a total of 988,328 cwt.) A large acreage being 
then itnmafcuie, it was expected that the annual 
exports would increase. The price being high, 
encouraged further opening of land, hid not 
disease, which was tlienin evidence, frightened 
planters from developing. Instead of exports 
increasing, they decreased by leapsand bounds, 
ruitil Ceylon, which at one time supplied 
12^ per cent of the world's consumption, 
is not now a factor in the Coffee Marked. 
Its place has been taken by other countries, 
specially by Brazil.* The fair prices ruling 
during the period of Ceylon's decadence en. 
couraged development elsewhere and the 
supply now exceeds the demand, so that coffee 
planters even in Brazil, the country best 
adapted to the growth ol this product, are 
unal)le to produce it to pay at the prices 
at present ruling. Had Ceylon continued a 
coffee-producing country, wliat would be its 
position with prices as they now rule ? 
II. If the Cess is continued with the view 
of developing new markets, increasing the 
demand and the present profits of Indian 
and Ceylon planters, is it not likely to en- 
courage development in tea in those countries 
as well as in others equally well suited to 
its growth, such as Java, that can command 
cheap labour ? Any appreciable increase of 
present prices will encourage the opening 
of further acreages in India, Ceylon and 
Java, and additional exports from China 
and Japan. 
III. The laws of 'Supply and Demand' 
and ' The Survival of the Fittest ' are 
danfferous to tamper with. Doubtless the 
Cess has done something in creating a 
demand for tea which is enabling the less 
fit to survive, but whether its continuance 
will be for the best interests of the Ceylon 
tea planter seems very doubtful. Are we not 
likely to create a demand, which we are 
unable to supply ? This would lead to another 
wave of opening land in tea, and in a few 
years we would have to face a crisis similar 
to that just passed through. At present 
prices, estates suited to the growth of tea 
are paying well. Let us rest and be thankful. 
Cease the export duty as soon as possible 
and the spending of money in creating a 
demand for a product which we are unable 
to meet and which is more likely to benefit 
others than ourselves. — I am, dear Sir, yours 
faithfully, 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
* Brazil has all along been the largest producer 
and exporter, shipping 240,000 tons in 1^5 whea 
Ceylon sent about 50,000 tons ; but our • planta- 
tion coffee ' was far superior) about ttie fiaesb ia 
the world,— Ed. T,A. 
