314 
THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. 2, 1908. 
when threatening letters are sent not only 
to Estate Managei's, who are determined to 
allow no robberies, but also to their wives, 
threatening to shoot ! Fancy 
18 MILES OF BARBED WIRE 
surrounding one cacao estate— and that not 
one of the largest ! Fancy, too, Sikh watchmen 
being imported, each at R25 a month in 
wages, and a cordon established to keep out 
thieves ! We certainly live in strange times 
when such steps are necessary. AVere K.B.T. 
alive, "peppering with small shot" would 
be heard of ; but then there might be revenge 
with some heavier. C-^ n it be that 8ir Henry 
Blake — another Galway man like Sir Wm. 
Gregory, by the way —is coming here speci- 
ally to deal with 
CRIME 
— the one item that has baffled the admin- 
istration of the past eight years — witness 
the five unavailing or unfruitful Ordinances ? 
Sir Henry will find that illicit sales of arrack 
(in cooly lines as in Sinhalese villages) and 
" sweet (intoxicating) toddy " galore have 
much to answer for. 
By the way, down Matale way, the cacao 
men declare that the scientific method of 
treating canker was in vogue with them 
long before it appeared in print with the 
"imprint" of aiithority which commanded 
respect, who, otherwise, would not attend to 
the example and experience of their neigh- 
bours. 
But here we are at Katugastota and must 
really look out at the yellow Mahaweliganga 
rolling along among trees and islets— by far 
the most picturesque river scene, on any 
of the Ceylon Railways ; while the approach 
to Kandy is always charming in the wealth 
and variety of vegetation, floral as well as 
ai'boreal. 
Matale itself — we forgot to say — is ever a 
picture of greenery and peaceful quiet, over- 
shadowed by the splendid mountains, so that 
with Mrs. Hemans we can cry, — 
For the strength of the Hills, 
We bless Thee,— 
Our God, our fathers' God. 
THE CEYLON RUBBER CO., LIMITED, 
CAPITAL R750,000. 
Thi.s Company has applied for incorporation and 
the Memorandum and Articles of Association will 
appear in today's " Gazette." The Signatories 
are Messrs. William Anderson, C M Gordon, A 
L Hine- Haycock, J J Park, W P Barber, L O 
Leefe and F J de Saram. The first directors will 
be Messrs. F L Clements, Keith Kollo and Edward 
S Grigson ; and the Proctors, Messrs. F J and G 
de Saram. The nominal capital of the Company 
is R750,000 divided into 750 shares of Rl.OOO each. 
THE CEYLON COTTON EXPPERIMENT. 
RETURN OF MR. J. C. WILLIS. 
Mr. J C Willis, who has been on a short trip to 
Southern India, has again returned co Colombo. 
His tour in India was confined to the Tinnevelly 
district, the cotton-growing region of India, and 
a few facts mentioned to our representative 
will prove of interest. The cotton-growing 
is confined entirely to the Indian ryots. The 
crop is sold to the dealers, Cbecties and others 
who dispose of it to the ginning mills and they 
despatch it to Tuticorin, baled, for shipment to 
Europe. There are about twelve cotton mills in the 
Tinnevelly district, Volkaart Brothers, Ralli 
Brothers and Harvey Brotheis' spinning mills 
being the three chief companies. The Indian 
cotton seed is usejess for crushing. The American 
cotton produces a clean black seed which can be 
easily crushed, but the Indian varieties have a 
greenish wool on the husk which sucks up the 
oil and prevents the proper extraction of the 
col ton-oil. Cotton is a small paying crop in 
fndia. The total value realised, coLton and .seed, 
off one acre of ground is only R25 gross ; tliis, 
of course, necessitates as cheap cultivation as 
possible atid does not tUlow of mauuriag. In 
Ceylon experiments will be tried with the two 
varieties cultivated in India, and Mr. Willis is 
having 
ABOUT 300 LB. OF SEED SENT OVKH 
for growing in the trial grounds at Anuradhapura. 
Of the 125 acres reserved there, 25 acres will first 
be sown, and probably another 2.5 acres later. Of 
the two Indian sorts to be sovv-n, one is superior to 
the other, but the careless and indifferent Indian 
ryot takes no pains to sort his seed ; consequently 
mixed seed has to be sown. Next year Mr. Willis 
will save his own seed and the further trials will 
be with the better quality only. 
SOWING 
commences as soon as the N.E. monsoon bursts ; 
a late monsoon will therefore mean late sowing. 
The cultivation of cotton in Ceylon is somewhat 
limited ; it can only be grown in the black-soil 
districts, and as far as is at present known there 
are only 25,000 acres of this soil in the island. 
The experiment at Anuradhapura will also include 
American and Egyptian cotton, but not the 
famous Sea Island variety, past trials having 
shown that this cotton cannot flourish well in 
Ceylon. The cotton must always be succeeded 
by some other crop the following year as 
A ROTATION CROP . 
Mauuring — as shown above — is out of the question. 
The transport of manure in Ceylon would also 
militate greatly against its use. In India giugelly 
is used as the rotation crop, it being considered a 
p.iying one by the ryots ; in Ceylon we have 
already paddy, so that rice and gingelly would 
probably be used for rotation. 
Mr. Willis has hopes that the trials at Anu- 
radhapura will prove very successful, and that 
cotton cultivation in Ceylon may become a paying 
concern. 
Hibiscus Fibre.— The BolUttino Agricolo 
of the Italian colony of Ei'ythrea (west 
coast. Red Sea) for September— contains 
a supplement illustrated with photogrfi- 
phic reproductions of the Hibiscus, and 
a small sample of fibre obtained from 
Hibiscus marcranthus. The sample ol fibre 
given is short— about 2 inches in length— and 
not at all well cleaned. The inner bark of 
several varieties of Hibiscus yield more or 
less fibre, whi(!h bears more resemblance 
to jftte than to hemp, though sometimes 
called Indian hemp ; it is occasionally sent 
to England in small quantities under the 
name of Bastard Jtite, 
