.Disc. 1. 15)03.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGKICULTURIST. 
THE EXPORT OF FRUIT FROM OEYLON. 
V Oct. 31. 
Dear Sir,— I have only just noticed Dv. 
Bonavia's letter re mangoes in the London 
market which you quoted on 21st inst. from 
/. P. and Gardening of 2Uch September. 
It will, perhaps, interest the writer to learn 
that trials, such as he sua;gests, have been 
made in Ceylon some years ago— the packages 
being kept, in one of our hotter districts, 
for 33 dfiys unopened. Several kinds of 
fruit were packed and with one exception 
(due to injury while being gathered) all were 
in perfect condition when examined. As 
shipping agents here refuse to carry fruit to 
Jjondon, no matter how carefully it is packed, 
lest it should taint the contents of tea chests, 
(although coconut oil casks are freely ex- 
ported) it will be necessary for fruit-growers 
here to form an Association and subsidise 
vessels which are independent of tea cargo. 
— Yours faithfully, B. 
ILLTBRRALLY CULTIVATED ESTATES 
UNFORTUNATELY SELECTED EXAM- 
PLES: "BOLTERS" TRAFFIC CENTRES, 
Nov. 1. 
Dear Sir,— Mr. Joseph Holloway has been 
quite unlucky in his choice of examples of 
cacao estates— Delgolla, Nella Oola and Sunny 
Side— which *' had been sold for a song 
because the proprietors had not cultivated 
their estates from the beginning, but taken 
out all that they could get from the very 
start " (vide his letter in your issue of 28th 
ult.) As I was an unhappy shareholder in 
the Delgolla Company and have known un- 
interruptedly the property since 1878, 1 can 
assure Mr Holloway that little had been 
taken out of it. 200 acres criollo 6 years 
old gave 800 cwts. in 1883 and the same 200 
a-jres plus 100 acres criollo 6 years old gave 
in 1884 400 cwts. The mysterious disease 
that many planters attributed to Helopeltis 
(wrongly I think) had set to work and 
the trees never gave any more adequate crops. 
Manuring was resorted to without avail. In 
1887 coconuts were inter-planted and later 
extended to new fields and the property is 
now a very line coconut estate worth double 
the amount paid for it in 1900, for the Com- 
pany sold out at a ruinous price owing to the 
desire of a small majority of absentee share- 
holders to realise. Nella Oolla never gave 
any cacao crops worth mentioning. When 
the estate was sold there were only 110 acres 
of tea and some 80 acres of old cardamoms 
Which could not be cultivated at a profit. 
Sunny Side had only 40 f.cres of cacao in 
cultivation and 110 acres of tea, the latter 
leaving but loss year afteryear although manur- 
ing had been resorted to for both products. 
These properties were thus sold for quite dif- 
ferent reasons than Mr. Holloway asserts. I 
write en connaissance de canse as the two last 
estates were in my charge for some time. 
As for the good advice given about the 
treatment of the cacao husks, I think that the 
majority of Superintendents are very pleased 
to have sufficient labour to pick and cure 
their crop and are unable to spare labour 
for the fastidious process of pounding the 
tusks with lime. What an uncommonly 
lucky man Mr Tipple is who asserts— in tlie 
same issue— that "'so long as the estate 
manager is supported by his owner or owner's 
agent no loss has ever ensued on labour 
advances" — ever or scarcely ever? I wonder 
how managers or proprietors Would say as 
much ! "Pro Bono Plantatorum " 1 wish to 
report that Kandy, Katugastota and Pera- 
deniya have become centres for the traffic 
of runaway coolies. Gangs are made by 
Kanganis and presented with supposed native 
tundus and advances obtained. Generally 
within 6 weeks the new gang has disappeared. 
Yours truly, A. v. d. P. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Pruit-Growing in Ceylon.— Some inter 
esting information concerning Mr. A J 
Pearson's experiments in introducing fruit 
trees into Ceylon appears on another page. 
Anything done to improve and further the 
agricultural and horticultural interests of the 
colony is deserving of thanks, and we wish 
Mr. Pearson every success in the further 
development and success of his enterprise. 
With reference to the letter on fruit export 
(page 5), our correspondent seems to think 
it possible to do something in this line. It 
is very improbable that mangoes will prove 
worth exporting, but with such firm fruit 
as pines it is ciiiferent, and we shall await 
the result of Mr. Pearson's experiment with 
this fruic with iiitevest. 
" A Note on Cultivation."— In the Sep- 
tember number of the Agricultural Magazine 
appears "A note on cultivation," which is 
defined as moving of the soil by hand or 
power implements, during the life of the 
crop. The writer makes a very curious 
statement, and one which a coconut planter 
of long experience tells us he has not heard 
before: that there is an objection against 
digging or ploughing land under coconut 
cultivation, as the roots of the palm are 
disturbed and broken thereby. The most 
unenlightened Sinhalese, whenever he over- 
comes his ingrained apathy, and cultivates 
his land, undertakes tilling of the whole 
surface of the ground, or only round his 
trees, as the one and only agricultural 
operation. He descants on the beneficial 
elfvicts of "breaking Mis roots" of the 
coconut tree. If you engage him to plough 
your land, the beneficial effects of the 
ploughing are measured by the number of 
roots that are broken. The breaking up 
and the consequent aeration of the soil, are 
unknown quantities to him. He knows only 
of the benefits of the " breaking of 
the roots." Is the writer really quite 
correct when he states that "in Ceylon, a 
number of enlightened Planters, acting up 
to- their convictions, have succeeded in over- 
coming local jn-ejudice against 'cultivating' 
coconut land." ? Surely it is rare to find 
instance of this so-called "local prejudice." 
Everybody seems to be agreed that plough- 
ing and root-breaiiing are beneficial operations 
in coconut cultivation, especially where the 
rsotlets are matted on the surface of saudy 
soil. * 
