Feb. 1, 1904.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
563 
first was that they wished to be able to make 
special arranetenieuts with some heavily-indebted 
coolies as to rate of pay for the vveedinf< work. 
This is easily met. lliey can lix on any rate 
agreed between contractor and weeder, and ihe 
number of days' work done on that contract is 
charged as lent labour at the agreed rate. Tlie 
contracts here are cheap and clean and the 
kanganis make fair profits. 
3. The sliding scale rate of pay, according to 
days worked, I am only just adopting fully ; but I 
do not see that it can be other than raOSst bene- 
ficial. It has the direct incentive that the best 
workman gets the best pay. 
3. (c. ) I have paid pluckers by the pound, at 
IJ cents for the last eight years, it has often been 
said to me, when 1 have recommended payment 
by the pound.— " It is all very well for you, but 
it would not suit all estates," that 1 feel bound to 
say here that I cannot see why it should not be 
the universal system. Some estates at IJ, some at 
If, some at 2cts. per lb. Here I employ a large 
number of Sinhalese at '2cts. per lb. Yet the cost 
of plucking does not exceed 7^ cents and the 
yield is about 450 lb. per acre. Again, I have 
been told, " The kanganis don't like it." Weil, 
the only objection raised by ' my lords ' the kan- 
ganis here, was that the women earned as much 
or more pay than the men. That did not appeal 
to uie as an objection to be considered for a 
moment, and I may say that I found the men 
accepted the arrangement (and their women's 
increased pay) with remarkable fortitude ! The 
obvious benefits of plucking by the pound are :— 
(1) Less coolies required to get in your crop. 
(2) Better pay to the women, means more food 
to the children, and a healthier and happier 
rising generation. 
(3) It is simple justice. The harder worker, the 
more valuable employee, gets the better pay. 
These then are my suggestions and I only claim 
for them that they are definite and practical. I 
wish to ask from my fellow-planters iheir most 
earnest consideration of the proposed compulsory 
payment of our employees, monthly, into their 
own hands. From whatever point of view this is 
looked at, it appeals to me as the essential first 
step, the necessary foundation, for any scheme of 
reform whatever. If we are really desirous, and 
determined, that the present illegitimate traffic in 
our labour force, (with its consequent hopeless 
indebtedness of our employees) shall cease, what 
better means can we employ than this proposed 
legislation ? True, it does not forbid the Kanganis 
to borrow, or the Chetty to lend. But when 
cnce the employee has received his pay into his 
own hand, it is very little of it that will go any 
further. And the business of lending money to 
Kanganis, who have no handling of their coolies 
wages, will become a business too precarious 
altogether even for so bold a financier as the 
bazaar money lender. 
G. C. BLISS. 
. 
DEATfl OF A CEYLON PIONEER COFFEE 
PLANTER'S BROTHER. 
The death occurred yesterday, at his residence in 
Union Road, after a prolonged illness, of Mr Donald 
Grant, late of Polraiily, Glen-Urquhart. Mr Grant 
was a native of Glen-Uniohart, where he was born 
over 72 yews ago. He waa the only survivor of a 
family of five sons and two daughters. His eldest 
brother John was the pioucer o£ coffee planters in 
Oeylon and India, and two younger brothers beoama 
associated with him in the coffee industry. After a 
reaidence of seventeen years in London, he retained 
to his native Glen, and took up the farm of PolniHily 
where he lived for niueteeu years. On retiring from * 
farming he came to reside in Inverness, now over 
seven years ago. For many years Mr Grant discharged 
the duties of a member of Inverness-shire County 
Council, and he waa also a member of the Parish 
Council and School Board of Urquhart and Gleu 
nioriston. In all these public positions he displayed 
his characteristic outspoken honesty of purpose, and 
his fearless manner of dealing with pnblio affairs, 
in private life Mr Grant was noted for his hospitality 
and kindness of heart, and his familiar figure will be 
missed. Mr Grant has left a widow and family of two 
sons and one daughter. His eldest son is a medical 
practitioner in Cmada, and the younger one is e 
civil engineer in London. In politics Mr Grant wai 
an ardent and enthusiastic Liberal, — Inverness Couriei 
Jan. 15. 
SYNTHETIC CAWPIIOR. 
[A correspondent writes re the above:— Mr 
Peter P Van Vleet of Memphis, Tennesse might 
be asked about this, as I see he advised the ex- 
tension of camphor growing. — Ed. T,A.\ 
When the Island of Formosa was taken by the 
Japanese and a monopoly was shortly afterwards 
established in camphor, the ruling price of that 
commodity was Is 9id per pound. I'he next year 
the Imperial monopolists made the necessary 
arrangements wiih a firm in London to control the 
distribution and sale of all ihe camphor produced 
in the island. In the meantime the piice had risen 
to 2s S^d, and since the letting of the contract it 
has jet further advanced to between 2s 4d and 
2s 6d a pound. No doubt the monopoly was on 
the way to being a very good thing for the Impeiial 
Government, but, unfortunately lor it and for the 
British firm controlling the sale, they seem to be 
about to afford us a parallel to the position of the 
indigo planters when faced by the manufacture of 
synthetic indigo. There were many causes which 
set the chemists to work to attempt the production 
of artificial c!imp!ior. Camphor has to be brought 
a great distance to Western markets, and the sup. 
piy is very uncertain. Unscientilic treatment of 
the trees has caused a gradual reduction of their 
numbers and a deterioration in the quality of the 
produce ; als-o, new trees take a long time to grow. 
But the last straw was the establishment of the 
monopoly. So American chemists set to woih 
to extract certain principles from some of the 
essential oils, and for months they laboured wjthom 
success. At last in the product obtained in the 
attempt to form synthetically one of the essential 
oils a slight smell of camphor was noticed. Follow- 
ing this up, the experiments went on foi yet many 
mote months, and at length they managed to make 
about 2 per cent of caTuphor out of the material 
used. They were not discouraged, and now, after 
two years, they can make 27 per cent of camphor 
out of the raw material. I'inine is the essential 
constituent of American oil of turpentine. By 
introducing into it a carboxyl two new compounds 
are formed, from both of which camphor can now 
be obtained. The process takes about fifieen houis, 
^Westminster Gazette. 
