AiTGUST I, 1891.] THE TROPICAL AQRiCULTURiST. 
143 
were harvested during tho year, but the bnlk of this 
being held with the hope th»t prices will improve. 
Cardamoms. — The acreage under oardRmoms ia given 
at 295 and the crop at 7,100 ib. 
Tobacco has been tried for the fir»t time on a large 
sofle in tha Madulsima district, and 200 cwt. have 
been sacce.5Bfully cured and favourably rpporled upoj. 
If the experiment pbould prove finauciiUy ea-ctssfnl 
it will no doubt lead to more extensive cnltiva'icn. 
Oacao at recent prices has proved v.^ry profitable, 
and its cultivation appears to be nov/ better understood, 
but the area available for it is restricted. The iutro- 
duotion of suitable shade trees has worked wonders in 
resuscitating old and apparently worn-out trees, and 
it is to be hoped that whenever suitible soil is 
available the planting of cacao will now be extended. 
It is most disappointing to find how little interest 
the natives take in growing cacao, tor in the native 
gardens as a rule are to be found the soil and surround- 
ings most conducive to its successful cultivation. 725 
sores are under cultivation, and the crop for the ye.?,r 
amounted to 1.050 cwt. 
COCONUT PLANTING IN THE LITTORAL 
OF THE N.-W. PROVINCE. 
It is not often that I trouble the " Old Rag " 
with 'a few remarks,' so I hope you will give the 
following a spare corner in an early issue in lha 
interest of those who, unafEee ed by the glam. f r ' 
" Tea," wi 1 think it des rab; -- to find some pro' 1 
other han that Cian,^erouslY ever-done od^ ■ i 
which capital might ba invested with a prosp i 
tqually valuable if not equiJl," q nck rsunT 
lieference is of course marie to "Coconuts," and 
especially to coconuts in the Chiiaw district, which 
are rapidly making it one of the most promising (f 
the younger distriota in the Island. Since last 
writing, the further progress of cotiverting unprofit- 
able jungle into thriving young plantations of 
oooonuts, plantains and manioc — well laid out and 
neatly hedged with Bap;;an fences— haa gone on at 
a steady rate; and where foimerly solitude and all 
it means reigned supreme, one now sees signs of 
life and health, prosp -rity and happiness on evnry 
Bide ; due almost entirely to the new start which 
agriculture has mado here and enhanced by the 
beneficial eflaots of regular and healthy toil upon the 
people. Sufficient time has now elapsed since plant- 
ing wai begun, io real earnest, north of the river 
Deduruoya — (not inaptly termed by strangers "the 
Dreadoya," aau whicli we hope to see spanned by a 
substantial iron bridge shortly) — to enable us to 
a; rive at reliable conclusions as to the staying 
properties of our eoii, the sandy nature cf which 
hsis so often proved a stumbling block to other- 
wise willing settlers. Fi iids withia my knowledge 
have commenced to blossom in the 5th year, 
and in the 7ch year (quite unaided by manure) 
are now showing from J2 to 15 per cent of the 
total naojber of trees carrying very fair crvpa. 
These figurrs nre well within the mark. Thase 
trees havd not the sickly, early-bearing, sarly 
decaying look about; them lhat one might .suspect: 
on the ecntrary, they have all the appearance 
that only thoroughly woll-osta' lished palms from 
good a^ed can devalope, viz. big boles, healthy 
bark, d^rk glossy foliage and well formed nuts, 
distinctly denoting that an abandanoo of sap is 
preseni,. To say that tbia state of things will j 
not continue for very long on our simdy soil ! 
Without chemioal aid is snying nothing; but to ; 
say that with the natural adaptability of the soil to ; 
the particular form of root-growth of the palm in 1 
question, — with tbe per nuial moisture present I 
at a moderate depth which has wnabled ', 
the young trees to withstan.i already one i 
severe drought, — with the salt-laden breezes ; 
inoeasantly sweeping over the laiid and the example ' 
of mature .rees close by in robust health, and with a 
modicum of manure (without which no real cultiva- 
tion can be carried on) applied judiciously — the trees 
will respond to the extent of returning two rupees 
where only one waa expended, is I thmk as true 
as it is satisfactory to landholders. Grass ia 
abundant, and consequently cattle-manure .can be 
availed of at a small cost. Labor is now more 
plentiful than formerly, since most of the Sinhalese 
villagers have had it praatically demonstrated to 
thain, that a good day's work will earn a good 
day's wage, and h&vs thrown off their so-called 
" inherent " laziness, and go to work regularly, 
except during sowing and harvest and their all-too- 
frequent festivals, which, however, can only be looked 
upon patiently and as a set-off to the absence of 
that troublesome system of coast advances in 
vogue in oocneotion witli Tamil immigrants. There 
is a very large extent of land in this and the 
adjoining districts suitable for the cultivation ol 
coconuts and which the Government is, I think, 
desirous of selling. It will all be ultimately sold 
and the best blocks will of course go first, and 
my main object in writing now ia to put the 
matter before the Planting public as one solution 
of the difficulty in regard to easing the tea in- 
dustry of the burden of congestion which 
undoubtedly threatens it, but which I for one 
■o'Oci may - ■ r'avcS many years to oome. 
■ ;-ir"peais - ' 1-3 a fiinoy to coconut 
r. i ' / ' tain fallacies which 
; t Li.r ntls, conoerning delay 
1 ; obt:;.i;>:. : ■ a;:-..? ,,jeir capital amongst 
other things, but there fallacies are now exploded; 
and if Europeans still oontinne to beiiove in them, 
the CoyloneSQ do not, and the^j are now making 
all the running. You. will excuse the length of this 
letter, but will r^eogniso the imporiaaco of the 
fincing soma outlet for the capital and enargies of 
the Ceylon planter. You may give my name to 
anvoue de.^irous of making enquiries, to whom I 
shall be happy to give all information in my 
power. G. D. M. 
[No one can doubt the importance of tho coconut 
planting enterprise ;- -the practically permanent 
character of a coconut plantation, when it is once 
in full bearing, so that is a good form of inheri- 
tarije for one's family, bsing a full oompensatioa 
for delayed returns. The establiahmant of desioca- 
tin,,' factories, for the profJuot of which there is, 
apM-t from Britain and Europe generally, 
a \ ery large demand in the United State?, adds a 
new item to the exported products of the palm, 
while, as population inoroases, the already great 
loc il demand will go on largely increasing, its our 
oories' cedent has mentioned plantains, we should 
lik-' to know if this culture is as exhaustive in 
the- N .rth- WesSern as in the Eastern Province, 
wh-re, according to an administration report, a 
plantain chena is abandoned at the end of three 
years. In Western hemisphere plantain orchards 
» ecn to last many ysara with no other manure 
thsn that of the decaying stalks antJ leaves, — so 
we have recently road. — Kd, T. 4,1 
TEA PREPArTn(T~MACHINERY. 
It seems to be generally acknowledged that 
fh- re is no better machine of its kind than Messri. 
Bn wD, Kae & Go.'s Tea Sifter. We hear it well 
spoken of on every side, and combined with the 
' Elston " Cuttpr, it is likely to grow in planiing 
favour. The makers are kept so busy with orders 
that as a mfirohant entirely connected with thorn, 
informs us, they are booked full with orders to 
cover at least three months to oome 1 Altogether 
the firm have sold over 200 Sifters and several 
h-:tva gone to India, indeed as fat aa Assam 
from Oeylon 
