298 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[October i, 1890. 
and Pie.rocai jjus marsiijpium. Ifc is used medicinally , 
and also in tbe arts, especially in dyeing. The London 
market r^ite for gum kino is given each month 
in our Tropical Agriculturist. — Ed. T. A.] 
CACAO IN CEYLON. 
Eandy, Aug. 18th. 
Deag Slit, — Your Uva correspondent “ 102s 6d,’ 
does not seem convincsd of the accuracy of my 
statistics that, up to the season 1883-81, cacao went 
on increasing its yield to 5 cwt. an acre, but he 
admits that the best returns he knows of from 
cacao last year, are crops of 2 at 3^ cwt. 
1 suppose ho did not understand my table, which 
for that period is as follows : — 
235 acres 1876-77 @ 5 cwt. 1,1 75c wt. 
191 „ 1878 „ 4 „ 76. „ 
1,953 „ 1879 „ 3 „ 5,8 „ „ 
2,065 „ 1880 „ 1 „ 2,0°5 „ 
4,444 „ in clearing gave the crop 9,863 „ 
The computation of this acreage can hardly be 
oontesed in the face of yours, that, in March 
1881, 5,460 acres were in cultivation^ for it assumes 
that only about 1,000 acres have been planted in 
the season 1880-81, which is rather below the 
mark, as the general very successful results were 
then giving an increasing impetus to this cultiva- 
tion which, but for the mysterious root disease 
that made its appearance in 1884, would have 
been an ELDOBADO. 
THE PACKING OP TEA DUST IN CHESTS. 
Colombo, Aug. 25th. 
Deab Sib,— I wish to caution planters through the 
medium of your columns against packing tea dust 
in chests. 
Some short time ago I purchased in local sale a 
break of dust the packages of which each contained 
150 lb. of tea. Although they were doubly hooped 
before shipment they were landed in very bad order 
at the port to which they were shipped, some 
6 lb. per package having run out in transit. 
The maximum weight for dust should be about 
70 lb., the greatest possible care being taken to see 
that tbe packages are not slack packed, lead linings 
free from holes and the lead of the thickest quality. 
Tbe nails used by some planters are unnecessarily 
long : nothing is gained in strength by using nails 
longer than 1^ inch, the probability being that if 
they are longer than this that they puncture the 
lead in being driven in. 
I would warn planters against using planks of a 
lees thickness than | inch, anything under this being 
insufficiently strong to stand the numerous movings 
the packages get between the estate and the retailer. 
— Yours faithfully, F. F. STBEET. 
NEW PRODUCTS IN CEYLON:— THE NEED 
FOR CULTIVATING A GREATER 
VARIETY OF PLANTS: 
AIlECAS — NDTMEGS— CLOVES. 
Deab Sib, — It is a matter of surprise to me 
that the cultivation of products other than tea 
is so much neglected by my brother planters. 
No doubt tea must be our main staple, but there 
is no reason why we should not derive auxiliary 
help from the cultivation of products suitable to 
the various climates and altitudes of our tea 
estates. Seeing, for instance, that land in the low- 
country, which has been proved by results to be 
well adapted to t|ie successful growth of tea, will, 
in the majority of oases, be found suitable also 
for the development of other important industries, 
surely more might have been done in the direc- 
tion of supplementary cultivations, especially by 
the large companies which have associated them- 
selves with tropical aericulture in Oeylon of recent 
years. With the exception, however, of a few areoa- 
nuts alongside roads and boundaries the tea bush 
still enjoys an undisturbed possession of tbe soil 
on nearly every estate, and if a solitary nutmeg 
or clove tree encroacbes upon the otherwise well- 
established monopoly it is more likely to be the 
result of accident than design. And yet there are 
few things that pay better than nutmegs if properly 
cultivated, and they can be combined with tea 
in moderate numbers (say 1,000 for every 100 
acres) without fear of their ever materially 
affecting the yield of the tea. At present 
prices the annual return from a well-nourished 
nutmeg tree ranges from R20 to R50, and there 
is no early prospect of the cultivation of this 
valuable spice being overdone; for the reason, prob- 
ably, that the trees take some considerable time 
to reach maturity, and planters in the West Indies 
as well as in the East look to quick returns first 
and permanent ones afterwards. In the district of 
Udagama some years ago a number of nutmegs 
were planted, but tbe conditions under which the 
cultivation appears to have been carried on would 
account for the disappointing result which followed. 
More recently, and under circumstances which justify 
the hope of a successful issue, the enterprising pro- 
prietor of an estate in the near neighbourhood 
of Awisawella has succeeded in establishing a large 
number of these trees, nor is it the first time 
that this gentleman has taken the lead in 
planting matters, though his professional duties 
give him but little time to follow up the experi- 
ments he initiates. On an estate in Matale where 
the climate, one would have thought, was rather 
too dry for nutmeg cultivation, the growth of seve- 
ral hundred five and six year old trees is excellent, 
and a maiden crop is now being gathered, which 
gives every promise of being followed by an abun- 
dant yield next season. In the Kelani Valley 
there should be little or no difficulty in establish- 
ing this very valuable tree, but I would advise 
wide planting, not more than 10 or 12 trees to tbe 
acre, or thinned out, at any rate, to this 
number after the sexes are determined, and all sickly 
trees should be promptly removed. For further parti- 
culars of this interesting cultivation permit me to 
refer my brother planters to the excellent work 
compiled by yourself “ All About Spices,” which 
should have a place in the library of every planter. 
— Yours faithfully, NUTMEG. 
NEW PRODUCTS IN OEYLON— THE NEED 
FOR CULTIVATING A GREATER VARIETY 
OF PLANTS— NUTMEGS &c. 
Deab Sib, — Your correspondent “ Nutmeg ” in 
your issue of September 2nd, will be doing good 
service if he elicits any further information from 
planters of experience in the lowcountry and who 
may have more to say on the subject. 
Despite the Udagama failure, it would appear 
that tbe Matale and Awisawella trials afford grounds 
for a good deal of expectation, though I much 
doubt the accuracy of the statement that so much 
as R50 annual return could be got out of a single 
tree, — and one of a species which in the Straits 
thrives in moist climates, yet in Matale, which is 
a dry climate, can, he says, be brought into bear- 
ing in 5 years I 
