February 2 , i 8 gi.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 569 
The following ia the judgment: — “I find the accused 
guilty under the section of the ordinance under which 
he is charged. His story of having purchased the 
cacao seeds from Peris Appu is obviously false. He 
made that statement to the arachchi in the hope that 
he may be able to get Peris Appu to support him in 
that statement. But Mr, Martin has forestalled him 
in this. Mr. Martin sent for Peris Appu and he ap- 
peared in Court today. He has given evidence which 
clearly shows that he never gave or sold any cacao to this 
accused. The only hope accused had of accounting for the 
unripe cacao in his possession was to have said that he 
got it from a man whose cultivator the accused was and 
who had some bearing cacao trees. He could fee upon 
no other, because there is, it appears, no person in 
Yattawatta or Udasgiriya who could give him any 
cacao, for that product has not been cultivated yet by 
the people of those villages. Finding however that 
Peris Appu would not give the evidence which the accu- 
sed hoped he would give, the accused in his statement 
gives Peris Appu up and takes refuge under an alleged 
purchase from unknown sellers. Obviously therefore 
his defence was false, he knew it to bo false. His 
conduct with reference to the cacao he had in pos- 
sess'on strongly proves his guilt. He had concealed the 
cacao in the middle of a layer of paddy seeds which 
had been kept to germinate. 
“ Theft of cacao, just at this particular time, is a 
very predominant evil, and it is rarely that such thefts 
can be detected. The offence is committed under 
cover of night or at a time when the w'atchmen are 
not about. I have no doubt upon my mind of the 
guilt of the accused. 1 feel bound to do all I can to 
protect owners of estates from the depredations of 
village thieves who not only steal these garden pro- 
ducts but do so in the very heartless way in which 
they set to work. The crop ia not only stolen but 
the trees are rained and hindered from bearing. 
‘‘I find the accused guilty and sentence him to be kept 
at rigorous imprisonment for a term of 6 months and 
to receive 15 lashes. 
(Signed) J. H. Eaton, P.M.” 
Theft of Oacao from Wariapola Estate. 
B. N. Abbas, conductor of AVarispola, charged one 
Letohimeu of Itlwala with the theft of five cacao pods, 
worth one rupee and twenty-five cents the produce of 
Wariapola est'te, the property of Mr. B. 8 . Fraser. It 
appears that the accused was a paid-off cooly of the 
estate, and since he was paid off he has been living 
near Wariapola estate. On the 31st December he and 
another boy about 12 years old were seen nearajak 
tree on the estate. A watcher tan up to him and 
found five cacao pods i n his possession; they were bundled 
in a cloth. He brought the cacao and both of them to 
the complainant. In defence the accused stated that 
he did not pluck the cacao pods, but plucked and 
ate jak fruits from the estate. 
The judgment is as follows : — “ It is quite clear that 
the accused did steal the five cacao pods he is charged 
with having stolen. His statement amounts to ad- 
mission of a theft of jak fruits, but I think the evi- 
dence makes it clear he stole the cacao too. This is 
the fourth case of cacao-stealing that I have been try- 
ing today. As the season fur cacao to ripen is setting 
in, the thieves who practically live by theft of agri- 
cultural products are seen moving about under cover 
of approaching darkness to enrich themselves at the 
expense of the proprietors of estates. 
" I find the accused guilty and sentence him to un- 
dergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of three 
moutliB. (Signed) J. H. Baton, P. M.” 
The cases were tried on the 5th January 1891. 
PLANTING NOTES FOR 1891 
Cacao; Coffee; Tea. 
I. Cacao. — This is really a very paying product 
where the climate is suitable. The more atteution and 
manure you give it, the more it will respond; but you 
must protect it from marauding and chilling winds and 
attend well to shade. Oacao thieving in tho Gala- 
gedara district is becoming intolerable. The best way 
to counteract the thieving is to offer large rewards, 
and make it worth the while of some of the thieves 
to use their experience in thieving ways on behalf of 
the cacao planter. This causes a flutter in the thieving 
circles, and benefits the growers. One planter admits 
losing 50 per cent of his produce ! I wonder what the 
proprietor of that estate would say. He would not 
grudge a good deal of money spent on rewards for 
thieves or reliable watchers in preference to losing one- 
half of his produce. The men who are robbed are: — 1st. 
The easy-going phlegmatio office man, whose name is 
anything but a terror to evil-doers, and whose fields 
draw the most of the thieves to the advantage of his 
more feared neighbours. 
2nd. — The unpopular man who works through con. 
ductors aud English-speaking middlemen, and thus 
keeps the respectable villager at arm’s length and 
utterly drives away the influential headmen whose 
power is great and can be made use of. 
3rd. — The man whose ignorance of the vernacular and 
the customs of the natives prohibits him from gaining 
secret or stealthy knowledge so as to be beforehand 
with the thieves. 
The man who is not robbed is the counterpart of the 
above, i. e. popular, energetic, physically and mentally 
powerful, feared by all yet approachable by all, just 
aud wise in dealings with the native, thoroughly con- 
versant with naiive language and ways. This sort of 
man vfill be avoided by thieves, and sought after by the 
better sort of villagers. 
A thief will say of such a one :—<• Don’t rob that 
master, he is kiud, is friendly with the headman, un- 
merciful when he catches us, aud relentless in hunting 
US down. Let us go over to . Why, he never ascer- 
tains if the watchmen are ever watching. We can 
soon terrify a few Tamils even if they should be 
there. These Tamils are only brave when their master 
goes with them.’’ 
II. Coffee. — The general opinion as to this pro- 
duct, even the Coorg variety, is, that so many plagueg 
are lying in wait and cacao is such a sure thing in the 
end ; therefore plant coffee and make use of it only 
as a help and “ lift ’’ to the more tardy cacao which 
will eventually take its place. It ia argued that 
though Coorg coffee is precocious aud apt to over- 
bear in early youth, and thus it is advisable to strip 
off the crops in the earlier years ; yet should one 
sacrifice say 3 cwt. an acre to trust to an uncertain 
future ? 1 say, yes. I would recommend stripping 
the crop entirely off the first year ; and the next two 
years the crop before the berries turn ripe aud dry 
it in tne husk; and then you have an established 
Coorg coffee field which will pay better than cacao. 
Prune delicately and top high ; in fact do everything 
opposite to forcing the bush. One V. A. mentioned 
that the crop off the ends of tho primaries had been 
stripped to relieve those primaries. Had he taken 
the crop off the inside of the primaries next to the 
stem it would have been more sensible, but he was 
taking off the /ruit he wished to relieve without re- 
lieving the branch from the cause of injury, viz.; 
heavy clusters of fruit at the head of the brauch 
robbing the end of the branch of sap and vigour. 
Side branches of shade trees should not be cut but 
the general tree pruned or thinned. I saw at Matale 
the other day that they had cut up the side branches 
of fine shade trees and thus reduced objects of beauty 
and utility to ugly rook-reaters or crow-perches. An 
umbrella held on a twenty feet pole will not give 
much shadow — and this argument is ten-fold increased 
when you remember that the shelter of shade is more 
valuable than tho shade of shelter. Of course with 
leaf disease and green bug one has to go cautiously and 
avoid monoculture if possible. 
HI. Tea. — This is a great industry and has rapidly 
developed in a manner almost startling. The old pain- 
ful drudgery of standing behind coolies’ backs is dis- 
appearing. The new method of paying coolios by 
the amount of leaf, and arranging the totals in 
the check-roll so that the kangauies can still benefit 
by the coolies’ work fairly, is reducing work to 
general inspection and careful calculation. Men 
(male coolies) are becoming less and less desired 
on a tea estate, and this alone should work n 
