April i, 1891*] 
THE TROPSCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
687 
CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTINO EEPOET. 
P. A. MEETING — LENGTHY BEPOHI — SUGGESTION — CUBEBS 
— P. A. SECRETAKYSHIP — WEATHER — TEA — DRUNKEN 
COOLIES AND DRUNKEN PLANTERS — AN INDIAN STAKE- 
SURGEON ON MALARIA — DRINKING GOOD WATER AS A 
MEANS OF PRVENTIN0 SUNSTROKE. 
Feb. 22ad. 
The annual meeting of tho Planters’ Assooiatioa 
is becoming every year more and more dreadful 
owing to the length of the report. Forty-five 
minutes occupied in reading it, to an audience some 
of whom were talking, some few listening, many 
yawning, and all more or lesj bored'L one would 
think it is hard enough on the Secretary to com- 
pile this voluminous record ; but to have to read 
it alter it has been got up, seems cruelty. If it 
be an essential that the report be read it would 
be a wise thing, I think, to make it the last part of 
the programme ; and then, those who really care 
to hear the record of tho year’s doings gabbled 
over can indulge themselves to their hearts’ con- 
tent. As it is at present, much valuable time is 
wasted, which might well be spent on other and more 
important matters. The report is no doubt a very 
praiseworthy production, and the sweep of tho net 
is so extensive that anything that but touches the 
planter’s interest is lauded, and made a prize of. 
But when you think of the many legitimate topics 
which rightly call for attention and comment, and 
that after all life is short, all zeal ought to be 
repressed. 'This may be hard on the Secretary; and 
if he feels aggrieved at nut having his full awing, 
I for my part would willingly vote that Mr. Philip 
should have more pay, rather than that wo should 
have more report. 
As an evidence of this growing evil of over- 
reporting and the dangers into which it leads, take 
this passage under the heading of minor products : — 
"Cubebs. — The true plant yielding Ihis valuable 
berry has slill to be intioluced into Ceylon, all 
previous introductions having turned out factitious.” 
Without staying to notice this funny use of the 
word “factitious.” 1 would ask was there ever a 
finer specimen of the evil I complain of than 
what I quote? It matches the historic chapter on 
tho snakes in Iceland. There were no snakes in 
Iceland; and there are no “cubebs” in Ceylon 1 
If this sort of thing goes on where are we going 
to end? for the principle which would allow a 
paragraph on “cubebs,” would in the hands of a 
willing and voluminous scribe like Mr. Philip 
allow almost anything. To be sura if the 
report were simply printed, and one could read 
it or not just as one liked, it would not matter 
much ; but as things obtain at present, if you 
attend the annual meeting you must hear the 
report, and what a tiresome time-destroying thing, 
that is, we all know. 
It is hard to imagine the Planters’ Association 
wi h any other Secretary than Mr. Philip : but of 
course a time will come— may it be long distant — 
when the position will have to be filed by some o.ce 
else. When the necessity arises to appoint a new 
Secretary, whore will the man be found bold enough 
to undertake tho duties ? If these yearly reports 
go on increasing in volume as they do, the very 
* Ilaa onr oorroapoudeut hoard how tho Yaukoe 
puts it: Spoechoa (or for that matter Ileport-i) should 
not excend (so many) miuutos; for if “ ilo ” is not 
struck in that time, tho speaker or Secretary should 
give up horinff ! — In respect of tho ponderous P. A. 
lleport, we certainly think that after it is gone over 
in Oommitteo, it should do if tho hcadiiii/s wore road 
at the General Bleeting, and then if any momber 
wishes what is said under any one head, road out iu 
detail, this could be done.— Eo, T. A, 
thought of them would choke ofi all except the 
rashest. 
It id all very well for a man who likes it, to 
go on using up stationery by the ream, and tilling 
innumerable pages of foolscap with “ copy”; but 
is posterity to be wholly ignored ? Lord Brougham 
felt that Campbell’s “ Lives of the Chancellors ” 
added a fresh sting to death : but these bloated 
and overgrown reports are death itself : for the 
post of Secretary will assuredly become extinct, 
when the present incumbent lakes cfl his mantle 
and lays down his pen. It is with a view to prevent 
such an appalling catastrophe, and before things 
are beyond all hope, that I draw attention to the 
danger ahead. 
Tho weather has all of a sudden changed, and 
without any warning we have been dropped as it 
were into tho hot season. I suppose wo may got 
used to it, but meanwhile, the sun is broiling, and 
the days are hot. 
Tea is simply doing wonders, and there has been 
little or no complaint of the difficulty of finding 
work for coolies, as often happens at this season. 
To get round the flush in time is what bothers. 
To see ourselves as others soe us, is often a re- 
velation; All appu the other day informed his 
master that the coolies were all drunk in the lines. 
“Drunk?” queried the planter. “How do you know 
they aro drunk?” “I know they are drunk, you 
can hear the noise,” was the answer. “But there 
might be noise without the coolies being drunk,” 
continued the planter. “ Sir,” replied the appu, 
“when master gets drunk he keeps quiet, but 
whan a oooly gets drunk he makes a noise, bacomes 
quarrelsome and wants to fight,” 
I remember in the old days, when Colombo Fort 
was really a fort, hearing of two upcountry men, 
returning from a convivial evening being challenged 
by the sentry. " Who goes there?’ shouted the 
guard, and the reply came back “ Just twa druokon 
planters 1” 
It would seem, in spite of all temperance teaching, 
that those old worthies — rather waworthies — are not 
without their representatives today. More is the 
pity- 
A retired Indian Staff -Surgeon was writing 
last month in the Lancet on “Malaria,’’ and giving 
general advice on the best means for the Anglo- 
Indian to preservG his health. Now that the hot 
weather is on us, it may not be out of the way 
to quote the following Good drinking water 
plays an important role in the preservation of 
health, for the incessant drain of fluid from the 
system by perspiration requires a liberal supply of 
water, and though the result is prickly heat, the 
benefit to heallh is ample compensation. A long drink 
of cool— not iced— water before and after exposure 
to the sun is an almost oertain protection against 
sunstroke, provided the ivater is not diluted with 
a Utile spirit.” 1 have taken the liberty to italicize 
where it seems to me that the point comes in. 
Peppercorn. 
MINES AND MINING IN CEYLON. 
We have frequently had our attention called to the 
unsystematic mode of plumbago mining in Ceylon, and 
to the necessity for goveniment interference, more 
partioularlv with the view of protecting the health 
and lives of miners, and secondarily with the view 
to establishing a sjstcmatic mode for the working of 
mines : we shall begin by describing the comiuou 
modes adopted by the Cmhaiese. 
A native usually drives a shaft as far as he can, so 
long as he is able to contend with the lluw cf water 
in the mine. He then stops working, and sflcrwards 
drives galieries, ami this he cgqliuues to do aa long 
