782 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[May I, 1891. 
ilia not always easy to procure cooly labour, in fact 
during January and February last on account of the 
harvest all works in crnnectiou with the S I. Rail 
way were more or less at a standstill for want of 
labour ; and during the early part of last month when 
heavy rain fell the ryots were paying as much as Is 
a day to their coolies for harvesting the ground-nuts 
which were beginning to sprout and had to be ga- 
thered in with as little delay as possible. On the 
other hand during the slack seaton which extends 
from March to July there is an abundant supply of 
labour, and it is then that a push is made with all 
Government and Railway Works. In July when the rains 
come down in flood, cultivation is resumed and the 
coolies return to the fields. If I had known before 
leaving ludin that the labour question was such an 
important one I would have inquired more fully into 
it and furnished you with details relating to the 
emigration of Tamils to other countries : as it is, I 
fear you will find the above remaiks of little interest. 
On my return from leave to S. India, I will however 
indeavour to ascertain the cause of tho falling-off in 
the labour supply to Coylon from the districts I have 
•Iready rtferrelto. — Yours faithfully, 
C. H. GRESWELL, 
Resident Engineer, South India Railway. 
We are much obliged to Mr. Gresswell and shall 
be glad to have his farther reports by-and-bye. 
Clearly, however, there is to bo no surplus of 
Tamil labour this year, 
^ 
I)R. TRIMEIs'S TRIP TO THE STRAITS 
AND JAVA. 
The M. M. S. S. “Natal” brought back Dr. and 
Miss Trimen after a pleasant trip extending over 
BIX weeks to the Straits Settlements and Java. 
Dr, Trimen has not fallen in love with the climate 
of Singapore which he oonsiders hotter ard more 
trying than that of Colombo. Ho was met by old 
friends in Sir J. F. Dickson and Mr. Trotter 
(Auditor-General) and very kindly received at 
Queen’s House by Sir dementi and Lady Smith. 
He also made excursions to Johore — where he met 
Mr. Turing Mackenzie, not over- satisfied with 
the progress of planting, and Mr. John Milne — and to 
Malacca, where be m“t a brother of our Auditor- 
General, Mr. O’Brien who is now Postmaster- 
General at the Straits. He also met Sir F. Weld, 
who looks the courtly old EDgli.;h squire and who, 
we regret to say, had returned from Pahang — which 
he came out to explore on behalf of an English 
Company, with an attack of “liver” which had 
quite laid him aside in Singapore when the “ Natal ’ 
left. Sir F. Weld in his day hss been one of 
the greatest of Australian and New Zealand explorers 
and bushmen, but he is too old now to presume 
on such work especially in tropical jungle. 
The more important part of Dr. Trimen’s trip 
was of course to Java. Here our Director of 
Botanic Gardens found a great contrast in 
many respects to t’eylop. — the rich volcanic soil, 
the rather slovenly style of cultivation on planta- 
tions, the very happy contented appearance of tho 
Javanese, tho permanent location and easy going 
ways of the Dutch, and above all the splendidly, 
equipped Buitenzorg Government Gardens, where 
tho scientific staff includes no less than twelve 
Europeans, all graduates and “ Doctors ” and all 
busy in their several departments, Tho division 
of the 24 hours into two days and two nights 
is rigidly carried out almost everywhere in Java, 
BO that when Dr. Trimon called at the Gardens 
after luncheon about 2 p. m., no one of the 
stafT c» uld be found 1 Tho siesta between 1 
and 4 is a universal oustom, wh'le, to com- 
pensate, excursions are common after dinner 
up to midnight or 1 a. m., gardens and bands 
of music being then utilised as in English Colonies 
from 5 to 7 p. m. Anything wid grow at 
Buitenzorg with the minimum of trouble, ow- 
ing to the rich soil and moist climate; the 
Gardens are on a very extensive, luxuriant 
scale, though perhaps less attractive than our 
our own at Peradeniya. 
Dr. Trimen was not impressed with what he 
saw of tea in Java; up to 3, .500 feet above sea- 
level the tea gardens seemed of poor jut and 
careless management as compared v?ith Ceylon. 
He was not able to get away to the great cinchona- 
growing region, but he found this article generally 
as little esteemed in Java as with ourselves of late 
years. The boom in Java at present seems to 
be in Liberian coflee which is being freely planted, 
and will apparently supersede the Arabian variety. 
Dr, Trimen saw little or no disease on it and 
the growth and crop are reported as satisfactory. 
He was told by English merchants in Batavia 
that proper preparation (a good drying of the 
beans) does away with the slight bitterness com- 
plained of, and now they get as good prices as 
for the best of the ordinary oofiee. This was 
confirmed at Singapore ; the Liberian variety is 
also as greatly in favour in Johore, &c. 
When at Singapore, Dr. Ttimen took the 
opportunity of seeing gambier prepared by the 
Chinese; he was able to follow the operations 
though a little puzzled as to how the final coagu- 
lation took place. Dr. Trimen has brought back 
soma cubeb plants with him, but he has also 
discovered that already he has plants of the West 
Java variety growing in the Peradeniya Gardens. 
— Dr. and Miss Trimen return, we are glad to say, 
in good health, much pleased with their trip. 
^ 
STEALING OF CACAO FRUIT FROM 
YATTAWATTA ESTATE. 
P. C. MiTALE, No. 5,843. 
S in.'uram Pulle Kanakapulle, complainant, d. Sinna 
Tambi accused. The charge here n-asthat on or about 
the 7th day of February 1891 at Yalta watta, the accused 
was found iu possession of about 8 lb of the unripe 
fruit of the cacao tree, of the value of R8, without 
beiug able to give a satisfactory account of hia posses- 
sion thereof, and thereby committed an offence pu ish- 
able nil !er Section 368 of the Ceylon Penal Code 
and the 2nd clause of tho Ordinance No. 22 of 1886. 
The accused was found guilty and was sentenced 
to four months’ rigorous imprisonment and to receive 
15 lashes. In his judgment the Magistrate natr-ted 
the circumstances of the case and added that thefts 
of cacao had been increasing of late to a very large 
extent. He did not therefore consider he would be 
doing his duty, if, in every case where it was clear 
that accused persons had been guilty of the ofience 
of having unripe estate produce in their possession 
for which they add give no satisfactory account, he 
did not inflict a punishment that would deter others 
from indulging in similar offences. In this case he 
taid Mr. Martin had proved that small thefts from 
his estate had been committed for some days before 
accused was caught. Since accused’s capture Mr. Martin 
li.id not noticed any thefts. 
^ 
Messrs. Ceo, White & Co.’s Annual Tea 
Memoranda — already rtferred to in our columns — 
will bo found reproduced so far as several of its 
more generally interesting paragraphs, on page 
784. What is said about ‘ prospeots,’ ‘ addi- 
tional outlets,’ ‘manufacture,” ‘style of package,' 
‘bulking and packing,’ ‘marking’ and ‘ analysis of 
crop’ deserves the consideration of all practical tea 
planters. 
