8o8 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[May I, i8, 
tlae natives. Mr. John Hughes, the consulting Chemist 
c£ the Ceylon Planters’ Association, will, I am sure, 
be acknowledged to be a practical man, boih by bis 
training and by his wide experience of human nataie. 
He writes in ieferei:C 0 to the relusal of Sir James 
Longden’s Government to issue salt to a planter in 
the Agras, who had applied tor 50 tons at the export 
rate of £5 a ton, to tight against grub, and who oifered 
to pay the salary of a Government officer to supervise 
the application ; “I wish merely to point out that 
there are means available tor so mixing salt with cer- 
tain manurial materials, that the sub.sequent extnct.on 
of salt in a condition a't all likely to be used for food 
should he rendered extremely improbable. First of all, I 
would say why not convert the crude salt into a manure 
by adding 2 or 3 cwt of iinely ground fish manure or 
dried blood, or even Peruvian Guano to every ton of 
crude salt? Any one of these materials would so strongly 
impregnate,, the mixture, that the natives with their 
natural caste prejudice sgainst handling any foul 
matter, much less of having the same brought in contact 
with their food would certainly refuse to purchase salt 
possessing any such peculiar odour as the above mate- 
rial would certainly produce. There is no doubt salt 
is a most useful and cheap source of manure, and it 
seems a distinct loss that any Government shoul throw 
difficulties in the way of its kcal use as a manure. 
My own view is that salt applied as an ingredient of 
a mixed manure is likely to be more_ effective in an 
Bgricullural sense then wteu applied in large quantity 
in the hope of destroying grubs.’’ It wili be noted that 
the above remarks apply chiefly to salt as manure for 
coffee. If I were convinced that the tux on salt 
were oppressive, and to auy appreciable extent re- 
stricted its free use for human consumption, I should 
certainly when advocating its issue at cheap rates, have 
urged its abolition as an alternative. Though theoreti- 
cally the tax may be objectionable it is not invidious 
and oppressive, as the tax on paddy unquestionably is, 
and I believe nine-tenths of the population do 
not regard what they get an equivalent for, ss they 
do in the case of salt, as a tax at all, much less as 
an opprssive tax. Under the circumstances, I think 
the genera! denunciation of taxes and the setting up of 
the masses against the classes, with the issue of fcalt 
for agricultural purposes as a (pre)-toxt, was both un- 
called for aud mihchievous. A iutile attempt was 
recently made, not by, but ou behalf of, the rich “ to 
save themselves and fasten burdens on ihe poor,” when 
with .the aid of specious arguments and sophistry 
laboured attempts were made to prove that those who 
issue rice to their labourers at a profit pay the impor- 
duty on it, while those who deny themselves this profit 
and give their labourers cash do not pay it. Thetefore, 
the latter ought to pay an export duty on their produce, 
aud not the former. 
Though ail official was ,at pains to state that it was 
not within his knowledge "that salt was used iu paddy 
cultivation, yet it is well known to those who take the 
trouble to observe what they see that those tracts of 
fields that are periodically submerged with sea water 
grow as fine paddy as one could well wish for. I have not, 
as suggested, lost sight of one of the cliief attribu tes 
of eait, its hygrosnptive property. I drew attention 
to tbat, and spoke of it as giving salt a value “all 
its own.” I look upon its ability lo absorb the 
moisture of the atmosphere as investing it with a very 
high value in those inland districts where the tree 
suffer much from the effects of drought. I applied 
salt to some coconut plants I put out last season. 
Dry werther followed almost immediately after. The 
ever-widening circle of moist earth round the plants 
of a morning v/as vory noticeable. The information 
that, though coconuts refuse to grow, or rather do not 
flourish, near llangooii, 25 miles dislant from the sea, 
and yet do remarkably well over 700 miles np the 
river Irrawady, and the reasons lor it, are highly in- 
teresting, and shew how unsafe it is to generalise from 
insufficient data. The ualural conclusion a mind not 
given to dive deep lor the why’s and wherelore’a of 
the apparent contradictions it meets with, would 
arrive at from the above facts would be tbat salt is 
not essential for the healthy growth of coconut 
palms, The true cgnclusioa is the opposite. The 
91. 
nuts at Bibile, like those at Mandalay, may be ex- 
traordinarily large because they belong to the large 
variety of coconuts. Thereaie said to be eight varie- 
ties of coconuts and many sub-varieties. Large sized 
nuts are known as Siam coconuts. Trees of tins variety 
cau bo seen at Morris Flace, Slave Island. Many people 
have a fancy for these nuls, and it is possible that a 
few of these large-sized nuts were taken to Bibile 
and grown there, and the trees now growing may have 
been propagated from these. This is a mere surmise 
based on my observation that soil has no marked in- 
fluence on the size of i.uts, which is almost entirely 
depended on variety. Largr.-sized nuts are no ad- 
vantage, however, for we get fewer of these than normal 
sized ones from a tree. I passed through Bibile on 
my way to Butticaloa about a dozen years ago, and do 
not remember having noticed anj coconut trees there. 
A very flattering opinion of my atta'uments suggest! 
my being able to thiow light ou the reason for the size 
of the nuts at Bibile. As I said before, I lay no pre- 
tentions to being an j thing but a practical and observant 
Planter, with a rudimentary knowledge of Agricultural 
Science. If there be an Agricultural Instructor any- 
where in the neighbourhood of Badnlla,! would suggest 
that the Superintendent of the School of Agriculture 
direct him to make a careful report of the trees in 
question, with the nature of the soil on which they 
grow, and send to him a sample of soil within 18 inches 
of the surface, another from a depth of 2 to 3 ft., and a 
sample of the water as well. Exceptions go to prove 
the rule, and as fine trees ou hard cabook soil as on sand 
may be met with on the soa coast, but I think I will 
hardly instance those at Beruwalla (Magalkanda ?) as 
an exemplification ot this, though they certainly ate 
bet' er than trees met with inland on similar soil. The 
reason for this may be that the salt carried so freely 
to these soils renders soluble the large percentage of 
potash they contain as well as phosphoric acid and 
nitrogen in smaller quantities. Potash forms about 50 
per cent of the mineral matter of the coconut tree. It is 
interesting to know that what observation led me to 
adopt is practised on the West coast of India. Being 
impressed with the value of water in coconut cultiva- 
tiou, I sought means to store as much rain water as 
I could ou the estate I supervise. With this end 
in view I cut trenches as nearly level as possible at 
tight angles to tbe slope of the land. These not only 
catch rain water, but improve the texture of the soil. 
This plan finds no favour with thoeo whose book- 
learning teaches them that in good husbandry oraius 
must be cut to draw away moisture. This has special 
reference to tbe cultivation of roots and cereals with 
delicate roots and on low-lying land. We should not 
blindly follow scientific theories, but must adapt 
scientific teaching to varying circumstances. What is 
absolutely necessary in water-logged soil and in the 
cultivation of plants with delicate roots, need nob be 
adopted to the letter in the cultivation of coconuts, 
and ou soils when the lay of the land and its composi- 
tion favour free natural drainage. — Truly yours, B. 
MR. HOLLOWAY’S CACAO FIGURES. 
Dear Sir, — It is very far from my object to 
say anything in the remotest degree detrimental to 
the caoao enterprise. On the contrary, it is my 
firm belief that exaggeration and high inflation such 
as I complain of in the exuberant outpourings 
from Wattegama are themselves the surest source 
of ultimate harm. 
Mr. Holloway’s letter of 30th ultimo does not 
fairly answer my objeotions. I objected to the sug- 
gestion that 6-year old trees would bear 100 cwt, 
per acre and yield a value of R6,500 value per 
annum per acre on his figures — of a yield of 300 
pods. He now goes further and says “as regards 
full-grown trees giving from 300 to 400 pods any 
caoao planter can tell me of 'many such trees even 
of Caracas.” 
Where are we being led to ? 
Qne acre of 6-year old caoao i§ to yield ws B6,500 
