( •'■> ) 
obtained from wild trees, and additions to the sources of supply are urgently needed ; indeed, there 
is every probability that in the long run, as with cinchona so with caoutchouc, it is upon systematic 
plantations in the Old World that we shall have to depend for our supply.* 
Guttapercha. — The increase in these slow-growing trees is but slight. Payencc Leerii\'&^?> ft. 
high and 10 in. in circumference, and Dicliopsis pustulata 14 ft. 9 in. high, with a circumference of 
stem of 9 in. 
Cotton. — The mills of the Ceylon Spinning and Weaving Company at Colombo being now 
in working order, the company is prepared to purchase at certain rates any quantity of Ceylon- 
grown cotton ; and a considerable quantity of the Tinnevelly sort and smaller quantities of Egyptian 
and New Orleans has come in from the Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Anuradhapura districts. 
In continuation of previous consignments (see my last report), Mr. Mitchell sent, in January, 
seed of the Bourbon variety. This was tried at Henaratgoda, Badulla, and Anuradhapura, and in 
the latter Garden afforded a small but fairly good croj) of pods. At Badulla it suffered much from 
red bugs, and at Henaratgoda it failed completely. 
A very successful experiment with Sea Island cotton on an estate in the Dumbara district 
requires some notice, as showing what may be done by careful cultivation in a favourable season. 
A very fine crop is now (February, 1890) being harvested off 90 acres sown at the end of August 
in good soil, after experiencing an eminently favourable north-east monsoon. 
By the kindness of the proprietors I have been provided with the record of rainfall for the 
last three months of the past year, the critical time when the pods were ripening, and of the two 
previous years ; and as the result so strongly confirms the remarks made in my last report as to 
influence of dry weather on this cultivation, the record is here given: — 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 
Inches. 
Inches. 
Inches. 
October 
8-82 
10-55 
7-47 
November 
11-51 
6-31 
4-68 
December 
17-21 
9-64 
3-03 
Total ... 37-54 
26-50 
15-18 
The contrast of the past season, as compared with 1887 and 1888, is very mai’ked, especially in 
December, and the failure of the rains of the north-east monsoon, however injurious to some culti- 
vation, proved most beneficial to the cotton crop. The only insect enemy which proved serious 
in this locality was Helojoeltis, which almost destroyed a patch of a few acres ; but its ravages were 
stopped completely by a systematic catching by hand. 
Tobacco. — A large quantity of tobacco, chiefly of the Sumatra sort, has been grown and cured 
in the Matale and Dumbara districts, and at the present time (February, 1890) as much as 62 tons 
of cured leaf is being sorted and stacked on one estate in the latter district, where most of the 
curing is carried on. It remains to be seen bow Ceylon high-class tobacco will fare in the 
home market. 
Cubehs. — My efforts to obtain this plant for the Gardens have been continued. On June 5, 
we received from our correspondent at Soerabaya, Java, a Wardian case containing twelve plants 
and six cuttings, with the assurance that the greatest care had been taken to insure the acquisition 
of the right plant. The cuttings were dead, but nine of the j^lants were in good order, and these 
were at once planted out, and are doing well both at Peradeniya and Henaratgoda. None have yet 
flowered, but from the foliage alone I fear that again we have failed to obtain the true P. Cubeba. 
I still, however, hope to get from Java ripe seed (as to which there could scarcely be any doubt) 
sown in a Wardian case and allowed to germinate before leaving. 
G((inbier. — This jjroduct has been suggested as a desirable cultivation for the natives in the 
wet districts of the south of Ceylon, and an application from the Government Agent of Ratnapura 
for a large supjfly of seed has been foi-warded to the Singapore Government. 1 made a few remarks 
on the plant affording this substance in my Report for 1887 (p. 14), and on the difficulty I had found 
in getting either ])lanis or' seeds here alive. In August last we again received a small supply of 
* The only plantation of Ilcvca in the East at present is that under the Indian Forest Department at Jlergni. 
Lower Burma. According to the last Rojrort (1888-89) there are here 49 large trees — probably the survivors of the 500 
sent from Ceylon in 1878 — 0,358 put out in 1887 and 1888, and 15.007 in nurseries. 
