July  i,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
3 
perfume  market,  form  rings  for  keeping  up  prices, 
and  place  your  trust  in — roses,  tbe  attar  of  which 
is  never  likely  to  be  over-produced. 
A FKW  FIGURES  ABOUT  OTHER  COUNTRIES  : 
Jjast  year  in  France,  Grasse  district  alone  produced 
2,000  tons  of  orange  blossoms,  1,500  tons  of  roses, 
220  tons  violets  (cheap  labor  and  abundance  defies 
chemical  compptition,)  200  tons  jasmine,  88  tons 
tube  rose,  88  tons  jonquil,  88  tons  acacia,  22  t^ns 
migiionet.  One  factory  there,  by  itself  uses  50  tons 
acacia  (buying  up  the  flowers  from  neighbouring 
regions,)  70  tons  roses,  Iti  tons  jasmine  and  10  tons 
tube-rose.  There  are  50  distillations  in  Grasse  (a  town 
of  11,000)  some  employing  200  ban’s  in  season. 
A TOL'R  THROUGH  NORTH  AND 
SOUTH  WYNAAF). 
A (iLOUroU.S  OOUNTKV — AliANUOXKiJ  COKKKI-:— 
llUAVY  YIliLU— TKA  CULTIVATIOX— OPHNINU  I'OR 
CEYLON  MEN— .SPORTS  TO  RE  HAD. 
Trobably  a few  notes  from  this  glorious  country 
will  interest  some  of  the  friends  I have  left  in 
your  little  island,  which,  with  its  many  charms, 
cannot  be  compared  with  this  hocuriantly  productive 
land  of  Southern  India.  It  seems  to  me  extra- 
ordinary tliat  the  planters  of  Ceylon  should  emigrate 
to  the  distant  Straits  and  even  to  Africa  for 
“pastures  new,”  owing  to  its  over-population  in 
the  matter  of  planting.  There,  when  a prolific 
country  like  this  adjoins  the  Island  ! 
I started  from  the  Kasselas  estate  for  Manan- 
toddy  (about  5 miles  distant)  at  5 o'clock  a.  m. 
eii  rvi'h  to  \ythery,  not  long  ago,  passing  many 
acres  of  abandoned  coffee-land  abandoned  in  1867 
through  the  collapse  of  the  cotton  market,  most 
of  the  then  owners  of  the  estat' s being  Bombay 
merchants,  who  were  more  heavily  involved  in 
“ cotton”  than  “ coffee  ” ; consequently  the  latter  had 
to  give  way  to  the  former.  It  is  a sad  sight  to 
see  poor  “ King  Coffee,’’  planted  25  years  ago,  or 
more,  struggling  (yet  cropping)  through  the  heavy 
luxuriant  overgrowth  of  secondary  jungle  and  lantaua. 
Out  of  the  many  estates  that  once  flourished  and 
used  to  yield  15  cwt.  per  acre  (and  special  ones 
over  a ton)  there  are  only  two  left  in  Manantoddy, 
viz.,  the  “ Brummagherries  ■’ and  the  Kasselas.  The 
former  is  situated  on  the  borders  of  Coorg,  and, 
from  what  I saw  of  it,  it  promises  to  keep  “King 
Coffee  ’ to  the  fore,  through  it  suffers  severely  from 
“borer.”  On  the  Kasselas  estate,  which  is  out  of 
the  range  of  this  terrible  scourge,  I saw  coffee  that 
takes  one  back  to  the  good  old  times  of  '72,  smne 
of  the  fields  even  outshining  those  palmy  days  of 
a ton  per  .acre.  On  one  occasion,  during  a morning 
stroll  with  my  wi'e  on  the  Kasselas  estate,  I stripped 
a lovely  coffee  tree  to  prove  what  a <iood  one  could 
do  in  the  mattir  of  yield.  We  were  both  delighted 
and  surprised  at  the  result— a tittle  over  six  Hui/sore 
seers  !1!  Taking  28  Mysore  seers  to  a bushel,  I 
leave 'it  to  your  readers  to  work  out  the  result  per 
acre,  planted  6 x 6,  as  such  trees  could  not  possibly 
grow  closer.  It  may  have  been  an  exceptional  one, 
but  it  had  not  been  pruned  or  cultivated  for  years, 
though  topped  and  kept  free  of  “suckers”;  it, 
however,  grew  out  of  the  stone  foundation  of  a 
set  of  old  coolies’  lines,  and  had  been  picked  over 
ouce  before  I stripped  and  measured  the  result. 
Manantoddy — which  I reached  about  7 a.m. — is  an 
exceedingly  nice  little  town,  possessing  a club, 
hospital,  travellers’  bungalow,  post  office,  two 
churches— a charmingly  laid,  out  burial-ground,  the 
prettiest  I have  seen  for  a long  time — golf  links, 
and  a boating  club,  a European  private  medical 
practiccner,  and  shops — in  fact  has  everything  as 
convenient  as  at  Nuwara  Eliya.  The  climate  also 
is  delightful,  but  one  thing  it  lacks  (and  in  a worldly 
sense  it  is  re/y  much  “ the  one  thing  nofdful  ”) 
and  that  is  money  1 Everything  is  almost  in  a 
stage  of  stagnation  for  want  of  it,  and  were  it  not 
for  Messrs,  Arbuthnot  & Go.  of  Madras,  and  an 
old  resident  planter,  coffee  in  this  district  would 
bo  extinct,  But  its  capabilities  are  second  to  none 
in  the  world,  as  far  as  planting  is  concerned, 
Ani/thiiiii,  I firmly  believe,  wou'd  wrow  and  flourish 
in  such  a fertile  district.  I must  not  forget  to 
say  I had  the  pleasure,  too,  of  shooting  18  and  a 
half  couple  of  snipe  as  I strolled  along.  I started 
the  following  morning  for  Vythery,  .passing  through 
magnificent  land — thousands  of  acres  of  b6th  “ virgin 
forest  ” and  bamboo  land,  and  not  an  acre  of  which, 
if  planted  with  tea,  could,  with  such  excellent  soil 
and  climate,  produce  less  than  1,£00  lbs.  per  acre, 
which  would  fetch  from  8d.  to  Is.  per  lb.  if  only 
proper  jat  and  decent  elevations  were  brought  into 
force.  Before  reaching  the  hospitable  abode  of 
Perengodda  estate,  the  piroprietor  of  which  took 
me  over  the  Belliapara  estate,  I saw  there  tea  trees 
over  30  feet  high  and  4 feet  in  circumference. 
(Indigenous  Assam.) 
These,  though  utterly  abandoned  and  struggling 
to  grow  in  heavy  secondary  jungle,  were  in  a moat 
healthy  and  luxuri.ant  condition,  and  seeding  freely. 
I also  s iw  a clearing  of  about  10  acres  from  the 
progeny  of  tiese  tree.’,  only  2 years  old,  which 
would  make  the  heart  of  any  Ceylon  planter  rejoice! 
I believe  AVynaad  consists  of  about  sixteen 
hundred  square  mil  s.  I have  in  my  time  travelled 
from  the  Neilgherries,  Mysore,  and  the  Goorg 
Frontier  through  the  whole  of  Wynaad,  which  consists 
of  three  distinct  districts,  hundreds  of  miles  apart, 
viz.:  which  consists  of  Manantoddy,  Dindimul, 
Brnmmagherries,  and  Keria.  South, — Vythery,  Cul- 
putty,  Sultan's  BaUery,  Maypadie,  Cherambody,  and 
Terriote,  (these  can  boast  of  a “Public  Hall,”  Race 
Course,  Post,  Telegraph,  Police,  and  Civil  Offices, 
as  well  as  a tine  Hosiiital).  South  Eust. — Goodalur, 
Dava’ah,  and  Pundalur — not  a district  of  which 
would  not  grow  and  produce  far  better  coffee,  tea, 
cocoa,  or  any  other  produce  that  “ ihe  spicy  little 
Island”  can,  if  run  with  a little  capital. 
The  “Pelrendotty”  tea  estate  is  the  only  one 
making  an  apology  for  tea  in  the  South,  but  the 
method  adopted  here,  both  of  the  cultivation  and 
manufacture  of  the  leaf,  is  so  very  primitive,  that 
it  cannot  honestly  be  held  as  a criterion  of  what 
Wynaad  could  produce  in  the  way  of  the  “cup  that 
cheers  but  cot  inebriates  ! ” I believe  the  average 
yield  of  this  estate  is  about  900  lb.  per  acre,  but, 
when  one  takes  into  consideration  that  every  acre 
has  from  50  to  GO  per  cent,  failures,  twelve  to 
fifteen  hundred  lb.  per  acre  is  honestly  nearer  the 
mark  of  what  it  should  do,  and  this  without  manure, 
proper  pruning,  or  plucking.  The  so-called  “ Factory  ” 
of  the  estate  is  an  old  cramped  shed,  that  no  one 
in  Ceylon  would  dream  of  utilising  for  anything 
but  a tool  store.  It  has  only  within  the  last  few 
months  gone  in  fora  “Sirocco,”  and  three  second- 
hand “ Little  Giants,  ” .and  these  must  evidently 
have  been  the  first  three  manufactured  after  the 
invention  of  the  “ Roller.”  The  place  is  perfectly 
innocent  of  any  other  machinery,  not  even  a roll- 
breaker.  Sifting  by  hand,  and  sorting  and  packing, 
are  all  done  in  the  same  cramped  room,  and  all 
at  one  and  the  same  time  as  the  process  of  rolling, 
fermenting,  and  firing  are  going  on;  and  yet  it 
seems  a marvel  to  some  people  that  this  estate’s 
tea  only  fetches  4^d.  per  lb.  1 1 ! 
However,  the  Panora  Company  are  now  going  in 
for  tea  in  a practical  manner,  and  it  does  its  manager 
credit  for  the  way  in  which  he  has  opened  and  planted 
up  about  200  acres  (and  still  extending).  This  is 
about  two  years’  growth,  and  its  luxuriance  is 
simply  marvellous,  and  is  only  beaten  by  the  Coota- 
covil  estate  belonging  to  the  Wynaad  Tea  Company, 
where  they  have  a field  of  tea  of  the  same  age. 
On  Panora  I met  an  old  Ceylon  planter  who  has 
just  taken  up  the  berth  of  tea-maker,  and  on  his 
first  entering  the  clearing  he  was  so  struck  with 
its  wonderful  growth  that  he  could  scarcely  gasp 
forth  the  expression  “ magnificent ! ” “ wonderful  1 ! ” 
“is  this  not  a dream  ? ’ 1 I 1 He  is  so  charmed 
by  what  he  has  seen  that  he  intends  to  open  for 
himself  next  season  what  is  left  in  the  south.  Land 
can  be  had  both  in  north  and  south  Wynaad  at 
from  R20  to  E50  per  acre,  every  inch  of  which 
surpasses  the  best  land  in  Ceylon,  and  all  sorts  of 
climates  similar  to  Kamlapolla  and  other  places  j 
