Aug.  r,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRlCULTURis^r.  83 
TEA  I’LANTEKS  AM)  COOLIES: 
THE  CEYLON  SYSTEM  OF  •‘ADVANCES”  AND 
TUNDUS." 
AVe  |iul)lifjli  no  less  tliaiifive  letters  elsewliere  on 
the  suhjeet  of  the  relations  between  planters  and 
coolies  and  the  e\  ils  attendant  on  tlie  system  of 
heavy  “ advances”  and  “ tundus.”  There  is  a 
remarkable  diversity  of  opinion  on  some  points; 
Init  all  the  writers — ^and  indeed  all  m’Iio  have 
joined  in  the  discussion  during"  the  ))ast  month -- 
are  ajireed  in  their  condemnation  of  the  extent 
to  which  adx  anees  and  the  giving-out  of  “ tundus  ” 
has  beeen  carried.  In  the  lirst  place,  as  to  the 
actual  scarcity  of  labour,  taking  the  plantati(jii 
tlistricts  as  a whole,  we  ha\e  the  same  ditt'er- 
ence  of  opinion  now  that  has  distinguished 
the  correspondence  from  the  beginning.  \Ve 
had  the  support  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Idan- 
ter.s’  Association  in  .saying  that  in  some,  if  not 
many  districts,  there  were  enough  of  coolies  for 
the  work  in  hand,  while  the  day  was  fast 
approaching  when,  pi'obably,  “short-time”  would 
again  become  the  rule  through  too  much  la- 
boiir.  An  old  fi'iend  and  planter,  howe\er, 
calls  us  to  task  totlay  for  hinting  at  a sntliciency 
of  coolies — he  does  not  know  an  estate  that  has  been 
even  fairly  supidied  since  November  last.  Hut  lower 
down  in  the  same  column,  another  “Old  I’lan- 
ter”  waiting  on  the  same  day — says  : — “ I dtui’t 
think  there  is  any  scarcity  of  labour  in  the  island  ; 
({uite  the  contrary.”  However,  such  diversity  of 
observation  and  experience  does  not  really 
matter  so  much  now  ; for,  we  are,  confe.ssedly,  on 
the  border  of  the  slack  time  of  the  year  for 
Hush,  and  the  season  when  the  How  of  coolies 
sets  in  to  the  island  rather  than  from  it.  A 
practical  (piestion  arising  out  of  recent  experi- 
ence is,  how,  next  year,  to  try  and  prevent  so 
large  a home-going  of  coolies  in  what  are  the 
busiest  months  for  Hush  with  m.any  of  the 
planters,  namely  March-June;  and  to  transfer 
this  ebb  of  the  tide  to  the  slack  month.s  ? We 
suspect  the  answer  of  the  coolies  will  be  in 
many  cases,— ‘how  can  we  go  travelling  with 
our  women  and  children  in  the  w'ct  monsoon 
season  ?’  A diHiculty  this,  w Inch  might  certainly  be 
blotted  out  by  through  liculimg  roiumunicatioii. 
We  now  turn  to  the  Advance  and  Tundu 
system  ; and  we  really  think  that  the  discussion 
is  ripening  for  ^)ractical  action  by  the  Committee 
of  the  IMiinters  Association.  One  writer,  it  is 
true,  says  it  is  no  use  of  the  As.sociation  passing 
Kegulatii>ns,  for  no  one  will  kee]>  them.  Hut 
cn  this  line  of  argument,  wo  might  as  well  be 
fohl,  there  is  no  use  in  having  District  A.'^so- 
ciations  or  a i’arent  lnstituli(jn  at  all.  Wo  gather 
from  the  ]iresent  and  ])revious  c(nres|»ondence 
that  a large  majority  of  the  jdanting  commu- 
juty  agree  with  us  tlmt  no  kangany  and  coolies 
going  alauif  the  < ountry  seeking  a new  employer, 
should  be  taken  on,  unless  they  can  show  a 
satisfactory  letter  of  all  being  clear  with  their 
last  employer  ; and,  further,  that  if  such  a re- 
gulation were  generally  in  foi'ce,  much  of  the 
ililHculfy  about  recovering  advances  would  be 
o\ercomc.  if  these  two  projiosiiiom-  arc.  ad- 
ndtted,  if.  . urely  ought  to  be  possible  for  the 
I’arent  Committee  to  call  on  each  District 
body  to  consider  and  advi.se  on  the  wisdom 
of  formulating  and  i>njtnulgating  such  a 
Rule  as  we  have  nameil  and  to  take  (he 
.signatures  of  the  employers  in  every  district 
who  .are  prepared  to  abide  by  it  when  once  it 
has  passed  a Ceneral  Meeting  of  the  I’lanteis’ 
.Association.  Tlie  penalty  of  a breach  after  that 
date  should,  of  goiU'.jC,  be  that  the  olleader  be 
U 
sent  to .Jericho!  And  although  public 
opinion  is  not  strong  nor  united  in  some  dis- 
tricts, we  scarcely  think  th.at  many  would  care 
to  incur  the  risk  of  being  regarded  as  outside 
the  pale  and  of  having  their  names  returned  to 
the  Kandy  Committee.  The  diHiculty  about  giving 
up  “ tundtis  ” altogetlier  and  forthwith,  as  sug- 
gested by  “ Agricola  ” is  well-shown  by  “ 37 
years  in  the  country,”  namely,  that  a refusal 
is  met  by  a proctor’s  letter,  '“a  case  in  Court,” 
and  the  loss  of  all  advances  through  the 
recalcitrant  Superintendent  being  referred  to  “a 
civil  case”  against  his  triumphant  kangani.  AVe 
cannot  see  bow  this  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
alxdishing  “tundus”  is  to  be  got  over,  unless 
“J.A.K.’s”  ]»ractical  .suggestion  of  a heavy  stamp 
duty  at  the  outset  on  every  tundu  would  act 
as  a deterrent  ? 
AVe  are  le.ss  inclined  to  call  on  Government 
to  interfere  with  the  rate  of  interest — always 
a ticklish  imatter — but  certainly,  cooly  and  kan- 
gani ilebtors  to  Chetty  ami  other  usurers  deserve 
lirotection  ipiite  as  much  as  the  ryots  in  India, 
to  the  extent  that  the  interest  claimed  .should 
never  aggregate  more  than  the  principal.— Inconclu- 
sion, we  think  it  quite  time  that  a !Sub-Coinmittee 
of  the  Association  be  named  to  cake  the  whole 
subject  into  consideration  and  to  prepare  a cir- 
cular to  be  sent  to  every  District  Association  as 
well  as  to  the  principal  Agency  Houses  if  not 
flic  riiamber  of  Commerce,  on  tne  lines  already 
indicated. 
THE  NEED  FOR  IIUKTICCLTL'KAL 
SHOWS  IN  CEYLON. 
(From  a Plfiufrr.) 
From  the  Observer  just  to  hand  I Hnd  Ceylon 
is  quite  famous  now-a-days  for  its  varied  and 
numerous  festivities,  a>id  I trust.  Horticultural 
exhibitions  and  Flower  Shows  may  be  added  to 
the  festal  programme.  Hity  it  is  that  the  minor 
industries  of  Ceylon  are  not  suHiciently  en- 
cour.aged,  by  occasional  Exhibitions,  and  well  sup- 
ported, and  surely  if  delicate  basket  work,  tor- 
toise shell  work,  and  lace  work,  were  taught  at 
the  Orphanages  and  public  Girls’  Schools,  they 
would  attract  visitors  and  purchasers.  A Horti- 
cultural and  Industrial  Exhibition  is  a quiet  but 
very  interesting  display,  and  must  not  be  for- 
gotten in  these  days  of  public  fe.stivals. 

TE.\  IN  THE  riTEH  CHINDWIN. 
The  following  is  tlie  report  of  Mr.  C.  A\  . A. 
Hriice,  .Assistant  Con-servator  of  Forests,  on  the 
tea  industry  of  the  Upper  Cbindwin  : — 
The  following  is  a list,  of  the  villages  of  the  Upper 
(.'hindwin  which  ex'port  tea-seeds,  the  inhabitants  of 
all  being  Shans  : — Kaungkan,  Tingiu,  Kavvya, 
Maungkan,  Tason,  Oubet,  Alainwe,  Taruanthc,  Alaliii. 
Tradition  s,a}'s  that  theso  kins  (clearings)  were 
cleared  and  planted  some  ‘200  years  ago,  the  seed  hav- 
ing been  brought  from  I’alaung  (Northern  Shan 
State.s.)  No  one  has  ever  heard  of  wild  tea  in  the 
jungle;  the  gardens  were  originally  planted  for  the 
sake  of  the  leaves,  that  is,  to  make  letpet,  the  so- 
called  pickled  tea  of  Hurma.  However,  some ‘20  years 
ago  there  arose  a demand  for  the  seed,  at  first  inter- 
mittent, but  since  Hritish  occupation  steady,  and 
this  has  now  become  the.  main  source  of  income  to 
the  owners,  though  the  pickled  tea  is  still  collected 
and  made  as  bf  old. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  in  planting  a Ictpetkin  is  to 
find  the  right  kind  of  soil,  what  is  known  as 
niyeui,  literally  red  earth.  In  this  soil  the  tea-tree 
Hourishiiig  to  perfection,  the  look  of  this 
earth  ia  very  characteristic,  being  a light  red 
