88 
TIIR  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1895. 
■DYSENTERY  AND  TYPHOID  EEYER 
AMONG  PLANTERS 
Witliin  a very  sliort  perioil  of  tiiiiu  we  li.a\  o liail 
to  record  tlie  tleatli  of  an  unusually  larire  ii\iiul»er 
of  victims  upcountry  to  Dysentery  and  Typlioid 
Fever,  tlie  two  fell  diseases  which  Europeans  in  ( 'ey- 
Ion  chietly  have  to  dread.  We  also  know  that 
a much  laru'er  numher  of  cases  have  occuried 
than  the  public  are  aware  of,  in  hospitals,  liotels, 
and  ])iivate  houses, — where,  if  the  patients  li.ave 
not  succumbed,  they  have  often  bdcn  at  death's 
door.  We  have  rejieatedly  warned  younu’  planters 
of  the  nece.ssity  for  keepinj^  a careful  watcli  o\  er 
the  water  they  use,  and  last  week  we  struck 
another  serious  note  of  M'arniii'',  for  the  a)ii)ear- 
ance  of  which  many  expressions  of  satisfaction 
have  re.ached  us.  'We  therefore  think  tiie 
time  has  come  to  speak  out  more  forcibly 
and  more  jilainly  than  e\er,  concerning  this 
matter  of  the  greatest  importance,  more  especially 
as  it  attects  our  upcountry  friends,  the  |>lantcrs. 
No  purer,  or  more  wholesome,  w.ater  exists  in 
the  world  than  that  which  issues  from  the 
thousand  times  ten  thousaml  sirvings  on  our 
mountain  sides,  free  as  the  air  that  perennially 
blows  over  and  sways*  the  trees  that  clothe  them  ; 
and  when  a bungalow  is  built — as  every  bunga- 
low should  be,  where  possible— close  by  the 
source  of  such  a “ spring,”  only  the  grossest 
carelessness  and  indifference  can  cause  such  a 
mipply  to  become  the  means  of  conveying  disease- 
germs  into  the  food,  or  the  vessels  used  for 
cooking.  Yet  so  thoughtless  and  uususpioious  are 
some  of  the  younger  men  amongst  our  planters, 
that  older  men,  witli  long  experience,  often  have 
to  point  out  to  them  very  objectionable  arrange- 
ments in  connection  with  even  .so  pure  a supi)ly 
of  water  as  this.  With  such  a flow,  issuing 
through  a short  s|)out  from  the  ground,  the 
rule  should  be  that  no  open  receptacle — neitlier 
a low  tub  nor  a reservoir  (unless  ])rotected),  nor  a 
hole  in  the  ground,  should  be  alloweil  under  it, 
or  near  to  it.  A lazy  kitchen  cooly  will  often 
dip  his  Imcket  into  such  recept.acles  rather  than 
w.ait  for  the  Imcket  or  saucepan  to  lill  fiom  the 
jmre  source;  and  as  an  eternal  watch  cannot  be 
kept,  such  convenient  receptacles  aie  certain  to 
be  often  contaminated  by  the  jteople  about  the 
])lace. 
Hut  unfortunately  the  bungalows  tliat  exist  and 
were  built  .so  many  years  ago, — as  well  as  many 
which  the  exigencies  of  tlie  case  rei|uire  to  be  built 
now — have  not  lieen  and  cannot  always  be  built 
where  this  great  desideratum  of  a i>ure  sjiring  of 
water,  exists.  Only  the  other  day  welieard  a planter 
boasting  of  the  beautiful  siipiily  of  water  to  his 
liungalow,  througli  a sjioiit  close  to  Ids  kitclien 
door.  .And  truly  it  was  one  to  make  the 
heart  glad,  if  only  it  had  issued  there 
and  then  from  the  ground  ; but  \\hat  lie 
knew,  but  overlooked,  and  what  we  noticed  was, 
that  it  had  travclleil  o\er  a mile  by  the  road 
side  from  its  source  ; and  in  walking 
along  that  roail  quite  close  to  the  bun- 
galow, we  had  observed  sucli  things  as 
decided  us  to  be  very  careful  not  to  drink  of 
that  water  during  our  visit.  Under  such 
circumstances  nothing  but  covered  pipes  to  con- 
vey water  from  its  .source  will  insure  it  against 
eoiitamination  in  an  Eastern  country.  ( )nr 
late  senior,  Mr.  ,\.  M.  Ferguson,  once 
olfered  a reward  of  Hi, OHO  to  anyone  who  could 
devise  a satisfactory  latrine  arrangement  fur  the 
lines  in  Abbotsford,  and  induce  the  coolies 
always  to  use  it  ! Every  |danter  knows  how 
ab.solutely  iridiU'ereiit  Tamil  coolies  are  in  this 
respect,  rather,  it  would  almo.st  ,seem,  preferring  to 
be  siirromided  by  an  environment  of  filth  than 
otherwise,  ami  justifying  the  joke  of  a planter 
that  a cooly  returning  liome  in  the  dark  lifts 
up  not  his  ears  for  sounds  from  the  lines,  but 
his  nose  for  the  odour  saving  : — ‘‘  .Ah  ! I must 
lie  near  home.”  Well,  no  one  earneil 
the  old  editors  reward,  and  we  think 
the  I’laiiters’  .As.sociatioii  or  .some  of  our 
large  Proprietory  Companies  might  safely 
repeat  the  oiler.  Not  that  we  think  the  solution 
of  the  problem  requires  any  special  invention, 
so  much  as  the  liest  way  to  influence  the 
coolies  themselves,  in  a direction,  for  their 
own  good,  short  of  ( lovoriiniont  compulsion 
to  which  complexion  it  may  ha\  e to  conic.  For, 
the  condition  of  things  not  only  on  the  estates, 
but  generally  upcountry,  has  already  become 
.so  bad  as  to  be  beyond  further  endurance.  .And 
it  behoves  every  European  vlio  values  his  (kwn 
healtli,  and  every  estate  owner,  large  or  small, 
who  \alues  the  health  of  his  cooolies,  to  put  an 
eml  to  \ile  habits,  which,  we  say  without 
fe.ar  of  cfmtradiction,  ha\e  alri'aily  counted  their 
\'ictims  by  the  thousand,  and  whiidi  are  resi)on.s- 
ible  for  the  serious  illness  of  planters  and  cmdies 
who  are  at  this  moment  hovering  between  life  and 
dca'h, 
TEA  CULTURE  OX  THE  CAUCASUS. 
Professor  Krasnov  s.ay.s  we  have  reproiluced 
his  ojiinions  and  information  on  this  subject,  as 
.stated  in  conversation,  very  correctly:  but  there 
is  an  addition  he  m.ade  this  morning  whicli  we 
deem  of  very  considerable  iniponanco.  Tn  hjs 
opinion,  there  can  never  be  huge  returns  of 
leaf  ill  the  hititude  and  climate  of  the  liatoum 
district.  “The  climate,”  said  the  Professor,  “is 
mostly  like  today  in  Colombo— \ery  moist,  with 
a great  deal  of  rain  nearly  all  the  year  round, 
and  not  nearly  enough  of  sunsliiiie  or  heat 
to  induce  such  (lushes  of  leaf  as  1 see  gathered 
in  Ceylon  and  India."  He  likens  the  climate 
on  the  side  of  the  Hlack  Sea  10  what  is  expe- 
rienced in  India  at  8,00()  feet  above  , sea-level 
“and  there,"  he  added,  “1  lind  jdanters  do  not 
cultivate  tea -it  is  beyond  the  p.aying  limit.” 
'I'lie  courteous  and  very  intelligent  Professor 
— who.se  home  and  university  are  in  one  of  the 
riidiest  jirovinces  half-way  between  the  (h'imea 
and  .Moscow — cordially  repeated  liis  invitation 
to  visit  Southern  Russia  and  see  their  beet-root 
culture  (for  sugar),  wheat,  fruit,  lAc.  ; and  he 
added  the  best  route  is  by  steamer  from  .\lex- 
andria  to  Coiistantimqile  ami  thence  by  a lirst- 
( la.ss  Russian  line  of  steamers  to  Hatoum. 
TIIE  INDO-CEVEOX  RAILWAY  AND 
THE  CnOLV  SUPPLY: 
HOW  TO  SAVE  (w,0,O(iu  DAYS  OF  COOLY 
LAHOUlt. 
It  is  (luite  amusing  to  us  to  observe  the  crass 
ignorance  displayed  about  the  connection  between 
our  l.abour  Siipidy  and  the  construction  of  an 
Indo-Ceylon  Railway.  Let  us  take  the  very 
a-b-c.  of  tlie  connection  between  the  two,  of 
which  our  local  coutemiioraries  are  either  ignorant, 
or  else  which  they  deliberately  keep  out  of  sight. 
.At  present  some  ;i.-),000  to  f)  ooo  coolies  trai'el 
down  the  North  road  eviuy  year  after  a long 
journey  through  Madura  and  the  cros-iiug  to 
Pe.ssalai.  lu  this  way,  it  is  not  loo  mmdi  to 
say  that  from  ten  to  fourteen  days  of  work  are 
lost  both  to  the  coolie.s  .and  (he  planlers.  Now 
allowing  fur  the  risk  of  a pro|)ortion  of  the 
number  having  to  jiass  .some  day.s  in  quarantine 
