Aug.  I,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
109 
eitlier  cleared  out  from  tlieir  \illage  and  ilisap- 
peared  for  inontlis  together,  vi-siting  their  honio.s 
hy  stealth  ; or  they  were  .screened  hy  tlie  kanga- 
nies  and  headmen,  wlio  returned  the  warrants 
with  the  remark  “ not  to  he  found”,  I'v.c.  I par- 
tially overcame  this  diHiculty  by  making  it  worth 
the  lieadmen’s  while  to  lind  the  defaulters  ; and 
remarkal)le  to  s.ay,  coincident  with  this  arrange- 
ment many  of  the  men  returned  to  their  village  1 
1 have  had  to  institute  as  many  as  100  cases  in 
one  tlay,  and  (piite  200  within  a year  ! Let  any 
one  consider  what  this  means,  namely,  that  out 
of  a skilled  force  of  .say  300  juen,  which  you  have 
done  your  best  to  make  sure  of  by  giving  out 
advances  on  a contract,  you  lind  that  when  your 
lieeling  is  at  its  best,  and  you  could  secure  a large 
(luantity  of  line  bark,  quite  one-third  of  ymir 
force  absent  themselves  ; not  because  they  have 
any  excuse  for  doing  so,  but  that  they  are  work- 
ing on  some  other  est.ate,  where  they  have  also 
taken  advances,  or  are  taking  in  the  cinnamon 
from  their  own  or  a friend’s  few  .acres.  When 
this  is  done,  and  the  best  of  the  season  over,  they 
■iiuni  condescend  to  come  .anil  work  for  you,  making 
lying  excuses  for  not  h.aving  come  before,  the  kan- 
gany  b.acking  them  up,  for  as  likely  .as  not  the 
men  have  been  taking  in  the  cinnamon  from  his 
garden,  while  the  Superintendent  is  at  his  wit’s  end 
to  know  Avhat  to  ilo  to  secure  his  crop.  Such  ;i 
st.ate  of  things  is  exasperating,  for  when  kanga- 
nies  and  men  combine  to  deceive,  you  are  helpless. 
I am  afraid  that  their  conduct  has  often  caused 
me  to  ex])lode,  and  to  use  words  not  nece.ssary  to 
the  sentences  uttered;  .and  if  the  kanganies  h.ad 
had  anything  lait  p.achydermatous  consciences 
they  would  have  winced  under  the  home  truths 
toll!  them. 
In  instituting  cases  .a;^.ainst  debaulting  peelers, 
f have  h.ad  to  .appear  before  9 ditlerent  Magis- 
trates who  occupied  tlie  Negombo  bench  in  suc- 
cession during  the  time  I w.as  on  Uoluwa  Pokun.a, 
and  .all  held  th.at  if  a defaulting  peeler,  after  un- 
dergoing ]ninishment,  did  not  go  b.ack  to  work 
he  w.as  li.abie  to  be  again  brought  up  and  pun- 
ished : the  oll'ence  w.as  considered  a continuing  one. 
The  present  Police  Magistrate  of  Negombo 
.seems  to  doubt  the  legality  of  this  procedure ; 
and  as  his  decision  has  quite  unsettled  the 
jirevious  views  held  on  the  subject,  and  his 
successor  may  dis, agree  with  his  views,  I think 
it  was  unfortunate  that  the  Attorney-General 
did  not  allow  an  Appeal  in  c.ase  No.  19,217,  <as 
I understand  he  was  .asked  to  do.  In  the  in- 
terest of  the  peelers  themselves  .a  ruling  by  the 
Supreme  Court  seems  necessary  ; and  it  is  much 
to  be  wished  th.at  the  Attorney-General  would 
reconsider  his  objection,  .as  regards  giving  notice 
to  peelers  to  come  to  work.  As  a m.atter  of  f.act, 
at  the  commencement  of  peeling  every  jieeler  re- 
ceives notice  to  attend;  .also  .at  the  resuming  of 
work  .after  each  stoiipagc ; but  when  men  are 
away  from  their  vill.ages  it  is  not  possible  to 
give  them  notice,  for  their  whereabouts  are  often 
not  knovvn  ; and  when  the.se  men  .absent  them- 
selves for  weeks  or  months,  and  on  their  return  are 
jirosecuted,  for  the  Magistrate  to  ilisch.arge 
them  on  the  plea  that  they  were  riot  served  with 
notice  to  attend  seems  to  me  unreasonable. 
Giving  notice  is  really  a matter  of  form,  for 
every  peeler  knows  perfectly  well  when  his  ser- 
vices will  be  requireii,  and  when  he  should  attend. 
When  dealing  with  men  who  have  no  fear 
of  losing  their  character  or  influence  in 
their  village  by  its  being  known  that  they  have 
made  money  by  successful  fraud— but  who  are 
rather  looked  up  to  .and  envied  .as  clever  fellows 
— it  is,  1 hold,  necessary  when  .advancing  money 
for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  make  them 
criminally  liable.  This  m.ay  .seem  hard  ; but  if 
a cinnamon  peeling  kang.any  is  to  be  held  only 
civilly  li.abie  lor  tLe  money  advanced  to  the  men 
he  brings  as  [loelers,  thci'o  is  nothing  to  prevent 
his  .aiding  in  the  fraudulent  manner  I have  ile- 
scribed  .as  pr.actised  on  me,  and  the  ,Su|)erinten- 
dent  h,as  no  remedy;  for  it  is  next  to  impo.ssible 
to  bring  home  the  ch.arge  to  the  kangany,  .as  none 
of  his  ])oelers  would  have  the  temerity  to  dare 
give  evidence  against  lum,  knowing  full  well  that 
to  do  so  would  moan  his  ruin.  1 have  stated  th.at 
pro.secuting  peelers  and  getting  them  put  in  jail 
was  most  ilistasteful  to  me,  and  in  dozens  of 
instances  I have  taken  them  back  on  theii'  promise  to 
return  to  work.  The  xMagistr.ate  often  cautioning 
them  not  to  break  their  word  : but  this  leniency  was 
so  systematically  .abused  by  the  men  nev  er  coming 
to  work  and  so  nece.ssit.ating  fresh  warrants  being 
taken  out  th.at  1 afterwards,  as  a rule,  refused 
to  take  them  b.ack  before  they  wore  punished. 
I found  th.at  severe  measures  were  the  kindest 
to  them  and  to  others,  (.'innamon  jieelei-s  m.ay 
not  be  worse  than  others  of  their  cl.ass  under  like 
tempt.ations,  though  some  of  their  countrymen 
seem  to  think  that  they  are,  for  they  use  this 
saying  .against  them  ; — “ Never  trust  a llaley.a 
ora  [lig  ! ” Be  that  .as  it  may,  tlicir  conduct  was 
the  main  motive  for  my  leaving  Goluwa  I’okuna; 
.and  I envy  no  man  who  has  to  make  his  living 
by  de|)ending  upon  them.  Apologising  for  taking 
*0  much  of  your  v.aluable  space. — I am,  A'c., 
W.  ,1. 
AlTSTPvALlAN  HONF.Y  POP  GEVLON. 
.lune  .rth. 
Dkau  Sir, — I enclose  a short  .account  of  the 
Grampi.an  Apiaries,  Dunkeld,  Victoria,  which 
h.as  been  sent  to  me,  and  .as  I am  trying  to 
introduce  Victorian  honey  here,  1 thought  it 
might  perhaps  interest  your  readers  to  learn 
something  .about  the  industry. — ^h)urs  truly, 
I’BOGBE.SS. 
[We  can  speak  of  the  Australian  honey  as 
being  excellent. — Ed.  T.A.] 
BEE-FARMING  IN  AU.STRALIA. 
Next  to  the  world-renowned  deep  mining  of  tlie 
Golden  Cities  of  Ballarat  and  Bendigo  in  Victoria 
and  the  gigantic  search  for  silver  from  the  equally 
deep  mines  of  Broken  Hill  in  Now  South  Wales, 
there  is  perhaps  no  industry  contributing  to  the 
original  wealt’.v  of  the  community,  which  so  fasci- 
natingly appeals  to  the  interest  of  the  visitor  to  .the 
Australian  Colonies  as  does  the  culture  of  bees  both 
by  the  Arcadian  charm  of  its  surroundings  and 
by  the  novelty  of  its  workings.  Of  all  those  parts 
of  “the  continent,”  as  the  Australians  like  10  call 
it,  where  the  professional  Api.arist  is  wooing  “ the 
fickle  goddess”  with  his  stock-in-trade,  the  Victorian 
Valley  is  at  once  one  of  the  best  adapted  by  nature 
and  decidedly  fJie  most  widely  exploited  for  the 
production  of  honey  on  a commercial  scale..  With 
the  advantage  of  the  dry  and  sunny  clim.ate  common 
to  the  whole  of  Southern  Australia  this  district  is 
protected  by  mountain  r.anges  from  great  extremes 
of  temperature  and  is  peculiarly  suited  by  the  com- 
parative poverty  of  its  sandy  soil  to  the  brilliant 
display  of  a great  wealth  of  blossom  on  those  trees 
and  shrubs  from  which  the  bees  can  most  economi- 
cally gather  their  supplies  in  their  work  of  laying 
up  a winter  stor6. 
Leaving  the  train  at  the  little  way-side  station 
of  Dunkeld  after  a tedious  journey  from  Melbourne 
at  a speed  which  at  its  best  would  hardly  .equal 
that  of  a modern  Atlantic  liner,  ten  hours  having 
been  taken  to  cover  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  1 
and  proceeding  in  a buggy  across  country  to  the 
Northward,  one’s  sense  of  beauty  is  soon  agreeably 
impressed  by  the  generally  park-like  aspect  of 
the  Plain  with  its  undulating  paddocks  iiae- 
