Sept.  2,  1895. J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
193 
showing  Laterals,  the  nurseries  must  he  close  to 
the  fields  in  order  to  do  this,  and  the  planting 
requires  a little  extra  supervision,  hut  six  months’ 
weeding  is  saved. 
As  to  thinning  out  crop  or  entirely  stripping- 
young  trees  as  recommended  hy  some  people,  I 
must  say  that  after  you  have  done  nothing  hut 
spend  money  for  two  years  or  so  and  when  you 
do  see  $40  a picul  clustering  on  your  trees,  to 
pull  it  ofl’  and  throw  it  away  does  seem  to  me 
a curious  thing  to  do. 
As  for  the  practice  of  the  thing  ; first  the 
planter  makes  a hig  hole,  then  he  fills  that  hole 
with  the  most  fruit-producing  food,  then  he  se\  erely 
handles  the  trees  so  as  to  further  force  on  fruit 
and  then  wlien  the  fruit  comes  he  pitches  it 
away  ! The  whole  thing  is  as  tho’  one  took  a 
child,  fed  it  up  on  turtle  soup  and  sherry, 
pork  chops,  cheesecakes  and  Chiistmas  pud- 
ding, and  then  was  surprized  that  he  got 
bilious,  and  proceeded  to  give  him  castor  oil. 
If  what  is  wanted  are  trees  that  don’t  bear 
.so  soon,  all  that  has  to  be  done  is  to  make 
small  holes  and  fill  with  poor  soil.  But 
why  people  should  prefer  their  trees  not  to  bear 
soon,  seeing  that  the  main  purpose  and  intention 
of  a cofiee  estate  is  to  earn  income  as  large  and 
as  soon  as  possible,  is  inscrutable  to  me.  As 
for  any  idea  that  early  cropping  is  hurtful  I 
have  never  seen  any  evidence  of  it,  while  it  is 
always  one’s  be.st  trees  that  crop  earliest.  Mr.  Hill 
in  Selan«or  judging  from  his  crop  returns  was 
not  afraid  of  raking  in  the  dollars  as  soon  as 
they  showed. 
As  to  other  cultivations.  Coconuts  continue  to 
be  nut  in,  and  all  promise  well.  The  G<ambier 
garuens  are  constantly  being  enlarged,  and  look 
like  becoming  of  importance  soon  ; a little  cotton 
is  being  tried  in  three  or  four  places,  and  there 
is  a tendency  to  nibble  at  sugar  and  Manila  Hemp. 
Beyond  tfiis,  matters  in  the  country  are  not 
very  bright,  the  tobacco  news  is  the  reverse  of 
good  and  if  the  Chartered  Company  does  not  mind 
it  will  find  a serious  falling-off  in  its  exports 
anr-  consequently  in  its  revenue.  tJp  to  the  present 
its  policy  has  been  of  a Micawberish  character 
“ waiting  for  something  to  turn  up.”  Nothing 
does  turn  up,  rather  the  contrary,  and  meantime 
any  quantity  of  opportunities  in  coffee,  sugar 
and  other  things  are  alloweil  to  slip  and  the 
magnificent  soil  remains  disregarded.  However, 
the  shareholders  are  clamouring  for  more  action, 
and  a new  policy  has  been  inaugurated.  At  first 
a few  slips  and  ei-rors  may  be  anticii>ated,  but 
the  attitude  of  the  shareholders  and  their  instruc- 
tions to  their  Directors  seem  to  be  : “ Find  out 
for  us  what  this  country  really  can  do.”  It 
cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  them  that 
the  main  resource  is  the  soil,  and  in  view  of 
the  shareholders  demanding  real  action,  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  this,  the  future  mainstay 
of  the  country  will  have  that  attention  devoted 
to  it  that  it  deserves,  and  which  it  has  never 
yet  received.  If  not,  disaster  is  inevitable. — Yours 
very  truly,  W.  B.  PBYEB. 
WHO  FIRST  INTRODUCED  THE  GRE- 
VILLEA  (SILKY  OAK  OF  QUEENS- 
LAND) INTO  CEYLON. 
Fairieland,  Kandy,  Ceylon. 
Sir, — Can  you  or  any  of  your  numerous  cor- 
respondents inform  me  who  has  been  the  bene- 
factor to  Ceylon,  in  introducing  the  “Grevillea” 
into  the  island  ?— Yours,  &c., 
SHELTON  AGAR. 
[We  .should  suppose  it  came  in  first  through 
the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  and  we  know  that 
the  late  Dr.  Thwaites  was  very  strong  in  his 
recommendation  of  it  as  an  ornamental  tree 
He  persuaded  the  late  Mr.  A.  M.  Fero-nson  in 
the  “sixties”  or  “seventies”  to  try  grevilleas 
in  his  fjarden  at  Aloe  Avenue  ; but  the  sea-air 
played  havoc  with  them.  The  proper  altitude 
leve^— Ed  LbUO  to  4,000  feet  above  sea- 
FRUIT  IN  UVA— AND  THE  MARKET? 
July  10. 
Dear  Sir,— Now  we  have  our  usual  dry  and  hot 
season  in  Uva  with  gusty  wind,  more  especially  dm- 
ing  the  night  and  up  to  say  9 a.m.  in  the  morning 
Thunder  showers  are  always  welcome  visitors  to  us 
in  Uva  at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  the  tea  estates 
in  Uva  Province  do  tolerably  well  with  occasional 
showers  of  rain  till  October  and  the  periodical  rains 
arrive.  Just  now  our  oranges  are  ripe  on  the  trees 
and  you  may  take  my  word  for  it  that  there  are  few 
better  climates  for  oranges,  et  hoc  genus,  than  the  Pro- 
vince of  Uva  affords.  Sun  and  clear  skies  are  essen- 
tial climatic  constituents,  for  all  fruit-yielding  lands 
and  the  little  sheltered  vallegs  of  U va  could  be  made' 
to  produce  lemons  (and  they  pay  well),  limes,  oranges 
and  shaddocks  in  great  abundance.  When  choosing 
a spot  for  an  orchard  it  is  necessary  to  seek  for  a 
well-sheltered  hillside  or  valley,  and.  if  the  soil  be 
fairly  fertile,  it  will  do  well  in  Uva ; and  if  the  land 
is  poor  C.  P.  manure  can  be  used. 
I wonder  the  Burgher  landlords  in  Badulla  do  not 
pay  more  attention  to  their  orchards  than  at  present 
and  extend  them  and  introduce  fresh  varieties  of 
fruit-bearing  trees.  Hakgala  Botanical  Gardens  could 
I fancy  supply  young  and  good  trees ; next  October 
I hope  the  Badulla  house-holders  will  plant  out  fruit 
trees,  they  will  yield  them  a nice  income  in  a few 
years,  with  a Railway  now  to  Bandarawela.  I sent  a 
basket  of  delicious  oranges  the  other  day  to  Colombo 
each  orange  wrapped  in  thin  jiaper,  and  they  arrived 
in  perfect  condition.  “OLD  GARDENER.’’ 
I Just  now  a lady  says  it  is  all  very  well  to 
grow  oranges,  mangoes,  Ac.,  but  how  about  the  ready 
market  for  them  ? I at  once  reply ; Colombo  with  large 
steamers  arriving  daily  and  crowded  with  thirsty 
passengers,  will  buy  1,000  oranges  a dag  and  at  a 
fair  price. 
[Colombo  certainly  ought,  and  yet  we  have  heard 
of  Matale  men  losing  by  consignments  of  fruit. 
Oranges  have  been  as  high  in  Colombo  as  25  cents 
each,  though  usually  5 cents. — Ed. 
— ♦- 
VARIOUS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
The  Company  for  the  working  of  the  Pamanoekan 
and  Tjiassem  lands  has  issued  its  annual  report, 
which  shows  that  a loss  has  been  sustained  in  the 
preceding  year  of  fl  268,346.  This  loss  is  ascribed  to 
the  small  coffee  crop  of  about  9,600  piculs  ; to  losses 
on  timber  of  tl  112, 188  ; losses  on  rico  of  11  54,005  • 
charges  for  law  suits  11.16,323,  and  further  to  a loss 
of  about  11.80,000  on  the  worldng  charges  on  the  pre- 
ceding year.  Against  this  there  is  a profit  of  11.240^000 
on  interest  account.  The  prospects  for  coffee  are 
favourable,  and  the  estimate  for  this  year  exceeds 
the  crop  of  1894  by  4,000  piculs,  good  prices  have 
already  been  made  for  the  crop.— 7^.  ^ C.  Express. 
^ Tue  Outlook  for  Indian  Tea.— Say.s  the 
Calcutta  Coiiiinercial  Corre.spondent  of  the  Pio- 
neer : — 
Calcutta,  July  20. — The  outlook  for  Indian  tea  is 
decidedly  promising.  The  consumption  is  extending 
to  Persi  1.  and  Russia  as  v-eii  as  in  the  United  King- 
dom, C.'i.nada,  the  United  States,  Germany  and  the 
Austr.alasian  colonies,  whicii  means  that  although 
supply  is  increasing,  the  demand  seems  likely  to 
keep  pace.  Tea  shares  may  therefore  be  considered 
a safe  medium  of  fair  interest-paying  investments  at 
the  present  time,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  ad- 
vanced prices  of  all  stocks. 
