Oct.  I,  1895.J  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
241 
may  interest  you  regarding  Liberian  coffee  in  which 
I take  gr'eat  interest.  The  height  of  this 
place  above  sea  is  about  feet  2,400.  The  Li- 
berian we  find  will  grow  from  500  feet  to  3,000 
feet.  It  ripens  earlier  at  the  lowest  level  and 
takes  14  mouths  from  blossom  at  this  elevation  to 
ripen  its  fruit,  but  it  seems  to  bear  very  satis- 
factorily from  2,000  to  2,500  feet.  The  small  piece 
from  which  I am  collecting  seeds  planted  10  x 10 
and  now  14  years  old  has  averaged  over  12  cwt.  clean 
coffee  per  acre  for  8 years  past.  The  trees  are  now 
20  feet  high  or  more,  and  the  fruit  has  to  be  picked 
by  small  boys  with  ladders.  The  first  two  trees 
planted  by  me  20  years  ago  came  from  Kew. 
They  are  now  large  trees  33  feet  high  near  my 
bungalow  and  from  these  neai'ly  the  whole  district  has 
been  planted,  there  being  now  nearly  4,000  acres  under 
this  variety  planted  during  the  past  6 or  8 years  and  most 
of  this  will  soon  be  coming  into  bearing  and  will  I 
believe  replace  Arabian  coffee  almost  entirely  at  low 
elevations. 
Temperature  during  monsoon  is  steady  at  about 
68°  during  winter  (November  to  end  of  January) 
it  is  cold  at  night  50°  sometimes  running  up  to 
80°  in  sun  in  middle  of  day.  From  February  to 
May  temperature  runs  up  to  85°  in  the  shade. 
Liberian  coffee  does  not  mind  sun  but  requires 
a certain  amount  of  moisture  with  good  drainage 
and  does  not  like  heavy  wind.  Rainfall  here  is 
from  110  to  130  inches  a year,  very  little  falls  from 
November  to  end  of  March.  The  country  is  ra- 
ther steep  and  hilly.  But  the  Estates  near  the 
ghauts  get  sometimes  200  inches.  Those  inland  as 
little  as  60.  On  all  these  places,  there  is  good  Li- 
berian to  be  seen.  The  sample  of  coffee  of  this 
giant  kind  is  good;  something  like  a date-stone  in 
appearance,  has  lately  been  valued  at  85  to  90s.  in 
London  or  say  10s  per  cwt.  less  than  arabica.  I am 
supplying  seedlings  to  planters  in  large  quantities, 
these  if  put  into  nurseries  6"  x 6"  apart  shaded 
and  watered  till  following  .June,  should  be  plants  12" 
high  and  ready  tjgo  out  into  the  open  in  pits  20"  x 
20".  The  plant  does  not  grow  very  much  the  first 
year;  after  two  years  it  comes  on  quickly.  We  find 
topping  the  tree  or  pruning  in  any  way  seems  to 
put  them  back.  Any  other  questions  I shall  be  glad 
to  answer.” 
Recorded  with  thanks. 
PLANTING  ANT)  PRODUCE. 
Another  Outcry  Against  Tea  Drinking. — The 
crusade  against  tea  drinking  carried  on  by  some  medical 
men  deserves  the  attention  of  the  Tea  Association. 
It  is  not  in  the  medical  journals  alone  that  doctors 
fulminate  against  tea.  In  these  journals  there  is  less 
chance  of  real  mischief  arising  because  they  are  not 
seen  to  any  great  extent  by  the  unprofessional  public. 
In  the  current  number  of  the  ll'indsor  Maganine 
there  is  an  attack  on  tea  written  by  Dr.  J.  E. 
Cooney,  which  is  very  marked  in  its  hostility. 
After  recounting  the  well-worn  stories  of  adul- 
teration and  ‘'facing”  of  tea,  and  referring  to 
these  Chinese  dodges  as  though  the  introduction  of 
Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  had  not  put  an  end  to  them, 
so  far  as  tea  in  this  country  is  concerned.  Dr. 
Cooney  expresses  the  opinion  that  tea  drinking”  not 
only  produces,  but  promotes  and  prolongs  dyspepsia.” 
This  we  have  heard  before.  “ Black  tea  is  bad 
enough,”  he  says,  ‘'but  green  tea  is  worse.”  He  does 
not  sufficiently  emphasise  the  fact  that  scarcely  any 
green  tea  is  now  used  in  this  country.  Indeed,  he 
has  very  little  that  is  new  to  say  of  tea,  nor  anything 
in  its  favour,  except  that  it  is  refreshing  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  aud  useful,  medicinally,  for  “ the 
headache  of  nervousness  and  exhaustion.”  He  says 
“the  dilfeienco  between  alcoholic  drinks  and  non 
alcoholic  tea  infusion  is  in  mansy  repects  but  a 
question  of  degree ; both  are  abused,  and  may  bo 
safely  abolished  and  prescribed  only  as  medicaments.” 
If  Dr.  Cooney  had  confined  himself  to  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  mischief  arising  from  excessive  tea 
drinking  and  improperly  infused  tea  he  would  have 
done  some  real  good ; but  he  is  less  concerned  with 
anything  in  its  favour  than  with  piling  up  all  the  old 
arguments  for  or  against  the  use  of  the  leaf  except 
under  medical  direction.  The  public  are  to  a certain 
extent  hardened  against  the  warning  of  medical  men, 
who  continually  cry  out  against  the  evils  of  eating  and 
drinking  generally,  and  say  there  is  danger  in 
almost  every  article  of  human  food.  They  aro 
constantly  letting  us  know  what  we  should  not  eat 
aud  drink;  but,  unfortunately,  they  do  not  console 
us  with  anything  liquid  but  water,  and  that,  they 
tell  us,  should  be  boiled.  Most  people  are  aware 
that  strong  tea  cannot  be  sipped  all  day  long  with 
impunity,  nor  is  it  conducive  to  a healthy  condition 
of  the  stomach  when  the  leaf  is  stewed  and  served 
up  at  frequent  intervals.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  plenty  of  testimony  in  favour  of  the  refreshing 
and  invigorating  influence  of  tea  consumed  under 
rational  conditions.  Tea  drinkers  have  many  argu- 
ments on  their  side,  and  it  is  high  time  a “counter- 
blast” of  some  kind  were  issued  in  thednterests  alike 
of  grocer,  dealer,  and  consumer.  This  abuse  of  tea  by 
medical  men  has  become  monotonous. — H.  unci  C.  Mail, 
^ 
SYSTEMATIC  FRUIT-GROWING  ON  A^^ 
LARGE  SCALE  : 
A NEW  INDUSTRY  FOR  CEYLON  : - ORANGES, 
LEMONS,  &C.,  SUCH  AS  HAVE  NEVER  BEEN 
KNOWN  HERE. 
Last  year  we  liad  a very  interesting  visit  from 
Mr.  F.  Caley  Sinith  of  Messrs.  L.  Sniitli  & Sons, 
Yolumba,  fruit  and  wine  growers  and  exporters. 
He  travelled  a good  deal  in  Ceylon  and  right  to 
the  North  of  India,  taking  notes  everywhere 
as  to  fruit  ; hut  also  doing  business  Hir  his 
firm.  At  Nuwara  Eliya  and  Hakgalla,  he 
gave  and  got  information  and  was  much  in- 
terested in  the  small  private  fruit  gardens  he 
saw.  The  S.S.  “Hinialaya”  lias  liioiiglit  his 
brotlier  Mr.  Walter  Smith  on  a similar  business 
tour;  but  he  is  accompanied  by  Mr.  Pearson, 
who  after  being  several  years  i’n  Ceylon,  has 
latterly  put  m_  five  years  at  fruit-growing  in  Mil- 
dura,  and  who  is  now  convinced  that  given  100  acres 
of  suitable  land— sheltered,  undulating,  not  too 
.steep,  decent  soil, — oranges  and  lemons  such  as 
have  never  been  seen  here,  can  be  profitably 
^lown  for  export  in  Oeylon.  We  luive  recoin* 
mended  both  gentlemen  to  visit  Uva,  but  to  take 
P^adeniya  Gardens  and  Mr.  Nock,  as  well  as 
“Old  Colonist”  on  the  way.  If  our  visitors  are 
piepared  to  introduce  the  very  best  descriptions 
uf  ^Luit,  and  to  take  all  the  risk  of  their  ex- 
]ieriment,  -we  would  certainly  recommend,  if  a 
suitable  lot  of  Crown  land — not  exceediiw  100 
acres— can  be  found,  that  it  be  granted  to  them 
on  certain  conditions,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Pallagama  grant  ? 
— — ♦ — 
MATALE  : A NEW  DEPARTURE. 
A PIONEER  IN  NEW  PRODUCTS  AND  HIS 
SUCCESSORS. 
It  IS  said  that  \\iharagamma  estate,  so  long 
the  property  of  Mr.  Muntun  has  been  leased! 
with  ngnt  ot  purchase,  by  Mr.  E.  Gordon  Reeves. 
Mr.  Munton  has  been  for  a great  number  of 
years  a lu'oprietor  in  the  Matale  district,  and 
well-known  as  being  one  of  the  earliest  to  ex- 
periment in  new  products  when  the  fate  of  coflee 
seemed  sea.led.  So  far  back  as  1878  attention  was 
given  to  Liberian  coffee  and  cocoa  on  this  estate  • 
and  It  was  one  of  the  estates  also  that  gave  scone’ 
to  the  experiments  of  Mr.  Schrotky  in  the  cam. 
paign  again,st  the  leaf  disease. 
Frcm  time  to  time  after  the  reverses  in  coffee 
various  enterpri.ses  were  taken  up,  and  this 
IS  one  of  tlie  very  few  estates  retaining  the 
ouginal  Lxbenan  coliee,  if  indeed  tUerQ  are  others^ 
