274 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  1,  1895. 
The  finiib  who  are  willing  to  buy  it  are  well 
known  in  Ceylon,  as  you  no  doubt  can  testify 
to  Mr.  Kditor.  I am  not  ac  liberty  to  ])ublish 
the  name  at  jjresent,  but  shall  be  pleased  to 
furnish  same  to  !iny  firm  caring  to  take  tlie 
matter  up,  in  the  Planters’  interest.  A written 
guarantee  will  be  given  tliat  no  i)ortion  of  the 
tlutf  will  ever  api)ear  on  the  market  in  any  form 
as  tea. 
I may  say  that  red  leaf  can  be  i>ut  in  also. 
Trusting  that  the  Planters  may  move  in  the 
matter.  — I am,  dear  sir,  yours  faithfully, 
PETER  M.  SHORT. 
Stratford,  near  London,  R.,  August  8. 
Peter  M.  Short,  Esq.,  Talawakele,  Ceylon. 
Dear  Sir, — We  have  received  the  sample  which 
you  sent  us  and  we  find  its  present  value  to  be  3Jd 
to  4d  per  lb,  delivered  to  docks  in  London  At  this 
price  we  could  take  a quantity,  and  if  you  can  ship 
5 or  10  tons  promptly  we  should  be  glad  to  receive 
same  and  would  pay  the  higher  price  if  equal  to 
sample.  Payment  to  be  made  on  arrival  here.— ^Wo 
remain,  youi's  faithfully,  
[Please  don’t  publish  Arm’s  name  at  present. — 
P.M.S.l 
COOLY  SANITATION. 
Sir, — I noted  your  letter  in  the  August  Tropical 
Acjriculturist  in  which  this  subject  is  handled,  and 
reference  has  made  to  the  unearned  reward  offered  by 
your  former  chief  for  the  best  hints  on  this  suljject. 
The  cooly  is  a creature  of  habit  and  custom  ; 
once  establish  a custom  and  he  will  hold  by  it  ; he 
also  readily  conforms  to  any  prevailing  customs  of 
the  place  he  works  in. 
It  has  been  found  imiiossible,  by  trial,  to  make 
coolies  restrict  themselves  in  the  way  of  latrines,  but 
it  may  be  possible  to  bring  about  the  desired  end  by 
the  use  of  a little  diplomacy.  Elephants  are  shy  and 
powerful  but  thej’  are  eventually  driven  into  a stock- 
ade, (of  course  A their  real  and  moral  well  being) 
but  the  commencBinent  of  the  “ drive  ” is  very  wide. 
Imperceptibly  they  are  drifted  rather  than  driven  to 
the  desired  centre. 
On  the  same  principle  it  might  answer  to  enclose  a 
large  area  of  land  adjoining  the  lines,  out-side  of 
which  any  pollution  should  be  strictly  forbidden 
This  area  could  be  kept  clean  by  special  sweepers, 
the  model  latrine  could  be  put  up  in  the  centre  of 
the  area,  its  use  being  optional,  or  merely  advocated. 
Gradually  the  area  could  be  reduced,  and  the  latrine 
increased  in  size. 
It  would  be  used  in  wet  weather,  in  fact  its  use 
would  gradually  become  a custom.  Should  this  sys- 
tem be  adopted  by  a majority  of  estates  which 
•employ  labour,  it  might  have  some  success,  but  any 
trials  on  a small  scale  nuist  be  doomed  to  failure 
and  the  experimentalist  would  get  a bad  name.  This 
plan  entails  time  and  patience,  but  as  these  two 
factors  have  already  been  spent  without  success, 
they  might  be  employed  again.  There  should  bo 
no  appearance  of  hurry  or  coercion  until  indeed 
the  custom  is  established  to  have  become  a law. 
INDIAN  I’LANTER. 
GRAI’E  GROWING  AT  2,200  FEET  IN 
CEYLON. 
Hinilugala,  Fer.adcniya,  .Sept.  12. 
Dear  Hlll, — Could  any  of  your  roadersgivo  mo 
hints  .as  regards  gr.apfc  growing  at  tiiis  elevation 
—2,200  ft. 
1 ha\e  a Muscat  vine,  from  a cutting  brouglit 
out  nine  year.s  ago,  from  a rerp  good  \ine  in 
'•'.ngl.and,  and  altliongli  apjiarcntly  strong  anti 
healthy  it  sliows  no  signs  or  bearing  yet. 
It  is  itlanleil  oh  a sbelttn-eil  samly  slojie  facing 
aouth-west. — Yours  faithfully, 
M.  Q.  WERR. 
[M.  Zanetti  is  good  enough  to  give  his  opinion 
through  Mr.  Drieberg  as  tollo\v.s : — 
It  would  be  a difficult  matter  to  account  for  the 
non-bearing  of  a vine  without  seeing  it  in  situ,  but 
the  following  are  the  most  probable  reasons— its 
strength  may  be  exhausted  by  the  presence  of 
suckers;  the  sap  may  be  dissipated  along  unneces- 
sary branches  by  the  vine  being  allowed  to  grow 
rank  without  proper  pruning,  or  lastly  the  cutting  might 
have  been  got  from  a “ water  shoot”  or  non-fruit- 
bearing one  in  which  case  there  is  hardly  a possi- 
bility of  the  vine  ever  bearing. 
SVe  should  be  inclined  to  advise  Mr.  Webb  to 
try  laying  bare  the  roots  .as  a means  of  check- 
ing growth,  ado])ted  with  succes.s  by  the  late 
Mr,  Dyke  in  Jall'na,  who  in  that  wa}',  got  his 
vines  readily  to  bear  fruit.  Rut  Jaff  na  li,as  the 
peculiarly  dry  climate  in  which  the  vine  delights. 
—Ed,  T',A.] 
VARIOUS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
Libkri.vk  Coffee, — A couple  of  Arms  in  Nederland 
are  endeavouring  to  buy  up  the  whole  Liberian 
coffee  crop  of  west  Java  for  1896  and  are  prepared 
to  pay  sixty  guilders  per  pikuk— Chronicle. 
Coffee  Redivivus.— We  attract  attention  to 
the  very  cheering  account  given  to  us  to  by  a 
practical  planter  writing  from  Haputalo,  of  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  our  old  ruling  staple, 
on  the  estates  that  have  retained  an  apiireci.able 
extent  in  cultiv.ation.  A comjiaratively  dry  sea- 
son in  our  hill-country  used  alw.ays  to  be  a good 
one  for  coffee.  We  congratulate  the  fortunate 
pro|)rietor.s  referred  to,  who  should  make  a good 
profit,  with  coffee  selling  so  well  as  it  does  now. 
Dangers  of  Peat  Litter. — In  a meeting  of  the 
French  Centr.al  Society  of  \’'eterinary  Medicine,  Mr. 
Railliet  called  attention  to  the  dangers  of  peat 
litter  as  regards  the  propagation  of  intestinal  para- 
sites among  horses.  Having  observed  a veiitable 
epidemic  of  worms  among  cavalry  horses — over  250 
out  of  .500  having,  as  he  puts  it,  “ their  intestines 
literally  crammed  with  ascarides” — he  examined  the 
turf  litter  used  in  their  stables,  and  found  in  it  an 
abundance  of  eggs  of  intestinal  worms  (Acaris 
equomm,  Ori/arus  equi)  and  even  tenia,  and  he  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  turf  litter  was  the  hotbed 
of  this  epidemic  of  worms. — L’Echo  de  V Amide. 
The  Exten.sion  of  Tea  Cultivation  in 
Ceylon. — The  following  from  the  evening  journal 
is  a specimen  of  a series  of  unfounded  state- 
ments : — 
In  fact,  we  were  as  good  as  told — and  the  editor  of  the 
paper  (meaning  the  Ohserrer)  supported  the  c ntention 
— th.at  Ceylon  bad  seen  her  best  days,  that  it  had  turned 
the  corner  of  prosperity,  and  was  starting  on  the  down- 
ward track;  all  because  the  Government,  falling  in 
with  the  suggestions  made  by  several  Di.Urict  Plant- 
ers’ Associations,  did  not  tlirow  its  reserve  of  jungle 
on  to  the  market,  and  thereby  unnecessarily  increase 
the  output  of  Ceylon  tea. 
Now  the  writer  knows  well  that  most  of  the 
above  is  from  his  own  im.aginatioii, — that  our  special 
objection  to  the  announcement  of  the  Cevlun  Go- 
vernment that  it  would  sell  no  more  land  for 
“tea,”  was  the  effect  it  had  in  Northern  liulia 
where  an  unprecedenteil  extension  in  planting  at 
once  took  place.  Suchapoli(\v  might,  prac.tic.il ly, 
have  been  followed,  by  only  pi, -icing  2,000  to 
.3,000  .acres  a year  in  the  market  without  the 
resulting  mischief  which  the  “ Times” ’s  clamour- 
ous jiaragraphs  about  the  wishes  of  Planters’ 
Associations  and  the  compliance  of  the  Govern- 
ment, cre.ated  on  the  minds  of  planters  over  the 
way.  Our  business  has  been  to  counteract  this 
effect  by  shewdiig  our  Indian  neighbours  how  largo 
an  area  of  available  land  there  is  in  private  hands 
in  Geylon — perhaps  120,000  acres,  if  re.servcs  be 
counteik 
