449 
)an.  I,  1896.]  TIIR  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
the  unequalled  climate  of  the 
HILL-COUNTRY  OF  CEYLON. 
When  ilealiiig  more  in  iletiiil  witli  Lire  elimatic 
elements  in  the  latter  part  of  Mr.  Douglas 
Archibald’s  ]iam)dilet,  attention  is  dia\rn  by  tlie 
writer  to  many  foature-s  which  only  the 
microscopiq  eye  of  tlie  Scientist,  M'ho  never  over- 
Ibbks  details,  wonhl  liave  discerned,  l*'or  example, 
bur  .hill-stations  are  cooler  than  those  of  India 
at  the  same  elevation  although  we  are  nearer 
the  eiiuator.  In  the  Himalaya  the  rate  of  de- 
crea.se  with  the  ascent  is  one  degree  Fahrenheit 
for  every  -lot)  feet  elevation.  AVith  ns  the  rate  is 
one  degree  for  every  iidU  feet  betn’cen  Colomljo  and 
Kandy  rind  one  degree  in  every  2GU  feet  belw  een 
Kandjr  and  Nnwafa  Eliya.  AVhate\'er  may  be  the 
cause,  ainl  for  practical  pnrpose.s  we  may  lea  \ e this 
alone,  the  result  is  decidedly  in  onr  fa\'onr,  since 
we  are  not  obliged  to  go  so  high  or  breathe  so  rare 
an  atinosi>here  to  cool  oursehes  as  our  less  for- 
tunate Anglo-Inilian  brothers. 
Another  feature  peculiar  to  Ceylon  from  its 
propinquity  to  the  etpiator  is  the  small  range  of 
its  monthly  temperature  ['mring  the  year.  Any 
one  can  ea.sily  see  that  on  the  Nortliern  tropic 
where  the  sun  has  to  travel  4(i  degrees  from  the 
Southern  in  order  to  reach  verticality,  there  must 
be  a greater  range  than  near  the  equator  when 
it  never  travels  more  than  ‘d:!  degrees  on  either 
side  of  the  Zenith  ; and  this  diilerence  is  exag- 
gerated as  we  travel  either  poleward  or  iidand 
where  the  presence  of  a solid  surface  accentuates 
temperauire  changes  by  its  small  capacity  for  heat 
and  its  great  cajiacity  for  exhihiling  lieat  or  cold  in 
the  form  of  temperatures.  Our  small  annual  range 
in  Ceylon  aiqdies  to  hills  as  well  as  plains  and 
this,  again,  is  a great  ad\antage  since  it  means 
that  at  Nuwnia  Eliya,  for  exalnpje,  no  month 
is  excessively  cold  or  hot  as  occurs  at  the  host 
Himalayan  sanitaria.  'I'o  counteract  iheiiossible 
enervation  produced  by  such  a small  annual 
change  there  is  as  Mr.  Archibahl  points  out,  a 
remarkable  compensation  in  the  fact  that  the 
diurnal  range  of  temperature  is  alway.s  greatef 
than  it  is  farther  north  or  south,  and  even  on 
ati  island  like  Ceylon  when  it  sliould  be  le.ss 
than  on  a continent  in  the  same  latitude,  it  is 
greater  than  .at  many  Indian  stations.  'I'his  also 
nieatis  coal  nights  nhen  the  mayirita  during  the 
dav  as  wit.h  us  are  )ie\er  very  large,  and  even 
Colombo  shows  this  when  in  July  in-ii'  d of  a 
.study  SO  at  nigiit  after  in  the  day  we  have 
a com]iaratively  cool  77.  -Vt  Kandy  and  N\iwara 
Eliya  the  eti'ect  is  still  more  niarkeil  ; ihe  mean 
daily  minima  at  Kandy  all  through  the  hot 
weather  never  Ijcing  greater  th.-ui  7<>'\  and  at 
Nuwara  Eliya,  -where  the  range  is  providientially 
smaller,  never  le.ss  thtl'n  W.  In  other  words, 
while  an  agreeable  change  during  tin*  day  is 
experienced  our  hill  stalious  aie  ne\er  too 
hot  and  never  too  (a)hl.  Of  course,  this 
in  a great  measure  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
owing  to  the  double  march  of  the  sun 
over  us  in  the  year  onr  hill  staiions 
ox)ierience  in  reality  twf>  summers  and  two 
^vinters  of  only  half  tiie  normal  dimensions  of 
those  outside  the  troi)ics. 
The  question  of  rainfall  is  another  jioint  on 
which  the  author  tinous  some  new'‘  light,  since 
he  ijoints  out  the  mistake  of  judging  the  aunc.ge 
raininess  of  n,  place  imnely  by  incln  > or  annual 
totals.  Tlie  iuc-.hes  m,iy  lall  in  suddtm  |)inmps, 
as  is  shown  by  a compari.son  of  rainy  days  at 
Hatton  207  withduS.at  Nuwara  Eliya,  while  at 
the  former  tiie  annual  fall  is  loS  against  IM  at 
the  latter,  and  the  falls  may  he  pretty  uniformly 
spread  over  tlie  year  and  not  ns  in  India  he 
cpniined  to  the  season  of  the  S.-AA’'.  luonsbon. 
Ry  a judicious  series  of  transportations,  the 
visitor  may  almost  e.scapc  both  monsoons,  and  in 
any  case  meet  with  nothing  worse  than  what  1.^ 
called  a “ Scotch  mist  ” at  Nuwara  Eliya  if  he 
avoids  certain  months. 
It  is  curious  to  lind  that  we  embrace  in  Cey- 
lon almost  all  the  most  desirable  climates  in 
the  world.  New'  Zealand  is  represented  by 
Nuwara  Eliya;  South  Qtueensland  or  the  Cape 
by  Bandarawela  ; Sydney  by  Hatton  with  a few 
inches  of  rain  olV;  Cairo  with  its  hot  summer 
expunged  by  Kandy,  and  that  while  this  latter 
station  has  a summer  heat  no  greater  than  Romq 
or  lAIadrid  ; the  winter  cold  of  Nuwara  Eliya 
is  no  greater  than  the  snmmer  heat  of  Edin- 
burgh. 
AVhat  are  we  to  say  after  all  this  ? Have  w'e 
made  as  much  of  our  blessings  as  we  might  or 
ad\'crtised  them  as  much  as  they  deserve 't  AA^e 
think  not  and  while  undoubtedly  the  best  adver- 
tisement such  places  can  get  is  the  reports  that 
visitors  carry  away  with  them  of  the  air  they 
have  breathed  ami  the  comforts  they  have  enjoyed, 
we  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Douglas  Archibald  that 
a supidement  might  be  added  to  the  caution  to 
strangers  on  landing  against  the  dangers  of 
snnstr(d<e,  so  as  to  m.ake  it  read  as  follows  — 
“ Beware  of  sunstroke  and  go  to  our  Hill- 
country.” 
THE  LANKA  FL.VNTATIONS  COAII’ANY, 
LIMITED. 
The  fifteenth  ordinary  general  meeting  of  the 
shareholders  of  this  company  was  held  at  the  offices 
of  the  company,  12,  Fenchurch  Street,  B.C.,  on 
Ifith  November. 
The  chair  was  occnpiecl  by  Mr.  Gleorge  .Allen,  chair* 
mall  of  tlie  directors,  and  the  shareholders  pi-esent 
Were  Messrs.  F.  Bois,  E.  F,  North,  A.  Collinge,  J. 
Hall,  J.  E.  Dawson,  J.  Smith,  .1.  Lee,  and  AV.  H. 
Ilaslara. 
The  secretary  Mr.  C.  Robertson,  ba-ving  read  the 
tnotice  convening  the  meeting,  and  the  minutes  of 
tlie  previous  meeting  having  been  read  and  confirmed, 
he  chairman  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report 
and  accounts  said  ; 
Gentlemen,  you  will  all  agree  with  me  that  the 
duties  befor-e  ns  today  are  pleasant  and  bj'  no  meails 
difficult.  I will  deal  first  with  the  report  which  yoil 
have  all  received  and  are  no  doubt  familiar  with. 
You  v.-il!  notice  that  the  coffee  shipped  to  London 
ivaa  l,ci71  cwt.  against  780  cwt.  last  year,  and  real- 
ised .£6,504.  The  acreage  under  coffee  alone  was  210 
acres,  and  the  trees,  according  to  the  latest  reports, 
after  maturing  a good  crop,  were  i-eported  to  be  in 
excellent  he.irt  and  condition;  and  as  the  superin- 
tendent is  confident  of  his  estimate,  we  may  hope 
for  fair  profits  for  1896.  The  total  crop  of  cocoa 
gathered  on  Yattawattc  amounted  to  1.214  cwt., 
against  07t)  cwt.  last  3'car,  and  realised  £3,038,  and  in 
spite  of  the  verj*  low  rates  now  prevailing  there 
wuis  a good  margin  of  profit  left.  During  the  season 
a further  acieage  has  been  planted,  and  forty-two 
acres  of  available  land  adjoining  the  estate  have  been 
purchased,  the  cost  of  the  new  planting  and  land 
having  been  ebarged  to  capital  account.  The  estate 
i.s  improvii  g year  by  year,  and  the  manager  reports 
that  there  is  every  indication  of  a good  crop  for 
1806.  AVith  regard  to  tea,  there  has  been  an  increase 
of  nearly  : 0,000  lb.,  which  has  realised  an  increase  in 
cash  of  £1,600.  As  our  teas  are  nearly  all  high-class 
teas,  it  natiually  follow's  that  we  benefit  by  high  prices, 
ill'.  Bois  reports  that  the  estates  are  in  good  order,  and 
eveiything  points  to  a satisfactory  result  for  the 
current  year.  Since  the  death  (if  I may  term  it 
so)  of  coffee  we  have  spent  .£20,206  out  of  revenup 
in  substituting  cinchona  for  coffee,  and  then  tea  for 
cinchona.  Tlie  directors  propose  to  take  advantage  of 
the  unexpected  increase  in  the  net  proceeds  of  the 
coffep  , to  write  off  fi'oin  the  suspense  account  thg 
