Jan.  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
4^r 
with  tlie  jnoceeds  to  tlie  tune  of  some  l,tiOO  to 
1,000  rupees! 
Seven  yeurs  uyo,  wo  look  Mr.  Jaixline  to 
visit  Kajakadaluwa  : it  was  a new  distriet  to 
him.  He  was  struck  with  the  oiowtli  of  tlie 
young  palms  and  with  ihe  fact  that,  althougli 
a dry  district,  much  of  the  land  lying  low  had 
water  within  easy  reach  in  the  suh.soil  which 
would  jirohahly  sustain  the  trees  in  time  of 
drought.  But  Mr.  Jardine  did  not  (juite  approve 
of  the  soil — a mixture  of  sand  and  light  loam — 
and  doubted  its  “staying”  power,  considering 
that  it  would  have  to  be  early  and  continuously 
su))ported  by  manure  to  ensure  paying  crops. 
Meantime,  the  palms  grew'  and  they  had  to 
battle  with  one  year  of  nearly  entire  neglect 
through  the  illness  of  the  Manager  and  our  ab- 
sence in  England.  This  entailed  extra  expense 
later  on,  and  a disadvantage  through  the  advent 
of  troublesome  weeds  in  some  jiarts  scarcely  got 
over  to  tills  day,  although  sjiecial  credit  is  due 
to  the  great  iinprovement  ellected  under  care- 
ful supervision  How'ever,  the  lields  aie  now' 
6.V  ana  7 years  old,  and  w hile  unable  to  get  Mr. 
Jardine  again  to  visit  the  scene  and  perhajis 
revi.se  his  report  of  December  1S8S  in  the  face 
of  a nourishing  growth,  we  were  fortunate  in 
securing  the  presence  of  Mr.  W.  H.  ^yright  witli 
his  unequalled  experience  of  soils  and  cultivation 
in  so  many  parts  of  the  island.  Mr.  Wright 
had  previously  reported  on  plantations  south  of 
the  Deduruoya  ; but  he  had  never  visited  Kaja- 
kadaluwa.  From  the  time  we  crossed  the  new' 
bridge,  during  our  four  miles  journey  onwards,  our 
comjianion  was  eagerly  on  the  qui  vivc  to  note  the 
peculiarities  of  the  country,  the  vegetation,  soil 
&c. ; and  he  saw'  much  which  evidently  did  not 
please  him.  Indeed  by  the  time  we  reached  our 
destination,  Toynbee,  Mr.  Wrigiit  had  anything 
but  a cbeerful  aspect.  He,  how'ever,  at  once 
started  off  on  a walk  of  inspection  by  himself 
and  the  result  w'as  eminently  satisfactory.  He 
found  none  of  tlie  dreailed  burnt  clay  (“  k.arameti  ") 
which  he  feared  from  what  he  s.aw  a long. and  near  t he 
ni.ainroad  at  several  points;  he  tested  the  soil  by  the 
cuttings,  diggings,  anthills,  ikc.  hec.ame  acro.ss;  but 
above  all,  he  was  completely  .satislied  by  the 
actual  growth  and  appearance  of  the  palms  and 
the  number  and  .size  of  nuts  on  those  coming 
into  bearing.  Mr.  Wright  had  a good  deal  of 
criticism  to  .advance,  of  course.  He  utterly  con- 
demned, for  one  thing,  .sapanwood  fences — judging 
from  his  own  experience  at  iMirigama  w'here  he 
had  to  cut  them  down— as  specially  interfering 
w'ith  the  adjacent  rows  of  palms  ; and  he  had 
many  hints  to  give  in  regaid  to  improved 
cultivation.  But  on  the  all-important  matters 
as  to  the  .snit.ablcness  of  soil  for  coconuts,  he 
li.ad  a strongly  favourable  opinion.  It  was  im- 
lossible  to  foretell  what  twenty  years  might  bring 
orth  ; but  finer  or  more  vigorous  trees  of  their  age, 
lie  had  never  seen  even  in  the  Mahaoya  Valley 
.and  he  saw'  no  reason  w'hy,  with  due  cultivation 
and  such  economic  manuring  as  he  was  using 
on  his  own  young  plantation  in  the  application 
of  ashes  ami  sheep  manure,  the  lields  should  not 
yield  successive  liberal  crops  of  nuts  for  a long 
period  to  come.  Of  course,  there  w'as  a great 
.advantage  in  seeing  an  estate  after  seven  years, 
•as  compared  with  six  months,  in  judging  of  the 
capabilities  of  its  .soil  and  of  its  future.  At  the 
same  time,  it  is  evident  that  between  the  De- 
duraoya  and  Pnttalam,  as  indeed  in  the  Baja- 
kadaluwa  division  itself,  there  .arc  great  dillereiices 
in  the  soil,  even  w'ithin  comparatively  short 
distances.  The  still'  clay  found  in  some  parts 
has  to  be  carefully  avoided  by  the  coconut 
planters;  though  no  doubt  “liming”  and  “tillage” 
could  ilo  much  to  improve  even  such  a soil,  Mr. 
Wright  is  a great  believer  in  the  jmlicious  ap- 
plication of  w'ood  ashes  to  ])alms  at  almost  all 
stages.  He  would  have  all  timber  burnt  and 
tbe  ashes  cai’efully  gathered  for  application, 
rather  than  allow'  twigs  and  branches  to 
gr.adually  decay.  The  burning,  too,  is  a pre- 
ventive of  malaria.  All  sw'amps  and  lowlying 
]rarts  he  would  have  carefully  drained,  squares 
raised  and  planted  on.  Of  course,  this  is  a common 
}>ractice  of  good  planters,  though  all  may  not 
have  the  means  to  do  the  w’orks  in  the  thorough 
systematic  w'ay  which  Mr.  Wright  has  inaugu- 
rated near  Mirigama.  An  estate  Superin- 
tendent must  cut  his  coat  .according  to  his  cloth. 
Meantime  we  tender  to  the  estate  proprietors 
in  llajak,adaluw'a  and  beyond  towards  Put- 
talam, ' all  the  encouragement  the  veteran’s 
opinion  should  bring  to  them; — only  to  profit 
by  it,  they  must  c.arefully  cultivate  their 
palms,  w'eed  regularly,  cut  down  and  buiy  all 
plantains,  keep  up  a steady  fight  w ith  the  beetle 
enemies.  It  w'as  pitiable  to  notice  some  fields  of 
jtalnis  choked  with  weeds,  or  impoverished  by 
plantains,  or  yellow  and  w'itheredfor  w, ant  of  drain- 
age. Far  better  such  should  never  have  been 
planted  ; and  even  wealthy  capitalist.s  among  our 
native  friends  are  sometimes  sinners  in  this  res- 
pect—in  not  doing  justice  to  themselve.s  or  their 
properties.  How'ever,  visitors  to  a district  should 
judge  by  the  res\ilts  due  to  proper  planting  and 
cultivation. 
To  turn  now  to  the  Raihvay  : if  its  need 
w.as  made  plain  to  Mr.  Lushington  in  1888,  w-e 
feel  sure  the  encouragement  and  necessity  have 
gre.atly  grown  since  then  and  must  go  on  growing 
every  year.  But  a far  greater  importance  is  given 
to  such  a project  when  it  is  connected  with  an  Indo- 
Ceylon  Line.  A metre-gauge  K.ailway  from 
Colombo  due  north  through  Negombo,  Maraw’ila, 
Cbilaw,  R.ajakadaluwa,  and  Puttalam  will  pay 
si)lendidly  on  its  own  account  and  then  when 
connecte(l  at  Mana.ar  with  the  South  Indian 
lines,  and  extended  thence  or  from  Puttalam  into 
Anuradhapiira  and  .Jall'na,  we  shouhl  have  by  f.ar 
the  most  economical  and  ad\ant.ageous  system 
that  can,  .at  this  time,  be  desired  and  introduced. 
There  is  much  on  the  journey  to  and  from 
Chi  law  to  interest  the  traveller  by  coach  and 
one  has  now'  the  felicity  of  crossing  the  Kelani- 
ganga  by  the  grand  new  Victoria  Bridge — longer 
.and  bigger,  more  costly  and  showy,  but  not 
more  useftil  th.an  the  sister  bridge  over  the 
Deduruoy.a.  All  along  the  route  W'e  noticed  a 
pros))erous  well-to-do  peoi)le  .and  a country  emi- 
nently in  need  of  communication  by  r.ailw.ay. 
Meantime  both  steamers  (to  Negombo)  and  coaches 
there  an  1 beyond  serve  their  useful  purpose. 
We  heard  of  the  Chilaw'  coach  being  fined  for 
w'ant  of  punctuality  by  tbe  Postmaster-General ; 
but,  in  our  experience,  the  longest  delays  by  far 
were  caused  by  the  Post  Offices  along  the  route. 
“ MLaiting  for  the  mails”  was  the  rule  at  nearly 
every  wayside  post.  This  ought  not  to  be  the 
case  ; and  if  there  .are  to  be  fines,  let  them  be 
imposed  on  those  really  res])onsible. 
^ 
THE  UNITED  PLANTERS’  ASSOCIATION 
OF  SOUTHERN  INDIA. 
We  have  received  a copy  of  a circular  contain- 
ing correspondence  with  regard  to  affiliation  with  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  requesting 
that  each  Association  will,  at  an  early  date,  send 
in  the  name  of  a Planter,  either  now  resident  in 
England  or  shortly  proceeding  there,  who  it  would 
propose  to  nominate  to  represent  the  United  Planters’ 
Association  of  Southern  India  on  the  London  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce, 
