836 
THE 
TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1896. 
by  planting.  Apart  from  the  rice  aiul  cart 
co!itractors  mid  their  dependents,  the  in- 
lluence  of  Bricisli  capital  and  interest  as  well  as 
direct  employment  spreads  far  and  wide.  First 
come  the  planting  district  “ boutiques,”  wayside 
shops,  then  the  village  and  around  tliis  often 
a good  deal  of  native  cultivation  in  fruit  or  rice 
or  tea  gardens  ; while  it  is  well-known  that  a 
great  part  of  the  Western  and  North-Western 
Provinces  (the  whole  of  the  Mahaoya  Valley) 
have  been  planted  with  coconuts  through  the 
capital  diffused  among  native  contractors, 
traders,  &c.,  by  the  coH’ee  enterprise  in  its 
prosperity.  (Hear,  hear.)  Tlie  calculation  there- 
fore that  I Ion"  ago  arrived  at,  after  due  con- 
sideration of  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  is,  I 
think,  a safe  one,  namely,  that  for  every  acre 
of  coffee,  tea,  cacao  or  such  like  cultivation 
opened  by  the  British  planters  in  Ceylon  (or 
India  or  I may  add  East  or  Central  Africa)  four 
or  five  natives,  Tamils  or  Sinhalese  men,  women 
or  children  directly  or  indirectly  derive  their 
means  of  subsistence.  * * * 
COFFEE  PLANTING  IN  SELANGOR : 
The  Recent  Witi-idraival  of  Ceylon  Arpli- 
CANT.S  FOR  Land. 
In  the  Sdangor  Government  Gazette  of  April 
24th  is  printed  the  monthly  report  for  February  of 
the  District  Officer  of  Klang  (Mr.  W.  W.  Doug- 
las), from  whicli  we  quote  the  following  re- 
marks ; — 
During  the  moath,  Mr.  E.  V.  Carey  applied  for 
one  block  of  500  acres  on  the  terms  of  his  agree- 
ment with  the  Government,  and  four  blocks  of  020 
acres  each  on  the  west  side  of  the  Sungei  Binji  Road 
in  the  mukin  of  Bukit  Raja.  Mr.  T.  N.  Christie 
applied  for  one  block  of  070  acres  and  a customary 
holding  of  25  acres  at  Damansara.  In  the  Rapar 
District,  between  the  Kapar  and  the  trace  of  the  pro- 
posed road  to  Ijoh,  there  were  five  applications  for 
blocks  of  more  or  Jess  000  acres  each.  These  were 
made  by  Messrs.  T.  N.  Clu-istie,  G.  W.  Welman,  W. 
P.  Metcalfe,  A.  Melville  'White  and  J.  R.  Rodgers. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  exceedingly  that  Mr.  W'^.  For- 
sythe, the  owner  of  blocks  32,  03,  34,  35,  06,  41 , 43, 
44,  66,  and  57,  and  Mr.  T.  N.  Christie  of  block  37, 
all  of  which  lie  between  the  Jalau  Kabun  and  the 
Langat  Road,  have  considered  it  advisable  to  aban- 
don their  estates,  known  as  Datu  Dagang,  Sempang 
and  Lanka  Estates  The  decision  arrived  at  is  attri- 
buted to  the  land  having  been  found  peaty  and  un- 
suitable for  coffee  culture.  To  say  that  the  land 
would  not  grow  coffee  when  thoroughly  drained  is, 
in  my  opinion,  a grave  mistake.  F'rom  enquiry  made 
of  Haji  Mohamed  Tahir,  the  pioneer  coffee  planter 
of  Klang,  the  former  owner  of  the  show  piece  of 
coffee,  aged  some  14  years,  and  the  one  man  that  set 
the  example  of  coffee  culture  which  has  resulted  in 
the  district  having  now  3,224  acres  under  coffee  cul- 
tivation and  some  2,402  acres  about  to  be  opened 
up,  I ascertained  that  the  land  on  which  he  first 
planted  coffee  was,  when  first  cleared,  identically  the 
same  as  that  abandoned. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  very  exaggerated  ideas  of 
the  now  supposed  worthless  Klang  land  will,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  lengthy  correspondence  in  the  papers 
on  the  subject,  spread  far  and  wide,  and  be  the 
cause  of  keeping  away  many  intending  investors  of 
capital.  It  is,  I consider,  therefore,  due  to  the  dis- 
trict that  the  facts  of  the  present  state  of  coffee 
culture  within  it  should  be  made  known  generally, 
as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  principal  owner  of  the 
lands  lately  abandoned  inspected  his  selections  prior 
to  the  sale  by  auction,  and  on  the  date  of  the  sale 
scut  instructions  by  telegram  for  certain  blocks  (in- 
cluded in  those  abandoned)  to  bo  purchased. 
NOTES  FRUxM  NVASSALAND. 
MLANUE  AND  ITS  SUKROUN DINGS. 
March  6th. — As  one  of  the  principal  planting  dis- 
tricts in  British  Central  Africa,  it  might  interest 
your  readers  to  know  something  of  it.  Unlike  the 
hill  country  of  Ceylon,  where  mountains  rise  gra- 
dually, and  the  slopes  mostly  cultivated,  Mlange 
mountain  r-ises  suddenly  out  of  the  plain,  which  is 
on  an  average  of  about  2,000  feet,  and  its  sides, 
especially  on  the  western  side,  rise  like  sheer  stone 
walls  to  some  four  to  five  thousand  feet.  The 
highest  peak  is  about  10,000,  rising  off  the  plateau, 
which  is  between  6,000  and  7,000  feet.  The  plateau 
is  the  sanatorium  of  the  Mlange  district,  or  at 
least  will  bo  so,  when  a road  has  been  made  up  ; 
at  present  the  ascent,  which  can  only  be  made  in  a 
few  places,  is  difficult,  and  is  a great  undertaking, 
but  once  the  plateau  is  reached,  it  recompenses 
one  for  the  trouble  of  the  ascent.  On  reach- 
ing the  top  a splendid  view  burst  upon  one  ; 
in  front  undulating  country  something  simi- 
lar to  the  Horton  Plains  in  Ceylon,  short  grass 
land  dotted  with  small  prices  of  pine  forest ; while 
below  the  plain  extends  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see, 
and  broken  in  few  places  only  with  small  hills. 
The  small  pieces  of  pine  forests  on  the  plateau, 
which  lie  chiefly  in  the  hollows  are  extremely  pic- 
turesque, the  trees  being  covered  with  drooping  white 
moss,  and  the  undergrowth  consisting  chiefly  of  large 
ferns  and  male  bamboos.  The  peaks,  which  rise 
off  the  plateau,  are  sheer  masses  of  rock  with  no 
verdure  whatever,  and  as  yet  only  two  Europeans 
have  ever  reached  the  top  of  the  highest  peak.  The 
southern  side  of  Mlange  is  the  source  of  three  rivers, 
the  Ruo  Luchenia,  and  Cbucheela,  the  latter  two 
flowing  inti  the  Ruo  some  twenty  miles  north  of 
Chiromo.  The  “Ruo  falls’’  down  the  side  of  the 
mountain  are  a sight,  especially  during  the  wet  weather, 
enormous  volumes  of  water  dropping  some  thousands 
of  feet.  From  the  edge  of  the  plateau  three  plan- 
tations can  be  distinctly  seen  : Mount  Zion,  Lauder- 
dale, and  the  small  clearing  on  the  Nyassaland 
Coffee  Company’s  land.  On  the  northern  side  of 
the  mountain  is  the  Matapwerry  country,  which  was 
only  acquired  a few  mouths  ago  after  the  .Uatapwerry 
war.  On  this  side  the  mountain  is  not  nearly  so 
precipitious,  the  sides  being  covered  with  forest,  but 
unfortunately  the  elevation  is  too  high  for  Coffee 
cultivation,  and  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain has  been  cultivated  for  years  by  the  inhabi- 
tants and  consequently  is  divested  of  all  its  virgin 
forest.  Speaking  of  the  latter  it  must  not  be  ima- 
gined that  the  plain  surrounding  Mlange  is  covered 
with  virgin  forest.  Far  from  it;  there  are  large 
portions  of  land  which  have  been  cultivated  by  natives 
for  years,  and  owing  to  the  limited  quantity  of 
forest  land  little  new  remains.  The  pioneers  have 
had  the  pick  of  the  land,  and  have  not  been  slow 
to  get  all  they  could  while  the  price  was  slow  one 
resident  alone  owing  7,000  acres  of  the  best  land, 
the  Nyassaland  Coffee  Company  coming  second  with 
3,500,  and  Mr.  Carson  third  with  2,500.  There  are 
now  in  all  six  plantations  comprising  some  700 
acres  under  coffee  cultivation,  most  of  which  is 
quite  young.  The  year’s  crop  will  only  amount  to 
about  45  tons.  The  next  few  years  arc  likely  to 
make  a great  difference,  as  large  acreages  w'lll  be 
put  under  cultivation. 
J>abor. — Even  with  tho  present  acreage  under  cul- 
tivation there  is  a want  of  labor,  especially  during 
the  planting  season.  Not  because  there  are  insuffi- 
cient numbers  in  the  country,  but  being  entirely 
due  to  the  nigger  being  an  indopendant  individual — 
ho  works  when  he  likes.  In  many  respects  they  arc 
like  the  yinhalese  of  Ceylon — lazy  to  a degree  and 
sand  only  working  for  short  periods  when  it  please 
them.  As  long  as  a nigger  has  plenty  of  food  and 
a little  cloth  to  clothe  himself,  he  is  perfectly  con- 
tented ; when  his  cloth  is  exhausted  he  works  for  a 
month,  perhaps  two,  ane  then  remains  idle  for  tho 
rest  of  the  year.  In  this  district  they  have  no  am- 
bition to  earn  money ; cloth  and  beads  are  all  they 
require.  Local  labor,  of  which  there  arc  largo  uum- 
