697 
April  i,  1897. J THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULURIST. 
amounts  to  R2,4ti8'81,  and  with  the  balance  brought 
forward  from  previous  year  of  Rl,2‘21'71,  a total  of 
R3,690'55.  This  the  Directors  recommend  being 
carried  forward  to  next  account. 
As  regards  the  working  of  iha  Estate,  the  Com- 
pany has  been  under  a disadvantage  owing  to  changes 
of  superintendence.  Tlie  Directors  have  now  secured 
the  services  of  Mr.  A.  E.  Biun-Smeaton,  under 
whose  management  considerably  better  results  may 
be  looked  for. 
During  the  past  year,  the  valubable  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  Udabage  being  rapidly  acquired  by  others, 
the  Directors  deeined  it  advisable  to  secure  three 
fine  blocks  aggregating  781  acres.  In  order  to  pay 
for  this,  and  tlie  co  t of  the  opening,  Debentures 
bearing  inteivst  at  the  rate  of  7 per  cent,  were  issued, 
but  only  R53,000  have  been  taken  up,  and  the 
Company  is  indebted  to  its  Rankers  in  the  sum  of 
R15,82118  on  which  interest  at  current  rates  is 
running. 
The  Directors,  therefore,  propose  entering  into 
negotiations  at  home  tor  the  rai-ing  of  a Sterling 
loan  secured  by  a primary  mortgage  on  the  Cotn- 
{ rally's  property  upon  more  reasonable  rates  than  can 
le  obtained  locally,  and  which  will  permit  of  their 
paying  off  the  Debentures  and  debts,  and  provide 
bu.vicient  funds  for  further  extensions. 
The  ostiraite  for  the  cane  t season  is  125,000  of 
made  Tea,  and  up  to  250  acres  are  being  felled  and 
planted  np. 
Mr.  J.  N.  C.uiiPBELL  retires  in  terms  of  the  Articles 
of  Association,  but  is  eligible  for  re-election. 
The  appointment  of  an  Auditor  res's  with  the 
meeiing.  Cmison  & Co. 
Colombo,  29th  January,  1897.  Agents  and  Secretaries. 
PLANTING  NOTES. 
I see  an  outcry  has  been  raised  against  the  pro- 
ducts of  a tree  being  applied  to  it  as 
MANUIIK 
in  connection  with  disease  in  turnips  at  home.  As 
usual  in  such  cases  the  outcry  is  being  re-echoed 
here,  and  people  declaim  against  burying  tea-prunings 
which  are  wrongly  called  ‘‘  refuse.”  I consider  that 
word  a misnoiner  and  would  ca  l it  a product  of  the 
tree.  There  is  no  analogy  between  the  refuse  of  the 
animal  cieation  and  tlie-  leaves,  fruit  or  branches 
of  trees  or  pl.ints.  In  the  one  instance,  the  refuse 
is  that  portion  of  the  food,  which  is  refused  by  the 
system  after  it  has  extracted  from  it  all  that  is  neces- 
sary for  its  sustenance.  According  to  this  defini- 
tion trees  and  plants  have  no  ‘‘  refuse  ” or  excreta. 
Old  agriculturists  believed  that  plants  passed  through 
their  roots  what  was  not  necetsaiy  for  their  suste- 
nance, and  that  this  “refuse”  wa.s  harmful  to  that 
order  of  trees  and  plants,  and  that  after  a time,  they 
refused  to  grow  on  the  same  land.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  rotation  of  crops.  This  is  an  instance 
of  right  conclusions  being  drawn  from  wrong  pre- 
misses. The  practice  that  observation  led  agricul- 
turists to  adopt,  scientific  research  has  pronounced 
to  be  t!  e right  one,  but  for  different  reasons.  The 
soil  is  deprived  temporarily  of  certain  constituents 
by  one  order  of  plants,  but  another  order  not 
requiring  the  same  constituents  thrive  well  enough 
on  the  same  soil.  As  you  very  pertinently  re- 
marked, forest  soils  are  improved  by  the  dropping  of 
leaves. 
Old  coffee  planters  used  always  to  bury  primings 
when  the  labour  was  available  and 
PULP 
never'  went  to  waste,  but  was  a valuable  ingredient 
of  comport  heaps.  Sabonadiere,  an  acknowledged 
authority  in  coffee  planting,  wrole  : — “ Pulp  is  a veiy 
useful  manure.  I have  found  plilp  most  beneficial, 
mixed  in  equal  proportiens  with  cattle  manure,  the 
effects  seem  to  be  equal  to  cattle  manure  alone.” 
Of  pi'unings,  he  writes : — “ Primings  make  a very 
good  AOgetable  manure,  they  should  be  buried  in 
trenches  when  still  green.”  George  Wall,  another 
acknowledged  authority,  and  who  had  besides  a 
scientific  knowledge  of  agriculture,  wrote  : — “ Prim  • 
inga  are  a very  uaeful  manure.”  It  might  be  urged 
that  this  application  of  the  “ refuse  ” of  the  coffee 
tree  to  it  was  one  of  the  causes,  if  not  the  cause 
of  leaf  disease.  I leave  that  question  for  scientists 
to  answer. 
“ 0.  A.  G.”  in  yonr  columns,  who  affects  to  write 
with  authority,  says,  that  he  pointed  out  to  ig- 
norant native  agriculturists  the  folly  of  applying  to 
coconut  trees  tlieir  “ refuse  ” in  the  shape  of  husks 
and  branches.  lie  instances  the  “Moss,”  belonging 
to  the  late  Mr.  Maartensz,  where  husks  when  dug 
out  after  being  buried  for  a large  number  of  years 
was  found  to  be  uudecayed.  It  does  not  seem  to 
liave  struck  this  nutiioiity  that  the  soil  of  the 
“ Moss  ” is  sandy,  and  sand  is  a preservative  agent 
when  d'  g and  whai  little  decay  of  vegetable  matter 
takes  place  in  sandy  soil  is  when  it  is  damp  and  this 
only  in  wet  weather.  I buried  husks  in  a clayey  soil,  and 
when  I dug  the  spot  three  yeais  after  there  were 
traciS  only  of  the  husks,  and  the  soil  where  they 
were  buried  was  a dark-coloured  loam.  Moral. — It 
is  not  safe  to  generalize  on  insufficient  data. 
My  observation  goes  to  show  that  not  only  does 
sandy  soil  dry  up  quickly,  but  vegetable  substances 
on  it  seem  to  have  the  moisture  iu  them  extracted 
by  such  soil.  Dry  coconut  branches  heaped  up  on 
sandy  soil  become  quite  dry  and  crisp  w’hen  a few 
da_\  s of  dry  weather  follow  a season  of  w'et  weather, 
while  those  heaped  on  more  retentive  soil,  get  quite 
decayed  and  crumble  into  pieces  after  wet  weather. 
“ C.  A.  C.”  may  be  interested  to  learn  that  another 
authority  and  as  eminent  as  he,  recommeads  the  burial 
boih  of  branches  and  husks  of  coconuts.  I refer  to  the 
veteran  and  experienced  coconut  planter  AJr.  W.  B. 
Lament,  whom  perhaps  the  infirmities  of  age  have 
made  to  rest  his  facile  pen.  He  and  Mr.  Jardine 
could  attest  to  ihe  value  of  nuts  as  an  applica- 
tion to  coconut  trees. 
TOBACCO  PLANTING 
for  Europeans  as  an  industry  is  again  being 
discussed.  It  is  a garden  cultivation  and  as 
such  is  very  expensive  if  carried  on  with  paM 
labor  and  will  not  yield  adequate  returns  to  Europeans. 
I believe  the  system  adopted  in  the  Straits  is  for 
each  Chinese  coolie  to  be  given  a certain  number 
of  plants  to  tend,  and  jiayment  is  made  according 
to  the  number  of  plants  successfully  tended,  i.e. 
payment  is  by  results.  If  I mi.slake  not,  Messrs.  Don 
VanCu}  leuberg  and  iMark  Maxfield  were  both  en- 
gaged m tobacco  cultivation — the  Straits  and  Sumatra 
— and  they  would  be  able  to  speak  with  authority  on 
the  style  of  tbe  cultivation,  cost  and  results. 
On  the  Western  and  North-'Westeru  Provinces  the 
system  adopted  is  for  the  tobacco  fields,  usually 
sandy  tracts,  to  be  manured  with  cattle  and  move- 
able pens.  The  droppings  are  not  turned  in 
at  once  but  lie  exposed  on  the  surface  to  our 
tropical  sun  and  rain.  The  former  must 
dissipate  a good  deal  of  the  ammonia  and  the 
latter,  especially  in  the  North-East  rains  like  those 
we  had  at  the  end  of  last  year  when  the  tobacco 
lands  became  quite  swampy,  wash  it  out  of  the 
not  very  retentive  soil.  'Well,  after  months  of  ex- 
posure to  the  sim  and  rain,  the  manure  is  ploughed 
ill  with  native  plough  or  dug  in  with  mamoties 
and  the  laud  is  prepared  for  planting.  It  is  lined  and 
little  holes  are  dug  out  for  the  plants,  and  these 
are  put  out  and  shaded.  The  real  hard  work  com- 
mences now,  the  pilants  are  watered  morning  and 
evening,  vacancies  are  supplied,  the  ground,  which 
becomes  hard  and  pressed  down  by  the  constant 
action  of  the  feet,  is  now  ? at  frequent  intervals  and 
is  weeded,  “poochies”  are  removed  from  the  leaves 
and  the  plants  are  manured  with  well-rotten  cattle 
manure,  and  otherwise  tended  till  they  are  fit  for 
topping.  Then  the  work  becomes  more  laborious  as 
suckers  have  to  be  constantly  removed.  In  fact 
the  attention  required  is  unremitting  till  curing 
coinmencts.  When  the  plants  are  fit  to  be  cut  for 
curing  they  are  sold  at  prices  varying  from  from 
E50  tj  1175. 
I shall,  when  time  permits,  give  you  my  expe- 
rieuce  as  a grow'er  of  Tobacco  tor  light  cigars  and 
lor  native  chewing.  ® ^ ^ 
