May  I,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
737 
iive  months ; and  experience  is  said  to  have  shown 
that  it  is  only  when  the  trees  have  been  more  tnan 
a month  or  so  without  any  supply  of  moisture  that 
they  begin  to  suffer  materially.  In  June  and  July 
1853,  in  the  height  of  the  drought  we  learn  that 
Mr.  Tvtler  tried  the  experiment  of  leading  a sma.U 
stream  of  water  among  a few  .acres  of  the  0 
Coffee,  and  that  the  experiment  was  perfectly  success- 
ful  though  the  stream  itself  had  dried  up  before 
the  drought  was  quite  over.  The  watered  trees 
filled  their  cherries,  just  as  in  a moist  year,  while 
the  unwatered  trees  in  the  adjoining  squares  hah 
fully  half  their  berries  light.  And  with  regard  to 
the  supply  of  water,  it  should  be  mentioned  that 
Gwyniie  & Co.’s  engagement  is  that  the  quantity 
guaranteed  shall  be  delivered  at  the  top  oj  the  ndge. 
The  conduit  piping  has  stop-cocks  at  various  intervals, 
and  as  a much  greater  quantity  of  water  can  be 
delivered  by  the  same  power  at  lower  levels,  the 
greater  part  of  the  new  Estate  can  be  supplied  lar 
more  abundantly  than  on  the  above  calculation. 
However  actual  experience  will  be  the  best  test ; and 
we  learn  that  the  works  are  expected  to  be  in  actual 
operation  before  the  end  of  the  present  year.  Mr. 
John  Brown,  formerly  in  the  service  of  Messrs.  Worms, 
is  the  Engineer  employed  on  the  spot ; and  under 
his  efficient  supervision  the  works  are  proceeding 
rapidly  and  satisfactorily. 
THH  RAJAWELLA  WATER  WORKS. 
We  are  rejoiced  to  hear  that  the  great  irrigation 
works  at  the  Rajawella  estate  were  successfully 
tested  on  Saturday  the  7th  instant,  the  water  being 
forced  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  some  460  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Mahavilla  ganga.  We  hope  the  un- 
wonted elevation  will  not  turn  the  old  River  s head. 
We  heartily  congratulate  those  concerned  on  the 
successful  completion  of  what  has  been  an  anxious 
and  costly  work,  and  a great  experiment.  Its  suc- 
cessful issue  is  of  great  importance  to  the  future 
of  Ceylon. 
Later  on,  however,  some  of  the  machinery 
first  erected  was  found  unsuitable,  for  in  the 
Observer,  January  1859,  we  find  the  following 
THE  RAJAWELLA  IRRIG.ATION  WORKS. 
“Immense  Hydraulic  Engine. — Messrs.  Abernethy 
have  just  finished,  at  their  works  at  Perryhill,  Aber- 
deen, a hydraulic  engine  of  very  great  power.  It 
is  intended  for  an  East  India  plantation,  and^  its 
object  is  to  pump  water,  for  purposes  of  irrigation, 
on  both  sides  of  a hill  whose  altitude  is  500  feet. 
It  consists  of  twelve  pumps,  which  act  in  sets,  and 
will  be  driven  bv  a water-wheel  of  200  horse-power. 
The  engine  is  calculated  to  lift  water  at  the  rate  of 
1,000  gallons  a-minute.  It  is  of  massive  construction 
and  admirably  finished  workmanship.  We  (Aberdeen 
Journal)  are  not  aware  that  any  hydraulic  engine 
of  nearly  equal  power  has  yet  been  constructed  in 
this  country.”  . r .r,  ■ 
We  have  no  doubt  this  is  the  machinery  for  Raja- 
wella  now  on  its  way  round  the  Gape.  Mr.  Brown, 
the  Engineer,  (who  went  home  mainly  with  reference 
to  this  machinery)  is  already  in  the  Island. 
Slice  of  the  continued  and  extended  success  of  the 
Coffee  enterprise  in  Ceylon,  as  ivell  as  out  of  regard 
for  the  spirited  proprietors  of  the  Rajawella  property, 
we  trust  the  experiment  will  be  largely  successful. 
'The  effects  of  full  succsss  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 
On  one  estate  it  is  cidcuJated  that  in  a year  of 
drought  it  would  make  all  the  difference  Iretween 
an  unremunerative  gathering  of  light  husky  Coffee, 
and  a bumper  crop  of  full,  bright,  solid  berries, 
yielding  a profit  of  £H',030.  For  this  year  we  are 
glad  to  hope  that  the  Duinbara  and  many  of  the 
other  lower  estates  arc  safe — long  continued  heat 
having  been  succeeded  by  copious  showers  of  rain 
and  occasionally  hail — the  latter  being  light  and 
harmless.  All  that  is  wanted  is  moderate  weather 
in  June.  By  next  year  the  great  irrigation  w'orks 
will  be  in  full  play,  placing,  let  us  trust,  the  owners 
of  the  particular  property  beyond  the  reach  of  anxiety, 
and  opening  up  a new  era  for  Coffee  Planting  in 
Ceylon. 
THE  UAJAWET-LA  WATERWORKS. 
It  affords  us  much  pleasure  in  announcing  the 
final  completion  and  success  of  this  costly  and  spirited 
undertaking.  By  force-pumps  of  an  ingenious  con- 
struction, moved  by  a Turbine  of  2c  0 horse-power, 
water  is  raised  along  a pipe  of  a mile  and  a quarter 
in  length,  to  a height  of  five  hundred  feet,  sufficient 
in  quantity  to  serve  for  the  irrigation  of  eight  hundred 
acres  of  Coffee.  In  the  bold  conception  of  the  original 
idea,  the  patient  perseverance  in  carrying  it  out, 
the  overcoming  of  engineering  difficulties  as  to  the 
most  suitable  machinery  and  the  erection  of  the 
ponderous  pieces,  and  in  the  fortitude  and  faith 
which  sunk  thousand  after  thousand  of  pounds  in 
an  improved  experiment,  too  much  credit  cannot 
be  given  to  all  parties  concerned.  It  is  an  honor 
to  the  Island  to  have  such  a work  to  exhibit.  We 
are  assured  there  is  no  room  any  longer  to  doubt 
of  its  final  success.  The  Pumps  originally  supplied 
hy  Gwynne  & Co.  were  a failure,  but  another  set, 
supplied  by  Abernethy  & Co.,  of  Aberdeen,  work 
with  a precision  and  ease  comparable  to  clock  work, 
and  though  the  replacement  cost  £3,000,  and  the 
former  contents  of  the  pumping  house  lie  a scat- 
tered heap  of  worthless  iron,  there  is  more  than 
equivalent  for  all  in  the  great  fact  that  the  property 
is  independent  of  drought.  The  present  season’s 
very  heavy  crop  is  matui'e,  and  the  beans  that  are 
picked  are  of  well-filled  quality,  equal  to  the  pro- 
duce from  any  estate  of  the  same  elevation.  The 
effect  of  the  water  applied  in  irrigation  is  plainly 
and  immediately  perceptible  upon  the  drooping  trees. 
They  are  kept  fresh  in  aspect  and  the  crop  is 
sustained  by  circulation  of  the  sap,  which  would 
stagnate  in  the  absence  of  the  moisture  at  the  roots. 
It  appears  to  ns  that  the  value  of  these  works  is 
not  confined  alone  to  the  watering  of  the  trees, 
most  important  though  that  view  of  their  object  be, 
but  that  in  the  carrying  out  of  liquid  manure, 
coupled  with  the  digging  of  the  soil,  in  such  a 
warm  district  as  Dumbara,  not  only  would  there 
be  a saving  of  labor  in  manuring,  but  it  would  be 
impossible  to  predicate  to  what  extent  the  quantity 
of  produce  might  be  increased. 
THE  RAJAWELLA  IRRIGATION  MACHINERY. 
The  great  pumps— probably  the  most  powerful 
in  the  world— intended  to  force  up  water  to  the 
highest  point  of  the  Rajawella  property— have  arrived 
at°Colombo  in  the  Ellon  Castle,  and  with  the  con- 
nected pipes  and  machinery  are  being  laiidel  and 
sent  on  to  their  destination  under  the  superintendence 
of  Mr.  Brown,  the  Engineer.  Some  idea  of  the 
pumps  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  there  is 
a pressure  of  8 tons  on  each  piston.  It  is  expected 
that  they  will  send  water  up  to  a height  of  some 
460  feet — the  highest  point,  above  the  river,  of  the 
fine  estate  for  which  they  are  intended.  For  the 
Mr.  Brown’s  skill  and  perseverance  in  over- 
coming the  difficulties,  incidental  to  so  novel  and 
trying  an  engineering  enterprise,  greatly  impressed 
those  who  watched  him.  His  quiet,  resolute  de- 
termination combined  wicli  great  alrility,  carried 
him  tlirougli  where  other  men  would  have  failed 
and  established  his  reputation  in  Ceylon  as  a 
reliable,  sagacious  Engineer  and  a valuable  colo- 
nist of  the  right  type  for  a young  plantation 
^“ountry. 
