762 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICaLTURIST. 
[May  I,  1897, 
in  B.  C.  A,  but  as  usual  a hundred  times  exaggerat- 
ed. As  his  remarks  mainly  apply  to  Mlanje  (probab- 
ly be  never  visited  any  other  district)  we  would 
draw  his  attention  to  one  Mlanje  plantation  which 
last  year  yielded  a crop  of  30  tons,  and  other  planta- 
tions gave  good  crops  according  to  acreage,  which 
does  not  look  like  “ very  indifferent  sub-soil.” 
Among  our  Planting  community  we  have  now  a 
good  few  men  who  have  had  that  “ practical  ex- 
perience of  coffee  in  other  lands”  which  the  writer 
talks  about,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
coffee  hai  found  a “ congenial  home”  in  B.  C.  A. 
These  men  are  not  fools  and  would  not  have  em- 
barked on  planting  in  this  country  unless  they  were 
firmly  convinced  of  its  great  future. 
But  the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating  of  it, 
and  the  high  prices  re  ilised  for  Nyasxland  Coffee 
which  we  publish  today  gives  the  lie  direct  to 
“Falcon”  and  all  his  kind.  “It  is  singular,”  say 
the  London  Brokers  of  the  Zambesi  Industrial  Mis- 
sion, “that  although  every  effort  is  being  mxde  all 
over  the  world  in  coffee  growing  districts  to  produce 
fine  quality,  it  is  quite  the  exception  that  such  a result 
as  yours  is  obtained.”  The  foregoin  g does  not  en- 
tirely correspond  with  “Falcon’s”  remuk  that  in 
B.  C.  A.  coffee  has  not  found  a congenial  home. 
The  supremely  ridiculous  statement  th  it  in  some  plan- 
tations borers  have  destroyed  59  per  cent  of  the  trees, 
we  can  only  put  down  to  the  f ict  that  some  naughty 
Planter  must  have  been  having  his  little  joke  at  the 
expense  of  this  innocent  abroad.  As  for  the  cold 
winds  we  only  wish  there  was  a chance  of  them 
coming  our  way. 
Wo  cannot  do  bettor  however  than  again  quote 
our  remarks  which  appeared  in  our  August  number 
in  answer  to  Mr.  Morgan’s  criticisms  on  B.G.A. — 
The  only  point  which  is  really  serious  is  the  menace 
to  our  labour  supply  should  gold  be  discovered.  It 
is  not  however  likely  to  bo  fouiil  in  B.G.A.  and 
should  it  be  discovered  in  payable  qiantittes  in  the 
B.S.A.  Co.’s  territory,  a wise  Administration  could 
easily  (rime  such  regulations  as  would  prevent  the 
disorganization  of  our  labour  supply.  The  B S.A. 
Territory,  unlike  the  Kind,  has  a native  population 
of  millions  to  draw  from  so  that  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  recruit  labourers  in  B.G.A.  Such  criti- 
cisms as  Mr.  Morgan’s  may  do  some  good  in  keep- 
ing the  wrong  sort  ot  man  out  of  the  country  for 
B.G.A.  is  no  place  for  “ armchair”  planters.  Un- 
der a wise  and  beneficent  government  tliere  can 
be  no  doubt  that  B.G.A.  will  become  one  of  the 
foremost  states  in  Africa.  We  have  a unique 
geographical  position,  the  country  is  at  such  an 
elevation  as  to  mike  it  fairly  healthy  and  develop- 
ment will  make  it  healthier  still:  we  hive  high 
plauteaus  suitable  for  sanatoriums  within  easy 
reach  of  nearly  every  part  of  the  protectorate  ; 
we  have  already  got  telegraphic  communication 
and  a rajlway  is  certain  within  the  next  three  years. 
All  that  is  required  is  capital  and  energy,  the  one 
without  the  other  will  not  suffice,  but  the  prospects 
for  the  two  combined  are  of  the  best.  In  saying 
“ all  that  is  required”  we  are  assuming  tlyat  wa 
have  a government  suited  to  the  country.  This  how- 
ever is  at  present  b}*  no  means  the  case  and  the 
sooner  the  present  provisional  form  of  government 
is  changed  for  a more  permanent  one  with  a properly 
organised  civil  service  the  better  for  the  country.  ■ 
Central  Afriein  Planter  Feb.  1. 
STEAM  PLOUGHING  IN  INDIA  ! 
We  observe  from  an  ollicial  list  of  agricultural 
implements  tried  during  the  year  I'lTj  that  a 
steam  cultivator  costing  lU.OOO  was  in  u.sein  Sarun 
District.  A local  indigo-planter  reports  that  be 
saw  it  tried  in  very  dirty  lands  which  had  not 
been  cultivated  for  two  years,  and  it  brought  out 
nil  tlie  weeds  and  grass  by  tlie  rootsand  thoroughly 
broke  up  tlie  land.  He  also  reports  that  he  saw 
it  tried  on  land  in  wldc.li  tliere  was  no  apparent 
moisture,  and  within  10  .lays  oMts  use  the  mois- 
ture was  at  the  surface.— A/.  Mad,  April  0. 
HILL  TBAMWAAS  COMMISSION. 
We  call  attention  to  the  letters  from  Govern- 
ment anil  the  Report  appended  tliereto  of  the 
above  Commission.  We  have  read  the  latter, 
and  have  only  space  and  time  to  ask  what 
practical  good  is  to  be  served  by  such  hastily 
got-up,  imperfect  and  in  some  respects  mislead- 
ing documents.  We  have  never  in  the  wliole 
history  of  Railway  Commissions  in  Ceylon  seen 
a State  paper  of  a more  uncertain  if  not  per- 
plexing character  than  the  Report  Itefore  us. 
This  is,  of  course,  owing  to  the  wide  scope 
of  its  Commission  and  the  limite.l  space  of  time 
aftbrded  for  in([iiiry  and  examination.  That 
time  would  not  be  enough  in  our  ojiinion,  to 
do  justice  to  any  one  of  some  half-dozen  lines  of 
tramway  discus.sed  and  more  or  less  reported  on. 
The  only  line  in  fact,  on  which  a useful  Report 
might  have  been  drawn  up  is  that  from  Nanuoyato 
Nuwara  Eliya  and  Kandapola,  and  here  any 
practical  result,  it  seems  to  ns,  is  rendered  ini- 
pos.sible  thivMigh  the  absence  of  an  Engineer 
with  experience  in  Electric  Railw.ays.  The  in 
denting  for  such  an  Engineer  ought  surely  to 
have  preceded  the  Com  mission.  Both  Mr. 
Mackintosh  and  Mr.  Christie  discuss  questions 
connected  with  electric  lines  ; but  neither  gentle- 
man, we  supjiose,  has  had  actual  experience, 
and  every  year  is  witne.ssing  great  improvements 
o 1 Electric  lines.  'I’lien  again  the  Hewaheta- 
Maturata  line  is  thrown  out  of  court  as  un- 
worthy of  consideration  ; while  we  should  have 
considered  a line  from  Peradeniya  on  the  Deltota 
r >ad  towards  Hewaheta  a scheme  which  ought 
to  be  both  possible  and  promising.  But 
then  the  fact  is  that  not  one  of  the  schemes 
named  in  this  Report  can  be  sai  1 to  be  fully 
or  exhaustively  treated.  The  Couimi.ssion  have 
apiiarently  gallo])ped  over  the  country  on  paper 
and  iire.sented  .a  Report  which  must  be  considered 
both  cursory  and  imperfect,  or  very  ])reliniinary 
indeed. — Mr.  Saunders  signs  -the  Report:  how 
many  meetings  did  he  attend,  and  did  he  visit 
any  of  the  districts  concerned  ? 
“RAMASAMl”:  OUR  LABOUR  SUPPLY. 
, (Cmnmvnieated.) 
We  have  so  often  been  accustomed  to  the  cry 
of  wolf  in  the  labour  market  that  we  ha,ye 
liitherto  hesitated  to  credit  the  very  serious  re- 
ports which  reach  us  from  the  various  districts 
of  the  islanil  as  to  the  actual  .scarcity  of  coolies. 
Very  many  estates,  it  seems,  could  now  profitably 
employ  double  the  number  they  can  muster, 
while  not  a few  are  striving  to  keep  the  estate 
in  cultivation  and  overtake  plucking  with  one- 
third  the  necessary  force. 
We  have  long  juided  ourselves  on  our  usually 
ample  supply  of  chea))  labour  and  could  afford  to 
smile  at  the  attenijits  of  less  favoured  tropical 
colonies  to  comiiete  with  us  in  our  sjiecial  pro- 
ducts ; but  a sad  change  has  come  over  our 
prosj  ects  in  this  respect  during  the  past  two 
years. 
“Ramasami,”  from  being  one  of  the  most 
docile  and  industrious  of  men— the  Scot  of  the 
East — has.  in  too  many  cases,  degenerated  into  a 
thriftless,  unstable  vagrant,  wandering  from  district 
to  district  in  order  to  dodge  his  creditors  and  ob- 
tain fresh  loans.  The  actual  number  of  coolies 
in  Ceylon  is  not  so  much  short  of  requirements 
as  that  the  muster  of  honest  workers  is  out  of 
all  proportion  to  the  number  of  idle  loafers  in 
the  lines  and  bazaars. 
