May  I,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  765 
OUE  Labour  Supply. — The  Planters’  Associ- 
ation has  sent  round  a Circular  calling  for  in- 
formation as  to  llie  wants  of  planters  in  respect 
of  coolies— how  many  additional  men,  women 
and  children  would  be  taken  on  if  made  avail- 
able. Meanwhile  Colombo  Agents  and  others 
have  been  getting  a Circular  from  a tirm  at 
Patna  offering  to  supply  “good  coolie  labour” 
to  Ceylon — no  doubt  on  the  same  terms  plus 
carriage  as  to  Sylhet,  Cachar,  &c.  ! 
GaMBIKR,  C0CONUT.S,  &C.,  IN  THE  STRAITS.— 
From  the  Report  on  the  Coast  Distriet  for  the  year 
1896  by  Mr.  C.  D.  Bowen,  we  quote  : — 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  small  settlers  iii  the 
vicinity  of  Port  Dickson  has  been  very  marked,  espe- 
cially along  the  Lukut  road  ; a great  many  of  these 
people  are  Japanese,  who  are  about  the  best  class  of 
agricultural  settlers.  There  was  a very  fair  increase  in 
the  export  of  gambier,  but  a slight  decrease  in  the  ex- 
port of  pepper  and  tapioca.  A block  of  300  acres  was 
alioaated  for  the  cultivation  of  coconuts  and  more  land 
for  this  kind  of  cultivation  is  likely  to  be  applied  for 
during  1897.  So  much  of  the  land  aloug  the  coast  has 
been  taken  up  in  former  days  for  gambier  that  very 
little  land  for  the  cultivation  of  coconuts  remains. 
“ Albizzia  Moluccana.”— We  are  reminded 
that  the  first  seed  of  this  valuable  tree  intro- 
duced into  Ceylon  came  from  Mr.  Mumlt,  Direc- 
tor of  Botanic  Gardens,  Java,  to  Mr.  Neate  of 
Pussellawa — then  of  Nawalapitiya.  Mr.  Win. 
Money  of  the  Indian  Civil  Service — brother  of 
Col.  Money — and  the  clever  author  of  “ How 
to  Govern  a Colony,”  first  recommended  IMr. 
Neate  to  get  this  seed  and  assured  him  if  he 
planted  up  one  or  two  hundred  acres,  there  was 
“ a fortune  in  it.”  Unfortunately  for  himself,  Mr. 
Neate  merely  grew  a few  trees  at  Nawalapitiya 
and  distributed  the  rest  of  the  seed.  The  timber 
of  his  oldest  trees — some  of  them  giants — was 
tested  for  tea  boxes  and  found  to  be  very  suit- 
able. The  tree  is  one  that  grows  readily  at  a 
variety  of  elevations. 
The  Oodoowere  Company,— So  the  old  and 
almost  classical  property  of  Oodoowere  is  at 
length  to  give  its  name  to  a Limited  Company. 
It  was  one  of  tlie  earliest  of  Badnlla  Coflee  es- 
tates opened.  In  1858  Sir  Henry  Ward 
reported  “ the  finest  piece  of  young  coffee  I have 
seen  in  the  whole  island  is  on  Mr.  Bertlin’s  Oodoo- 
were estate.”  In  1865  after  reporting  Sir 
Hercules  Robinson’s  first,  and  Major  Skinner’s 
farewell,  visit  to  Haputale,  we  rode  up  the 
Pass  from  Haldunimulla,  through  the  fir.st 
clearing  of  Gonamatava  and  on  past  Baiidara- 
wela  down  to  Oodoow'ere  where  we  passed 
the  night  in  Mr.  James  Irvine’s  hospitable 
bungalow.  Everything  was  flourishing  then  ; but 
Oodoowere  had  a big  rest  before  it  was  put 
into  tea  and  there  are  promising  reserves. 
A Fine  SpecIxMEN  of  Coffee  grown  from 
Guatemala  seed,  was  received  at  this  office, 
says  the  Hilo  “Tribune,”  from  Mr.  J.  M.  Horner’s 
plantation  at  Kukaiau,  from  a four  year  old 
tree,  which  had  upon  the  one  primary  received 
nearly  900  well  developed  coffee  cherries,  and 
there  were  forty  such  primaries  on  the  same  tree, 
fully  three-quarters  of  a pound  to  the  primary. 
Some  of  these  primaries  Mr.  Horner  informs  us 
had  1,000  cherries,  and  says  he  will  have  twenty- 
live  tons  of  coffee  this  year,  and  where  all  his 
trees  from  Guatemala  seed  lie  would  have  sixty 
tons  from  his  plantation'instead  of  about  thirty 
tons.  That  is  the  way  he  replies  to  the  difference 
and  selection  of  seed.  Side  by  side  the  Guatemala 
and  wild  coffee  trees  are  growing,  and  the  former 
produces  eight  times  the  amount  of  the  latter. 
The  growth  of  wood  is  in  favour  of  Guatemala 
by  long  odds.— “Planters’  Monthly.” 
A Famous  Cacao  Plantation.— Yattawatte 
has  long  been  known  as  a leading  “ cacao 
walk  ” as  they  say  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
Mr.  Jas.  Martin  has  been  identified  with  it 
for  the  past  seventeen  years  or  so.  AVe  recall  it 
when  the  property  of  Messers.  R.  B.  Downall 
and  Col.  Young  in  1896.  Mr.  Motague  Kirk- 
ward  (of  Japan)  Avrites  : — “ My  visit  to  the  Yatta- 
watte cocoa  estate  was  very  instructive,  interest- 
ing, and  delightful  with  such  a good  host  as  Mr. 
James  Martin.” 
Cotton  Growing  in  the  North.— With 
reference  to  our  editorial  deliverance  on  minor 
products  and  the  prospects  of  cotton  succeeding 
in  the  Northern  districts,  we  learn  that  there 
is  a large  expanse  of  fine  forestland  from 
opposite  Dutch  Bay  northwards.  The  “black 
cotton  soil  ” of  Mannar  (identical  with  that  in 
Tinnevelly)  has  always  been  famous.  In  fact 
the  conditions  here,  as  elsewhere,  point  to  culti- 
vation and  civilisation  advancing  inland  from 
the  coast  and  there  is  far  greater  encourage- 
ment for  settlement  from  Chilaw  right  on  to 
Mannar  and  onwards  from  Puttalam  to  Anu- 
radhapura,  than  there  is  in  the  miserably  for- 
bidding country  Nortli  of  Kurunegala. 
Our  London  Tea  Report.— We  ought  to 
have  drawn  special  attention  to  the  exception- 
ally interesting  Report  dated  March  19th 
from  Messrs.  Gow,  'Wilson  & Stanton. 
They  give  a most  encouraging  account  of 
the  re-exports  of  Ceylon  tea  from  the 
United  Kingdom,  more  especially  to  Holland, 
Denmark,  South  America,  and  South  Africa. 
Their  t.able  shows  that  the  total  of  the  re- 
exports compare  as  follows  : — 
CEYLON. 
lb. 
Total 
1896  . . 
8,496,663 
>1 
1895  . . 
7,147,071 
)) 
1894  . . 
5,166,029 
>> 
1893  . . 
4,112,2.32 
J) 
1892  . . 
3,448,058 
— Avhile  the  total  of  Indian  tea  re-exported  in 
1896  was  only  4,339,640  lb.  We  must  refer  to 
the  “ Idue  sheet”  for  details.  The  increase  in 
1896  over  1895  in  the  case  of  North  America  is 
not  quite  400,000  lb.  In  the  case  of  “Russia 
and  Germany,”  taken  together,  we  get  an  in- 
crease ot  over  600,000  lb.  in  the  same  period. 
Russia  and  Indian  Tea  :— Commenting  upon 
the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of  Indian  tea  at 
Batoum,  by  the  Russian  authorities,  the  Cal- 
cutta Englishnum  of  *'he  24th  inst,  says  : — If  we 
may  go  by  precedent  this  pernicious  example  will 
not  improbably  be  followed  by  many  other  coun- 
tries. Of  course  we  have  the  assurance  that 
Great  Britain,  the  largest  market  for  Indian  tea, 
Avill  rem.ain  open,  but  nevertheless  should 
the  Indian  product  be  interdicted  by  other 
European  Governments  the  effect  would  in- 
fallibly be  to  seriously  retard  its  expansion  in 
other  parts  of  the  world.  This  is  a matter  which 
the  Government  of  India  cannot  afford  to  ignore. 
Representations  should  be  made  by  the  British 
Foreign  Office  to  the  Tsar’s  Government  against 
what  looks  not  so  much  like  a sanitary  pre- 
caution as  an  attempt  to  inflict  a serious  com- 
mercial injury  upon  India.  If  we  submit  tamely 
to  treatment  of  this  kind  there  is  no  saying 
where  Russia  may  stop.  We  call  upon  Govern- 
ment to  take  steps  to  combat  this  mischievous 
regulation,  not  even  pausing  at  hinting  its  wil- 
lingness  to  retaliate  if  it  is  persisted  in.  Russia 
is  certainly  vulnerable  in  regard  to  her  enermoua 
petroleum  trade  with  India. 
