NiAY  I,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
78  [ 
a fair  supply  of  labour  can  be  secured  ; — and  it  is 
well  ascertained  that  Coolies  will  not  engage  them- 
selves upon  Estates,  where  they  are  obliged  to 
carry  Coffee,  from  any  distance  to  Kandy,  and  to 
bring  back  the  Rice  for  their  own  consumption. 
“ To  sell  therefore,  we  must  improve.  Roads  and 
Bridges,  are  as  necessary  as  Surveys,  to  the  profit- 
able, disposal  of  Land.  And  my  conviction  is,  that 
for  many  years  to  come,  in  the  present  position  of 
Cejlon,  the  most  certain  mode  of  increasing  t' e 
Revenue  of  the  Island,  i.s  a judicious  liberality  in 
the  use  of  the  means,  which  it  has.  The  Customs 
are  the  gauge  of  what  is  practicable,  and  what  is 
right.  So  long  as  their  increase  corresponds  with 
increasing  expenditure,  the  Government  is  paid,  in- 
directly for  every  shilling  it  lays  out. 
With  these  views,  I have  urged  upon  the  Sur- 
veyor General  the  immediate  extension  of  his  opera- 
tions in  the  Maturatta  District,  with  a view  of 
dividing  the  Land  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Fort,  into 
small  building  lots,  and  of  bringing  into  the  market, 
as  soon  as  possible,  some  of  the  more  valuable  por- 
tion of  the  Cofiee  Land  absve  it,  I have  also  made 
a small  grant  of  .£80.  for  improving  the  communi- 
cations with  Newera  Ellia,  from  whence  the  Estates 
draw  many  of  their  supplies  ; and,  so  soon  as  the 
Road  from  the  Maha  Oya  is  brought  down  to  the 
Bridge  over  the  Bilhool  Oya,  I shall  propose  to 
substitute  an  Iron  Lattice  Bridge,  should  those  now 
on  their  way  out  to  the  Colony,  be  found  to  answer, 
for  the  small,  and  inconvenient  structure,  which 
though  repaired  by  the  Provincial  Committee,  was 
originally  due  to  the  liberality  of  the  Father  of  the 
present  Koralle  of  Wellegiriya,  aided  by  a Kandian 
Priest.” 
Conscientious  yet  considerate,  grand  old  Sir  Harry 
never  passed  through  a district  without  indicating 
the  exact  truth  regarding  its  condition,  pos.sibilities 
and  requirements.  Mark  how  delicately  he  could 
touch  upon  the  weak  spots,  as  in  the  case  of  Kak- 
wana  where,  he  said,  thecolfee  was  “somewhat  poor 
and  thin.”  Here  he  liad  nothing  but  well-chosen 
words  «)f  praise,  encouragement  and  practical 
sympathy.  Well  might  the  gentlemen,  who  in 
the  present  day  inspect  estates  and  quar 
terly  repeat  what  must  often  be  prosy  ]rlatitudes, 
take  a leaf  out  of  Sir  Harry’s  book,  when  their 
reports  would  at  least,  be  more  lively  and  prove 
more  interesting  reading. 
The  needs  of  the  district  are  still  the  same 
and  even  more  urgent  than  they  were  forty  years 
.ago;  but  with  the  development  ot  tea,  the  claims 
of  such  a locality  cannot  much  longer  be  over- 
looked. A light  railway  from  Peradeniya  through 
Nilambe,  Deltota  to  Hewaheta  seems  feasible 
enough,  rtuiUjre  the  Tramways  Commission  ; and 
we  trust  the  matter  will  not  be  allowed  to  sleep 
till  this  otherwise  favoured  district  gets  due 
facilities  for  sending  its  rich  returns  to  market. 
♦ 
Dr.  Robert  Hogg,  who  died  on  the  14tli  ult. 
at  the  age  of  seventy-nine,  was  one  of  the  foremost 
men  in  horticultural  circles.  Originally  a partner 
in  a barge  nursery,  now  forming  the  site  upon 
which  the  Imperial  Institute,  the  JSouth  Kensing- 
ton Museum,  and  other  buildings  are  placed, 
Hogg  for  many  years  conducted,  either  alone  or 
in  connexion  with  the  late  Mr.  G.  W.  Johnson,  a 
journal  known  as  the  Cottage  Gardener,  which 
gradually  evolved  into  the  Journal  of  Horficidtnre. 
But  probably  his  greatest  claim  to  the  appreciation 
of  his  colleagues  and  of  those  who  are  to  come 
after  him  was  the  production  of  the  “b’ruit 
Manual,”  a standard  work  of  original  research  in 
the  shape  of  a descriptive  enuTiieration  of  fruits 
cultivated  in  this  country,  which  has  gone  tlirough 
several  editions,  and  is  as  well  known  to  fruit 
growers  on  the  continent  as  it  is  here. — London 
CROPS  IN  JAMAICA. 
The  annual  report  on  Jamaica,  which  the  Colonial 
Office  has  just  published,  shows  that  the  colony  is, 
upon  the  a hole,  prosperous.  The  revenue  during  the 
financial  year  was  £04(3,103  and  the  expenditure 
£026,934.  There  was  an  increase  of  £22,078  in  re- 
venue, mainly  from  increased  imports.  The  public 
debt  is  £1,000,177,  chiefly  incurred  in  public  works 
especially  railways,  canals,  and  r-oads.  It  is  stated 
that  there  is  a growung  desire  to  improve  the  quality 
as  well  as  increase  the  quantity  of  the  crops.  The 
rate  of  increase  in  other  products  is  greater  that 
the  decrease  on  sugar,  and  for  this  fruit  is  mainly 
accountable.  The  decline  in  the  cultivation  of  sugar 
cane  is  persistent;  the  increase  in  coffee,  ginger 
cocoa,  and  tobacco  has  been  great ; and  in  bananas 
very  much  greater.  Sugar  last  year  was  only  11 
per  cent  of  the  total  exports.  The  value  of  the  im- 
ports last  year  was  £2,288,940,  against  £2,191,745 
the  previous  year,  while  the  exports  amounted  to 
£1,873,105.  About  half  the  imports  go  from  the 
United  Kingdom,  the  United  States  coming  closely 
behind.  The  trade  with  the  latter  is  increasing 
rapidly,  and  American  goods  of  many  kinds  are  sail 
to  be  supplanting  English  ones,  partly  due  to  greater 
enterprise  of  American  manufacturers,  but  mainly 
to  the  greater  facilities  for  trade  with  the  United 
States.  The  population  of  the  island  is  estimated  at 
090,007 — London  Times. 
MACHINE-MADE  TEA. 
GOOD  NEWS  FROM  AMERICA  FOR  CEYEON. 
During  a recent  trip  to  Cincinnati,  0.,  covering 
ten  days,  the  writer  was  surprised  to  find  that 
wherever  tea  was  served  it  proved  to  be  Ceylon  or 
India  tea,  a fact  indicative  of  the  phenomenal 
progress  made  in  their  introduction.  When  con 
sideration  is  given  to  the  fact  that  China  monono 
hzed  the  tea  markets  of  the  United  States  for  over 
100  years  and  that  Japan  contributed  over  4n  for 
cent  of  the  supply  since  1875,  then  we  realize 
the  tremendous  prejudice  which  the  advocates  of 
machine-made  tea  have  to  overcome,  and  are  the 
better  prepared  to  estimate  and  appreciate  the 
rapid  hold  gained  for  machine-made  tea  in  this 
country  within  two  years.  In  1894  the  imports  were 
4,700,000  pounds,  in  1896,  9,500,000  pounds— a gain  of 
over  100  per  cent.  ® 
No  one  can  successfully  deny  that  the  bulk  of 
the  importations  of  China  and  Japan  tea  have  been 
of  medium  and  low  grade,  with  a large  volume  of 
trash.  The  law  just  passed  regulating  importations 
of  tea  will  cheek  the  imports  of  poor  and  trashy 
tea,  and  bring  the  attention  of  consumers  mor°  and 
more  to  a consideration  of  the  merits  of  Cevloii  and 
India  tea.  ^ 
It  has  been  difficult  to  impress  upon  consumers 
that  a much  less  quantity  of  machine-made  tea  is 
required  to  make  a satisfactory  infusion  than  of 
China  and  Japan  sorts,  but  this  lesson  they  are 
acquiring  rapidly,  and  thus  discovering  the  econo 
mical  advantages  arising  from  the  use  of  Cevloii 
and  India  growths,  besides  becoming  wedded  to  their 
flavour.  None  are  more  enthusiatic  advocates  of 
British-grown  tea  than  many  who  a few  years  ago 
discredited  them  in  many  ways.  ° 
A few  days  ago  an  importer,  in  commenting 
upon  the  remarkable  increase  ,n  direct  shipment! 
of  tea  from  Ceylon  to  America— viz  (i4  qrk  j 
from  January  1st  to  26th  of  this’  ye^!- 
10,415  pounds  for  the  same  time  in  180';^ 
“That  is  nothing  to  what  it  will  be  a^fL  yelrs 
hence,  when  they  will  have  this  market  ” jeais 
We  do  not,  however,  entertain  the  idea  tbai  n,., 
teas  of  China  and  Japan  will  be  entir^Iv  diov.i'* 
but  we  do  believe  that  the  enterprise  push^nffiol^ 
and  perseverance  of  the  Ceylon  ^^d  tea 
growers  in  seeking  a market  hero  wall  result  in 
such  an  increase  in  the  use  of  tea  as  a beverai! 
that  machine-made  teas  will  dispute  for  first 
