Sept, r, 1897,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
159 
sic VOS 71071 vobis appG3.i's to bG tliG niotto of^ all 
pioTiGcr ConipaniGS, aii<l Sii' Jolin Aluir acfjuircd 
an GstatG of some liundiecl square miles with at 
least thirty thousand acres of virgin forest for 
next to nothing. Counting only the forest land, 
the cost was not more than It 10 per acre for 
land which in Ceylon is worth from R150 to 
K200. Since the purchase, the new Company 
has not let the grass grow under ics feet. 
Something like 5,000 acres have now been cleared 
and are being planted out with tea and coffee. 
The original Company confined its operations 
almost exclusively to cinchona, but the slump 
in the price of bark left so small a margin of 
profit that most of the trees have been cut down 
and replaced by tea or coffee. There are, how- 
ever, still sonic 700 acres of cinchona belong- 
ing^ principally to private individuals, and the 
ba'rk yields a very good percentage. The head- 
Quarters of tiie new Company are at Alunaai, 
about 8 miles west of Uevikulam, in a beautiful 
valley wliere three rivers nieet, to fall shortly 
afterwards, through a t^ap in the hills, neaily 
1,000 ft. into the Travancore low country. Here 
the visitor cannot fail to be sti uck by the enormous 
energy that has been displayed. On all sides are 
huge dealings divided into estates of about 500 
acres each, looked after by a manager and two 
Chinna Doi'ais. The elevation here is about 
4 500 ft, and the lower part of the hills are 
therefore planted with coffee, the higher ranges 
being reserved for tea. 
From Munaar to the Pulliar Valley is a ride 
of 14 miles, first of all through a pretty valley 
with what ought to be a trout stream running 
at the bottom, past two big tea clearings and 
through another, and so up to the top of the 
Pulliai gap. Here we look almost due North, 
down a valley sloping from about 5,000 ft. down 
to the Anjansiad and the low country of Coimba- 
tore, distant between 60 and 70 miles. To the 
right are steep, rocky rnountains, with precipices 
tailing sheer 1,000 ft. and more, and above them 
towers the summit of Anaimoody the highest 
peak of Southern India, being about 50 feet higher 
than Dodabetta. These hills are generally covered 
with thick mist and are still the haunt of the 
ibex, whilst the valley at the head of 
which we stand used to be the favourite 
feedin®* ground of herds of elephants. Foi 
four or live miles we go down through thick 
virmn forest with a dense undergrowth. As we 
get” down into the valley we come across ex- 
tensive coffee clearings. These belong entirely 
to private individuals. Some of these, howevei, 
have recently been bought out by the new Com- 
pany Some' of the coffee here is very fine, and 
one small estate of 60 acres, which was only 
planted out 2^ years ago, was pointed out to me 
SIS having b66n recently valued by a L'eyion 
expert at £6,500, or more than £100 per acre. 
The soil is excellent, for the dense forest has 
until now never been touched and the ground is 
thick with the vegetable accumulations of cen- 
turies. But the great drawback of these valleys 
seems to be the violence of the monsoon. From 
the middle of June until the end of August the ram 
comes down in perfect torrents accompanied by. 
a heavy wind. I was told , that last year in 
Munaar the rainfall was over 200 inches, and 
here in Pulliar it was over 180. The consequence ^ 
is that not only are the planters cut off from their ^ 
communications, but they are also put to consider- 
able trouble and expense in protecting the young 
plants and trees from the wind and rain. Tor three 
consecutive years after the coffee seedling has 
been planted, it has to be staked, which in- 
volves a considerable aniount of labour and 
cost. Even then the wind and rain cause many 
vacancies, which have to be replaced, not to speak 
of occasional landslips which may carry away an 
acre or two of promising trees. The valley we 
are now in is affected by both monsoons and the 
N.-E. wind has a very withering effect on the 
young trees especially, and it is chiefly where 
there is a South aspect that the plantations look 
better. But this is a very valuable valley and 
has produced .some very fine crops. In course of 
time no doubt the new Company will buy up 
the old estates and open out the remaining 
forest. 
From Pulliar back to Devikulam by another 
route is about 15 miles. After climbing a high 
hill we pass through an extensive cinchona clear- 
ing of nearly 500 acres, lately the jjioperty of 
a small Company in Madras, but recently bought 
by Finlay, Muir ik; Co. Uncommonly fine trees 
tl'iey are too, but until there is a rise in the price 
of the unit they are hardly likely to be barked. 
We then go down a steep hill, cross one of the 
Munaar tributaries, up through a thick forest with 
a dense undergrowth of creepers and ferns, and 
then over some grass hills, pasta .300 acre cinchona 
clearing belonging to Mr. Kindersley, of Ootaea* 
mund, through some other cinchona clearings be- 
longing to the Devikulam Company, one of the 
two private Companies left, and so back to Devi* 
kulam, after having completed a round about 45 
miles in circumference. 
We have, however, only seen about one half 
of the whole concession. To the West the thick 
forest extends down to 1000 ft. from the low 
country, and work is actively going on there, 
whilst to the East there are. also large clearings 
where tea is being planted out. Although Finlay, 
Muir and Co. own about 30,000 acres of forest 
in this concession alone, this extensive tract of 
unopened land does not seem to satisfy them, 
for they have .also purchased from the Travancore 
Government other forest land outside the con- 
ces.sion and towards the Biatish boundary. Here 
they .are engaged on a large clearing for coffee, 
about 500 acres in extent for which they have 
not hesitated to pay as much as K50 and U60 
per acre, although the concession forest stands 
them in at KIO per acre only — leaving the 
enormous extent of grass band entirely out of 
the question. As was to be expected, this activity 
has excited a considerable amount of competi- 
tion, and Mr. Knight, the well known planter 
of Ceylon and Peermaad, has recently acquired 
1,000 acres in a valley outside the conce.ssion, for 
a large portion of which he had to pay as much 
as £5 per acre. Within the concession itself 
land is no longer procurable, for Finlay, Muir 
and Co. will not part with an acre, and there 
seems little doubt that in a very short time 
all the available forest land will be sold at 
prices ranging above £10. It seems a pity that 
all this valuable land should Pe lost to Madras 
enterprise. The original North Travancore Com- 
pany, which obtained the conces.sion, languished 
for 15 years. It h.ad too little capital of its 
own to open out more than a fraction of the 
huge concession ; very few private planters took 
up land even at tlie low rate of K15 or R20 
per acre, and the original shareliolders h.ad to 
sell out at a lo.ss of 30 per cent besides in- 
terest for 15 years. Now it turns out to be 
a valuable property, and a concession the 
value of which may" be said to be nearly 
R30 lakhs has passed into^jl other hands 
