Dec. I, 1897.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 409 
MANUFACTURE OF WHITE COCONUT 
OIL. 
Colombo, Nov. 11. 
Dear Sir, — In connection v.ilh the discussion 
now going on in yoi-r ]>aper it may interest you 
to liea.r that we have been manufacturing white 
coconut oil regularly for the last tea years. — 
Youis faithfully, FREUDENREKO & Co. 
[We are interested to learn that this desciip- 
tion of oil has been regularly manufactured at 
the Hult.sdorp Mills during the past decade. The 
question then is, — how does its value compare 
with “Cochin Oil,” and whether it is sold in 
Europe under a mark u liicli distinguishes it from 
Ceylon oil generally. — E d. T.A.'] 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Selangor Planters’ Association.— As will 
be seen from the summary of a meeting which 
we publish in another column this Association 
has had under consideration the question of 
having a labour-recruiting agent in India, but it 
lias been allowed to lie in abeyance in the 
meantime. Steps are also being taken for esta- 
blishing a central cotlee-curing store in the 
State. 
Tea Preparation by Electricity.— The 
Indian and Eastern Engineer returns to tiiis 
question as follows ; — A corre.spondent of our 
contemporary, The Englishman, under the nom- 
de-plume of “X. Y. Z.” writing on the 
subject of our article on “ Tea Manufacture 
by Electricity,” puts on record the fact that 
Mr. Lloyd originally introiluced the system on 
the Darjeeling estate. Mr. Lloyd did orig.- 
nate electrical plant in this garden, hut as an 
amateur in Electricity ; and is entitled to great 
credit for the ideas on the subject which he 
partially developed. However as stated by us, 
Mr. Rickie is the first to successfidly introduce 
Tea Manufacture by Electricity, En gmsi^ant we 
hear that Mr, Rickie has been ai>poiiited Uliief 
Engineer to Messrs. P'inlay, Mnir & Co., for all 
their gardens, and we look for considerable deve- 
lopments of electrical enterprise in connection 
with their numerous interests. 
Cacao in the West Indies. — By the last 
West Indian mail infoi niation arrives that cocoa- 
growers have of late been doing remarkably well. 
In three montlis the price had riseii by 13s. per cwt. 
This, after a long depression, has gi early benefited 
all the colonies not wholly dejiendeiib upon sugar. 
Of late years many have chosen this ileliglitful 
occupation. The planter s house is in the middle 
of a grass clearing surrounded by all trees, which 
in the earlier part of the year are a mass of pink 
flower. From the house, paths of about half a 
mile long radiate. Along these avenues on both 
side.s the cacao tree, which is about the size of 
our own apple tree, is planted at regular intervals, 
each being allowed a certain number of square 
feet. Beliiiid tbe.se cacao tress are larger trees, 
required to shelter them. In these leafy avmiues 
the planter has merely to see that his small stall' 
prune judiciously, thin out the immature jiods 
where they are too thick, and keep the trees from 
parasites. In the b;-st plantations costly machi- 
nery for drying and separating the beans has been 
introduced. Email beans are kept for home con- 
sumption, and large beans fetch better prices in 
Europe than those produced elsewdiere, except 
erhaps Venezuelan. — (rj'oce)'s’ Juarnal,(IvX. 23. 
FRESH AIR IN BULK: 
A TRIP TO THE HORTON PLAINS. 
To any one who has been long stagnating in an ener- 
vating climate such as is found in many of our lower dis- 
tricts, a change of scene even though a short one, with 
a cooler atmosphere, offers such temptation as hardly 
requires to be backed by the authority of medical 
advice. The pity is that we are sometimes not quick 
enough to grasp the occasion, and by putting ofi a 
holiday indefinitely, only prepare the way for a longer 
holiday, but one in which the only exercise we get is 
that of patience, while physical exertion is confined 
to the prescribed exhibition of pills, powders and 
mixtures. The weather is often made the excuse for 
delaying a much-needed trip, but without adequate 
reason : considering how little satisfied each of us 
usually is with the weather that falls to his lot, it 
would be only fair to assume that people even a short 
distance away have some of finer quality. 
There are many ways of getting to the Horton 
Plains, and 
THE LEAST TEOUBLESOHE WAY 
is probably by rail to Ambawela or Ohiya station, the 
distance being short and the road easy ; but for a 
cross-country trip, with plenty of exercise and varied 
scenery, a walk from Haldummulla via Kalupa- 
hani may highly be recommended. The elevation of 
Haldummulla is 3,380 and the Horton Plains some 7,000 
feet. But the cart road goes downhill to Kalupahani, 
and the distance being nearly four miles, there is 
probably a drop of nearly 800 feet, so that one has a 
clear ascent of 4,500 feet to make before reaching the 
pure air on the summit. At the foot of the hills 
there is a painfully oppressive feeling in the atmos- 
phere and even light clothing eeems a burden, but 
long before the summit is reached a change of flannels 
becomes necessary. 
The town of 
HALDUMMULA 
does not strike the casual visitor as a terrestrial 
paradise. There are two or three native shops well- 
stocked with tinned provisions, umbrellas, country 
salt, c&c., but a striking scarcity of fruit and vege- 
tables. Not a single lime was to be had for money, 
the only circulating medium with the Moorish frater- 
nity, and only about a dozen plantains, more withered 
than ripe, were visible in the whole place. Possibly 
holders of plantains were wa.ting for a rise in the 
market, but this seems to be their normal condition, 
and the population are not likely to take an increased 
interest in fruit before the Last Day, unless a Light 
Railway drops supplies at their doors. The few small 
gardens at the roadsides were being weeded and 
fenced, but 
HOETICULTUR.AL KFFOBTS 
appeared to be limited to the growing of cabbages 
and beans. If the School of Agriculture can turn 
out a few practical gardeners, there is room [for one 
here. The only fruit trees visible about the place, 
and those very few and for the most part utterly 
neglected, are mulberries, tree-tomatoes and papaws. 
Some of the former were carrying a fine crop, but 
the fruit is generally neglected by the natives, and 
the bulbuls were enjoying them. In the villagers’ 
gardens at Kalupahani things seemed a little mors 
hopeful : sweet potatoes, cassava, yams and a few 
chillies being grown. Jak trees and kitul palms are 
f iirly numerous, but coconuts and arecas are re- 
presented by some half-dozen sickly specimens. The 
villagers seemed to be living largely on hope and 
short rations until their paddy and chena crops 
ripen three or four months hence, unripe jak fruits 
and the succulent stems of certain wild plants being 
much in demand. Plantain trees, even in the meal 
sheltered situations, are very scarce : the large number 
of wild pigs and porcupines iu the neighbourhood 
are said to account for the cultivation not being 
taken up. 
CATTLE EEAEING. 
The road, after leaving Kalupahani, is a tavalam 
road running, or more correctly climbing, up through 
