Jan. I, 1898.J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
471 
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To ihe Editor : 
COCHIN vs. CEYLON COCONUT OIL: 
OIL MILLS AT BATTICALOA. 
Batticaloa, Nov, 15. 
Sip, — I have read the leader and correspondence 
in the Observer of the 10th inst.— Cochin vs. Ceylon 
oil — with great interest. 
It might perhaps interest yon to know, that largo 
quantities of our best sun-dried copra are bought up 
by middlemen and shipped by native vessels to Cochin, 
to be made into “Cochin” oil. This refers mostly 
to copra made by European planters, who take greater 
pains to produce good, clean copra, than the villager 
does. I know also that a considerable amount of 
copra is shipped from Jaffna to Cochin. The mill- 
owners in Ceylon would turn out an oil, which would 
be quite as good as Cochin oil, if they would desist 
from making good clean copra with inferior stuff. 
On the estates I am in charge of, every bit of dis- 
coloured copra is carefully picked out and sold 
separately. Mill-owners, however, don’t seem to 
care to pay a higher price for superior copra, and 
therefore most estate proprietors don’t trouble much 
about the making of good, clean copra. Mr. Le 
Mesurier, I am glad to say, is putting up an oil mill 
here, and I also hear, that a similar establishment is 
likely to be started by another European. But I think, 
there will be no room for two mills, as even a small 
mill will consume at least 50 cwts. of copra per day. — 
Yours faithfully, . , 
COCHIN VS. CEYLON COCONUT OIL. 
Jaffna, 16th Nov. 1897. 
Sib — Y ou complained some time ago in your 
paper that the cause of the great difference in 
value of the Cochin coconut oil over the Ceylon 
-article is due to the suj>erior whiteness of the 
Cochin copra, which, in its turn, is owing to 
the fact that, at Cochin, the copra, is dried more 
oarefully than in Ceylon. It may interest some of 
Vour readers, -merchants in particular— that, in the 
Jaffna district, owing to the dryness of the climate 
copra is dried by exposure to the sun, as soon as 
the nuts are plucked, and it is, I believe, equal in 
qualitv to the best Cochin article. The oil made of 
It ought, therefore, to obtain as gooa a pnce.— Yours 
tj„ly B. L. MABTYN. 
It is my belief, when accurate returns can be 
obtained, as the result of washing on a large 
scale, that the value of the gem-bearing depo- 
sits will be found to be far greater than has 
hitherto been conceived. Gems are never evenly 
distributed throughout the gravel beds where 
they occur and as a necessary consequence, wash- 
ing on a small scale becomes a matter of chance. 
A rich spot may be hit on at once, or tons of 
barren gravel may be encountered and the ivoik 
abandoned irerhaps, as unproductive. On the 
other hand, washing on a large scale and without 
risk of lo.ss either by thelt or accident, renders the 
result a practical certainty, as the rich spots 
are sure to be reached from time to time 
and if the work is economically and regularly 
carried on, the “finding” over the whole will 
seldom be otherwise than highly satisfactory. 
If this view’ is correct, ,and the coming Geologi- 
cal Survey brings to light, .as it no doubt will, 
districts l ich in getns but hitherto lying unworked, 
the impoitance to the general trade of the island 
can hardly be estimated. 
It is this consideration that has caused the 
Ceylon Prospecting Syndicate to be called into 
being and 1 am glad to see these views stated 
by one so familiar with the subject as yourself. 
It is quite nue that Mr. A. B. D, Goldie 
will shortly leave England for Ceylon, and the 
first large plant, which has now been built and 
thoroughly tested here, will follow him at once. 
A series of machines capable of dealing auto- 
niaticallj' with 60 tons or so of gravel per work- 
ing day required care in manufacture, but the 
result has been satisfactory, and the seeming 
delay you lefer to, will be found to be fully 
warranted when washing commences on the 
ground. This plant has been kept per work 
in- London for the last month and has fulfilled 
all expectations w’ith regard to it. We are send- 
ing you by this mail, copies of some of the 
technical journals which described it, as I feel 
suie they will interest you. — I remain, sir yours 
faithfully, Wm. S. LOCKHART, 
M. Inst. C.E., M. Inst. M.E, Managing Direc- 
tor, The Ceylon Prospecting Syndicate Ltd. 
THE CEYLON GEMMING INDUSTRY. 
BY A WORKER. 
TEA CULTIVATION : SOME PRACTICAL 
QUESTIONS. 
Dear Sir,— With reference to the lengthy 
Enquiry being conducted in the columns of your 
paper t propose that you prepare and submit a 
few questions to the local scientific authorities 
such as the following , 
1. Is tlie average temperature of the soil lower 
on weedy land than on clean land? 
2. Do the roots of the Tea bush become more 
clogged with moisture during the monsoon, on 
weedy land than on clean land ? 
.3. Do weeds pick up the soluble nitrates moie 
easily and rapidly than do the roots of theTea bush? 
I venture I 0 suggest these questions as samples 
of queries that I think should be dealt with by 
our recognised authorities. — Yours faithfully. 
INDIAN PLANTER. 
GEM-MlNlNG IN CEYLON. 
Nov. 24th, 1897. 
giRj — I am glad to see by the editorial article 
(see page 379) that you point out the importance 
of the gem-mining industry to the trade of the 
island. 
58 
Sir, — As I had ten long years of Gemming life 
in the Southern Province, allow me a little space 
in your valuable columns, to throw some light on 
the gemming operations in Lanka, in a small as 
well as in a large scale. 
The beginning (of course) was on a small scale, 
and owing to bad luck and thieving, the result was 
not a favorable one ; after this with the help of 
‘ Mr. C. P. Hayley of Galle, we got up a Syndicate 
and went Gemming on a large scale in Morowak- 
korale. This would have been a paying concern if I 
,had been supplied with propermachinery, and owing to 
this lack it turned out a failure. Thieving in the gem- 
ming operations is carried on in Ceylon, by the 
.coolies in the small as well as in the large scale, not 
only where European management is employed, but 
.even amongst natives themselves. At the washing 
'time is not an easy job for them to steal, as there goes 
only the small gems and the watching is kept on 
keenly, but most of the gems are stolen at the time 
of the disintegration of the gravel, where a large 
gem cannot be hidden in the mud, but as in the 
gemming pits, there is always water, so 
thi 1 arge gems left clear showing their 
beautiful colour, so if it happens that the super- 
visor turns his eyes into a different direction, the 
gems will fly into the opposite way, the natives 
having many different tricks to let a gem disappear. 
