THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. i, 1898. 
474 
Would, of course, be a sad result from afforts to “eco- 
nomise the existing labour supply but the question 
is a wide one, and some points in connection with 
it have been altogether unnoticed. We must all 
admit that with this question, as with many others, 
different methods may be necessary in different 
districts, but speaking generally, the following bases 
will be agreed upon (!) monthly weeding, instead of 
three-weekly, as giving less trouble to the superin- 
tendent, and (2) payment of El’OO per acre as an 
average minimum. Fifteen or sixteen years ago, 
when the rupee rate was first introduced by a Colombo 
estate manager, the suggestion was met with howls 
of derision as an utter impossibility. And this was 
when coffee was the principal cultivation, nearly cover- 
ing the ground with its horizontal growth ! Varying 
rates were then in vogue, from R1'50 to 2'50, or 
more, per acre, but the weeding contracts were then, 
as now, looked on more as a means of drawing 
regular weekly supplies of rice than for making money, 
First, as regards monthly weeding. This system 
was adopted naturally in the beginning as being most 
convenient, and it has many advantages when 
f iroperly attended to. But the contractor is frequently 
eft to his own devices: there is no proper supervision 
(on many estates, the weeding cool’es do not even 
come to muster), and when the contract, through 
their bad work, illness or idleness, gets behindhand, 
it often happens, as the contractor has frequently 
shrewdly foreseen, that the superintendent is unable 
to lend him any labour, all checkroll coolies 
being required for ordinary words. Result : the 
field ffoes hitch and the rate of pay has to 
be increased for some months. Sunday weeding 
is sometimes resorted to, the hired coolies being paid 
in rice or cash. It is on occasions like these when, 
without supervision, work is disgracefully scamped, 
and more harm done to the field than most people 
realise. Growing weeds are covered up with dead 
leaves or soil scraped over them : holes are scratched 
a few inches deep and bushes of weeds “ buried ” 
with a handful of soil, only to be washed off with 
the next rain : weeds growing near timber-belts, pre- 
cipices or jungle are thrown hastily into them where 
they quickly take root and become nurseries of seeds. 
Secondly, as to rate of payment, most planters 
appear to be under the impression that when their 
weeding has been got down_ to a rupee per acre 
they have touched bottom : it is not safe to reduce 
the rate further as the Kangani must be considered 
or rather bis so-called Coast Advance Account. 
This is the parasite which paralyses all estate v)orh. It 
is a remarkable fact that the gentleman (?) who 
invented the “ tnndu ” system, which has been the 
cause of all our modern labour troubles, has never 
yet come forward to assert his right to a statue 
or an annuity. When Hindu mythology has room 
for a new god, the chetties perhaps may elevate 
him, but he will probably go to his grave “ un- 
wept, unhonoured and unhung.” Some planters 
argue that the rupee rate is incapable of being re- 
duced, because the contractors always lose money 
in the wet months. They miss two points : weeds 
grow much less in cold, rainy weather, and the aver- 
age contractor is not fool enough to retain a losing 
business. Were it not for the awful amount of 
advances outstanding, the average cost of weeding 
even on the present system, might be very 
considerably reduced, but it is a work, which, merely 
because it is done by contract, too often receives but 
little attention from superintendents. Too much power 
is sometimes allowed to a head kangani, the whole 
acreage of an estate being given him on contract. 
He will sublet the fields at perhaps half the rate 
paid him, and having the contract in his own name, 
he will keep their accounts, in a certain way, himself, 
and even where this mistake if not made, what a 
lot of room there is on most estates for more super- 
vision. How often is the weeding of part of a field 
carried forward to “the next month, and then repeated, 
instead of the contract being given to a better man ; 
and how often is the weeders’ use of mamoty and 
goraper winked at if not actually sanctioned on estates 
supposed to be weeded entirely by hand? On how 
many estates are cooty-sacks issued to the weeders, 
or when issued actually used for bringing weeds to 
the roads ? We sometimes go out of our way to divide 
the weeding contracts into small fields, so as to give 
each sub-kaugani one, at RIO OO or 12'00, though 
no single coqly, however conscientious (and these are 
scarce) can fairly earn so much in the average twenty 
days which they work in a month. So ihe small 
contract means either double payment or scamped 
W'ork, the field if finished being done with the help 
^°^j’°wed labour, often young children from the lines. 
And what a waste of supervision (or loss of it) 
there is on the small contract! The kangani's wile 
or niece will saunter out at 7 or 7-30 a.m. (even if 
she has attended muster) and begin weeding when 
the sun is well up. If the field is too far away to 
allow of her going back to breakfast at il, she will 
work on diligently till 2 or 2-30, when it is time to 
collect firewood. On any average estate she will 
time have collected all the vegetable luxuries, 
called by the general name of “ keeri,” which her 
mmily may require for curry, so that she can get 
back to the line easily by four o’clock to attend 
to her household duties. And for this work, or rather 
occupation, she is paid about ten rupees per month, 
perhaps more, though five would cover its actual 
value. If we were to work five or six of these small 
contracts together, with the same identical coolies to 
weed them, for a month, and an independent kangani 
to look after them, paid by results, what a shock it 
would give us! The head kangani would ask for his 
tundu,” or a further advance of R.500 1 
There are two sides to every question, so having 
looked at this from the employer’s point of view, let 
”1 '“O"’ take a glance at it on behalf of the cooly. 
Many estates are not kept in such good order as 
they should be. Roads and drains are often scan- 
dalously neglected, through a mistaken policy of 
economy or through labour being scarce, and though 
many people do not seem to be aware of it this adds 
considerably to the growth of weeds. Some fields are 
from aspect, soil and situation more favourabi# to 
the growth of weeds than others : some have weedy, 
ravines and precipices with perennial supplies of seeds 
ripening in them, and jungle boundaries are a per- 
petaal curse if weeds have been thrown into them. 
Other fields may be perfectly sheltered and shaded, 
but are often given out at the same rate as the 
most difficult contracts. Bad drainage means not 
only wash but weeds also. The least accessible fields 
are often the most in need of additional drainage, 
while boundary drains even on many old estates 
have never yet been cut. Some fields are very badly 
roaded and without weed pits have no convenient 
places for depositing the weeds. So much for the cooly, 
A wider knowledge of the first principles 
of agriculture would be of use to many 
of us. How few planters apparently practically 
understand the objects and effects of draining, and 
the results of planting shade trees. With a more 
extensive acquaintance with what is realy only 
elementary gardening, we should not so often see 
the cutting of new drains postponed indefinitely, the 
clearing out of drains neglected for months together 
or exposed fields of tea left without shade trees being 
planted throughout. The general planting of grevilleas 
and other shade trees, as some contributors have 
advocated, would, with regular attention to drains 
instead of the present studious neglect, enable ns to 
reduce our weeding expenditure by nearly .50 per cent. 
Though “selected weeding” in fields devoid of 
shade, very considerably reduces the wash caused by 
heavy rains, its adoption cannot fairly be made an 
excuse for lowering rates at first, as the mosses and 
small ferra require occasional regulation and removal 
from the base of the stems. The writer was able 
some years ago to reduce his weeding rates from 
Rl'25 and R1'60 per acre to 75 cents, and the con- 
tractors made larger profits than under the old sys- 
tem. But the reduction was facilitated rather by 
extra attention to drains and to the weeding coolies, 
and also to the planting of cuscus and lemon-grasa 
