THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
529 
Feb. X, 1898 .] 
Eemaeks. — A happy valley that would be happier 
with more cordial co-operation for general good of 
proprietors. 
MARAV/ILA DISTRICT (CHIDAW) IN 1897. 
Weathek generally. — We had rain during every 
month of the year, with very heavy falls of 8 and 12 
inches. 
Crop. — Coconut and paddy crops have been good. 
Labour Supply. — Scarcity of Tamil labour all over 
the district. Sinhalese unreliable. 
Transport. — The canal is the only means of through 
transport and on the whole it was in good navigable 
order except at Negombo, where it gets silted up with 
each rise of the Maha Oya. 
Roads. — There being very little heavy traffic on the 
main road, it was in good order. The old road was 
in fair order. Minor roads require attention. 
Rice and other Supplies. — Supplies sufficient, but 
prices very high and press heavily on the poor. 
Grievances. — A more vigorous administration, viz., 
an A.G.A. untrammelled with judicial work. 
Remarks. — Badly served as regards mails. We 
have one mail either way and letters that reach 
Negombo one evening for districts northwards are 
forwarded the following noon ! Two coaches leave 
Negombo together at noon and two leave Chilaw 
in the mornirgs. We want a mail for Negombo 
in the mornings, and from Chilaw in the after- 
noon. Our greatest want is a light line passenger 
railway. 
BATTICALOA DISTRICT IN 1897. 
Weather generally abnormal : too wet during the 
early and middle of year ; too dry at the beginning 
of N.-E. monsoon ; too wet now. 
Crop. — Under the average. 
Labour Supply. — A s usual. 
Transport. — As usual. 
Roads. — In fair order. , 
Rice and other Supplies. — Prices very high. 
Grievances. — Continual change of magistiate and 
D. J. Want of communication with outer world. 
Remarks. — When the railway has been extended to 
Batticaloa, and the old Dutch Bar is re opened, this 
place will be only second to Colombo in importance. 
It is destined to be the great lice-producing dis- 
trict of the island, and it only wants facility of com- 
munication by land and sea to develope it. Coconut 
cultivation has been largely extended during the past 
year. The trees do not yield so much and do not 
last so long, as in the wetter portions of the island, 
but they make up for this by producing better nuts. 
What the disliict wants more than anything else is 
fresh blood and competition, and this it will not 
get, until it is easier to get in and to get out of it. 
RANGALA— MEDAMAHANUWARA AND 
NITRE CAVE DISTRICTS IN 1897. 
Weather.— The weather throughout the year was 
very favourable, no long spells of either rain or 
drought. Both the South-West and Noith-East mon- 
soons were mild. The rainfall varied on different 
estates from P 8 to ISO inche.s. 
Crops.— Tea and cardamoms were above the average, 
especially the latter, which has been a record year. 
Labour. — With no great shortage we could have 
given employment to a few hundred extra hands. 
Sinhalese labour comes as a great help in pruning 
and all odd jobs. The arrivals from the Coast on 
his side have been few. 
Transport.- The majority of estates have a coolie 
and tavalam transport to cart road of from 3 to 
7 miles. Coolies dislike the work and will not stay 
where the wo.>-k is heavy. 
Roads. — Our cart roads have been kept in fairly 
good order, but more might be done in putting down 
a larger quantity of metal and not cribbing it from 
the sides of the roads. The beginning of the year 
saw our roads all smashed up by the great rainfall 
in the latter part of December 1896. We badly 
want a few short extensions to make transport easy. 
Rice. — We were kept well supplied, but the price 
was very high and likewise all Ramasamy’s cuny 
stuffs &c. 
Grievances. — We have one great grievance. Our 
Grant-in-aid cart road from Nngatenna to Kobonellp 
i.a to cost us 3/4th of the total (•xrenditurc ; Govern- 
rriunt only paying 1/lth. We cuf the road and f ' 
the last moment Government refused the half of 
the cost, and now charge us one-half the expenditu: -■ 
for laying down the metal and finishing it. 
Remarks. — Coolies were fairly healthy and are 
taking kindly to hospital, some of them are even 
anxious to go to it. The birth and death rate was 
normal. Factories were enlarged on a good many 
estates ; a large new one built on Deanstone ; and 
wire shoots are coming into favour. The tendency 
was to pluck finer all through the year. Very little 
new land was opened for tea ; but longing eyes 
were cast on every available acre for cardamoms ; 
we are beginning to find that cardamoms are more 
permanent than we at first thought and there is no 
doubt we will take to manuring them before long 
and also replant old fields. 
MADULKELLB IN 1897. 
Weather. — Very favourable for the first six months 
but quite the reverse for the latter half of the year; 
a fairly fine Jure being followed by three almost 
sunless months, with low temperature on the higher 
estates and consequent cheek to vegetation generally, 
Almost all estates have made less tea than in 1896, 
some very much less, and those which close their 
accounts to the 30th June, will have to reduce their 
estimates considerably. 
Labour. — Plentiful on one or two estates, but most 
people would be glad of more coolies. 
Transport. — Almost all estates employ their own 
carts or contract for the regular hire of the carts 
they require. 
The Road gets worse every year, for the simple rea- 
son that sufficient money is not spent on its main- 
tenance and that the work done is badly done. 
The form of the road is to a great extent lost, and 
in heavy rains, where there is a steep incline which 
is pretty general above the 7th mile stone. The water 
luns down the road instead of into the side drains, 
ploughing out deep ruts and washing away metal 
and “blinding” together. These luts are roughly 
filled up with metal, to be washed out again with 
the rext icins. The road above Panwila was 
thoroughly well mare originally by the old pioneer 
corps (ihongh the trace is bad) being, like the niapni- 
ficent road from Ratnapura to Badulla. all fiimly 
paved with large flat stones below the metal, Had 
it not been so, it wt uld have been cut through lorg 
ago. I mention (his ns Sir J. Grinlinton’s lemarks in 
Conncil seemed to imply that work was better done 
now than foimerly ; quite a mistake. 
Rice has of course been dear and a heavy loss 
has fallen on most estates, it having been issued 
to coolies at lates ranging from R4 to R4'40 per 
bushel. There was some scarcity at the time of the 
railway slip and seme es^a*cR had to send their 
men to 'Wattegama and Matcle in October. 
EAST HAPUTALE IN 1897. 
Weather — The rainfall has been over ICO inches, 
rather more than the average and too evenly dis- 
tributed for ceffee, but very suitable for tea. 
Crops.— C( ffee a vanishing quantity; tea a good 
average. 
Labour. — Plentiful cn most estates. 
Transport.— Cost of tiansport has shown a ten- 
dency to rise during the year. 
Roads. — Winor roads in fair order. The Ampitiya- 
kanda Gap Rood is to be ie-surve 3 ed and will 
then if all goes well he constructed fjom Brndara- 
v/ela to Leangawela factory. 
The effects of the slip have not perhaps bet n f It 
so much here as in some other districts as we hive 
alternative routes of supply by Hambautota and 
Ratnapura. 
