544 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb I, 1898 . 
Rice. — The heavy cost has been a great hardship 
on Ramasamy as well as on the estates. Few pro- 
prietors or Companies have been able to charge the 
full price, but have divided the loss with the coelies, 
which, under the circumstances, was a fair way of 
dealing with the matter. 
RE OPENING OF THE BAMBARABOTU WA- 
EATNAPUKA DISTRICT. 
The letter elsewhere on “ planting, gemming 
and reading in Bambarabotuwa” reminds us of 
the wonderful transformation which is being 
wrought in this old coffee district through the 
agency and capital of Companies or capitalists 
represented by Messrs. Finlay, Muir & Co. We 
have not yet got the full returns or statistics 
for our “Handbook and Directory;” but we 
know enough to infer that “ Balaiigoda and 
Bambarabotuw'a ” will erelong constitute arising 
and important division among the sixty odd 
planting districts in our list. The neighbouihood 
of Balangoda was the first scene of ojierations by 
Europeans on that side of the country and so 
far back as 1838, land was selected there at an 
elevation of 1,800 feet, the luxuriant collee in 
the surrounding naiive villages having attracted 
attention. In 1840 large purchases of land were 
made, out of which Massena, Pettiyagalla and 
New Pettiyagalla estates were created and later 
on Hatterabage and Lankabarony. But the crisis 
of 1845-47 brought abandonment in some cases, 
and the district, as a whole, never re- 
covered a position of any standing until Messrs. 
Shelton Agar, Layard, Torkington and Bosanc^uet 
& Co. began in the later “ Seventies,” to give 
Balangoda a name as a tea district. Now we 
liave an almost continuous line of estates from the 
neighbourhood of Ratnapura light on to Balan- 
goda, lying between the Bambarabotuwa and Rat- 
and Walauwa gangas with a dozen more plantations 
detached along the road leading to Bogawantalawa. 
Altogether, some 25 iiroperties are counted in the 
Rasagalla division (Balangoda proper) and some 
15 in the Bambarabotuwa and Ratnapura divi- 
sion. A most important tea district it is bound 
to become very shortly. The Ir.ige “ Hopewell 
Factory ” (belonging to the Company of that 
name) is expected to turn out eventually 2^ 
million lb. of tea annually, and it is intended 
to be connected by cart road with Ratnapura, 40 
miles distant. The late Mr. John Dent Young 
traced and partly-made cart road comes in usefully 
here. The machinery of the Factory is to be 
electrically driven and tea from a group of 
neighbouring estates is to be made in it. 
A better watered district there is not in the 
island ; but it is puzzling to think what 
gave rise to the idea that the Walauwaganga 
had its source in Walawadowa block for which 
the Government; exchanged at the rate of 3 acres of 
splendid forest for one,— the true source of the river 
(which runs through this block) being much 
higher up ! The activity, life and business con- 
nected with the opening up of hundreds n«t to 
say some thousands of acres with tea in the 
districts referred to, need not be dweit on. 
Yerily an immense change is coming over thin 
side of the Adam’s Peak range, and if the 
Kelani-Avisawella railway is prolonged to Rat- 
uapura to catch the traffic at the end of the 
30 to 40 miles cart road, its financial success will 
be still further confirmed. Indeed, we may be 
stire the several powerful Tea Companies In- 
terested will want (and provide) a tramway 
on the new’ di.strict road as soon as it is finished, 
in order to be ready to connect with the Govern- 
ment Railway. 
FERTILIZING MANURES. 
The fact that, though last year only about 
one hundred tons of all kinds of chemical manures 
were imported into Ceylon, this year that 
f[uantity is likely to be greatly exceeded, is 
proof of the attention that is being paid to this 
question by^ estate ow ners, agents and sujierin- 
teudents. hollowing our policy of drawing at- 
tention to anytliing that can benefit the jdanter, 
we toilay turn to Odam’s Siiecial Tea Fertilizer, 
of which we have the following guaranteed 
analysis given: — 18 to 20 , soluble i)hosi)hate of 
lime ; 4 to 6 per cent of undi.ssolved iiho.sphate 
of lime; 3.t to 4 per cent of imre ammonia and 
4 to 5 of jiure potash. Mr. Iveith Rollo, manager 
of the Wanarajah Tea Company, says of It: 
“The results have been excellent, as tea has 
immensely improved and given remarkably heavy 
liushes, and when pruned two months aoo 
there was magnificent wood to prune on, which 
ir.eans heavy flushes for another eighteen monihs 
at least.” 
The excellence of these manures has been cer- 
tified by Dr. Voelcker, of London ; Dr. Mac- 
adam, of Edinburgh ; and others, includino- Mr 
John Hughes, F.c .s. Consulting Chemist to the 
Ceylon Planteis’ Association. IMe.ssns. Baker and 
Hall, the Ceylon agents have alre.ady this season 
booked exten.sive orders for Hatton, Kalutara, and 
Wattawala. To the.se districts in a very short time 
fifty tons of the tea fertilizer w ill be despatched. As 
an instance of what the mamiie will do we are 
assured that on part of one estate the yield 
w'as 1 aised from 3t0 ibs. to 7t0 lbs. per acre. 
PLANTING IN JAVA AND CEYLON 
INTERVIEW WITH MR. FRANK ADAM. 
As^ our readers are aware one of the visitors 
to Ceylon at present is Mr. Frank Adam wfio 
IS veiy largely iutevested in eoflee planting in 
J&vu. Mr. Adam came here in the beginning of 
December last and .since then he has been travel- 
liiig about the Kelaui Valley, Kandapola. and 
U va^ districts. His visit will extend till the end 
of Tebruary and during that time he will do some 
inore visiting in the hill and low country. He w’os the 
lust to interest Ceylon capitalists in coffee iilanting 
rn Java— men such as Messrs. G. . Talbot, J. H.- 
Starey, D. & J. ]t. Fairweather, Wilson Wood, 
Rutheifoid,Reid, &c. — and theGlen Nevis Comirany 
started in 1892-93 i.s doing so well that those in- 
terested arc, along w'ilh Mr Adam, now engaged in 
takrng steps to float a Company here to start a 
further block of similar land iir the same district 
of Java as the Glen Nevis Company. That, and 
the extension of this Glen Nevis Company, he 
explarned to one of our representatives, who 
mterviewed him, was the object of his visit to 
Ceylon. 
SIGHING FOR THE COFFEE DAYS. 
Asked about his impressions of Uva he said : — 
I have met a good many old coffee planters and 
one and all of them sigh for the coffee days 
again in preference to those of tea. With 
regard to coffee here, I speak with a cer- 
tain amount of reserve because the situation 
of the island, the soil, and the climate are en- 
tirely different from Java ; but my impression 
