640 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, 1898 . 
Ka,tua,pui'a. 
SlR^_In reply to “ C. W. H.” and plantain 
flour experiments : if he will write to me, oi l 
now give liiTii, some useful hints about pre- 
paring the table and sugary varieties when ripe, 
(and a superabundance of fruit are on hand). 
Cut them in two, thoroughly dry in the sun 
(desiccate them till they rattle like apple chips). 
Then get some large immlh bottles or jars — 
pack away a layer' of chips— and pour over each 
layer some burnt sugar and brandy, or over 
two or three layers. It will soak down gradually 
through the dry fruit. Stacked away it will keeji 
for years and taste exactly, and nicer than, tigs. 
It is astonishing how nourishing and supporting 
the food is, and it can be eaten with bread. 
It packs away in an incredible small space ; a 
full bunch of one hundred or one hundred and- 
a-half could almost pack down in an ordinary 
table salt bottle. When drying the fruit, it is 
advisable to do it under mosquito netting to 
keep oft' flies. The s(|uirrels too make raids 
upon it, and run off with -loat quantities. I once 
cau"ht four squirrels in a day in an ordinary 
box” wire trap. The fruit should be dried on a 
clean mat, and turned several times a day to 
o-et all parts evenly dried. It can be packed away 
when dry without brandy and sugar, but does 
not then taste so much like preserved ii^.— 
Yours truly, d Itb UKA Y . 
RAMIE AND INDUSTRIAL WORK. 
School of Agriculture, Colombo, Feb. 1. 
Dear Sir,— I am sending, for your inspection, 
some specimens of Ramie fibre lace— kindly 
made for me at the Kandy Convent-which 
testifies to the suitability of the fibre for 
delicate textile articles as well as to the 
PYcellence of the Avork done at the Ivancly 
Convent. The thread w'as some left with 
me by Mr. Macdonald, of INIacdonald, Boyle & 
Co i also enclose specimen of fancy work 
done on the leaves of the elephant creeper 
(Amnia vcciomy^l 
[The specimens, which are extremely interest- 
ing and well-executed, can be seen at our 
office.— Ed. T.A.'\ 
TEA ESTATE EXPENDITURE AND J 
ECONOMY No. 1. 
4 th Feb. 1898. 
Sir, —Y our leader today on eoonoiuising labour 
I have read. My experience for the last two 
years is that I have saved 4 cents a lb. on made 
tea by plucking for cash. That coolies paid at 
se much a lb. easily pluck double the amount 
those do whose names are put down as a day’s 
labour. Women at 25 cents say, as for other 
works. As regards coolies settling (low n, “ as 
long as the tundu system holds goo(_l so long 
will they be discontented.” If an oriental can 
increase his liabilities without any intention of 
repaying them by demanding a tnndu and actually 
getting helped ^ his employer to do so by 
having one given him, what do you expect V 
I have L'iven up the tnndu system, have been 
threatened with Court, given proct or’, s notice 
and leaving; but all have ended and 1 make 
when they”found I did not care what they did. 
They all 'arl^n<nr,U(hie that ii-lthoii/ a tundaWxey 
CANNOT OET MONEY. The CURIO is ill and on OUR 
OWN HANDS. — Yours truly, 
OWN HAN manacing proprietor. 
NO. II. 
5th Feb. 1898. 
Dear Sir, — Your yesterday’s paper has a very 
sensible article on retrenchment of expenditure 
on estate.s, this is a suliject you will see will 
have to be taken up in a verj^ short time, for, 
I have seen for .some year.s back a great increase 
in cost of all works, this is simply caused by the 
present class of Superintendents, many, ot the 
estates aie in charge of. I could give you 
many instances ; but it is not tor me, nor would it 
do you any good in the meantime if you were 
to publish tliem. The man that has lots of 
coolie.s is the best superintendent; but, before the 
year is out, mark my word the man that can 
do his work cheapest will have the cake. I 
know of an estate that gave the Superintendent 
leave for 10 months and the man that took his 
place wuo a Sinna Dorie, got lots of coolies ; cost of 
tea increased 5 cU. per lb and estimate short by 
11,000 lb. Such are the facts the shareholders 
will ha\ e to face. — Youns, MANAGER. 
P.S . — I think i\lr. Campbell had no right to 
give such a speech before Mr. H. Skrine’s motion 
the other day at the P.A. meeting. That was how 
a previous Chairman in the 80’s disgusted people. 
M 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
Kandy, 4th Feb. 1898. 
Dear Sir, — I annex extract of a letter re- 
ceived by Mr. Campbell from Mr. William 
Mackenzie, dated London, 14th January, 1898, 
as follows “ I have been advised by the National 
Bank of a credit for £4,000. I have written to 
New York, arranging for a continuance of our 
work, and should (D. V.) arrive there myself 
about the time this reaches you. 
“I havehad a)rroposal forsome strenuous pushing 
in Winnijjeg and West of Canada, and may do 
something in that quarter in view of the rising 
importance of the N,-W., since the gold dis- 
coveries. 
“ JMr. Talbot, sailed for Ceylon to-day. 
“ I may go to Ceylon in April, to give a personal 
account of my stewardshi)).” — I am, dear sir, 
yours faithfully, A. PHILIP, 
Secretary to the “Thirty Committee.” 
THE CACAO FUNGI AND REMEDIES, 
Kaduwella, Ukuwela, Feb. 7th, 1898. 
Dear Sir, — I hear that the Cryptogamist has 
discovered not one, but two varieties of fungi 
living on our cacao. Now I do not wish to 
belittle the work of the Cryptogamist : on the 
contrary, I believe, he will be able to give us 
valuable information and perhaps instruction. 
At the same time I can’t help remembering the 
little assistance, Coffee Planters received from 
the labours of Messrs. Morris and Ward. In fact, 
I believe, coffee would have lasted 4 or 5 years 
longer than it did, if >ve had not carried out 
Morris’s instructions in applying sulphur and 
lime. The lime had the effect of making the 
tree.s give an enormous crop, which in their 
debilitated condition was too much for them 
and so died off, when if it had not been for the 
overstimulant they might have gone on giving 
small crops for years. What I would like to 
suggest is that jdanters, whose estates are suffer- 
ing from the di,®ease, should select a piece of soil 
close to a dead or dying tree and have a sample 
