ApRiL I, 1898.] THE TROPICAL 
was one caught by Mr. J. M. Punlon in 1896 
weighing 8 lb. 4 ozs. Tlie lengtii of my trout was 
2 ft. IJ in. and girth 1ft. 5^ in., tlie length being 
short for its weight. It was a female fish and un- 
fortunately full of ova, and had I known this in 
time I would have tried to preserve the fish for 
breeding purposes. As it is I had it photographed 
and sent it to Mr. Jacob, of Kandy, to be set up. 
I hope he will make a good job ot it. 
An extraordinary occurrence was, that whilst 
playing the fish, a fine otter appeared on the scene 
and behaved in the most excited manner jumping 
in and out of the stream and swimming round and 
round with its head out of the water within a few 
feet of me and making a peculiar hissing snorting 
noise which otters do when excited. Whether the 
otter wished to help an old friend in difficulties, or 
to seize the opportunity of helping itself, or 
thought that I had hold of another otter (anci I 
was not quite sure myself, for sometime that I 
had not) it is difficult to say. It will te interest- 
ing to note to what size trout will grow to in 
Ceylon.-I am, &c., H. V. MASEFIELD. 
[This letter will be of peculiar interest to The 
Field, Land and IFaler and Fishing Gazette to 
whose editors, copies of this Observer will be 
sent. — Ed. T,A.] 
SCIENTIFIC MANURING ON CEYLoN 
PLANTATIONS. 
Colombo, 16th March, 1898. 
Dear Sir, — I have pleasure in handing you my 
circular and would direct your special attention to 
the testimonial of Mr. A. 0. Bonner, of Kirkoswald 
estate as to the value of these fertilizers. 
The old custom of simply applying castor- 
cake and raw bones may have answered very 
well in the past, when the margins of profit 
Were large ; but with many adverse circum- 
stances besetting the tea industry in the present 
day, it becomes a necessity for producers to avail 
themselves of the advantages, which the progress 
of Agricultural Chemistry has placed within 
their reach, in order to bring about cheaper 
production and quicker returns for the money ex- 
pended on manure. This end I submit, can only 
be accomplished by the application of a properly 
constituted fertilizer, based upon the average 
composition of the soil, the special conditions of 
climate and the requirements of the crop. The 
special fertilizers may safely be said to comply with 
all these conditions, and as Mr. Bonner’s testimo- 
nial shews, they maybe relied upon to give satis- 
factory results. Another point in their favour is 
that they are of a very concentrated nature, 
which means a great saving in the cost of trans- 
port and application, and adds-to the profits of 
the crop,— Yours faithfully, 
A. BA UR, 
Ceylon Manure Works. 
“THE CRISIS IN THE TEA INDUSTRY:” 
TEN MILLIONS OF RUPEES LOSS FROM EXCHANGE 
AND LOWER PRICES IN 1897. 
Sir, — Figures published by your evening con- 
temporary shew depreciation in the value of 
localTea Share Scrip of close ui)on six million rupees 
in 14 months, and of this sum I may notice in 
passing that nearly one-third is depreciation on 
shares in Companies managed (and ably managed 
too) by the firm of which the Chairman of the 
Chamber of Commerce is a partner. He it was 
who, a week or two ago, thought it the duty of 
tlie Chamber to approve “ iu no undecided way ” 
AGtllCtlLTDRiST. 7ij 
the broad-gauge railway to Jaffna and to re- 
commend the appropriation of Rl, 500,000 from 
the general revenue duiing the next three years. 
The proposal was unanimously adopted ! In the 
earlier part of his speech the Chairman commented 
on the bad effect exchange and low prices had 
had upon Ceylon trade for 1897 ; but his re- 
ference to this was most offhand and casual, and 
it is perfectly certain that he and the other 
members of the Chamber were unaware ot the 
actual loss inflicted on hapless tea shareholders 
and proprietors, as a body, during the previous 
twelve months. As is shown by the prices referred 
to, the actual depreciation on shares was nearly 
six million rupees. It is rightly raid that the 
fall is partially attributable to the undue infla- 
tion of 1893-6 ; but there is no gainsaying the 
fact that the primary cause was the fall in the 
average price of tea, and the higher exchange 
ruling for the greater part of the year. The average 
price of Tea for 1897 was 6-8ths of a penny less 
than in 1896, and as our shipments aggregated 
116,054,567 lb., the loss to the tea industry 
thiough the fall in price was £301,183 or upAvards 
of 4i million rupees, independent of exchange 1 
If we go a step further and work out this, what 
do we find ? A loss of somewhat over 5J million 
rupees 1 Total on Tea and Exchange say Ten 
Million Rupees. 
It is no use trying to blink the fact that 
with Exchange as it now is, coupled with 
a low average for tea, there are less prosperous 
times ahead of us, and it therefore behoves the 
Government not to fritter away any surplus 
revenue— that may be required to afford relief, 
by lower railway rates for produce, —on a fancy 
scheme that cannot possibly give any return, or 
benefit many people for years and years to come ; 
but to at once push on the Kelani Valley Rail- 
way, the success of which is assured from the 
day of opening, and which will biing untold re- 
lief to a district that suffers much for want 
of proper means of transport, while also bene- 
fitting many thousands of natives. 
Reports of meetings of Tea Companies held 
since the Chamber of Commerce discussed 
the Railway question, show that the days for 
economy and caution have arrived. Firms are 
called upon to reduce their Agency charges ; 
directors their fees ; superintendents their salaries; 
and it is not at all unlikely that London and 
Colombo Brokers will be asked to consider the 
advisability of reducing their commission sales 
from 1 per cent to half per cent, which would 
mean a saving to the planter in one year of 
about R250,000. 
Things are bad enough as they are ; but if 
the island is to be saddled with the expense of 
Railways that Avon’t pay for generations to come 
and the general revenue surplus be taken aAvay 
lor that purpose— the time is sure to arrive 
(and possibly in Governor RidgeAA'ay’s day) Avhen 
we shall have to follow the example of the 
West Indian Colonists by appealing to the Im- 
perial Parliament for relief. — I am sir, yours 
truly, A MAN OF BUSINESS. 
THE SILVER CURRENCY QUESTION. 
Kandy, March 11th, 1898. 
Sir,— The Secretary, Planters’ Association of 
Ceylon enclose copies of correspondence Avith the 
United Planters* Association of Southern India, 
on the Silver Currency Question- 
A. PHILIPr 
