THE tropical agriculturist. 
748 
Beourity as should certainly prove attractive to the 
investor. ! Tea shares are at present mostly held by 
people who have resided in India or Ceylon, and their 
friends— a class who have had an opportunity 
of seeing on the spot the stability of the in- 
dustry in'o which they are putting their money. 
Still there has of late been a good deal more 
activity in tlie dealings in these shares, and there is 
every prospect that this activity will continue, as, 
owing to the adverse influences which have affected 
the tea-growing industry during the last year or two, 
the prices have declined to a level that is sure to 
attract the best class of investors. It is, however, a 
market in which it is desirable that investors should 
get good expert advice ; for tea gardens, like vine- 
yards, are good and bad, and can only bo judged by 
experts. 
TEA PLANTING AND FINE PLUCKING. 
Mr. Hastings Clarke i.s an experienced coffee, 
as well as tea planter— having begun his career 
in Kadugannawa so far back as June 1860— and 
let us mention as a common circumstance in 
those days of old, that for weeks together in 
crop season, the planter had to keep in the field 
pretty well all day, having his midday meal 
sent out to him. Mr. Clarke has passed 
through harder times with coffee, than any 
as yet experienced with tea, leaving the fungus 
out of view. In other w'ords, Mr. Clarke is 
nob at all disappointed with tea on liis present 
visit, even with all the adverse circumstances 
of the times. It must be confessed, however, 
that there are few old districts in Ceylon, in 
which tea does so well as in Kellebokke, its 
subsoil is particularly good, and this is shown 
by the way in which the tea goes on linsli- 
ing even during the present unprecedented 
drought. For, during his two inontlis’ 
visit, Mr. Clarke has only seen two 
sli'dit showers of rain in wliai is a generally wet 
diS,ricb. Mr. Clarke is strong on “ fine plucking 
his own system is the moderate one adopted by 
the late Mr. Taylor of Loole Condura and if 
it were generally followed and estates usually 
giving up to 600 and even 700 lb. per acre, re- 
ducetf their incoming to 503 lb., he thinks 
20 COO, 000 lb. less of an export thanestiinated, might 
be’ realized or say 16 million lb. less, if allowance 
is made for youiig tea. But to get the full benefit 
of fine plucking, there must be close inspection 
of the work in the field and a constant check 
maintained. . ' . 
It is well that thoroughly practical exiierienced 
planters, like Mr. Clarke, should continue their 
connection with Ceylon ; and' should visit the 
island periodically. We trust to see Mr. Clarke 
hack again, well and hearty, after a due interval. 
Liberian Coffee in Sumatra.—" Old Hand ” 
sends us one of his bright chatty letters, given 
on another page, with some amusing as -well 
as useful information. What he tells us about 
Liberian Coffee and its curing and reception at 
home is very much to the point. No ivonder 
that Sumatra planters should doubt there being 
so many plantations and planters in little Ceylon. 
Their huge island covers 162,0i;0 square miles 
a<oiinst our 25,000 1 The total ))opulation of 
Sumatra though, is not larger than that of 
Ceylon so far as is known. " Old Hand 
notices the fact— marvellous indeed — tliat in 
the last Report of the Ceylon Plancers’ Asso- 
ciation for the first time in its history, there is 
absolutely no mention of coffee , ! 
[M.ay 2, 189^. 
FOOD SUPPLY IN CEYLON. 
(EXTRACT, S FROJI All .MINISTRATION REPORT OF 
THE NUWARA ELIVA DISTRICT FOR 1897.) 
There appears to be a general idea that the District 
of Nuwara Eliya is small, unimportant, and impov- 
erished. Small it is, but tbe other two epithets cer- 
tainly do not apply. It contains ore and a variety 
of gems and minerals ; it possesses every variety 
of climate, except the worst ; and there is no product 
which grows anywhere else in Ceylon which dues 
not grow here. It is abundantly watered, and for the 
most part remarkably healthy. In Nuwara Eliya 
itself and its suburbs vegetables and fruits are readily 
grown and supplied abundantly. European vegetable 
e.-ctending, but the supply is much below the 
demand (owing to the large quantities daily 
sent to other towns and ontstaiiona), and this show 
the advisability of throwing open more lands 
for vegetable cultivation — e.f/., the Barrack Plains. 
In the division of Kotmale the people get but one 
crop a year, but it is plentiful, aud even if there were 
a deficiency they can supplement it with imported rice 
obtained in exchange for garden produce, carda- 
moms, A'c. 
Cardamoms are extensively c Itivated, and in 
native gardens they have taken the place cf coffee. 
In fact, they are becoming a very important indus- 
try, exactly suited to native habits, and paying 
handsomely at present prices. The area of native 
tea gardens also is rapidly extending, and they show 
a fair profit owing to the cheapness of the labour 
employed. 
In the Uda Hewaheta district the people get two 
cr'ops a year, but the fields ara not so fertile as 
those in Kotmale in consequence of the biennial 
cultivation without the use of manure. During tbe 
year under review the people had normal crops 
from their paddy fields and the most favourable 
weather. The onion cultivation, which was very 
extensive in the two Maturata korales, fetched good 
prices. The greater part of the district is studded 
with estates, which pro.ido employment to the 
natives at all times of the year. The cart road from 
Kandy to Kurunduoya, which passes through the 
greater part of the district, gives the people 
the advantage of selling their produce at an 
enhanced value. The korales of Gannewa, Diyatilaka, 
and Gangapalata received abundant crops from paddy 
fields in addition to the garden and chena produce, 
and they fetched good prices. These three korales 
require much attention, and with frequent visits by 
the Revenue Officer there is every prospect of con- 
verting them into fields of industry of various kinds, 
the climate and soil being well adapted for low- 
country products. 
In the Walapane district the rain was seasonable 
and well distributed, and the crop in consequence has 
been abundant everywhere except in those isolated 
villages bordering on the Badulla boundary, which 
are inaccessible for want of a road and ill-favoured 
in respect of water supply. There has been a scarcity 
of food in Arnkwatta, which is one of those villages, 
and I had to make an urgent appeal to Government 
and obtain a sum of ElOO to relieve their immediate 
distress. To obviate the recurrence of such isolated 
cases of distress, what this part of the distriot 
requires is — 
(1) The opening of roads by a special grant from 
Government. 
(2) Improvements to and restoration of irrigation 
works, which caunot fail to develop the country if 
worked systematically. 
t3) The issue of asweddum licenses to improve 
irrigable lands where water is available. 
(4) The leasing of lands suitable for coconuts and 
other useful products on the half-improved value 
system. 
(.5) Improvements to live stock, for which the 
country is well adapted. 
(6) The establishment of village markets for the 
enedurageraent of growers of native products, 
