48 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURIST 
[July i, 1891. 
Estimates of 1891.— I have gouo iulo tliese witli 
]Ur. Kerr, ami on the aggregate see no leason to alter 
total es'imateil profits, but much drjiends on the prices 
rospeotively of tea anti silver. 1 tbiiib wO may he a 
little too sanguine on the proappota of thn little oolfoo 
wo have remaining on Invery Estate, but this I consider 
will be n.adtt up, by what to me app' are to be moderate 
estiinales of our aggregate returns from Tea. 
The Qiality of our Teas for some months to eomo, 
excoptii g pt tbaps Invery, 1 do not anticipate to be 
BO r.ob as I hope it will prove tow.srds iboeud of our 
present year, and this must bo attributed to the largo 
amount of lo f, which for a time will come in from 
what may bo called “ l-'.rst Fluabee.” Wo have a large 
area pruned .lowu on all out Estates at proaont, 
wbicli baa decreased our yield, and will loll on the 
quality for a f w months to come, but will bo all iu 
our favour a litlla later on. 
Manuring.— So far as can be judged, our exparimeuta 
intliis lino have been a siiooo s, anil in s mo instanoe* a 
great eiiecesB.foc one, a manured field on Stratbdou estate 
bos averaged fur the last three moritlis cotiaiilorably over 
lUU lb of ruade tea per aoro por mouth. So long as lea 
keeps ab 'Ut present prices, exchange about Is 0 1 to Is 
G^d, and luliour as plentitnl as at this dato, I sbou d 
recoiumeiui the pioioions applicatiou of uianuro to 
most of the Ootupjny's estates, especially Abergcldio 
and portions of Slratbdou. 
Furlough Citenlars, as is-uod by several Companies 
in the Island, 1 do not propose to issue, but would 
wish that all sorvauts of out I'onipaiiy bo always libe- 
rally treated with, aud oil their merits. 
Carl Hrads to Ihosu Estates which do iirit adjoin snob. 
I have ad teJ my strung desire to Mr. Kerr’s approval, 
that every effort should be made to ibns iuoreaso the 
value of our properties. 1 trust before long we may bo 
able to say all our estates ate “ou" Oait R.raiiH, all 
are perfectly feasible, aud the outlay, iu comparison 
with iha advan.ages, is as nnthmg. 
Gove. urn. Ill lleservo Furoal adjoiiiing M'ncing Lane 
Estate.- Tr is, lUougU only a very small acn ag. , will, 
1 hope, through the relaxvtion of Oovernment rules, 
shortly be edderl, under o. riain conditions, to the 
Estate, and will be of much value. 
The B inks aud Aconunts of the Company in 
Ceylon appesr to bo kept In a proper and buaine.vs-liko 
form. „ ... 
The Relationship between Mr. Kerr and bis various 
Superintendents.— This, a most impurtaut leaiuro in 
the successful working of any group of Eatule..., seems 
to be oil a voiy satialscioty footing. Al .pull well 
together. ... 
Labonr Force appoirs BolUoiout for present re- 
ouiremtnts ou all ibe Estates, _ 
Adelaido E-tale.— Tin. pr. p -tty, cousiatiug of somo 
210 acros, of which 108 are 'I’ea in full teariug, 50 
parl.al, a out 47 I ’n at, and ab. ut 25 olieua, adj .ms 
the torupauy’s pioperty of EenachiP, and is sbout to 
be added to the capital of the Company, urn cr the 
name of *• Luiiaob," aud at the price ■ 1 only K, 80,000. 
The prupr riy was iiupeoiod and vaiuetl by Mr. Kerr, 
Mr. Blacklaw, aud myself, and we were all of nne 
ooiiiioii, fit®*' 0”*™ ‘U'ti'otov'y lo"’* *'**“•' 'I*' t® 
was much iievelopinciil, that it was of gr. at vslne, 
as adjomuig one of not the least of our buldings, 
probably eupplied « want to Bcnachie, viz., water 
power, gave us an uuUet to Watawala btaliun, ami 
BO ou! 1 determined to possess it lor the 0 mpauy, 
opd 1 have every r.asou lo nelieve the iuvcstumut 
will prove a very rcmuuerative one lo the Company. 
Thn Estate gave about 27,000 lb, of made Tea last 
, r ttiid is estimated at 30,000 tins, ibe CO aote 
&i' lias not yet been plucked, which is greatly iu 
^ Ticibiu' rnios.— Mr. Kerr sud I are both quite 
agretd that such shomd be ixtensively pl.ntod-- 
ohn fiy along road sides— not only on onr Oumpany s 
lauds, but generally throughout the length and breadth 
of Ceylon’s Tea oisiriotfl, nm Only lor ihe purpose ot 
guppjyiug a want, alteudy too keeuly irU (tuougli 
happily not by us), viz,, I'lioi, but foe tbe br.akiiig 
up 01 extensive aroas of one product, and so lu a 
great mossure scatteiiiig disease, iho usual result of 
over-production of one product. 
The Scottish Ooylon Tea Company, Limited, are to 
be congratulated ou holding about 10 per cent, of 
stauding forest to their aeroage in tea. and over aud 
above, possess largo supplies of sound fuel, aod afair 
quantity of "sawable” timber on the g.ouud. 'This, 
with water power ou all our Estates, cannot ba too 
highly appreclateil. 
I oousider a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Kerr and 
his Siiperiiiteudeiits will again be due by the General 
Meeting iu May. 
Cinchona Prospects. — A planter of “Ledgier” 
weary of waiting lor a maiket for his bark, writes 
Irom upcouniry as follows : — 
" Ii ’s a weary liusiners this Ledger, if we had put 
it all in tea at first we would have been earning 21 
per cent before this. Wheu will the Ledger do that? 
Not, 1 fancy, until hall the world’s inhabitauli is ilowu 
wiili ii ducuza, and it would bo a dear dividend at 
that price. Etill we will see ’I'lie ups and downs 
ill Geylon are hucIi that no Ccuest industry should 
ever say die. Wa are still iu the borroia of the 
wet season.” 
AanicuLinRAi, riioucCB — Under the nnspiecs of the 
B.ia. d of Agriculture, has beeu issued a statistical report 
showing the cstini ited total pr.iiluce aud avei age yield 
per aoro of the priiieipul crops of Great Britsiu for 
the year IHIX). A general incri ase as compared with 
the preceding year is noted for all grain crops, but 
a deftuiouoy is rec rdod iu ail root crops, Polatos be. 
iog as much as 14 p-r cent bu|.,w them an of 1889. 
The average yield of Wheat seems to he i.etweeu 27 
ac d 28 bushels per acn • Uuy was also deft dent, aud 
Hops I kewise. As there waj not alrea. y sufficient 
ccinfu.iou ill our system of weights and measures, it 
now appears 1 hat thort are “ aere.s" and “Hop aons" 
— a ciicum t inoe which baa led lo somo slight error, 
now corieele.i.— Gorttenej-s' Chronicle. 
A Nakcotic Gua.ss. — S tipa viiidi.lii of Trii ius, var. 
robusta, is a vaiiety oo.nm n in Mew Mez co, aud 
wli’ob has a most iiounous tlfoct upon hor,,oo and beep 
who sro BO unfortunate a. to fed upon ir. Cattle 
who have once la-tod it, never again do so; hut upon 
strange animals who do not avoid it, it acts as a 
strong narcotic or sedative, Ii is a. poi on to them, 
especiilly iu the spring, when the blades fir t appear, 
causing a “ prot’ouii 1 sleep or stupor, lasting twenty- 
four tu forty-eight hnure, when the animals rally and 
give no evidence of bad elTi o .” It is widely .known, 
aud avoided, ty the imti. ea us “Sle. py Grass,” We 
read (also in Gwilen and forest) that Ilje species 8tipa 
viridula is much istcemcd us a pss urc 'or bay-grnss, 
and that it p' B osses none of tho iujiiiious qualities 
ot the variity rubiisla. — IHd. 
Tub Pkhhub Fbojkot. — fcjir Mountstuart Qrsiit 
DuB presided yesterusy at a meeting of the Indian 
seoliou of the Society of Arts, when Colonel Hasted, 
B. B., of the Local Government Board, and formerly 
Public Works Secretary lo tho Govcruiuant of 
Madras, read an interesting paper on what is known 
ill India as tho Porriar project. By the conalruotion 
of a dam 155 feet high acruea tho valley of the 
Perriar a lake will be formed, from which water 
will he taken by luoiins of a tunnel 6,060 feet long 
through tho mountain top and dropped down tho 
eastern face of the Ghaute into the Vvravanaur, 
The latter falle into a tiibutary of the Vigay, and 
tlieae rivers will carry tho water about sixty miles 
to a point west of Madura, when it will be dis- 
tributed by arlifioial ohacmola over tho oountry. 
Colonel Hasted olaimod that the situation and 
cii'cumbtances of tho locality make the operations 
more serious than would bo tho oonstruotiun of a 
largo resi rvoir in the Welsh mountains. The work 
WAS oomm. need in 1887, and it is expcotoil that it 
will bo oompletod witiiin o.glit years. The tiuiil 
estimated cost, taking the rupee as equivalent lo 
a florin, is 618,3001. A discussion followed the 
reading of tho paper, and the value of the soheme 
was fully recognieed.—O. Mail, May 1st. 
