July i, 1891.] 
t*HF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
HINTS FOR A YOUNG NEWLY ARRIVED 
PLANTING ASSISTANT. 
(By an old planter.) 
In Colombo. 
My de»r Blank, — Welcome to Ceylon. May your 
career here be most successful and all you hope 
foi realized I 
. As much depends on the start yon make in life, 
we may adjourn to the verandah and have a dial' 
in a long arm chair. 
What will yon have to drink ? You will find 
Colombo a very thirsty place. 
I 'll have a lemonade, thank you ? 
What, nothing stronger ? 
No thanks. I have thoroughly enjoyed the voyage 
and have tasted nothing stronger and mean to try 
and see how I can got on without stimulants. 
Boy, bring two lemonades, don't spoil them by 
putting ice in the tmiiblcrs. — Nave you been calling 
on anyone yet? No, but I have severai letters j 1 
mtroanelion, one to Mr. John Ferguson : he is tno 
Editor of the Observer. 
I am glad to hear you have a letter to him, 
he is just the person to give you hints as to 
how to got imcountry and all about everything 
that concerns Ceylon, Yon can call on him after 
you finish your drink. His office is only a short 
distance from the 6. 0. H. 
Travelling. 
I hear you at* bound for the hill country. 
Lucky fellow ! but take care . that the cooly sent to 
meet you to show you the wapr and carry your box 
containing a change of clothing keeps within sight : 
not mat ne will steal your box, but by your keeping 
together until your destination is reached, you have 
a change of clothing at hand which yon may stand 
greatly in need of, as the weather is, at certain 
seasons, very treacherous. It may look clear and 
charming for a iO or 15 miles' ride or walk when 
you leave the station; but before you have gone far 
may pour as yon have never seen it do in the 
old country. Even if it does not rain a change of 
clothing after your bath and you feel like a new man. 
On the Pl-antation. 
You will find everything very strange at first : the 
estate won't bo like what you nave pictured to your- 
eeif, unless you have seen a photograph of it ; for 
all estates are not alike and even a photo does not 
give one an idea of the grandeur of the rocks and 
and the charming effect of the pretty 
ittle bungalows and tho largo factories on the tea 
states. Everything will bo new, the very air you 
roathe is different, new faces, language, work, whole 
orroundmgs all different from what you expected. 
"folk, and get on liero, you will have to 
moW ®‘‘'‘ly, say about 5-30, have tea or coffee, and 
heavinst 'll flic 
breaWalrTh°„^ work to do before you get 
" '^uty aRer early tea is to take 
from II A . may bo either uearora little way off 
nZi cnnvem‘’'‘'l‘''^ ' ^ generally taken in the 
to work “ituation for the coolies being sent 
ii .•s'S' 
s it at .s 
proceeds to the 
or muster book in hand 
first gang on his loft h ind, and 
glancing along the. line eTOi^s o" t^t gang puts 
mMter roll““nn“io"tL'’® ‘o ‘hat kangmli^n^hia 
^d soon till .he enmrs them, 
beon j fium^r of the gang's have 
arrann^ Tnil- coolies ^re again 
Wt laTfVo^wn'’r‘ women'^’in^ another. !he 
these yon select tho material to carry on tho various 
field works of the day. A little e*porience will teach 
you whom to select for tho particular works. When 
muster is finished, and all gone ofi to work give 
the coolies five (5) minutes start of you before you 
follow. 
The fi.*8t morning after your arrival be ready to 
accompany your F. D. (aa the manager is called) 
should he be able to escort you to the different works 
going on, and listen carefully to what he tells you. 
If you cannot trust your memory, make notes after 
breakfast in your own room of the conversation so 
far as you can remember. You will thorn useful 
to you in after life. 
wlieu left to yourself amongst the coolies, go 
quietly from one to the other, watching each one 
how the work is done. In a very short time you will 
be able to distinguish the good working coolies and 
learn by watching them, how the wora should bo 
dono. Certain works such as plucking and pruning 
you will, with a little practice and under the 
guidance of your P. 0., soon acquire a practical 
knowledge of, and be able to teach the careless and 
ignorant amongst them. To do so, you will feel 
vour oi^n ignorance of the language and be anxious 
to spr ik it forthwith It i® wc tiderful how one ceji 
"ot al ng with a lit Je T^viuil, but to be able to 
on well mth coolies you must over the 
bashful feeling of making mistakes in using Tamil 
when looking after work. Watch when tlie kongani 
or overseer gives an order to a cooly, and note 
down the words in a small note-book and ask your 
P. D. or the conductor (if there is one on the estate 
who knows English) the equivalent in English. 
Every day note down a few Tamil words and thoir 
meaning alongaido Commit to memory the Tamil 
numbers and tho days of tho wook, and invest in a 
small book called “lugeVa” to be had at tho 
Okiervrr Office. A very useful littlo work for assist- 
ing beginners. If you find a cooly very obstinate 
or stupid at doing as you want him, don’t strike 
him, but show him as you would a child how to do 
what you want. Remember that you really don't 
know bis language and you may fail in teaching, 
being unable to express yourself nroperly. If he is 
beyond your power of teaching iiand him over to 
akangani: he may be more successful, but j'our own 
efforts at teaching are frequently attended with more 
success then the kangani’s. Try your best to get tho 
work out of your coolies without having to punish 
them by giving half name or marking them “sick," 
as *‘no name” is called.* 
An assistant who looks after his coolies well, very 
rarely has to mark them sick or even half name, 
unless under very exceptional circumstances. 
Estate Books. 
Work quietly, allow no loud talking amongst yoitt 
field woAera, tho only loud tone of voice heard ^ is 
that of the Kangani or conductor, reminding tbo c.oolies 
to do something they are apt to forget, or not to 
do something he may have just discovered has been 
done amiss. Your duty will be to keep what ia 
called a Pocket Check-roll for enrolling the names 
of those at work and from it daily enter all the 
names into what is called the large or office check- 
roll. It is an easy task balancing the labor journal 
and chock-roll immediately after work, but becomes 
a very difficult one if left for a day or two, and there 
are other objections to postponing making up the 
check-roll till “the morrow.” 
In addition to your labour journal which shows 
tho labour distribution of the day, you ought to keep 
for your own edification, if not asked for by your 
P. D., a Field Journal. The book should bo ruled, but 
you make cross columns for the varioi.s uji they 
are known by their aorer.^. , oo'-'-juja for the 
day’s total. Opposite oacii day and under the respect 
* In the British Parliament the Speaker’s mys- 
terious throat of “ naming names ” strikes terror to 
the soul of members. On estates the great punish- 
ment is just the reverse: to deprive a cooly of hU 
name iu the day’s chock-roll. No name means no 
pay* — En. T, A. 
