THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, 
519 
1846.] 
Coffee. —This article is not cultivated by us, and all our lands are subject to the 
visitation of frost, which speedily kills the tree. The cultivation of coffee is not extend¬ 
ing in Java, but it is in Luconia and Sumatra. The coffee of Sumatra is not first rate, 
from the bad preparation; that of Luconia is among the best. The cultivation of 
coffee is very much extending just now in the Madras territory, on account of the 
lowering of the duties in England, which is bringing it into consumption ; but 
the quality is very poor, from the ignorance of the natives. 
But the greatest field which has been opened for the cultivation of coffee for the 
last ten years is undoubtedly the fine cool mountain lands of the island of Ceylon. 
The Government, to indu o the cultivation of the article, in L839 sold the land in 
fee simple, with a good title, for five shillings sterling pe v acre. It ! ad previously 
been tried in various localities and proved successful Such was tile demand for 
these lands after 1341, that the Government afterwards raised the price to one 
pound an acre, and finally to two pounds in 1844. 
No country is better suited for the cultivation of coffee than the island of Cey¬ 
lon, as respects soil and climate. They have also great facilities in procuring la¬ 
borers from the Malabar coast, at a cost of seven pence sterling per day. The 
Government is safe; but, like all other English colonies, very expensive. Ceylon 
is one of the few colonies which pays its entire expenses, civil and military, 
and is no burden to the mother country. 
There are not far from five or six hundred estates at the present time in the inte¬ 
rior of Ceylon, having not far from three millions of pounds invested in the culti¬ 
vation of this commodity. The quality is very superior, and I have seen it sold 
in the island for a higher price than Mocha. The yield of the trees is also very 
heavy, often producing six, seven, and eight pounds a tree, and always, in good 
situations, an average of three pounds on the whole estate’s crop. Eight hundred 
trees are planted to the acre. The exportation to England in 1846 will be very 
large, as most of the estates will be in full bearing by the end of the year. 
Many are the fortunes lucky individuals made in Ceylon during those years in 
which we experienced such great commercial and financial difficulties in England 
and America. The whole business has sprung up since 1837, and, generally, on 
solid bases, being the investments of civil and military officers, and English and 
Indian capitalists. The rage for lands is at present very great, and doubtless 
the consequence will be an overproduction and great fall of prices. Those per¬ 
sons who have estates in bearing now (for the tree comes into bearing in three 
years) are reaping harvests of gold, and the consequence is great prosperity in the 
country and extravagance of living. I have seen a good many old West Indiana 
who had come out on hearing from their friends the prospects of those engaged in 
the business. But John Bull, with his horde of hungry officers, will soon lay the 
stripes of taxation and monopoly on the backs of these lucky individuals. Some 
of the cautious old hands are even now, while the estates are yielding such hand¬ 
some profits, quietly eking out of the market. 
Ceylon offers also many openings for the cultivation of the cocoa nut and sugar¬ 
cane ; the first of which is a valuable product, and has been the staple of the 
island from time immemorial. Yet the demand is very great, and cocoa-nut lands 
are worth, at the Government land sales, two pounds per acre. The tree comes 
into bearing in seven years, and after the second year needs no further attention. 
A small number of men is sufficient to keep one hundred acres in order. The 
cocoa nuts are sold as they drop from the tree to the Mahomedan merchants 
of the island, or broken, and the kernel taken out after it has been exposed 
to the sun fora few days, and sold to the English merchants, who have large mills 
in Columbo for making the oil for shipment to India and England. It is used in 
England for making candles, and in India for burning, cooking, &c. Arrack is 
manufactured from the spatha of the flower before bursting, by tapping it and sus¬ 
pending an earthen pot over night at the incision. It is then fermented, and 
afterwards distilled in the small distilleries which line the whole coast of Ceylon 
for five hundred miles, for the entire seashore of Ceylon is belted with these useful 
trees. The fibrous covering of the nut is taken off .for making “ coir rope,” which 
is used throughout the east in the rigging of vessels and for every purpose for 
which rope is wanted. It forms a large article of export to England and India, 
and is afforded at very low prices. The cocoa-nut tree is likewise used for making 
canoes, houses, and for various other purposes. The seams of their small schoon- 
