Copra-Making In

Ceylon

Comparison With New Guinea Methods

INTERESTING impressions of the planting industry in Ceylon were attained in a recent visit to that Colony by a well known New Guinea planter, Mr. D. B.

Hore-Lacy, of Garua, Talasea district, New Britain. Mr. Hore-Lacy, accompanied hy his wife, returned to Sydney early in January, and they will spend a few months in Australia before proceeding to New Guinea.

Mr. Hore-Lacy kindly supplied us with the following notes about planting in Ceylon.

The writer visited Ceylon in order to see at first hand the method em ployed in drying copra, and the conditions generally. Although the time available was limited, a certain amount of inter esting information was obtained, and in this respect acknowledgment and thanks are due to the Ceylon Director of Agri culture (Dr. Youngman), and to several private planters.

The climate is milder than that of New Guinea, and only on the high country tea-estates does the rainfall approach 150 inches. The low and middle country rainfall varies from 60in. to 100in. Some cocoa estates round Kandy have no wind breaks; except for a few days of south west in the monsoon, strong winds do not appear to knock the trees about, as they do in New Guinea. Also, copra drying kilns often have a semi-exposed front; this would never be possible in the S.E. trades or N.W. monsoon of N.G.

The coconuts are mostly situated in the flat low country—all the western sea shore and for some miles inland being absolutely flat paddy-land, interspersed with coconuts. The cocoa and rubber es tates are in the mid-country, round Kan dy, at elevations of 1000-2000 feet, and here it is fairly hilly. Up higher, are the tea estates: but wherever one goes there are first-class roads, well graded, if a trifle tortuous, and in most of the cent ral and western parts of the Island there is very little land not under cultivation with some crop.

The soil, nearly everywhere, appears to be a red loam or laterite, the same color right through, and no black top soil; it is this latter in New Guinea which probably accounts for the extra lush weed and grass growth—the grass-cut ting bill in not nearly as severe in Cey lon.

On the steep slopes of the tea estates, erosion is checked by an elaborate sys tem of drains, which control or ease up the flow of water, and by the tea bushes themselves, which touch. Indigofera endecaphyllum is not used much as it chokes the bushes and harbours snakes and leeches. In any case, the subsoil ap pears to be much the same as the top.

Most of the coconut estates are native owned. All nuts are picked before they dry off, andl are left in the field in heaps, until they start to change colour. This picking costs about 6/- per ton, and the whole cost of production of copra on es tates visited was given as about £4/14/- (Australian) per ton; in some cases rail freight amounted to another £1.

Driers are all extremely simply con structed, from locally made bricks or wattle and daub—i.e., puddled clay—

plastered on to a rough bamboo frame work. The nuts are husked and brought into the driers, where they are broken in halves next day and spread out in the sun on a barbecue or cement platform, in front of the drier. At night, they go into the drier, where they stay three or four days, being turned once a day, until they come out of the shell and are completely dry.

A slow fire is made underneath from the resultant shells, and this is all that is necessary—there being no pipes or fire boxes, etc., and no moving parts to get out of order. In wet weather they go straight into the kiln.

This work is done on contract.

The copra thus obtained is drier than the average New Guinea copra, and has a higher oil content. Its surface is not always pure white, but it has a good, clean dry break. It is afterwards classed and sacked, still in the half nuts. It goes about 20-25 bags to the ton. It fetches as a rule 30/- to £2 per ton more than the New Guinea copra; yet many New Guinea hot-air driers cost treble those of Ceylon.

Second-hand rice bags are often used, and, in any case, new bags cost about 3d or 4d.

No dry nuts are ever seen on the palms or lying about the plantation.

Most of the estate labour employed is Tamil, from Southern India. The Ceylon Labour Commission, whose head office is in Trinchinopoly, control all immigration.

They handle about 100,000 coolies in a normal year, and watch over all recruit ing, quarantine, etc., and safeguard the interests of the natives generally.

The Tamil country of India, being arid, these natives are glad to get away to the Ceylon estates, where the ordinary coolie ceives about 10d. (Aus.) a day. With this, he buys all his own food and re quirements, and has a bit left over; his wife and children over school age work also. The cost of getting a coolie on to the estate is generally about 36/- (Aus.), and the Ceylon Commission repatriates him.

The population of the Tamil country is about 7,000,000, out of which about 600,000 are normally employed in Ceylon.

Mr. N. H. M. Bowden, the Chief Com missioner, was a R.M. in Papua 23 years ago.

The coolie lines or boy houses are mostly long brick or adobe buildings, sub divided into rooms for each family; they sleep on the floor, which is generally manure, and like it. The estate provides a school and teacher for the small child ren, which is subsidised by the Commis sioner, if the general proficiency is over 85 per cent.

Tamil coolies take well to machinery, and in a large tea factory costing £12,000 or more, they are capable of handling and looking after all the machinery, some being paid up to about £6 (Aus.) per month.

Although any coolie can leave after giv ing a month’s notice, on an estate where they are well handled this does not cause much inconvenience, and there are always plenty more to be obtained. Also, they prefer Ceylon to their own dry country; but, in any case, the coolie takes far more kindly to estate work than the average Kanaka. Moreover, there are skilled workers amongst them, such as tea makers, engineers, bricklayers, stone masons, etc., and a gang can be expected to do any such work as roadmaking, levelling, draining, or manuring, without the manager having to wear out his boots, and his patience, in supervision. New Guinea natives are very touchy on the subject of manure, and generally con sider it vulgar to handle at all.

Transport is mainly by bullock cart and rail; and, in some parts of lowlands, by canal. Very few motor lorries were seen.

Nearly all parts of the island have their country clubs. On Club Day, one afternoon a week, everybody rolls up and has a good game of tennis or bridge.

Most people have a car of sorts, and it is possible with the excellent roads everywhere to get about and see other planters, or to get into Kandy or Neur alya, for a game of golf occasionally.

Fires in the evening are the rule up coun try, and over 3000 feet they are needed.

Since tea restriction has become effec tive, the price of tea has risen to a pay able basis, and things are now looking up in the industry, although 25 per cent, of the crop is not marketed.

No more land can be alienated for planting purposes in Ceylon.

The Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya and Hakgala have to be seen to be be lieved. They must be as near perfect of their kind as can be.

The main impression one gets in Cey lon is that the natives are agriculturally minded, and the European managers of the estates are all extremely keen, and know their jobs. Every bit of soil is put to its full use, and it is possible to live one’s life and enjoy it, instead of merely existing, as one does in many parts of New Guinea,