The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-05-21


| And proportionately as tea climbed the
| ascending scale, coffee went down unit
| in 1896 only 1859 SEQ pounds of it were
| exported.
| The rise and fall of the coffee-grow-
| ing industry is one of the most interest
| ing chapters in the history of Ceylor
since the island passed into possession
of the English. Coffee growing began
| seriously in 1925, although as far back
as 11740 the Holland Dutch had made at
! tempts to raise the berry just as they
raised it in Java. They tried it on the
| lowlands near the sea, however, and
coffee will not thrive in that sort of a
| locality. 1t was only after the English
| had opened good roads from the coast
to the mountain regions Of the interior
, that the industry began to pick up, and
| under the administration of Sir Henry
Ward the culture of coffee was Ceylon
! principal one All the mountainous
country became immense coffee planta-
| ton. In 1868, 1869 and 1870 the annual
| expectation was over 100, 100000 pounds,
representing value of $40, 900, 900 a
year. AT this time 10000 acres of land
was given UP to it's culture This paid
at the rate of from 20 to rs per cent ON
the capital invested. But at that time
the diminutive and very transformations
Hemileia vastatriX had not put in an
appearance, or rather had not yet be-
gun to make his presence felt. His first
recorded appearance was in 1869, but no
body then paid any particular attention
to him and whatever harm he did was
not noticeable either on the crop of that
year or the year following.
In the succeeding years, however, it
was another matter. The coffee plant
ers found that the tiny little mushroom
like growth which attached itself to the
under side of the coffee plant leaves had
to be taken seriously. The leaves fad
ed and died, and as the pest increased
entire plants and finally groups of plants
became mere barren stalks and twigs
Still the little speck, with its brilliant
orange color, seemed so insignificant in
itself that it's malign influence was I'M
der-estimated If the crops were less
abundent the fact was attributed to bad
seasons. 1t is true DR. Thwaites, super
intendent of the Ceylon botanical gar
dens, gave a very bad account of the
Hemileia vastatrix and prophesied dis
astrous results from his presence But
DR. Thwaites was voted to be a scient-
fic theorist and pedant. Small value
was set upon his gloomy predictions.
And what still further contributed to
lull the planters into feeling of false
security was a sudden rise in the mar
ket price of coffee, both in Europe and
in America, from 50 to 100 per cent.
BY this increase in the value, the plant
ers We're more than compensated for the
falling off in the size of their crops IN
stead of coffee culture falling off. IL in
creased enormously The planters ex-
tended the field of their operations to
the great mountain ridge which stretch
es from Adams peak to Nuwara Elyia.
territory of about 400 square miles,
which had been regarded as too humid
and too elevated for coffee culture.
But all this time the little Hemileia
vastatrix was slowly but surely continu
ing his work Of devastation All SORTS
of composts and applications were tried
to check his ravages. They failed The
men of science. among Others. DR.
Thwaites, whose predictions only a short
time before were received with such
scant respect, were appealed to, hut they
also were powerless. The insignificant
little mushroom-like speck was firmly
esta blished in the country 1t had invad-
ed so stealthily and was carrying all be-
fore it, BY 1850 with a coffee culture
acreage so per cent greater than in 1870.
the expectation had fallen. to three
quarters of what It had been 10 wears
before. And to complete the misfor-
tune Brazil so inundated the market
that the price dropped back 70 the old
figure. The utterly disheartened plant-
ers of Ceylon threw IN their hands
Many were financially ruined few
had capital enough Others went into
tea raising The latter prosepered mar
velously, as the abstract Of colonial
statistics above ouoted shows unt,I