A
river's bank or a valley's bottom must be tolerably good even in
the poorest country.
The great proof of the general poverty of Ceylon is shown in the
failure of every agricultural experiment in which a rich soil is
required.
Cinnamon thrives; but why? It delights in a soil of quartz sand,
in which nothing else would grow.
Cocoa-nut trees flourish for the same reason ; sea air, a sandy
soil and a dry subsoil are all that the cocoa-nut requires.
On the other hand, those tropical productions which require a
strong soil invariably prove failures, and sugar, cotton, indigo,
hemp and tobacco cannot possibly be cultivated with success.
Even on the alluvial soil upon the banks of rivers sugar does not
pay the proprietor. The only sugar estate in the island that can
keep its head above water is the Peredinia estate, within four
miles of Kandy. This, again, lies upon the bank of the Mahawelli
river, and it has also the advantage of a home market for its
produce, as it supplies the interior of Ceylon at the rate of
twenty-three shillings per cwt.
