Vegetable In the luxuriance of its vegetable productions Ceylon rivals the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and in some respects bears a strong resemblance to them; its most valuable products are tea, rice, coffee, cinnamon and the cocoanut. Coffee used to be the chief cultivated crop, but disease has within recent years much reduced the product. Cinnamon grows in the southwest, to which it is almost exclusively confined, requiring a sandy soil with a moist atmosphere. The trade in this spice was reserved as a government monopoly by the Dutch when they had possession of the island; all that was collected beyond the quan tity which it was thought could be sold at a monopoly price being burned. This absurd sys tem was followed by the English for some years after their conquest of Ceylon, but was aban doned in October 1832, when the trade in cin namon was declared free, subject to a duty on exportation. The cocoanut-trees grow along the entire western and southern coasts in countless numbers, each tree producing from 50 to 100 nuts in the year. Every part of this invaluable tree is capable of being turned to profitable account. The Palmyra palm, whichgrowsprin cipally in the northern part of the island, is of hardly less importance than the cocoanut, being productive in seasons of drought, when the crops fail. The jaggery palm, or kittul-tree, is cultivated for the sake of its sap, which yields a coarse sugar; its pith furnishes a kind of sago, and its fruit is also eaten. The taliput palm also abounds, as do the jack- and bread fruit trees, the fruit of which is used by the natives for food, both raw and cooked; the timber, also, of the jack-tree, not being subject to attack by the white ant, is much used by the natives for making furniture and in house building. The Ceylon areca nut, celebrated for its superior qualities, is exported in large quan tities. Tobacco is raised principally in the northern district and is of excellent quality. Indigo grows wild, but is not sought after. The cardamom plant is abundant, hut inferior to that of Malabar; fruits and culinary veg etables are produced, the latter in the elevated districts, in great variety and profusion. The island abounds with timber of various descrip tions, including calamander, satin, rose, sapan, iron, jack, halmalille and other beautiful woods adapted for cabinet work. Agriculture gen erally, and the cultivation of the more valuable native products of the island in particular, are improving. As already stated, coffee once was the chief crop, but latterly the cultivation of tea, cinchona and cacao has been carried to such an extent that the island has become less dependent on a single article of produce. Not withstanding the acknowledged fertility of Cey lon, the capabilities of its soil where justice is done it and the efforts now in progress to develop these capabilities, by far the largest proportion of the island is still uncultivated. There are a few natives who possess consider able estates in land; but the law of inheritance has, for the most part, caused a minute sub division of the soil, to a degree.very unfavor able to its improvement. The British govern ment claims the proprietorship of all the waste lands, which are now disposed of by public sale. Among works carried on by the government are irrigation works in suitable localities, in cluding the cutting of channels, the construction of annicuts or dams and the formation and repair of tanks. Some of the ancient works of this kind are of great magnitude. There is also a government forest department, part of the work of which is to provide fuel for the rail roads and timber for government works.
Pearl-fishery, etc.— There has long been a pearl-fishery on the coast of Ceylon, carried on as a government monopoly. The fishery some times fails for years, there having been none, for instance, between 1837 and 1854, or between 1863 and 1874. Although the government still continued a strict surveillance over the banks, and occasionally subjected them to a careful examination, scarcely any trace of the pearl oyster was to be found. No cause has yet been discovered for his disappearance. When the pearl-fishery is in existence it is confined to the Gulf of Manar, where the oyster banks ex tend for 60 or 70 miles along the coast south of Manar, and perhaps 10,000 people, including 2,500 divers, will assemble in the fishing season.
The Ceylon pearls are whiter than those of Ormuz or the Arabian coast. The chank or conch fishery was at one time carried on to a great extent, employing about 600 divers, but has greatly declined owing to the little demand now made for them in Bengal, to which the greater part were sent. The chank is a sea shell (Voluta pyrum), adapted for cutting into rings, these being formerly used in great num bers by the native women of Hindustan for bracelets and anklets.
Manufactures and The manufac tures of Ceylon are very unimportant with ex ception of arrack, which is distilled from the juice of the cocoanut-tree. The spinning and weaving of cotton goods, generally of the coarsest kind, was at one time a considerable industry, but is now dying out. There are numerous oil-mills for pressing the cocoanut kernels to express the oil. The Singhalese make good artisans, as is experienced at Colombo, where they are employed in making steam engines and other machinery. They are skilful in carpentry and wood-work, expert workers in gold and silver and excel in the manufacture of lacquered ware. Salt is a gov ernment monopoly, being collected from shal low lagoons which at certain seasons are over flowed by the sea, or it is manufactured in pans, the property of the government. The exports are chiefly tea, coffee, copra, rubber, cinchona, cinnamon, cocoanut products, areca nuts, cacao, cardamoms, plumbago, tobacco. Tea has only begun to be exported in recent years, and the export increased from 2,392,975 pounds in 1884, to more than 183,000,000 pounds in 1909, and by 1911 the value of the tea ex ported was more than twice that of exports of rubber; but the area devoted to the latter prod uct increases rapidly. The trade of Ceylon is chiefly carried on with Great Britain and India. The principal articles of import from Great Britain are coal, cotton manufactures, apparel and haberdashery, iron and steel manufactures, machinery, etc. From other countries are imported rice, dried fish, wheat, sugar and various other commodities. In 1915 the imports totaled $53,089,540 in value, and the exports $83,692,283.
Government, government of Cey lon is conducted.by a governor and two coun cils, executive and legislative, of both of which the governor is president. The first is com posed of seven members, including the gov ernor; the other of 21 members, including the members of the Executive Council, other office holders and unofficial members selected by the governor as representative of the different classes and interests in the community. The powers of the councils are limited, being sub ordinated to those of the governor. All laws must be approved by the Secretary of State for the Colonies before they can take effect. Any individual properly qualified may be ap pointed to the most responsible situation, with out reference to service, nation or religion, and native Singhalese have occupied some of the highest posts. The island is divided into nine provinces — the Eastern, Western, North ern, Southern, Central, North Central, North western, Sabaragamuwa and Uva, and subdi vided into districts. In each province is sta tioned a government agent. The criminal law has the Penal Code of India as its basis; the civil law is of Roman-Dutch derivation but is modified by colonial ordinances. For the ad ministration of justice there are in the civil and criminal departments, a Supreme Court, estab lished at Colombo; also a Vice-Admiralty Court, provincial courts in various districts; beside magistracies, local boards in the towns and the native village councils. The chief sources of revenue are the customs duties, railroad re ceipts, land rents and salt farms. The chief articles of export are now free. The revenue for 1913 was $17,057,510; expenditures $15, 890,310. The public debt amounts to about $23,000,000; but the finances are in a very healthy condition, as the public debt of the col ony has been mostly incurred for the construc tion of railroads.