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by Maxwell Fernando

Tea first took root in Ceylon on a commercial scale in 1867, but before we explore this subject further, we must turn to coffee, as most of the tea that grows in the country today, was in fact, planted on dead coffee plantations. Although George Bird is considered the father of the plantation enterprise in the island, it was Sir Edward Barns who encouraged the commercial exploitation of coffee.

When the British started a plantation industry in the country, it was originally all centred round Kandy, regardless of whether it was for convenience, accessibility or otherwise, famous pioneer planters such as Wall, Jolly, Tytler, Taylor and Bird all had their plantations just a few miles away from Kandy. It was for this reason that the members for the Planters 'Association were naturally enlisted from Kandy.

Kandy had been the focal point in the advancement of agriculture in the country, and a stroll in any direction from this hill capital will present a landscape portraying the remains of a bygone agriculture era.

In 1837, perhaps earlier, a few plantations had been opened with the Governor General Sir Edward Barnes himself pioneering coffee cultivation near Peradeniya. Under his energetic rule, he opened the Colombo Kandy road, and with it many other plantations followed. His desire to grow coffee is said to have encouraged him, to transfer the Botanical Gardens that was at Kew Road Slave Island, to its present location at Peradeniya. It was originally intended to give a boost to the propagation of coffee. Experimental plot

Sir Edward Barns first experimental plot was tried out at "Rajah's Totum" at Gannoruwa. He was lucky to have had the services of George Bird, who himself possessed a sound knowledge of tropical agriculture. Sir Edward was able to divert a portion of the South Indian labourers of the Pioneer Road Corps engaged in the road and bridge building across the Mahaweli River to his plantation. This is the first time that the services of Indian labour were called into work the plantation.

Sir Edward was known to have been a perfectionist in all his dealings. He had counted personally the berries from single coffee bush after it was pruned successively over three years. In 1827, he had obtained 82 berries. His collection increased to 2848 berries the following year, but the best results were obtained during the third year, when the crop moved up to 8127 berries. This property, which was government owned was sold for pounds sterling 400 in June 1832.

With this experiment, the success of coffee was well entrenched in the country.

Governor Barnes encouraged George Bird to start on a large coffee plantation and gave him 400 acres and tax-free loan of 4000 Rix dollars, and with it began the plantation story.

Bird, though an ex-cavalryman, had a very soft heart. A diary note discovered subsequently unfolded that:-

"George Bird gave encouragement as he felt the labourers were destitute of religious instruction. He was anxious to establish a school for educating labourers children and the first to respond to this appeal was the Kandy Friend-in-Need Society".

Many were the tributes paid to Bird. He was recognised as an authority on the cultivation of coffee. A Methodist missionary visiting Nuwara Eliya in 1835 had the following to say:-

"--- At Gampola, is a plantation of Bird, who is attempting to introduce the English method of agriculture to some extent -- he has a large plantation -- he ploughs the ground with elephants -- the government is now laying out and making a macadamised road -- there is a miserable Rest House at Pussellawa -- the thick forest called Dark Forest, above" (Black Forest).

Planting was very experimental in those days, and much capital was squandered by planting in unsuitable locations. The big rush for land started from about the latter part of 1830's, and the government was happy to obtain five shillings for an acre.

It ended up a disaster from the very commencement, as civil servants, the military men and the clergy, who had the capital but not the aptitude to pioneer an agricultural project, purchased these lands. To end this sad trend, regulations had to be revised to prohibit such investments.

Proper methods

Proper methods of cultivation and the correct procedure in the management of finance which the first set of investors lacked, had to be acquired through experience, with the result in just a decade, only a few estates remained in the hands of the original owners.

After mature consideration, the local press came in to assist the newcomers to agriculture by publishing valuable information on all aspects of cultivation. Common sense and prudent outlook dawned at last, and after these changes, the future of Ceylon's plantation economy seemed well secured.

After the surroundings of Kandy were exploited for planting coffee, most of the pioneer planters moved out of the "Pioneer Belt" into the higher mountain ranges. It seems clear that most of the planters pushed their way through the fertile valley of Pussellawa into Gampola and Kotmale. Others proceeded on to the slops above Ramboda into Nuwara Eliya, and then to the rolling plains of Uva.

Higher elevation

There were still others who penetrated the hill country through the Queensbury gap and opened plantations at higher elevations in the Dimbulla district. Practically all the tea estate seen in this area today have been raised on dead coffee plantations. It is however strange that most of the plantations in Lower Dickoya areas had been opened exclusively for tea.

The coffee craze reached its climax in 1845, and in that single year, 19,062 acres of crown land had been sold. Those who purchased them were mostly wealthy British who were genuinely interested in the cultivation of coffee. They were the tough pioneers who came out into the unknown, to open up the jungle under appalling conditions.

Many of these young men became the first proprietary planters who as superintendents worked and owned their estates.

The first disaster to hit the coffee planters came about in 1847. There was a substantial drop in world prices for coffee, and with it there was a collapse of credit. There were numerous bankruptcies and many estates changed hands at twentieth of the original cost. Innumerable estates were abandoned and they soon reverted to overgrowth scrubland. This was the first trauma the planters had to face, since coffee was established in the country.

It took almost ten years for the situation to improve and by the mid 1850's exports rose once again. By 1857 about 80,950 acres of inaccessible jungle were cleared and planted with coffee. The coffee industry reached its zenith in 1868, but the danger signals began to flash from about the following year.

The coffee leaf disease was first noticed on a few outlying estates in the Madulsima range Badulla. Initially, bright, orange coloured blotches were seen on the undersides of the coffee leaves. When it got larger, the leaves would drop off.

It was an enemy most insignificant on arrival, but in less than a dozen years was responsible for bringing down the export of this great staple to one-fifth of its extent. It appeared as a minute fungus new to science, but it destroyed an entire industry.

With this debacle, many of the coffee planters became tea planters virtually overnight. By the mid 1890's nearly quarter of a million acres of coffee that had been planted with much effort, and at such great cost, were uprooted, and tea camellia planted in its place. This was the start of the great tea industry in the island. The rise of Ceylon as a tea producer is said to be the brightest chapter to the story of private enterprise in the country.

It was at this stage that the second batch of planters, having changed their skills from planting coffee to tea, pushed their way along the same tracks that the pioneers had laid for them earlier.

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