h of January,
1853, 46s. to 48s.; 1852, 40s. to 42s.; 1851, 38s. 6d. to 40s. 6d.;
1850, 56s. 6d. to 57s. 6d.; 1849, 31s. to 32s. 6d.; 1848, 31s. 6d. to
33s.; 1847, 39s. 6d. to 41s. 6d.; 1846, 49s. to 50s.

Forest lands are those usually planted in Ceylon, and the expense
attendant on clearing and reclaiming them from a state of nature, and
converting them into plantations, is estimated to average L8 per acre.
The lowest upset price of crown lands in the colony is L1 per acre.

Coffee planting has failed over a considerable portion of the southern
province of the island, where the experiment was tried. The
temperature was found to be too equable, not descending sufficiently
low at any time to invigorate the plant; which, though growing
luxuriantly at first, soon became weak and delicate. Nurseries are
established for young plants. The districts in which the coffee is
principally cultivated, extend over nearly the whole of the hilly
region, which is the medium and connecting link between the
mountainous zone and the level districts of the coast.

The mania for coffee planting has recently subsided, in consequence of
the barely remunerative returns at which that article has been sold,
ascribable partly to over-production, and in some measure, perhaps, to
the temporary glut of foreign coffee thrown on the British market by
the reduction of the duty. As regards the yield, some estates in
Ceylon have produced upwards of 15 cwt. per acre, but it is a good
estate that will average seven, and many do not give more than 4 cwt.
the acre.

The shipments from Colombo for five years, are stated below, with the
class of coffee:--

Plantation. Native. Total.
cwt. cwt. cwt.
1845 75,002 112,889 187,891
1846 91,240 70,991 162,231
1847 106,198 143,457 249,655
1848 191,464 88,422 279,886
1849 243,926 118,756 362,682
1850 198,997 56,692 255,689
1851 220,471 97,091 317,562

While, in 1839, the total value of the exports from Ceylon was only
L330,000, in 1850 the value of the single staple of coffee was no less
than L609,262, and in 1851 had still further increased.

I append a memorandum of the quantities of coffee exported from Ceylon
since 1836:--

Quantity. Value.
cwt. L
1836 60,329
1837 34,164
1838