X^6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1883. 



effect of sweettniiag it aud enabling it to retain tlie fertilix- | 

 iug matters added thereto. A soil in good couditiou is able 

 to absorb amiuoui i from the jitmosphere if sufficient clay 

 is present, in which respect lew of our upcouuti'y districts 

 are detifieiit. The solvent power of the water in a soil 

 is greatly increased by the carbonic acid it holds in solution, 

 aud if lime is added to a soil it attacks the humus present 

 and forms carbonic acid. Lime without being itself a 

 mauuie is therefore the proper foundation for all sub- 

 sequent manuring, but to sandy soil it should not be applied, 

 as it is then liable to use up the humus too rapidly, and 

 in such soil gypsum, i. c. sulphate of lime is the best applic- 

 ation. In my own practice, 1 liave always used air- 

 slalccd lime, that is the Colombo coral lime in the condition 

 in wbich it usually an'ives on the estate, at the rate of 

 1 lb. for each tree. Lime should be followed up by manm*e 

 at an interval of about G months. 



The most certain of all manures in its effect upon coffee 

 is cattle manure when combined with bonps: in my own 

 experience cattle mauiu'e when applied alone has been 

 found occasionally to add nothing to the subsequent crop, 

 but when combined with bones the increase was more than 

 doubled. 



Artificial manures require for their most economical ap- 

 plication considerable study of the character of the soil or 

 knowledge of tlie previous liistory of the manuring that 

 may liave been carried out ; thus, if cattle maniu'e has been 

 pre\'iously applied, an appUcation of bones by itself may 

 be sufficient to produce the highest degree of fertility. In 

 low-lpng districts nitrogenous manures which do not give 

 up their nitrogen to the soil too rapidly are the best to 

 make use of, of which cattle manure and rape cake are 

 the best examples, though for certain objects such 

 a-s pulling a crop through or putting wood on trees defi- 

 cient in leaf such manures as sulphate of ammonia in 

 small quantities may be cometimes used with success. The 

 mode of appUcation of one's manure is also a chief con- 

 sideration, and the great point is to diffuse the manure 

 thi'ough the soil as much as possible within reach of the 

 crop feeding rootlets. It is I believe a fact known to fruit- 

 growers at home that there are three kinds of roots— the 

 taproot which supports the tree in an upright position, 

 the leading roots, the function of which is mainly 

 to su^iply the tree with foliage, and the network of 

 rootlets which radiate from the tree for a distance 

 of 2^ or 3 feet which contribute to the crop production, 

 and it is therefore of importance to apply your manure 

 within reach of these latter, that is fairly close to the 

 tree and round as much of its circumference as i^ossible. 

 In my own practice I always fork in the mauui'e after 

 scattering it round the tree at a distance of about 18 

 inches fi"om the stem, disturbing the leading roots as little 

 as possible. A semicircular shallow, hole if the manure 

 is well mixed -with the soil will produce much the same 

 effect, aud in rather light soils may have the advantage 

 of retaining the manure longer, but it is a more costly 

 and troublesome process and therefore less likely to be 

 well carried out unless the supervision is very close. 

 Manuiing in my opinion is best done to good coffee which 

 is accustomed to crop iud it is I believe a waste of money to 

 attempt to renovate old worn-out coffee from which the 

 aurface soil has been washed away, if the framework of 

 the tree is still left it may be done but at a cost which 

 renders it unprofitable. 



When we come to the question of pruning, I con- 

 fess that I have great difficulty in ex pressing an 

 opinion aud it is difficult to iipply what I have 

 called the ' law of probability. ' In giving the con- 

 siderations which guide my usual instructions, I may, how- 

 ever induce some of you to reason out tlie matter for your- 

 selves and thus we may all reap some future benefit. What I 

 thinlc wo have to aim at in these days as far as possible 

 and the system l)y which we shall attain the best 

 aveirage results, is the preparation of our wood for the 

 early blossoms. In the high districts the wood takes 

 from 9 months to a year, sometimes even more, to arrive 

 at matuiity. In the days b<)fore leaf-disease the difference 

 of opinion was one between pruning before and aftci' the 

 blossoming season with the object of assisting the wood 

 either to increase its blossom or else to bring its crop 

 oa after the blossom had e<.'t. Now our main endeavour 

 is to help the trees to set their blossom, and if this is 

 attained we can help the trees by the aid of manure. 



The effect of pruning is to cause the trees to throw out 

 a fi-esh flush of wood, aud from this wood is selected 

 in the ordinary course that which is to bear the following 

 crop. Now if your pruning is done earl^, i.e., before the 

 15th say of Apill, and your wood is accustomed to 

 mature in 9 months, you are really just at the right 

 time, whereas by pruning after the blossoms are over the 

 wood subsequently fonned would still be green in the 

 beginning of the following year. If a late pruning is 

 adopted systematically then it must be necessary at the time 

 of pruning to leave on the trees such wood as has 

 formed before the blossoming season commenced, as in an 

 ordinary blossoming season the formation of new wood 

 should be checked, and the old wood be hardening : youi' 

 late pruning is therefore adopted Avith the view of giving 

 3'our wood at least 12 months in wliich to mature. In the 

 majority of cases I should give my verdict for early pruning 

 and for this reason, that where coffee is intended by nature 

 to grow, there it will in ordinary seasons mature its wood in 

 nine mouths at the most ; still if 1 had to deal with an es- 

 tate where the longer period was requued I should then 

 pruue late, liut, guided by the balance of probability, I 

 should at the same time hasten to substitute for the coffee 

 some cultivation better suited to the climate. 



Whether the pruning should be heavy or light is a very 

 important question, and I feel here that I am treading ou 

 delicate ground. It is certainly necessary that the pruning 

 should be adjusted according to the power of the tree to 

 mike root, for it is to this power of the tree to make root 

 beow ground that it will owe its ability to form wood above, 

 and in these days of leaf-disease and wet seasons the root 

 development is only too much checked already. The amount 

 of leaf on the tree mainly determines the development of 

 root, for the evaporation or transpiration from the leaves is 

 the cause of the suction exercised by the roots ou the soil. 

 If therefore you unduly reduce your foliage you reduce the 

 power of the tree to nourish itself from the fertilizing mat- 

 ters of the soil. In a strong soil this is not so much the 

 case and may be an advantage as the upward flow is not im- 

 mediately checked by the reduction of the foliage and con- 

 sequently there maybe a concentration of food material in 

 the roots which when fresh foliage has formed itself will af- 

 ford extra nourishment to the tree if carefully regulated by 

 the subsequent Iiaudling. Prune therefore according to the 

 strength of your soil as evidenced by the vigour of the tree 

 and pay the utmost attention to the after handling. 



Handling I look upon as the most important work upon 

 the estate as being the real regulator of the crop. Too often 

 I notice the inferior labor of the estate turned on to do this 

 work. By the handling you direct the strength of the tree 

 into right wood. The handling after the pruning is the 

 time when you select the wood which is to bear the fol- 

 lowing crop, and no more wood should be left on the tree 

 than it has the power to bring the crop of to maturity. At 

 this time therefore you cannot give too much attention to 

 the work, aud all your subsequent handlings should be di- 

 rected towards the same object, viz., turning the strength 

 of the tree into the wood you have reserved for crop. In 

 conclusion, what we require is the training of our faculties 

 of observation: a few simple observations such as marking 

 the branches at the time of blossoming or the watching of the 

 wood from the time of its formation to the time when it 

 has borne its crop and the noting down the result will lead 

 on to making further observations, and the comparison of 

 notes among ourselves will add to the mass of general in- 

 formation. Bnt above all things have in you a reason for 

 what you do founded upon accurate experiment. 



The Cliairman then asked Mr. Giles Walker 

 to give the meeting the result of the vi'i-y caietul 

 observations of the seasons and temperature tliat he has 

 made during the past ten yeirs, aud to tell the 

 meeting whether the views held by Mr. Bosanquet 

 were endorsed by him. 



Mr. Walker in a short speech said that he had 

 for many yeaia kept the daily temperature and rain- 

 fall, and had obfervcd the weather carefully ; 

 that he had undoubtfdly proved that during the 

 past few years he had had unfavorable bloeaoming sea&ous 

 io Bogawantalawa ; *Jiat he considered that want of 

 sunheat during January, February and ilarch was one 



