242 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 1882. 



MODIFIED OPINIONS REGARDING WEEDS 



AND PRUNING IN COFFEE CULTIVATION. 

 Peeimaad, Travancore, 23rd July 1882. 



Dear Sir, — I shall be glad if you \\'ill find space 

 ill your \-aluabIe journal for the following remarks 

 which I hope will briug forth some discussion. 



There are two points on which I have for some 

 years held a decided opinion ; one is that weeds are 

 without exception an evil and a source of loss to the 

 proprietor of an estate ; the other that by an early 

 or late pruning one could force the coffee trees to 

 mature their M'ood and so get a somewhat earlier or 

 later blossom. I have lately altered my opmion on 

 both points. 



I know full well that the negative of my first 

 question will be run domi by an enonnous majority 

 of planters, but I trust some instead of scotfing will 

 give me the benefit of then- experience and views. First 

 let me give a brief outline of the district, for it is 

 peculiar. I have charge of several estates in a 

 valley tln-ough which a biggish river flows. The 

 estates are surrounded on all sides by high hills. 

 The elevation is about 2,600 to 2,900 feet ; but this 

 can give no idea of the climate, the heat being 

 more like that of the lowcountiy than the hills. 

 The soil ia as fine as any I have seen anywhere. 

 Neither Haputale nor Dumbara can beat it. Taking 

 one thing with another the district bears a striking 

 resemblance to that of Dumbara. The rainfall has 

 not been kept for an entii'e year, as I was away 

 last September and the gauge was not kept during 

 my absence, but from July 1881 to June 1882, I re- 

 gistered 63 'OG inches on 115 days, over 26 inches of 

 which fell in June. From January 3rd to March 27th 

 not a drop of rain fell — a period of 83 days drought. 

 Jl^'^ovember and December we had very forcing 

 k weather, constant light showers and hot sun. The 

 'blossom was therefore very forward by the end of 

 the latter month, and the rain at the commencement 

 of January brought out a nice sprinkling of blossom, 

 which set well and very materially helped on the 

 big spike that was before well advanced. It is 

 hardly necessary for me to say that an enormous 

 percentage of the spike was burnt and was knocked 

 off the trees by the first rains. 



In former years these estates have invariably had 

 regular and hea\'y dews ; indeed I am told they have 

 Bometimes been so heavy as to open and set blossom. 

 Last year this estate was fairly clean all the year 

 round ; I then had but little dew. This year the 

 estate has been clean and the dews have been pract- 

 ically an entii'e failure ; while other estates that 

 have been weedy have had more dews and have set 

 their blossoms well. From this there is, I think, but 

 one inference to be drawn, and this is that by 

 having a carpet of green weeds during these three 

 dry months there would be less radiation and the 

 ground would be kept comparatively cool and moist 

 in place of being baked up and having every particle 

 of moisture drawii out of the soil. I may mention 

 that the ground was so hot that it was painful for 

 coolies to walk without sandals. My present theory 

 is that, if the months of November and December are 

 forcing and the blossom is well advanced by the com- 

 mencement of January, it would be better to drop 

 weeding from January to April. Duiing these months 

 a peculiarly succulent kind of keerie spruigs up 

 and tin ives, I may say to the exclusion of all other 

 weeds. It disappears after the first weeding when the 

 rains have set in. If on the other hand the blossom 

 is backward at the commencement of the year, I am 

 of opinion the estates could not be kept too clean, as 

 it would serve to ripen wood and force the blossom. 

 I have always looked upon weeds as one of the 

 planter's worst enemies and still do so luider oi'din- 



ary circumstances. But I think this is a case in 

 point where cii'cumstances alter cases. 



Next as regards pruning. One part of this estate I 

 pnined m January 1881. Now if the theory that early 

 pruning assists the wood to maturity be con-ect, this field 

 should have had more blossom burnt than any other, as 

 it was pruned first. It has a crop of 8 cwt. an 

 acre now on the trees. Part of the estate which I 

 gave a heavy knife handling to in May 1881 gave a 

 croi> and matured it of 15 cwt. per acre, and this year 

 is giving nearly 10 cwt. I have therefore come to 

 the conclusion that the rate at which wood matures 

 depends not on the time of pruning, but on the con- 

 dition of the tree itself or in other words the amount 

 of vitality it possesses. Of course some seasons are 

 more favourable for the ripening of wood than others. 

 But given any one season I think infinitely more 

 depends on the disposition of the tree itself than on 

 any artificial meaus, such as an early or late pruning. 



I consider tlie Tropical Agrindtiirist a journal of 

 the highest value as a medium for promoting useful 

 discussions on all planting matters, as it has such a 

 large and extensive circulation in all parts of the 

 world. It is therefore in the hope that some may 

 have had the same experience as myself that 1 venture 

 to ask you to publish this letter and beg for the 

 oi^inion of my fellow-planters. 



What do the faculty consider to be the proper dis- 

 tance for planting calisaya robusta and succu-ubra 

 cinchonas ? * — Yours truly, JOHN S. SEALY. 



P. S. — The area of coffee with 8 and 10 cvfts per acre 

 is but small. 



NEW PRODUCTS : " INDIARUBBER AND 

 GUTTAPERCHA." 



*' If you ^^ish success, make perseverance 5'Our bosom friend, 

 experience your wise counsellor, caution your elder brother, and 

 hope your guardian genius." — Addison. 



July 24th, 1882. 



Dear Sir,— Planters have to thank you fur this 

 year's latest "compilation," and it is only a matter 

 of surprize that it has not been more noticed in your 

 columns, but doubtless its contents are being well 

 digested by many. 



The notes and reports on pages 42 (on Chavannesia 

 esculenta) and 4S (on the methods of collection and 

 preparation) are very interesting and valuable, but 

 Mr. Cross's reports are most generally unreliable and 

 Mr. Borron has most sensibly criticized and condemned 

 some of his statements, page 75. That gentleman 

 has done great service in the collection of plants, 

 but his accounts are romantic and should be taken 

 cum grano salis. The extract on page 72 is repeated 

 again on page 81 — word for word — but you may have 

 intended this, by way of drawing atteution to Dr. 

 King's ex|ierience and cautious advice ! On page 102, 

 it is recommended to plaut Heveas (Pard) in alternate 

 lines with cocoa. Has any one tried this ? Should it 

 succeed, what a grand cumbinatiou ! Ruliber shadetiees 

 and cocoa !— comparable with ledgers and caidmomss. 



That is a very interesting article (from the Indian 

 Jyricuiturid of Mari'li 1877) on page 99, but ou page 

 27 reference is made to the Chavannesia esculenta : 

 "instructions for its cultivation have been recently 

 pvMiahed in the /.Agricu/luriit." Can you reprint this 

 for us in the T. A., as the wonderful climber might suc- 

 ceed better here than in Calcutta ?t The notes on page 

 78 by Waruford Lock are true and to the point. 

 On page 74 "Sceptic" tstimates 109 trees (Cera) to 

 the acre, but a planter writing in the Obseroer of 

 September 19th, 1881, recommends 500 — a far more 

 sensible suggestion, i. e., about 10 x 9 = 4S4 per acre: 

 half the distance apart quoted by " Sceptic" and more 

 than four times the number of trees per acre, 



* See Owen's Cinchona Manual, — Ed, 

 •J-We shall eudeavour to do so. — Ed. 



