October i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



3" 



THE VALUE OF CINCHONA TREES. 



Haputftle, '23r(l August 1S8'2. 



Sir,— The Observer of 14th August 1879 uad the 

 foUowincr as valuf ol' ciuchoufi trce^ : — 



Do you consider the value holds ? and if it does, 

 does it meau ihe average to be obtained for trees 

 uproottd at four years old and upwards ? or are the 

 values given, those for valuation of an estate :uid 60 

 incluriiug prospective enhaneemeut of value? 



I wish to know the probable returns from uprooting. 

 It is likely the vahie of trees for di'Struetion may be 

 gre.iter at the small ages in the Kandyan districts 

 than in our dry Uva climate? Can any of your 

 correspondents say as to this ? — Your truly, 



S. T. E. 



[See our remark.s, page 303. — Ed.] 



COFFEE CULTUEeI^ECONDARY AGENCIES 

 AND THE FIRST CAUSE. 



26tli August 1882. 



Sir, — Loss of nitrates, abnormal seasons, grub, and 

 leaf-disease, have, one and all, been suggested as 

 causes of our staple's present ailment. Per contra 

 "W." lays down that "it is God that givteth the 

 increase. " 



Now, sir, I am all rapt attention when "W." 

 writes on the basis of his broad scientific knowledge, 

 and the vast observation he has brought to swell 

 the volume of that knowledge but I must regret to 

 see him shufHe out of his position of advocate for 

 wider scientific research as accessory to our present 

 system of cultivation with a vote of thanks to his 

 God for the increase (good crops) He sees fit to 

 withhold just now. I presume "W." did not wish 

 us to infer, by his writing "first cause" with small 

 initials, that we should go to the devil for the rainon 

 d'etre of short crops. But this is what we must 

 conclude from his letter. The less religion is mixed 

 up with manure in writing on cofi'ee, the Ijetter able 

 shall we be to arrive at some means of opposition 

 to " tlie slings and arrows" to which "outrageous 

 fortune" now treats us. I would ask "W." to re- 

 flect for a moment on the large number of diseases 

 common to the liuman system which scientific en- 

 quiry has lirought within tlie last half-century into 

 the category of curable complaints from that of 

 " visitations of God." 



The analogy existing between the animal and veget- 

 able kingdoms, in relation to nutrition, reproduction 

 and decay, becomes clearer and clearer as the years 

 roll on. In this connection let us take, as types of 

 these two kingdoms respectively, a lovely girl and 

 a fine coffee busli. Without going right along then- 

 several roads witli them, we shall find, I thmk, that 

 the niin of each is traceable to e:vpo>fi(re. This is 

 my present opinion with regai'd to coft'ee's " wretched 

 fall," and, if you will bear with me, I will endeavour 

 to show that your correspondents "W.," " \V. D. B." 

 and "X." all point to this without directly naming 

 the name. 



"X." flings at our heads long columns, in perusal 

 of which the eye wearies, as with a conventional 

 wall-paper in a sick-room at the frequent repetition 

 of "nitrates" and "nitrification." He means evid- 

 ently tliat to run our rainfall off, as the present 

 system of draining causes it to run. is to lose some 

 very valuable plaut-food. viz. nitrates. At this up 

 jumps "W. D. B.," and says he : — " Why, my good 

 sifj it 's this very abundance of nitrates that we do 



not want. Man alive, can't you see the trees are 

 always nuiking woo 1 and does n't that argue super- 

 fluity of nitrates ? Between you and me, my friend, 

 I tiiink it 's just ahiiormal seanonx that are at the 

 bottom of these short crops. " Here ■ ' W. ' chimes 

 in with his 'want to know" what 'W. D. B." may 

 mean by • season" and "abnormal," with a hair- 

 splitting jirecision worthy of Plato. Given these two 

 definitions, and he thinks we may start fair. Never- 

 theless, he himself opines tliat the reign of law does 

 not apply to seasons in Ceylon and that the word 

 "monsoon" is merely a conversation-toy meaning- 

 less, the which I think a little, just a little irreverent 

 on his part. Notwithstanding all which he holds that 

 line weather in the blossoming months, and again 

 at that season of the year which we, in our folly, 

 have deemed the between-monsoons, may be taken 

 as a grour.d for hopes of a good crop, in which 

 sentiment he and " W. D. B." are really at one. 



"W." has told us that in early days estates were 

 never opened without a liberal allowance of standing- 

 jungle breakwinds. Nous avons chanf/i tout cela : 

 nowadays a belt is the exception ; and herein I think 

 lies the key to the mystery under discussion. "W." 

 will not deny that coffee which suSers the direct 

 influence of wind is now everywhere as shuck as 

 shuck can be, nor that hollows which enjoy, more or 

 less, immunity from wind are looking as hearty as 

 ever, nor that in these same hollows both from their 

 position and the shade afforded by thick foliage, the 

 groimd is ever moist, nor that on exposed fields the 

 wind and sun absorb all moisture almost a.s it falls. 

 From these postulates the conclusion is not difficult 

 that it is moisture that we require ; and that it is 

 wind which counteracts the benefits intended for us 

 in copious rainfall must be admitted, as surely as 

 that a too general forest denudation has opened the 

 doors to this wind. So that "X." is probably correct 

 in his "nitrates'' theory, and " W. D. B." not far 

 out in his "abnormal seasons" conjecture. "W." 

 will, of course, not allow these remarks to pass un- 

 challenged. Indeed, he has ah-cady raised objections 

 to any such possible conclusion as the above by his 

 notice of those patchy fields, wherein, he thinks, lies 

 buried the key with the aid of which we may let 

 ourselves out of this iirisonhouse of doubt. Can "W." 

 point to any large hill-side, where holes cut five (5) 

 feet deep would reveal homogeneous surface and sub- 

 soils ? Slay it not be that where the cofl'ee is fine 

 the soil is just retentive enough, and vice versa ? 

 If I am right, deep water-holes among the shuck 

 coffee might be our remedy. I am speaking here, as 

 I think "W." was, of fields of coffee which only feel 

 the wind indirectly, or scarcely at all. 



In closing this too long letter, I would ask you to 

 credit me with bona fides in any writing of mine, and, 

 if my pen at times runs off mto cynical remarks to 

 believe that these are not prompted by personal feel- 

 ings, or that your correspondent " only does it to 

 annoy, because he knows it teases." I ask this, as 



I sec that your footnote to niy last led some to mis- 

 construe the spirit in which it was \vritten. — 

 Faithfully yours, P. T. L. 



WHAT AILS OUR (CEYLON) COFFliE 

 TREES?— No. V. 

 Sir, — Amongst the many causes which have been 

 suggested from lime to linie as hating originated the 



II fertility of our coffee trees, one that has found a 

 ■ertam aniount of fav. ur is our " too exd mire cuUiv- 



a'icH of the one product," coffee. 



As to the policy of our havinu committed our in- 

 lerexts so exclu.-ively to one staple, t!ipre is, I suppose, 

 but one opinion. It must be generally ooucedeil that, 

 il we had devoted our attention to other products 

 before our coffee failed, we should Uot now have been 



