724 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



[March 2 1885 



COFFEE LEAF DISEASE AND THE INFLUENCE 

 OF SHADE. 



Some time ago the Ceylon Observer copied a paragraph 

 from a Java newspaper in which a correspondent attributed 

 leaf disease in coffee to the practice of planting Erythrina 

 trees for shade, and asserted, firstly, that leaf disease has 

 been known since 1840, and secondly, that where coffee 

 has been planted in forest land, or where Erythrina trees 

 are not used for shade, the disease does not exist. These 

 statements were not editorially endorsed, and have at- 

 tracted little or no attention in Ceylon. Mr. Wilson, the 

 Director of Revenue Settlement and Agriculture in Madras, 

 with a praiseworthy desire to collect all available inform- 

 ation on this important subject, has had tjie paragraph 

 reprinted, and circulated with a view to discover whether 

 tin- theory advanced therein has any foundation in fact. 

 As the origin and nature of the parasite, hemileia vastatrix, 

 which causesleaf disease in coffee, have been investigated 

 by some of the first botanists of the day, who were 

 specially brought out to Ceylon for the purpose, so 

 simple an explanation as the neighbourhood of the Erythrina 

 could hardly have escaped their notice, and as a matter 

 of fact, there does not appear to be the slightest ground 

 for the assertion made by the writer in the Java Bode. 

 In the first place Erythrina is hardly ever planted for 

 coffee shade in India, and where it has been so employed 

 leaf disease does not appear to be w r orse than elsewhere, 

 while it most certainly exists far from the neighbourhood 

 of these trees. Then again, in Ceylon, where in the pre- 

 sent day one can ride through miles of once flourishing 

 estates now devastated by leaf disease, neither Erythrina, 

 nor any other shade tree is visible, it having been a cadinal 

 article of faith with planters there, — in former days at 

 least, — not to leave a single stick standing amongst their 

 coffee. Besides these two tolerably conclusive arguments 

 against accepting Erythrina as the cause of hem ileia vastatrix, 

 it must be remembered that this pest is closely allied to 

 the phylloxera,* which has nearly destroyed all the vines 

 in France; and the phylloxera most certainly cannot be 

 attributed to the Erythrina which does not exist in or 

 near the vineyards. 



The origin of the leaf disease in coffee, like tbat of the 

 potato blight, and of the vine disease, is still a subject 

 of dispute, and the conflicting theories of scientific men 

 as to a remedy for it have befn of little practical use 

 to planters. It has been attributed to poverty of soil, 

 to absence of shade, to want of proper manures, and to 

 :i variety of other causes. Planters who can remember 

 its first appearance in India, relate that when its ravages 

 first l>'gan to attract attention, many men declared that 

 it was no new thing, but that it had been known for 

 years iu a less virulent form. It is certainly a fact 

 that the exact date of its appearance can hardly be fixed. 

 The only indisputable thing about it is the amount of 

 damage it has caused. It has shortened the life of the 

 ooffee trees, it has reduced their bearing powers to less 

 than half, and it has seriously injured the quality of the 

 If in. It seems very probable that the hemileia vastatrix 

 originally existed in the jungle, and only descended on 

 the coffee trees when the continually spreading encroach- 

 ii Knts of the planters deprived it of its natural habitat. 

 A fact which supports this theory is, that in Mysore the 

 original coffee plantations, which were all opened under 

 heavy forest shade, enjoyed a practical immunity from 

 leaf disease during many years, while other parts of 

 India were devastated by it; but when Ceylon ideas of 

 cultivation extended to Mysore, and all extensions were 

 made by entirely clearing away the forest-, the new estates 

 were almost immediately attacked, and have suffered 

 terribly ever since. The only remedy that has hitherto 

 availed in combating leaf disease, where it has once es- 

 tablished a footing in a district, is the systematic and 

 early planting of shade trees, such as jak and fig, which 

 experience has shown to be suitable for the purpose, 

 combined with a high standard of cultivation. The first 

 of these remedies is easily and extensively applied, and 



* They are allied only by the fact that both are destruct- 

 ive pests. Phylloxera, the enemy of the vine, is an insect ; 

 Hemileia vasiatrix, so fatal to coffee, is a fungus. — Ed. 



merely requires the coffee nurseries to be made larger 

 so as to contain the shade seedlings ; the last, of course, 

 involves a heavy expenditure for manure, and especially 

 for cattle manure. It seems possible by these means to 

 extirpate leaf disease, or rather perhaps it should be said, 

 to bring the coffee trees into such a healthy condition 

 as will enable them to withstand the attacks of their 

 enemy. It is also, unfortunately, easy in these days of 

 low prices to cultivate an estate beyond the possibility 

 of profit, and planters often find themselves with no choice 

 between omitting important work that would, if com- 

 pleted, enable their coffee to pull round after a heavy 

 crop, or else spending more money than a strictly com- 

 mercial view of their position would warrant them in 

 doing. In Ceylon cattle manuring has been almost eutirely 

 given up except on estates where unusual facilities for 

 it exist, such as the neighbourhood of a village, where 

 the manure can be obtained cheaply, and in large quantities. 

 Various artificial manures have been tried with a great 

 deal of temporary success, but though these, in some 

 cases, contain exactly the substances that chemistry proves 

 to be required to recuperate the coffee plant, experience 

 shows that in lasting qualities at least, they are none of 

 them equal to animal manure -, they, however, command 

 much popularity on account of their cheapness, the most 

 expensive of them not costing half as much for purchase 

 and application as the other, A perfect manure for coffee, 

 that would combine the lasting qualities of cattle manure 

 with the cheapness of the artificial manure, has still to 

 be discovered, and the subject is one that might with 

 advantage to the community be taken up by Government. 

 "With regard to a cure for leaf disease, however, so many 

 experiments have been made in this direction, and so many 

 remedies, confidently advertised as perfect, have proved 

 worthless, that planters have almost given up speculating 

 on the subject. — Madras. Mail. 



JAPAN TEA AND TOBACCO. 



Mr. John Hughes, Agricultural Analyst, writes to us:— 

 " I enclose you an article in Japanese Tea and Tobacco 

 published in the last number of the Chemical News, It 

 goes perhaps rather more into analytical details than you 

 require for the Tropical Agriculturist, but, as you will 

 notice from a cutting from the Field sent herewith, this 

 monthly magazine is becoming quite a recognised source of 

 all information upon Tea and other colonial production. 

 It will be for you to say how much of the article should 

 be published." 



The article referred to is doubly interesting as being from 

 the pen of a Japanese chemist, for "J. Takayama " is 

 clearly a native of Japan, who has received a western 

 education. From the account this gentleman gives, it is 

 evident that in the preparation of Japan tea, all ordinary 

 principles of tea-making are violated, the green leaves 

 being steamed (!) instead of being rolled on tables or in 

 machines. Most astonishing of all the tea is dried over 

 furnaces in boxes with paper bottoms. The paper which 

 withstands the furnace heat must be peculiar. This refers 

 to the Oolong tea of Japan winch is so great a favourite 

 in America. Black tea, the manufacture of which has 

 been only recently introduced, is evidently regarded as an 

 inferior article, being made from the leaves of "wild" (?) 

 or badly cultivated tea bushes. Even in regard to this 

 tea, rolling, as we understand it, does not seem to be resorted 

 to, only tossing and clapping between the hands. "We 

 copy the articles referred by Mr. Hughes, all except a 

 table of figures referring to the constituents of teas from 

 different districts. The highest total extract is so good 

 as 4521 per cent, while one specimen gave 5'37 of nitrogen. 

 The highest total of soluble organic matter is 41 '67. The 

 percentage of ash is however low. 



ON JAPANESE TEA AND TOBACCO. 



BY J. TAKAYAMA. 



The tea-leaves are gathered in May, and quickly dried 

 by exposure to air, and carefully sifted so as to separate 

 dust and fragments of leaves. They are then subjected 

 to steaming. This is done by introducing the leaves into 

 a wooden tub, the bottom of which is formed of bamboo 

 meshes, the tub being placed on an iron pan filled with 

 water and heated from below. After thirtyminutes, when 



