t)o 



THE TROPICAL AGUICULTURISlT. 



HULY 



8885. 



COFFEE LEAF I>ISEASE. 



The Ti apical Agricvlturist accuses us of sneering at 

 Ceylon Plniiters, because we wrote: — " There is ouc thing 

 shouUl stiiki! riatitcrs, that is, if thu trees on a Cotfee 

 E-t.ite have ouci: yielrleil yioofl crops, why they should 

 jiiit do it again. The cliunite has not changed; the tree 

 ileniands, nourishment which it docs not get; the result 

 is. shtn-t crops and disease." Now, we never sneei'eJ at 

 (.'■■yion Planters, but we certainly pointed out that their 

 tiees have never been properly rn.inured, nor have they 

 been in Wvnaad, Tlie writer goes on to say: — "that a 

 ** fair ilegfee of success rewarded their efforts {'^) as well 

 '* as tliose of Southern India, until the calamitous advent 

 -'* o\ tile debilitating leaf disease. J:;ven after its appearance 

 " nimurcs were liberally apphed until many plauters found 

 " th.it they were merely feeding the fungus." Wo knoiv 

 that liberal manuring meaiis about one bullock an acre, 

 we have hardly heartl of one case of scientific manuring, 

 and not one of draining. AVe thi:ik, that if a really 

 good case could be produc^'d of the above renied'es having 

 been carried out and failed to afford relief, then would 

 owners of coffee plantations have been justified in abandon- 

 ing coffee and taking to tea ; but until we know of a 

 really well authenticated case, we must adhere to our 

 orig'lial opiuion. With borer it was different; estates went 

 out becausii they were too dry ; fungus has laid hold of 

 cofi'ee bjcause the ground is too damp, and it is easier 

 to remedy that, thaii where it is too dry. We have seen 

 how Ciucho'ias in Ceylo;i have to bo cut out when their 

 roots get down into the damp impervious subsoil, and we 

 have a shrewd suspicion, tluit uudrained damp subsoil in 

 Oeylon, has a good deal to do with leaf disease. We 

 I1 ive not heard of draining having been resorted to for 

 Cinchonas any more than for leaf disease, and yet, very 

 probahlv, it will be found a cure for both Cinchonas and 

 Coffee." [The above is from the Nilgiii Planters' Rcvieir. 

 We have simply to repeat tliat never in the world's history" 

 were more scientific culture, careful and thorough manuring 

 applied to coffee and cinchonas more than in Ceylon. But 

 leaf-liseiise proved fatal to the highest cultivated estates, as 

 nnieh as to those left uncared for. Let the writer in 

 tins Revieir practicallv establish his theories and then 

 blame planters if they do not follow his example.— En.] 



MADRAS : THE ORGANIZATION OF A BOTAN- 

 ICAL DEPARTMENT. 



We recently referred in our columns to the creation of 

 a new appointment — a Mineralogist to the Madras Gov- 

 ernment, for which Mr. Bosworth Smith was selected. We 

 now learn that the local Government have in view the 

 organization of a Botanical Department for this Presidency 



a measure which will, it is thought, besides subserving 



the interests of science, be of great and immediate practic- 

 al utiUty, while it can, in pre.sent circumstancea, be 

 carried into eft'ect at a very small cost to Proviucial Funds, 

 and to which it is hoped the sanction of the Government 

 of India and of Her Majesty's Secretary of State will be 

 readily accorded. With this object in view, the local Gov- 

 verumeat invited Professor Thiseltou Dyer, 0.11. Q.,ot Kew 

 Gardens, to offer, in consultation witli Professor Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, another eminout Botanist, suggestions with -regard 

 to the constitution of the department. This he has done, 

 and the Government have much to be indebted to that 

 geutleivai for the valuable opinions he has given on the 

 question. There Is in all India only one Botanical institution 

 which, though technically provincial, must, at any rate, 

 in external estimation, fromitsage — it has nearlytittaiued 

 its centenary- from its scientific traditions, and from the 

 splendour of its maintenance, rank as imperial. What- 

 ever be now or in the future the exact official status of 

 the Ivoy:d Botanical Gardens at Calcutta, it must always 

 be regarded a-^ standing at tlip head of the Botanical 

 institution of the Umpire. India, however, possesses imly 

 one such Biitanieal institution of a secoml order, and that 

 is the gardens at Saliarunpore ; but from its vast size and 

 resources India needs more than one sucli localized 

 t)«titutioii, liot that it's want h-a uot been felt, but that 



it has been provided for, at the best, imperfectly and in a 

 tentative and uncoordinated manner. What has been done 

 seems to have produced only moderately useful results, 

 with" undoubtedly much expenditure. IHius India owes in 

 great part to the Calcutta Botanic GardenSj its great 

 cinchona euterprize, aud to Saharunpore the practical in- 

 ception of tea cultivation, though the initiatory stages 

 must be credited to the Calcutta Botanists. 



There is nothing precisely aud collectively answering to 

 a Botanical Department fulfilling the functions required 

 of it iu this Presidency. There is, however, the Agri- 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, which, though subsidized 

 by the Government, is not under its control. Founded in 

 1835, its establishment and early management owed every 

 thing to its first Secretary, Dr. Wight. It has not been 

 barren of results. To its experiments in 1840 may lie at- 

 tributed the introduction of coffee cultivation ; anil it lias 

 in no small measure encouraged the cultivation of Europ- 

 ean vegetables and indigenous and naturalized fruits. But 

 it is much to be regretted that in more recent years the 

 more scientific aspects of the garden seem to have been 

 sacrificed with little consideration. That a jeally scienti- 

 fic Botanical Department, on the basis of the one at 

 Calcutta, was needed, has long been apparent at Kew, 

 from the numerous communications, both public and 

 private, relating to the practical as well as the scientific 

 side of botanical business. The materials for such a de- 

 partment ai'e, however, all to hand, and a little organiz- 

 ation would practically effect all that is needed. There is 

 Mr. Lawson, late Professor of Botany in the University of 

 Oxford, now iu charge of the Government; Cinchuua Plant- 

 ations, Parks and Gardens, Nilgiris ; as regards the head 

 of llie proposed department a very slight extension of his 

 duties is all that is required. He now draws KGOO per 

 meneem, aud it is proposed to araise it to KSOO per mensem 

 rising to U1,000 in five years. He is serving at present 

 under no definite conditions, and the Government consider 

 that his service from the commencement should be de- 

 clared to count for leave and pension, aud that he should 

 be admit ;e 1 to the more favourable leave rules. Applic- 

 ation will be made in the Fiuaucial Department for sanc- 

 tion to these proposal.s. 



The situation is not ompiioated by the existence of any 

 (Sovernment Botanical G irden at .Madras. The existing 

 Government garden at Ootacamund seems iu every way 

 the proper seat of the Botauical Department. Its remote- 

 ness from the capital may be objectionable, but the plant- 

 ing industries of Southern India gravitate to its Western 

 side, aud the Botanical head-quarters should be in the 

 nearest feasible pro.ximity to them. The detailed adminis- 

 tration of the Botanical gardens will require a Curator, 

 subordinate to the Director. Mr. Lawson lias the advant- 

 age of the cordial co-operation of Mr. Jamieson, who has 

 long efficiently filled this position. 



In order to extract the maximum of usefulness from a 

 tropical Botanical Department, it is found necessary that 

 it should comprize a chain of gardens at different elev- 

 ations, as in Ceylon and .Jamaica. Ootacamund, therefore, 

 will require to be supplemented by an Intermediate Gar- 

 den and a tropical garden. Besides, tlie department will 

 repnire the maintenance of a well-arranged Herbarium, 

 a Museum wherein a collection of wood, fruits, seeds and 

 other vegetable products of economic interest might be 

 stored, a small but carefuly selected library, and all other 

 paraphernalia of an Administrative Department. Under 

 the new arrangement Mr. Lawsou will retain charge of 

 the Cinchona plantation anl tlie superintendence of the 

 Botauical Garden and Parks on the Nilgiris, as at present. 

 His othcial designation will be ''Government Botanist aud 

 Director of OinchonaJ^Plantatiou.'' On receipt of sanction 

 orders will i.ssue on the minor points of organization.^ 

 Madras Standard. 



[While the step proposed is, no doubfc, in the right 

 direction, let us not forgei that the Government of 

 Madras and Mr. Thiseltoa Dyer have both recently- 

 borne high and weJl merited testimony to the excel, 

 lent work dime during its tifty years' existence by 

 the Madras Agri-Horticultural Sdoiety. Government 

 gave a eum of 111,000 which has been used to adil to 

 an already rich botanical library,— Ed.] 



