September i, 1885,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



Hi 



proprietor got well ioto a good gravelly sub-soil the first 

 season, and expected coflfee to grow, while the real 

 richness of his land was far on its way to the coast. 

 Mysore coffee once held a long lead; I doubt if it does 

 so now, — other districts have caught it up. I do not 

 remember to have seen it noticed, that the decline of 

 the Oeylou estates, and the agricultural depression in 

 England followed almost immediately after the mania 

 for artificial manures. I h,\ve seen some that remained 

 under the trees apparautly unchanged for two years. 

 I kuow of another lot tliat was applied at the rate of 

 20 tons per acre, merely to report it as 'applied.' It 

 had no visible effect or any kind, and the cost of 

 application was mere waste of money. Artificial manure 

 from Euglind is dangerous stuff to touch, even if 

 bought uuder a guaranteed analysis. With a freer use 

 of bones, fish, poouac, the dry earth system of bedding 

 cattle, and ensilaging, planters need never go out of 

 the country for manure. Ooffee is undoubtedly benefitted 

 by partial shade in some districts, but it is a question 

 whether heavy manuring and high farming will not do 

 more to improve Wyuuad coffee than heavy shade. 



A WVNAAD OUETTV. 



III. 



Sir, — The Honorary Secretary of the IVynaad Planters' 

 Association having inviteil all those interested in coft'ee 

 to give tbeir news with regard to the present inferiority 

 of the coffee bean in the Wynaad, I send you these few lines 

 on that subject. The Association seeks for information on 

 five points, the first of which refers to shade. During my 

 connection with several estates in South and South-East 

 "Wynaad, the difference between coffee trees growing 

 under shade, and those grown in the open, I could 

 not help noticiug; in Wynaad shade is of all things 

 most necessary for the growth of coffee ; trees grown 

 under shade, especially that of the aitley and jacky 

 not only thrive well, but they, as a rule, bear very 

 heavily, and produce a superior quality of bean, 

 whereas those grown in the open, and iu the same sort 

 of soil and climate, do not seem to do half as well. I 

 consider shade, on all estates situated under an elevation 

 of 4,0CH) feet, very necessary for coffee, antl, as a rule, as 

 most of the estates in Wynaad only have an elevation 

 of between 3 and 4,000 feet, the cultivation of attley and 

 jack trees on coffee will temi more to the benefit of 

 the coffee trees than patent manures. On the Nilgiris, 

 where many of the estates are at an elevation of over 

 4,000 feet, shade is not required ; iu fact coffee trees do 

 better in the open, and they bear heavily and produce a 

 good quality of bean, whereas in the shade at a high 

 elevation, the trees, although they thrive very well and 

 produce a large beau, yet they do not bear heavily, and 

 it takes a long time for the berries to mature and ripen. 

 But on lowlying estates, even on the Nilgiris, shade 

 answers very well. The second point under discussion 

 is the curing of the coffee on the estate. This subject 

 deserves every attention, as the proper curing of coffee 

 on the estate sets the colour of the bean, aad if the 

 berries are allowed to ferment, either while in the cherry, 

 or after once taken out of the vats, the colour is sure 

 to be effected. Ooffee should be sent through the pulper 

 as soon^ as possible after it is picked, and on no account 

 should it be kept in the cherry long enough to heat 

 after pulping. No hard and fast rule can laid down as 

 to the number of hours the coffee in the parchment 

 should be ajlowed to ferment in the vats, as that will 

 greatly depend on the time of the year, and the temper- 

 ature in the vats. On the high estates of the Nilgiris between 

 36 to 40 hours are required to allow the coffee to 

 ferment just to the proper degree, but on lower estates 

 and in warmer climates less time is necessary. In 

 Wynaad, probably 20 to 24 hours' fermentation will be found 

 to be sufiieient. Either over or under fermentation in the vats 

 affect the colour of the bean, (.'are, attention and knowledge 

 of the temperature in the vats, will soon enable every 

 planter to come to a right decision, with regard to the 

 number of hours required to allow coffee to ferment 

 (without over-doing it) on his particular estate. Great 

 care should be taken not to allow coffee to heat after 

 it is once taken out of the vats and washed; neither 

 should coffee be stored up thickly; plenty of ventilation 



and careful spreading out of the parchment coffee is 

 very desirable. The third question refers to the place 

 where coffee should be cured after it leaves the estate. 

 I do not think it matters much. When the coffee is 

 prepared for shipment, it not the locality of the curing 

 factory on the plains which affects the colour of the 

 beau, but rather the care and attention paid to the 

 coffee, after its arrival at the factory, which ensures 

 good curing. * # * 



As to the fom-th question, about nimure, the great 

 object is to get the tree to thrive ; it does not much 

 m<itter by what manures this object is gained, provided 

 forcing manures are not u.sed. Oattle manure is of all 

 manures, patent or otherwise, the best and safest, but 

 wheu this cannot be had, bone and potash iu small 

 quantities and well mixed with sholah earth is a good 

 substitute. I have often used lime with advant.age for 

 coft'ee on clay soils. Lime judiciously used is a great 

 help, and tends to keep off leaf disease. I now come 

 to the fifth and last question, with regard to the mode 

 of packing for shipment. This subject can have but 

 little to do with colour or wether the coffee is packed 

 in good new double bags, or iu boxes thoroughly dried. 

 I prefer packing in double bags myself, as coffee so packed 

 is better stored in the steamers ; cases being very apt 

 to get broken. This color of the bean will, however, 

 suffer if packed in steamer containing sugar, &c., and 

 consequently it is preferable to send our coffee home iu 

 one of the chartered steamers instead of the B. I. S. N. 

 Company's boats, which carry goods of all sorts. 



Coonoor, 3rd July 18S5. 0. E. P. V. 



In the Mail of 17th July the following letters appear: — 



Sir,^The alleged deterioration in the color of the Wynaad 

 coffee been is a very serious matter for planters, and I 

 am sure the plantinig community will be grateful to you 

 for ventilating the subject in the illa'il. That careless 

 drying on the estate is the cause I cannot think, as far 

 more care is now taken in this matter than formerly. 

 Ten or fifteen years since very little pains were taken, 

 and coffee was often despatched with the surface water 

 just dried off. Sabonachin [.!!>, for Sabonadiere ! — Ed.] in 

 his book on coffee, published in 1870, considers that two 

 days' exposure to a hot sun is sufficient for drying coffee 

 before despatching to the coast. Now every planter knows 

 that this would barely bring the coffee down to 40 lb. 

 per bushel. The old generation of planters were much 

 against having the coffee too dry before despatching. 

 Their reason was that coffee dried beyond a certain point 

 would absorb moisture from the atmosphere in transit, 

 and by this second wetting would lose color when sub- 

 sequently re-dried on the coast. The rule I was taught 

 twenty years ago was, to dry until the silver skin would 

 rub off, and coffee so cured was always of a good color. 

 Of late years the constant cry of the coast curers has 

 been that the coffee has not been properly dried on the 

 estate. I have had coffee at 30 lb. per bushel reported 

 as "quiet wet." The consequence is that planters have 

 dried more and more, until now coffee is generally dried 

 to from 30 lb. to 34 lb. per bushel before despatching. 

 This saves the coast curers trouble, but is, I believe 

 one reason of the bad color of our coffee. I heard from 

 a manager of curing works last season that coffee which 

 had been despatched at 3S lb. had turned out a better 

 color than that from the same property at 30 lb. I, for 

 my part, intend to go back to the old system of drying 

 the color into the bean, and not out of it again, and 

 let the curers grumble as much as they like. While I 

 think the mode of drying has some effect on the color, 

 I cannot but allow that it is small compared with that 

 of leaf disease. The latter, I hear, is the chief cause of 

 bad colour as well as small beau. 



July 12th. E. N. 



II. 



Sir, — In submitting answers called for by the Hon. 

 Secretary, Wynaad Planters' Association, in his letter of 

 1st instant, it must be miderstood that these are mere 

 opinions based on iusufficient and altogether uncertain 

 evidence. Taking the questions seriatim .- — 



1. That grown under shade is a larger and finer bean. 

 The color too, is, probably better, but that is improved. 



