ilt 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1885. 



Oaylon proJiiees the fluest colory coSea iu the wovld, 

 and it is all grown iu the opeu. Mysore cofYee oommauds 

 a high pi-ioe for other reasous th.iu its color. 



2. Pulping greea or over-ripe fruit, incipient ferment- 

 ation iu heaped cherry or heaped parchment. E»oh and all 

 of these will altect the color of the bean injuriously. It is pro- 

 bable that drying in shade has a favourable effect ou color. 



3. Inland-cured coffee is sometimes equal to, but gener- 

 ally interior to that cured on the AVost Coast. I have 

 no experience of East Coast curing. 



4. The best soils produce the best colored coffee. 

 Manures enrich the soil. There can be little doubt, then, 

 but that they exert a favorable iutiueuce ou the color aud 

 quality of the beau. 



5. I am not aware that different modes of packing 

 have much effect ou color, but consider that packing iu [ 

 double bags will best preserve the quality of the coffee. 

 Oue thing is certain, that coffee grown iu rich soil is 

 superior in color to that grown iu poor soil. Another 

 thing is certain, that cort'ee grown a proper distance within 

 the "ghats is superior to any grown ou the ghat line. This 

 last fact is probably a mere corollary of the first. Ghat 

 land is often very "productive for a few years, but the 

 slopes are steep, aud this productiveness vanishes with 

 the vanishing soil. So far as our knowledge goes, aud 

 this is a very small way. it is the conditions of soil and 

 climate which chietiy influence the color of cort"ee. It is 

 possible that drying under shade may affect the color of 

 coffee. This remains to be proved. It is probable, too, 

 that coffee grown under shade is better colored than that 

 grown in the opeu. 'Whether this has beeu proved er 

 not is of little consequence, so far as Coorg is concerned, 

 for it is au umlisputed fact that coffee will not exist iu 

 the open, beyoud a very limited time. This last fact, 

 too, mav be found to have to do with deterioratiou of the 

 soil. It" is well kuowu that shade preserves soil. It is 

 further known that shade iuiproves soil. The whole matter, 

 then, appears to resolve itself into a question of soil, 

 aud Wynaad v)lauters and all planters must exert them- 

 selves to keep up aud improve the fertility of their 

 estates. There must always be a great diversity of opinion 

 as to the best methods "of cultivation to bring about this 

 result. That shade is the most important factor cannot 

 be doubted by anyone who approaches the question with 

 an unprejudiced mind. JIauure is good for the soil, clean 

 weeding is good for the soil, turning over is good for the 

 soil. Good soil gives good coft'ee. Therefore all these 

 methods and others are to be resorted to, if a beau of 

 good quality aud color is to be produced. 



Though much of the above is mere unmatured opinion, 

 it is all deserving of further observation aud experiment. 



Coorg, 11th July. J- 0. 



III. 



Sir,— I am glad to see that a discu.ssion fraught with 

 BO much interest to planters has been started in your 

 journal, and that you have given it your own careful at- 

 tention The consensus of opinion as yet published points 

 to shade as absolutely necessary, and in this opinion I de- 

 cidedly concur. The difference" of cotVee under shade and 

 in the open is most ni.aiked, and teaches its own lesson, 

 especially with regard to the size aud appeareuce of the 

 l«?au, and it is therefore superfluous to enlarge on the 

 subject. I do not think, however, that what I consider 

 the real cause of the detorioratiou in color, iu the last 

 year or two, has been touched upon yet, plantors blaming 

 coast curing, and coast curers giving the retort co\irteous 

 to planters^ but with little or no beuefit to the discussion. 

 I hold that the prim.iry cause of the deterioratiou in color 

 is the abnormally dry "and hot seasons that have beeu ex- 

 perienced during the' last two or three years, which pre- 

 vented any early growth of foliage, and thus partly de- 

 prived the bean of its chief means of e>dstence. In fact. 

 1 hold that coffee has t>een suff'ering from temporary as- 

 phyxia which was bound to atfoct the growth and color of 

 the bean more or less. Both shaded aud unshaded coffee 

 appears to have sutfere«l. but of course the latter far 

 more severely; and I thhik that the fact of Coorg coffee 

 having beeu "letter than Wynaad is due to the fact that 

 iu Coorg shade was extensively adopted fully five years 



ago, while the majority of 'Wjuaad estates have not yet, 



or only recently, gone in for it. The Coorg shade, though, 



sufficient to partially beutSt the coffee, and as it grows 

 larger will do so further, while 'W'yuand on the contrary 

 is stiU without this protection. Of course there are ex- 

 ceptions, and it would be interesting to ascertain if well- 

 shade. 1 estates have suffered as well as unshaded estates, 

 and if so. in what proportion. I said that this was the 

 primary cause, but of course in manj- cases it has been 

 intensified by want of manure. iusutHcient cviltivation or 

 bad curing caused by a number of planters being so hard 

 up. I consider, however, that these causes are secondary, 

 ami ouly apply to individual cases, as it is a fact that iu one 

 district iu Wynaad the color of, I believe, the whole coffee 

 was reported unfavourably ou iu spite of manure cultivation 

 and careful curing : aud this applied to estates belonging 

 to dift'erent proprietors and under dift'ereut managements, 

 thus clearly indicating some natural cause which should 

 be guarded against if not altogether prevented. Again, no 

 mention is made of the ravages of leaf disease, which, 

 added to by the absence of early leaf-producing rain, is 

 enough to make the stoutest-hearted planter despair. 

 The remedy here again is shade, aud how so miuiy years 

 have been allowed to elapse without its adoption is a 

 mystery. CoUee which could fight against disease aud 

 drought, is now too old to do so, and is being weakened 

 crop after crop ; and now when it requires shelter and 

 help, it finds it not. 



I h.ave also a stroug objection to the system of planting 

 cinchona thickly amongst coffee, and I should not be at 

 all surprised if this proved an aid in depreciating the 

 value and appeariuice of coffee. M'herever coffee is seen 

 under large and thickly planted cinchona, it is found to 

 be iu a very bad way, aud I think that the same dele- 

 terious influence is c:serted in difl'ereut degrees, according 

 to circumstances, by cinchona. Taking the above point 

 of view to be correct, it is seen that the great cause of 

 the present deterioration iu coft'ee is produced by natural 

 means, piu-tially beyond the planter's control ; but I maiu- 

 tiiin that, by attention to good shade, elficient cultivation 

 and curing, "and also to care in avoiding picking until the 

 berries are fully ripe, the evil effects of unseasonable and 

 protr.-Mjted drought can be to a great extent avoided, and 

 the general price of crops considerably improved. It dies 

 not come within the scope of the present letter to dilate 

 ou the subject of proper cultivatiou, this being a matter 

 that is, or should be, well understood by planters gener- 

 ally; but on one point, i. «., the effects of maniu:e, I 

 aui sin-prised, equsiUy with " A Wynaad Chetty," at the 

 statement of your correspondent iu your issue of the 1st 

 instant, that manure " could not improve the quality of 

 the bean." and can only attribute it to an error of ex- 

 pression. Given a field of coffee equal iu all respects, man- 

 lu-e one-half aud leave the other half unmanured, aud 

 there can be no doubt as to which half would bear the 

 better sample of coffee. ScX)T. 



Nilgiris, 13th Jidy. 



IV 



Sir. — I have perused with interest your leader, and 

 your correspondents" three letters ou the" above subject in 

 your issue of the Sth instant. You refered to Ceylon in 

 "your article. I am an old Ceylon planter, quite as con- 

 ceited of my planting lore as any member of the brother- 

 hood ^self-approbative and severely contumacious, as the 

 Bengalee Babu said of himselfl. and though a deserter, 

 am still of opinion that the Ceylon planter isthes;»ltof 

 the tropical planting world, for he gives more time and 

 puts more individuality into his work than his Indian 

 confrere is supposed to. The remarkable growth of the 

 tea industry is the proof, if any was required, of his pluck, 

 good sense aud ardour; he was wrecked, but for the past 

 two or three years has been building unto himself an ark. 

 With tliis premise for excuse (or added insulf), your 

 planting readers will forgive me for divulging that, in 

 Ceylon, the Indian planter is deemed gtulty of taking life 

 pretty easy, aiul arguing theoretically of cause and effect, 

 when he should be learning opinions, and proviug them 

 experimentally. If this discussion becomes known to Ceylon 

 planters, the majority will immediately conclude it iaakin 

 iu nature to the coiistant controversy in journals devoted 

 to tea as to the oue true mode of manufacture. Tea house 



r on.v recenuv, «..„. m .u> ... .... » .■ ,-. mysteries were quickly laid bare and calle.1 " humbug." 



eneraUy speaking, of ouly comparative recent growth, is | aud you must put it down to my early traimng in Uwt 



