17 



said about mulching. I have tried it on several bare patches of 

 ground. It has done far more good than a heavy dose of manure. 

 Mr. DanVERS : — I have some patches to which manuring year 

 after year has done no good ; but mulching has done good to 

 them. 



The Honble. MR. HODGSON : — I have been very much interested 

 in what Dr. Lehmann has told us today. Whenever he comes to 

 our Session, he has a great deal to say to us of very great value. 

 Very important is the problem to us of the psssibility of reducing 

 the cost of manure. I believe that Dr. Lehmann is on the right 

 track in this matter, for I have noticed for some years past that 

 a great many estates have necessarily been obliged to reduce 

 the cost of manuring as a matter of economy. The price of coffee 

 having gone down, they simply have no money for heavy manu- 

 ring, and curiously enough, concurrently with the reduction 

 in the quantity of manure applied, there has been in many cases 

 an increase even in the crop returns. That is a remarkable thing. 

 It rather bears out what Mr. Harris and Mr. Sprott have told us 

 about the two plots of unmanured lands yielding larger crop aver- 

 ages. But then there are two accounts to be considered in work- 

 ing out profits, the Revenue and the Capital account , and both 

 these have to be kept in view. Along with the Revenue account 

 the condition of the estate, whether it has deteriorated or not, must 

 be taken into consideration in working out profits. 



If this were not done, it would be quite possible to show a good 

 profit in the Revenue account which in reality has been taken out 

 of Capital, that is to say by sweating the trees, and this might 

 even be kept up for two or three years. It is therefore very neces- 

 sary, as Dr. Lehmann always impresses upon us, to be very care- 

 ful as to our facts in drawing conclusions from experiments. 



Mr. DanvERS : — I think what you say bears out what Dr. Leh- 

 mann recommends, viz., the carrying out of these experiments for 

 a long series of years. In four years the yield of crops may not 

 have reduced but the estate may have deteriorated. 



Dr. Lehmann : — The reason why I am very cautious in the 

 matter of even hinting at the fact that the manure might possibly 

 be reduced, is, that I know from bitter experience how difficult it is 

 for an estate that has run down to pick up again. It is frightful 

 expenditure and trouble to get an estate into a good bearing con- 

 dition. If it has once been allowed to run down, it is very diffi- 

 cult for it to pick up again. 



Mr. Harris-.— Mr. Sprott asked me if I could supply him with 

 certain information regarding my plots. I should be delighted to 

 do so. But it is difficult to go back in memory to ten years. If he is 

 interested in the matter I will try and have the information collected 

 for him from my records. As regards the plots there are ten diff- 

 erent plots ; with the exception of the two unmanured plots, the rest 

 of them are all manured, and have been manured for the last four 

 years, with different mixtures. The object of the experiments is 



