52 SCALE PESTS OF COFFEE 



traced further to surface denudation of the soil against 

 which the local methods of cultivation had provided no 

 safeguard and which weakened the coffee tree consider- 

 ably. 



Some idea of the extent to which the soil denudation 

 took place can be obtained from the description of some 

 of the old trees of Ceylon estates given by a planter in his 

 pjlmphlet on " Ceylon in the Forties and the Eighties." 

 He says, " It must be admitted that well-preserved soil is 

 not characteristic of every old estate in Ceylon. Nothing 

 is more common than to hear the words ' the estate was 

 washed out and worn out years ago,' by old planters when 

 describing such estates. In selecting abandoned coffee 

 estates for tea, experience alone can discriminate between 

 the good and the bad. In some old places every trace of 

 the original surface soil has disappeared, the roots of the 

 coffee tree standing a foot or more in the air above the 

 present level." 



As a result of these causes a marked preference for 

 tea cultivation had already set in among the planters before 

 green bug appeared. The following figures from the 

 pamphlet quoted, clearly point to this fact : — 



These facts establish clearly that green bug was 

 responsible only for the rapid abandonment of what was 

 fast becoming an unprofitable industry. What the actual 

 effect of the bug on coffee, without the aid of contribu- 

 tory factors, would have been, it is difficult to say, though 

 it seems probable that, under the conditions of rainfall and 

 methods of cultivation which prevailed in Ceylon, the de- 

 struction of coffee would have been only a question of time. 



The conditions of South India are different. The 

 rainfall is less evenly distributed over the whole year, 

 being concentrated in certain definite seasons when the 

 precipitation is sufficiently abundant for the vigorous 

 growth and spread of the fungi. Coffee is grown under 

 shade, and surface denudation and evaporation is prevented 



