118 On the Coffee-borer 



direction the sides of the hills and ravines have been 

 stripped of their umbrageous forests, and, instead of the 

 magnificent expanse of living green that used to meet 

 the eye on all sides, we have numerous sterile-looking 

 tracts, which give a peculiar air of desolation to the 

 prospect. Did the evil, however, effected by clearing, 

 not extend further than this, it would be of no great con- 

 sequence ; but, as has already been brought to the notice 

 of Government, the extensive destruction of forests in 

 Coorg has had a serious effect on the streams, that, rising 

 amongst its hills, descend to fertilize the plains. There 

 is no reason to suppose that, although every tree in Coorg 

 were cut down, the rain-fall would be sensibly diminished, ' 

 as its amount depends chiefly on the geographical position 

 and physical conformation of the country, but the existing 

 clearing has, undoubtedly, had the effect of causing a 

 large portion of the monsoon water to run off almost 

 immediately, instead of lodging in the forests as it used 

 to do, and, by evaporation, rendering the air moist during 

 the dry season. I have no doubt that this change in the 

 drainage of the country caused the droughts of late years 

 to affect Coorg much more seriously than they would 

 otherwise have done, and feel sure it will continue to 

 render the culture of coffee there always more or less 

 precarious. Coffee is a plant which delights in a moder- 

 ately warm and moist atmosphere, and suffers much when 

 subjected to a dry heat. Considering, therefore, that in 

 Coorg it is deluged with rain during six months of the 

 year, and exposed to scorching sunshine, with the earth 

 baked as hard as a brick, during the remaining period, 

 it is astonishing that it thrives there so well as it does. 

 I have made the foregoing remarks with a view to show, 

 that the vigour of the coftee plant may have been im- 

 paired by the accidental changes that have recently 

 taken place in the climate through the great destruction 

 of forests. 



Much of the land now under coffee in Coorg is very ill- 

 suited for the purpose, it being so steep that no care or 

 ingenuity can prevent the surface soil from being washed 

 away. Two or three monsoons are, in general, sufficient 

 to sweep off every trace of humus, and the plants then 

 get down on the cold hungry subsoil, which consists 

 chiefly of clay, decaying gneiss and kaolin, and is noto- 

 riously deficient in lime, phosphates, and other elements, 

 without which coffee cannot live and produce remunera- 

 tive crops. Owing to this and the exhausting effects of 



