1 8 2 Coffee Planting. 



become populated by innumerable fleas, and per- 

 haps other vermin, the moment the lines are left 

 unoccupied. An occasional coat of whitewash will 

 also be of use, both in discouraging vermin, and in 

 rendering the dwellings clean and wholesome. 



The coolies should be encouraged to make little 

 gardens for themselves, for the cultivation of 

 brinjals, Indian corn, beans, &c., and in order to 

 admit of this being freely done, without an un- 

 necessary sacrifice of land, the lines are always 

 better placed on a grass hill or piece of open waste 

 land, than in the midst of the coffee. When so 

 situated, moreover, the coolies may keep pigs, 

 sheep, and poultry to their heart's content without 

 loss to the proprietor. 



With regard to the number of rooms in each set 

 of lines, I think twenty an extreme limit ; where 

 the number is so great as this, it will be better to 

 have them in a double row back to back, otherwise 

 the length will be inconvenient and unsightly. 

 Small sets of six or eight rooms are preferable, 

 the different castes being then less likely to in- 

 terfere with each other. Moreover, in this case, 

 should a fire occur, the loss and inconvenience are 

 reduced. For the same reason, it is not desirable 

 to have a number of sets in close contiguity, lest a 

 spark some fine day should lead to the destruction 

 of the whole. Considering the number of fires 



