COFFEA 



ARABICA 

 Stock 



Indian 

 Forms. 



Stock. 



Care in 

 Selection. 



Planting. 

 Deep Trenching, 



THE COFFEE PLANT 



(h) Coorg Coffee. This has large flat seeds and is propagated easily. There 

 are several well-marked races such as the " Chick," " Golden Drop," 

 " Nalknad," etc. 



(i) Java Coffee. This bears branches less horizontal than Brazilian, and the 

 two young leaves at the extremity of the shoots are greenish-yellow in the 

 Javan, and brownish-yellow in the Brazilian plant. 



The planters of India recognise many more distinct races, but as no 

 one seems to have scientifically described these, and the writer's personal 

 acquaintance with the coffee plant was acquired during one or two very 

 rapid tours of inspection, he is unable to attempt a description or classi- 

 fication of the special Indian races and hybrids. The reader would do 

 well, however, to consult Mr. J. Cameron's various reports on the experi- 

 ments conducted at the Lai Bagh of Bangalore. He will discover that 

 Cameron discusses the hybrids that have been produced naturally, and 

 explains that their most remarkable feature is their immunity from leaf- 

 disease. But he has apparently not been so successful in the production 

 of crosses as has been the case in other parts of the world. All the same 

 his conclusions on this issue are clear and definite. He is sanguine that 

 hybridisation may be looked to as likely to afford much advantage. The 

 renovation of coffee, he accordingly adds, is " not wholly a matter of soil 

 enrichment." " Next in importance to hybridisation and proper culture, 

 the interchange and special selection of seed must take a high place." It 

 may be here added that much has been said regarding the value of plants 

 formed by grafting, or by inarching, as for example C. arabica on to 

 rooted plants of C. lilterica. The seeds from such are said to be superior 

 to pure stocks, and in some respects constitute forms nearly as distinct as 

 the crosses and hybrids already mentioned. The Kew Bulletin (1898, 30) 

 affords much useful information regarding the hybrid coffees now grown in 

 South India a subject very greatly developed subsequently by the Indian 

 press. But the industry is much indebted to Mr. W. L. Crawford, Mr. 

 J. W. Hockin, Mr. Brook Mockett and Mr. Graham Anderson the last- 

 named gentleman having read a paper of great merit before the South 

 Mysore Planters' Association that reviews all the practical results attained. 



The importance of careful selection of stock cannot, in fact, be over- 

 stated, and it is probably not far from correct to affirm that the majority 

 of Indian coffee plantations possess two or more widely different plants 

 treated as if one and the same, the result being irregularity both in quality 

 and yield. The difficulties of the industry preclude any risks being accepted 

 that might be obviated by personal knowledge and care. Hence it is 

 desirable that the nurseries be as near the planter's house as possible, 

 so as to ensure constant supervision, from sowing to picking out and 

 final transplanting. Any departures from the desired type should be 

 instantly removed from the seed-bed, though no opportunity should be 

 lost of studying sports that may appear. Forms directly suited to the 

 climate, soil, and method of treatment pursued in each plantation should 

 be the aim of every planter. But these cannot as a rule be purchased. 

 They must be acquired as local manifestations or crosses specially de- 

 veloped. The study of the seed-bed and the care of the seedlings should 

 be the special charge of the manager himself, not of the overseer or foreman 

 of works. [Cf. Lehmann, Lect. in Planting Opinion, August 8, 1903.] 



Planting Out. During the first few years of a plantation it should 

 be dug all over as deeply as possible. After the coffee plants enlarge, 

 thorough and deep trenching becomes more or less impossible without 



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