per acre, but in the following year a much heavier 

 crop is reaped, and in the fifth or sixth year the 

 maximum yield is attained. As much as one ton of 

 cleaned coffee per acre has been obtained in different 

 districts, and it is usual to speak of the average yield 

 as half a ton per acre, but the writer prefers to 

 accept the conservative estimate of 800 lbs. of clean 

 coffee as quoted in the pamphlet above referred to. 

 Careful selection of the plantation site, efficient 

 management, thorough cultivation and unceasing 

 vigilance against disease have all important bearing 

 on yields, and the planter who pays due regard to 

 these matters may reasonably expect better results 

 than the one who does not. 



In recent \'ears a number of diseases have made diseases 

 their appearance on coffee plantations in the High- 

 lands, and at one time it was feared that the 

 industry might suffer the same fate as brought 

 disaster to Ceylon. Such has not been the case, 

 however. Precautionar\' measures taken by the 

 Agricultural Department and the planters have been 

 successful in preventing the spread or combating the 

 effects of these diseases, and it may now be safely 

 asserted that they are no longer regarded as a .serious 

 menace to the industry. Hemelia vastatrix or 

 "coffee leaf disease," Thrips and Cut Worm have 

 been the most destructive. The first two may be 

 guarded against by spraying : the third by protect- 

 ing the young trees against their attacks. It is not 

 unlikely that as the area under coffee increases 

 other diseases at present of little account will have 

 to be reckoned vvnth, while still others will appear. 

 This has been the experience of most other young 

 countries in their efforts to acclimatise exotic plants 

 of economic vahie. Disease must of necessity 

 appear before science can find remedies for them. 

 Scientific study has already shewn that climatic and 

 other conditions in East Africa are not less favour- 

 able to the combative measures employed against 

 the present known disea.ses than they are to the 

 diseases themselves, and it is therefore only reason- 

 able to assume that the greater attention now being 

 given to the problem will at least result in me:ms 

 being found to keep disease in check. 



As soon as the berries begin to ripen, picking iivrvesting 

 begins. For this light labour women, assisted by and market- 

 their children, are largely employed, and constant ing. 



77 



