CULTIVATION IN CEYLON AND INDIA. 17 



westerly exposure being subject to high wind, hot sun 

 (and the full force of the monsoon) ; whilst a north- 

 east to a north-west will be sheltered from the direct 

 rays of the sun during the dry season or summer sol- 

 stice, and the heavy monsoon rains, which on the west 

 coast of India or Ceylon set in from the south-west, 

 will strike against the land at an acute angle, and lose 

 much of the force from being unaccompanied with 

 wind. To sum up briefly what has been said, high 

 elevation with cold and wet, and exposure to high 

 winds, or, on the other hand, a low range with exces- 

 sive heat and drought, are alike unfavourable, and 

 much judgment is needed in the selection of such a 

 climate as shall possess a happy medium of these 

 characteristics. 



The subject of soil is, however, one more difficult 

 of solution, and one that is likely to excite more 

 debate than that of climate. All prefer a deep, loose 

 mould, of a dark chocolate colour, but many denounce 

 as utterly unfit for cultivation a soil possessing all 

 these advantages, because it is covered with the 

 secondary jungle (or as it is called in Ceylon, chenah ; 

 and in India, roomrie) which takes the place of the 

 original forest, when this has been cut down to produce 

 a crop of grain for the natives ; others, again, decry 

 soil, however rich, if it has had either fern or grass 

 upon it ; many object to the heavy bamboo land, now 

 so much sought after, and so profitably cultivated in 

 Southern India. Under the old system of coffee 

 cultivation, which consisted simply of cutting down a 

 mass of jungle, burning it off, planting the tree, and 

 weeding once a month or once a year, as found most 



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