36 THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 



heated air from a furnace through the damp coffee, 

 and to drive it off when saturated by the means of 

 powerful ventilators. 



There are at present over 120 coffee estates in 

 Wynaad, about 50 in Coorg and ISTuggur, and 20 on 

 the Neilgherries, and between 30 and 40 in other 

 parts of India. Unfortunately we have no reliable 

 data as to the latter, the cultivation being widely 

 distributed over various ranges of hills, but the aggre- 

 gate cultivation in these parts is about 2000 acres. 

 In Wynaad there are about 75,000 acres occupied for 

 estates, of which 32,000 are in cultivation. In Coorg 

 and Mysore a little over 30,000 acres have been taken 

 up, of which scarcely one- third is yet in cultivation ; 

 and on the Neilgherries the cultivated area is under 

 2000 acres. In 1865, the exports from India were 

 22,400,000 lb., but a very large portion of the pro- 

 duce is retained for home consumption. The average 

 yield of coffee in Wynaad is slightly above that in 

 Ceylon, according to the statistics furnished by the 

 Ceylon Planters' Association ; the average of the 

 former being about 8 cwts. per acre against 6 cwts. in 

 the latter. In both countries, however, estates are to 

 be found which have yielded 18 to 20 cwts. an acre 

 under good cultivation. It is not the intention, in 

 the present work, to enter into a comparison of the 

 relative advantages of each country for the growth of 

 coffee, but simply to present facts to the reader's 

 notice, leaving him to form his own opinion. The 

 actual routine of cultivation is the same in both 

 countries. The system of pruning is, perhaps, better 

 understood and practised in Ceylon than in Indi a - 



