SOIL AND CLIMATE. 21 



and Southern India. It is plain, however, that 

 he has only given the superficial and casual 

 characteristics of a suitable earth, since many 

 causes may produce the dark colour he admires, 

 and the fact that land is bestrewn with small 

 fragments of rocks and scattered boulders can 

 have only a remote influence on the yield of 

 fruit. 



In general, a fair idea of the nature, of any soil 

 can be obtained by a study of the jungle that 

 grows upon it. Scattered " sholas," or clumps of 

 trees interspersed with expanses of waving lemon 

 grass and such like picturesque as it may be 

 will never do for the shrub, since they show a 

 shallow soil on layers of rock. Rather we must 

 seek to find thick, heavy jungle, close grown, with 

 soft-wooded trees, such as the sacred fig, creepers, 

 tree-ferns, and giant lichens. Where these abound 

 and grow luxuriantly, the earth below them is 

 certain to be richly loaded with decayed vegetation, 

 and thus fulfils one requirement of the planter. 

 Parasitic plants and especially orchids, I have 

 noticed (though their connection with the soil is 

 but secondhand) seem to indicate and thrive best 

 on the richest ground. The presence of trees of 

 large and free growth, running up straight to the 

 sky and, as it were, racing for precedence, points 

 to a good depth of mould under their roots. 



Plants in general, and Coffee in particular, 

 require a soil free from stagnant water, sufficiently 



