88 COFFEE I ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



never burnt, as the fire would have destroyed the 

 shade trees, but the lighter material carried away to 

 the borders to the last twig by hand labour, the 

 valuable top soil of vegetable debris is left uninjured. 

 That that same debris harbours a world of insects 

 hurtful to the Coffee plants, which a good " burn " 

 would kill, and also promotes the dreaded leaf 

 disease so fatal in Ceylon, are two of the strongest 

 arguments arrayed against the plan. Personally we 

 have a decided leaning towards shade, " natural" or 

 " artificial." In many countries shade is made a 

 source of profit, and valuable fruit trees are planted 

 between the rows of Coffee ; in India neglecting to 

 provide a shelter against the sun's rays, and some 

 protection for the soil against the denuding effect of 

 tropical rains, led to widespread deterioration of 

 Coffee districts. An authority says : 



" When a planter takes up virgin forest he finds a splendid 

 soil, covered with humus ; he fells his forest and puts down his 

 Coffee. One has only to read the numerous letters that 

 appear in the public prints, especially those of Ceylon, which 

 are almost entirely kept up by planter subscribers, to see how 

 a planter's mind is exercised to keep his soil from being 

 washed away. Look at the abandoned estates between 

 Virajpett and Wotakuli in Coorg. Years ago the hills carried 

 high timber forests on a rich though shallow soil on rock. 

 But the forests attracted rain, regulated its distribution, and 

 prevented scouring. The planter's axe levelled the trees with 

 the ground, and now almost every planter who can get away 

 from the place is glad to go. I do not think the rainfall is 

 less, but the soil has gone from the hill sides. A tangled mass 

 of weeds and jungle is springing up, and years must pass 

 before the soil can be renewed. In Mysore I could point to 



