MANURING COFFEE. 187 
pose effectually, as the vine growers of France have 
found. 
H. Toupurt. 
32, Great St. Helens, London, 3lst July 1879. 
P.S.—Since writing the foregoing, I am able to fur- 
nish you with a strong confirmation of my first remarks 
on the importance of potash. Here are analysis of 
three soils from another vart of India: 
No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 
Lime wink ‘410 393 263 
Potash Bat "283 "244 418 
Phosphoric acid °045 ‘050 "032 
and you will observe the percentage of potash is higher 
than in any yeu have published, particularly No. 3, 
which is the highest I have seen anywhere. They are 
from estates which have been starved and misman- 
aged, and of the third an old superintendent remarks, 
on hearing that it had borne a moderate crop last 
season, ‘‘ You see all their bullying has n’t killed it!’ 
The report accompanying the analysis points out the 
low percentage of phosphoric acid as the prominent 
feature which calls for attention, and a liberal supply 
of phosphatic manures. Liming is recommended, if 
not too expensive, both as increasing the quantity 
in the soil, and rendering the potash more availabl 
as plant food, than it probably is in the condition in 
- which it already exists in the land. the para. on this 
subject concludes as follows :—‘‘I should not at the 
same time advise you to dispense by any means with 
artificial potash, merely because the percentage of pot- 
ash is equal to a little above the average.” This is 
sound advice which I intend to follw.—H. T. 
Colombo, 15th Oct. 1879. 
Mr. Tolputt, in referring to my letter of 17th June, 
where the words occur: ‘‘ Allowing 4 per cent of 
ash in the coffee bean,” &c., seems to have thought 
I was speaking of the coffee berry, which he says, 
no doubt truly enough, is 2$°/,. I have never he- 
fore seen an estimation of the ash in the berry, by 
which I understand the dried cherry. 
I made the statement on the authority of the 
great food analyst, Dr. Hassall, who gives the fol- 
lowing figures :— 
Percentage of Ash. 
Mysore coffee ate 4°29 
East Indian coffee ... 4:07 
Jamaica 4°59 
The following analysis of coffee. by Hassall may 
