COFFEE. 



61 



The production of Indian coffee is confined almost entirely to the 

 Madras Presidency, the native states of Travancore, Mysore, and 

 Coorg. The fluctuations of the trade, which are often considerable, 

 are to be explained by the deficiency or abundance of crops, according 

 as the season is unfavourable or the reverse. Crops have often been 

 materially affected too by the ravages of the " borer," by rot, as well 

 also (and this is a large element in the influences which have from time 

 to time affected injuriously the out-turn of the crops) by the want of 

 knowledge of proper conditions of culture on the part of those 

 engaged in the cultivation, both Europeans and natives. The in- 

 dustry has been long established in Southern India, and Europeans 

 have engaged in it for upwards of forty years. 



The cultivation has now settled down into a steady and prosperous 

 industry, in which natives are largely occupied as well as Europeans ; 

 but, like tea, before attaining this last stage, it went through all the 

 phases of wild speculation. From 1800 to 1863 or 1864, there was 

 quite a mania for the cultivation of coffee. Land was bought reck- 

 lessly, without regard to its suitability, cleared and brought into 

 cultivation at enormous expense, and, in many cases, ruinous loss ulti- 

 mately. Great sums of money were wasted in this speculative period, 

 which was followed by the inevitable reaction and depression. This 

 period has long passed, and planters understand now that they cannot 

 hope for the visionary profits of which they were formerly assured ; 

 but the cultivation of coffee is, with care and intelligence, a steady 

 and prosperous support to those engaged in the industry. 



It is a noticeable fact, as showing the wide range of the plant, that 

 in many of the countries where coffee culture has been introduced, 

 species have been found indigenous, such as Goffea alpestris, grume- 

 hides, and WigJitiana, in the Neilgherry hills ; 0. Mauritiana^ in 

 Bourbon ; and G. Liherica, in "Western Africa. 



Although the coffee tree will not refuse to grow and even bear crop in 

 countries subject to frost and snow, and extreme warmth is not abso- 

 lutely necessary to its existence, still experience shows that it 

 flourishes and bears fruit abundantly only within the tropics. In 

 Southern India and Ceylon the elevation at which the estates are 

 situated varies considerably, from nearly 6000 feet above sea-level to 

 so low as 400 and even 300 feet. It has been asserted that coffee re- 

 quires a great deal of moisture ; and a humid atmosphere, combined 

 with a warm temperature, will encourage trees to bear most heavily. 

 The latter requirement must not be overlooked, as it is well known 

 that, on very elevated estates, where an almost perpetual mist and 

 frequent rains furnish more than an adequate supply of moistm-e, but 

 where, however, the air is seldom warm, even when the sun shines 

 brightly, the coffee trees, even in sheltered situations, though they 

 sometimes present a healthy and even luxurious appearance, bear but 

 very little crop. Such situations also prove, in many cases, strong- 

 holds of the blight called black bug. Hence few experienced planters 

 would think of establishing a garden at an elevation above 4000 feet ; 

 though, if the asj)ect and soil be exceptionally favourable, coffee may 

 thrive well and yield heavy crops at an elevation of even 6000 feet. 

 In situations between 2000 and 4000 feet above sea-level, the climate 



E 2 



