1848.] 



The Neilgherry Mouniains. 



29 



■winding the cocoons, the silk produced by ^vhich has, I understand, 

 been pronounced in London to be of a quality very far superior to any 

 produced in the plains, either in Bengal or other parts of India ; and 

 what has been sent to England appears to have realized very high 

 prices. The quantity produced however has hitherto been very in- 

 significant, and I confess, as far as I am able to judge, the scheme 

 appears a complete failure. The mulberry trees do not shoot out 

 fresh leaves with that redundant luxuriance which distinguishes all 

 other descriptions of vegetation on these Hills; the weeding, watering, 

 and pruning which they require involves much expense ; the worms 

 require the most delicate treatment, both in regard to food and tem- 

 perature, any mismanagement of which entails destruction on myri- 

 ads, and the quantity of cocoons produced is not in a sufficiently large 

 proportion to allow the superior quality of the silk reeled from them 

 to secure a profit to the planter. 



Already one extensive plantation, and worm and silk house, at 

 Coonoor, has been given up; and I should think it will not be found 

 that this description of cultivation will be extended by future set- 

 tlers. 



Numerous plantations of coffee trees are scat- 

 tered about the Hills, principally situated on the 

 slopes descending to the plains, where the elevation suitable for the 

 growth of this shrub can be obtained. Until within the last two 

 or three years, coffee plantations were only found on the eastern 

 side of the Hills, but representations of the excellent quality of the 

 berry, and of the advantages attending its cultivation on the Neil- 

 gherries, having been made in Ceylon, the attention of the skilful 

 planters of that island was attracted in this direction, and the re- 

 sult has been the opening of several plantations, where I ventur- 

 ed to predict, in a former memoir, that this description of culti- 

 vation would sooner or later be introduced, viz., on the western 

 slopes of the Hills, where advantages are ofi'ered to the planter 

 eminently superior to those, the possession of which has, of late 

 years, so greatly enhanced the value and importance of the neigh- 

 bouring island. 



Cheap labour, 4 Ru- chief of all is the cheapness of labour, a 



pees a month. cooly receiving even on distant plantations in the 



Koondahs" 4 rupees a month, while in Ceylon 8, 9 and even 10 

 are given ; while in the pay of artizans such as carpenters, sawyers, 

 masons, &c., a still greater disparity exists in favor of this district. 



