July i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
11 
to in Ceyloa, still, clearings of large expanse exhibit 
the same healthiness and vigor that are seen in 
Ceylon in patches only, and in trees in selected and 
sheltered spots amongst the coffee. 
In reply to our inquiry, Mr. Farr said that canker 
is absolutely unknown in the Nilgiris, and, in all his 
journeys through many estates, he never saw such a 
thing, or even that flag of distress so often hung 
out by cinchona trees in Oeylon — a red leaf. The 
Nilgiri planters do not seems to have much fear of 
Java, but are still timorous of the enormous quan- 
tities which they fear may yet be shipped from 
Oeylon. They await with confidence the time when 
those shipments shall have dwindled to small propor- 
tions, and the price of the article have again risen 
in the m rkets of the world. One reason why they 
have apparently despatched such comparatively small 
quantities of bark for shipment of late years has 
been a fact which certainly lias not operated with 
us — they have only sent bark shavings because they 
were not competed to send any other. Much, if 
not the major portion, of the bark sent from Oeylon 
recently has beeu taken from dead or dyiug trees, 
whereas trees decay or die on the Nilgiris at all 
events, only after they have reached their full 
maturity. The chief enemies of cinchona in that part 
of the world appear to be frost and sambur, the 
ravages of the latter, particularly on young clearings, 
being extensive. 
With regard to coffee, Mr. Farr saw quite sufficient 
to convince him that the oil King was far from 
dead either in the Coorg district or in the Wynaad, 
and, although he did not actually visit the Ouchter- 
lony Valley, he describes it, from a view obtained 
of it from a distance, as a dark and even sheet 
of coffee, as healthy and apparently as vigorous as 
any Ceylon could show in its best days. Leaf 
disease was prevalent everywhere, but coffee planters 
there did not seem to regard it as so very destructive 
as we have known it to be in Ceylon, and, except 
on estates without shade in the South-Bast Wynaad, 
it does not as yet appear to have had any very 
destructive influence over the coffee. The difference 
of its effect on coffee without shade and coffee under 
shade was most marked, particularly in the last- 
named district, where all the shaded coffee was ex- 
tremely healthy and in good heart, and Mr. Farr 
describes one of the estates which he visited in that 
part of the world having a very large blossom just in 
spike as being " a sight good for sore-eyes." Many 
estates are still giving handsome crops of three, four, 
and in some cases five, hundredweights an acre,iwhich 
at present prices at home and present exchange, must 
yield most handsome returns. 
We hope, however, that Mr. Farr will give us his 
experience in his own words, and feel sure that they 
will be extremely interesting to all planters in Ceylon 
who, althougu now more largely dependent upon tea 
than upon their old staples, have yet not lost all inter- 
est in, or dependence upon, coffee. — Oeylon " Times." 
♦ 
COFFEE AND CINCHONA IN THE NILGIRIS 
AND WYNAAD. 
Upon approaching Ooonoor, the existence of our 
old familiar friend Coffee became apparent. Down 
the slopes of the valley under the graud old " Droog " 
dark green fields of well-tended coffee reached from 
precipice to river. Old trees with rugged stems such 
as I have seldom seen in Oeylon, were living and 
vigorous proofs of an exceptionally rich soil, and 
although our old enemy Hemileia Vastatrix was not 
hard to find, I could not help feeling that here at 
least she could not claim to be Victrix as yet. 
Crop operations on these Coonoor estates were 
almost over, and the hearts of the planters were 
gladdened by the sight of an abun.lant and healthy 
"spike," which showed itself ready to develop with 
the first showers of March. I am not prepared to 
say that leaf-disease ha» not affected the coffee es- 
tates of Coonoor. Certain fields there are and ridges 
where the soil is poor, upou which the fungus has 
left its mark ; but these covered a comaratively small 
area and will probably soon be covered with tea and 
cinchona. That strong and vigorous coffee still exists 
both on the Nilgiris, in the Ouchterlouy Valley and 
in the South East Wynaad cannot admit of a doubt. 
Crops are naturally, the best — in fact the only — test 
as to its value ; and from what I gathered from the 
planters, whose acquaintance I was fortunate enough 
to make, so far there is little ground for complaint. 
In Ooonoor I visited fields of coffee some 30 years 
old, and was equally impressed with the vigor of 
the trees, the promise of blossom, and the richness 
and depth of soil. Cultivation is attended to and 
manure is liberally distributed over deserving fields. 
The Auchterlony Valley I was unfortunately unable 
to visit, but from a view obained of it from an 
adjacent hill I should describe it as a sheltered 
gently-sloping valley, clothed from eud to end with 
dark green coffee which had every appearance of 
strength and vigor. In my visit to the S. E. Wynaad 
I did not cover a large area of cultivated land, 
but the estates I saw looked wonderfully well. The 
elevation of this plateau beiug some 2,000 or 3,000 
feet above sea-level, the character of the coffee 
differed from that on the higher ranges of the 
Nilgiris. Of the absolute necessity of shade for the 
well being of coffee in this district I was speedily 
convinced, and the planters are keenly alive to it. 
Shade trees are selected with great care and discrimin- 
ation, and in felling the forest all suitable for this 
purpose are left standing. 
A much-prized variety is grown from seed in a 
curious and novel manner. The seeds are much 
sought after by ants which will destroy a whole 
nursery in a week, unless due precautions are taken. 
The plau adopted is as follows : — A small " paudal " 
is constructed of sticks about three feet high, and 
upon this soil is laid some four inches thick, and in 
this the S6ed is sown. An indigenous tree of the 
" Ficus " family is planted thickly in young clearings 
in the form of cuttings, and later on these are 
thinned out at the planter's discretion. 
Some of the fields had borne heavily this year, 
and where good shade existed gave promise of an 
equal yield in the coming season. Much anxiety was 
felt and expressed about the March blossoming 
showers. Given these at the right time, good crops 
were considered more or less certain. Leaf-disease 
was more conspicuous in the Wynaad than in Ooo- 
noor, but I was informed that the trees suffered from 
only one severe attack in the year whioh acted as 
a "wintering" and was beneficial to them rather 
than not. A convincing proof that the cultivation of 
coffee is remunerative in these regions lies in the 
fact that new clearings are being opened. Young 
plants looked strong and healthy in spite of a long 
drought, and, as great judgment is exeroised in the 
selection of fields for these extensions, I see no reason 
why the S. E. Wynaad planters should not have a 
prosperous time before them. 
Land and labor are cheap and abundant. Large 
herds of buffaloes are available for manure, and their 
value is duly appreciated. As an instance of what 
coffee has done in the S. E. Wynaad, a field of 70 
acres was pointed out to me, near Nellacotta, which 
had recently given a crop of 85 tons of coffee. 
The trees still retained much strength and vigor, 
and, though they may never do it again, they were 
far from " throwing up the sponge." 
The jungle on most of the best land takes the 
form of bamboo clumps, with here and there, magni- 
ficent teak trees and bastared ebony intermixed. 
Sholas or ravines are selected and ridges and rocky 
slopes are left untouched. — Ceylon " Times." 
♦ 
PLANTING IN NOETH BORNEO. 
To the Editor of the " British North Borneo Herald." 
Sib, — A letter I wrote to a planter in Oeylon has 
been published in the Ceylon Observer and also in the 
Tropical Agriculturist. Had I imagined this would 
have been done, I should not have written to the said 
Planter at all. 
