December i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGWCOLTURIST, 
3§* 
"That has been my business for many years," 
Mr. Anderson, igniting some sort of a Ion?, lanky 
looking roll of tobacco, which bore unmistakeable 
evidence of heathen birth. "I will endeavour briefly 
to give you some sort of an idea of what it means 
to be a ooffee planter in India. In the first place 
you must understand that the refreshing rains which 
water the vegetation of this country every few days 
are unknown in India for months together. Drought 
is the great enemy with which all agriculturists 
are forced to contend. This atmospheric condition 
is the greatest obstacle with which we have to 
battle, and it has made India the most prolific 
country in the world in the matter of inventing 
and perfecting all sorts of irrigating processes. 
In that one particular, at least, we easily lead 
all other civilized countries today. Ooffee plants 
or trees, as they may very properly be termed 
are planted five feet apart, in each direction. Every- 
thing has to be done by hand. There is no such 
thing as labour-saving machinery known in connec- 
tion with the business. Its use would be impossible. 
The tops of the coffee shrubs are cut out to force 
them to shoot out horizontally, instead of into the 
air. But the coffee bushes on a plantation are 
not the only adjunct of the business which requires 
cultivation. On account of the drought and the 
torrid sun, every inch of the plantation must be 
fully proteoted by shade trees. Where this is not 
done the fruit shrivels up and becomes worthless 
without ripening. Experience has taught us in India 
that the only really desirable trees for shade 
purpses are the silver leafed variety. The 
rays of the sun seem to penetrate all others 
and the labour of cultivating them is wasted. 
We generally shade our coffee plantation with 
part or all of the eighteen or twenty varieties of 
fig trees indigenous to the country. Where these 
trees are not properly located, they must be 
planted and cultivated. No branches are allowed 
within twenty-five or thirty feet of the ground, 
and annual trimming and pruning of both the 
coffee trees and the big trees which shade them 
are absolutely necessary. You can doubtless form 
some idea of the immense amount of labour which 
this process entails. There is no more beautiful 
sight, however, than a properly cared for coffee 
plantation after it has reached maturity. The 
green bushes in regular rows below and the 
equally green trees towering above them with 
protecting arms form a very pretty picture. In 
May the coffee bushes are in full bloom, the 
white blossoms, something after the mignonette 
order, causing the perspective to resemble a waving, 
palpitating field of virgin snow. The picking of 
the berries begins in November and continues until 
February. As I have said, all labour is 
done by hand, and I regularly emoloy about GOO 
coolies in managing my plantation. The picking 
prooess is naturally a tedious one, but labour is 
heap in India. If suoh were not the case, coffee 
would 'be a luxury whioh few would be able to 
afford.' 
" What does the coffee berry resemble before it 
is plucked from the bushes?" was asked. 
Mr. Anderson smiled. 
"I fear you would have some difficulty in re- 
cognizing it at that stage of the pricnedings," 
he replied. " In colour it is a brilliant red 
looking very much like a large ripe chprry. The 
berries of whioh the beverage is mad" are, in 
reality, the stone of the fruit. The pulpy 
Mib,tance by which they are surrounded 
is sweet in tiste, but has never been utilized 
for any purpose. At one time a sort of 
liquor was manufactured from it, but it failed to 
win its way into publio favour. After tasting it 
you would not be surprised that suoh was the 
case. Two coffee berries are contained in each of 
these cherries, or fruit bulbs, After being plucked 
from the bushes, the fruit is placed in vats, and 
a prooess of fermentation takes place which 
separates the pulp from the berry. The latter is 
then subjected to more mechanical devices, which 
removes the remaining film. When the product 
reaches the coast, a sort of scouring process is 
undergone which places it in condition for market 
— a condition with which you are familiar." 
"What is the average yield of a coffee bush?" 
" One pound of the prepared berry is a very 
fair average per bush. The yield more often falls 
under that figure than goes above it." 
"Do you export your own product?" 
" Entirely. I have no dealings with middle men. 
After a quarter of a century of experience, I pro- 
nounce that as by all odds the most profitable 
plan to pursue." 
"Is the society of Mysore desirable? " 
" The best in the world," was the emphatio 
reply. " India escapes the adverse social influences 
with which most countries are afflicted. Only men 
with an honest desire to get on in the world come 
to that country. It is no place for unprincipled 
adventurers. There is nothing for them to prey 
upon. Bangalore, my nearest large city upon the 
coast, is well advanced in everything which renders 
a city great." 
Robert P. Yates, a hardware merchant of Birming- 
ham, England, accompanies Mr. Anderson in his 
tour of the world. Both are very wealthy. — Detroit 
Free Press. 
PEARLSHELL FISHERIES OF QUEENSLAND. 
Mr. Saville-Kent, the Commissioner of Fisheries, 
has furnished Parliament with a progress report 
on the pearlshell fisheries of the colony. The re- 
port states that some of the debatable points in 
connection with the pearlshell fisheries of Torres 
Straits have been satisfactorily solved, and contrary 
to the expressed opinion of the majority of the 
divers and shelling-station owners it has been suc- 
cessfully demonstrated that with suitable precau- 
tions the pearlshell can be brought in alive from 
the outside shelling grounds and can be laid down 
and grown in the more readily accessible waters. 
This discovery the commissioner anticipates will 
result in the development of the pearlshelling fishery 
on a far more extensive and remunerative basis than 
hitherto. The shelling grounds from which Mr. 
Saville-Kent has obtained the most abundant ma- 
terial and information is known as the " old ground," 
which is in the vicinity of Mulgrave Island. Con- 
cerning the proposed limit of the size of the pearl, 
shell placed on the market, the commissioner re- 
serves his judgment until he has had an opportunity 
of personally examining the shell freshly gathered 
from areas in addition to those which he has 
already visited, but so far as his investigations have 
extended he is of opinion that a measurement of 
8 in. for the newlv gathered shell in the roush, or 
one of 6 in. lengthwise over the white or internal 
pearly area of the shell, will best meet the urgent 
need of a restriction being placed upon the present 
indiscriminate collection of young and immature 
shells. Due facilities, however, he oonsiders, should 
be provided for legalising the collection and transport 
of young living shells for the purpose of artificial 
cultivation only. Mr. Saville-Kent hopes to furnish 
an extensive report upon these matters shortly. — 
Queenslander, * 
* Theroport will be looked for with great interest in 
Oeylon as calculated to aid the hithorto unsuccessful 
efforts made to cultivate the pearl-yielding " oyster." 
—Ed. 
