THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
cairns of Lepironia mucronata being used for sails, 
and those of Cyperus tegetiformis for floor matting. 
The "Lamyip" or "blue plant" used in dyeing the 
eulms, is considered to belong to the natural order 
Acantbaceee. Polygonum tinctorium is a well-known 
Chinese blue dye plant, and it might be supposed 
tltafc this would be sometimes used. By far the largest 
quantity of these mats go to the United Staies of 
America, where it seems they are universally used in 
summer instead of carpets. The consumption iu thi3 
country is aLo very great, their chief use with us 
l?eing for bed-rooms. 
■COFFEE CULTIVATION AT BANGALORE IN 
1828. 
(From the Madras Mail.) 
Bangalore, - — - 1828.— The cultivation of coffee 
afc this place has never been carried to any extent. 
jN» individual paid attention to it until Major G. 
Waugh, un officer of the Coast army, planted it in 
Ms garden, in the Native cavalry lines here, in 1814 
and 1815, while he held the situation of military pay- 
master in Mysore, an office which he had filled for 
many years with great credit to himself and benefit 
to the public. '1 he shrubs planted by him are now 
of considerable size, and bear luxuriantly ; great care 
was taken of them when young, regularly watering 
and manuring them. The situation of the plants in 
this garden is also very good, being near to a good 
tank, and sheltered by large trees of other descriptions. 
A few coffee plants are to be found in other gard- 
ens in the Cantonment, but, for want of care and 
attention thpy yield little. There are also a few very 
large trees in the fort, in a garden adjoining the 
said palace, occupied by the general officers cornmand- 
iffig the Mysore division of the army. These have, in 
■some seasons, yielded very abundant crops, and have 
attained a greater size than any coffee plants to be 
iouad here, being about twenty feet high and full 
o£ branches. I understand they were planted in 1808 
and 1807 by a Dr. Hayene, at that time botanist 
and naturalist in this establishment. They were ori- 
ginally raised here from the seed brought by Dr. 
Hayene, he having been the first who introduce ! 
■coffee into this place. He had also as fine plants in 
the Laul-Biug garden, but these, having been ne- 
glected until lately, have come to no perfection. There 
are some trifling plantations of coffee in villages ad- 
jacent to this, but the natives pay little attention to 
it, in con equence of the length of time that elapses, 
-•ere it begins to repay the cultivator, and the trouble 
attending it when young. 
From different native gardeners and others con- 
versant with the subject, I have collected the fol- 
lowing information : — The plant is propagated by seeds 
which should be sown after they are gathered from 
the tree, for if kept any considerable time out of the 
ground after being gathered, they will become too 
dry to vegetate. A dark rich soil, rather dark with 
a slight admixture of eand, or the rich red earth 
common in Mysore is the fittest for the cultivation 
of coffee : on wet cold ground or on clayey soils the 
plants pine away or vegetate slowly, and yield fruit 
of an inferior quality. A sheltered situation is found 
test for raising the plants from the seed. The ground 
■ought to be well manured and turned up from twelve 
to fourteen inches deep, the mould broke and pul- 
verised; and, p rev i° us ly to the seed being planted, 
it ought to be formed into beds of four feet square. 
The berries intended for seed must be allowed to 
become an fully ripe on the tree as when they are 
gathered for use, then to be rubbed out of the husks 
and mixed up with a small quantity of wood ashes, 
and after being exposed for a few hours in the sun, 
tb';y are put into the ground about two inches as 
deep and nix inches as under. It has been found 
butter to plant the bean whole than to separate it, 
the seed vegetating better and producing much stronger 
and healthier plants. The beds on which the eeed is 
planted must be regularly watered every twelve 
hours, if practicable ; not deluged, but gently watered 
so as always to keep them moist The. plants will 
apptar in forty or forty-five days, if the watering has 
been regu'arly attended to ; but if this is neglected, 
from three to four months often elapse ere the plant 
appears, and then it is not a strong shoot. On the 
plant appearing, attention must be paid tj keep the 
beds free from weeds of every description ; these will 
sometimes spring up two plants together, one of which 
should be destroyed. Unremitting care is required 
during the two first months to rear the plants with 
attention, sheltering them f,om heavy falls of rain or 
scorching heats, both of whioh are alike injurious. 
When about two months or ten weeks old, they 
will be from six to nine inches high, and are then 
transplanted to a second nursery, which must have 
been previously well turned up and richly manured. 
The nurseries ought to be in sheltered situations if 
amongst peach trees, or others not of so large a 
size as to preclude the ai>\ The plants will come on 
quickly iu the second nursery; they ought to beset 
from nine to twelve inches asunder, and continue 
here from twelve to eighte^n mouths, attention being 
paid to water them daily, and every month slightly 
turning up the ground, adding some good manure, 
and keeping down all weeds The plants are removed 
from this to the ground intended for the coffee planta- 
tion, which should be prepared iu a similar manner 
to the nurseries ; they are here planted at a distance 
of from six to nine feet according to the soils, holes 
being dug about two and-a-half feet deep, and filled 
up on putting in the plant, with good earth and 
dung. After this the plant becomes very hardy and 
requires but little attention, except in dry seasons, 
when it must be watered. When the plant is removed! 
great care must be taken not to injure the roots nor 
should they be kept any time out of the ground 
for, if the fibres be suffered to dry, they are apt to 
mauld and perish soon after. At three years of age 
the plant begins to bear fruit, and at six years Is 
in full bearing, and will continue in vigour from 
twelve to fifteen years, after which it fails ; trees of 
five or six years' standing will yield yearly from 
four to six pounds, some of these large trees in the 
Fort formerly mentioned bear from ten to twelve 
pounds. The coffee plant is an evergreen, aud yields 
a crop yearly ; it has a beautiful appearance at every 
season of the year, particularly when in blossom, the 
flower being a pure delicate white from the time of 
budding, and flowering until the fruit is gathered, 
includes a period of six months, and in wet seasons 
rather more. The fruit, when ripeniDg, changes colour 
from green to a pale pink, and gradually becomes 
brighter as it ripens ; when fully ripe, the hu;ks are 
of a bright red like a cherry, and perfectly dry on 
the stalks; the mode of separating the fruit from the 
husks is performed by beating them slightly in a 
wooden mortar ; they very readily separate, if not 
gathered before being fully ripe. An aore of ground 
planted with good coffee trees, at the distance of 9 
feet, will contain 1,613 plants ; and if these are pro- 
perly attended to, carefully watered and manured, 
they will, after the third year, yield an average of 
four pounds each, or nearly 6,500 pounds from the 
acre, and continue to yield at this rate from ten to 
fifteen years. There seems to be but one species of 
coffee known here, although the appearance of it 
differs considerably, owing to the soil and mode of 
cultivation ; some of it is a pale yellow, and another 
kind a dark yellow nearly green. 
The price of coffee varies much in Mysore : at 
times it is as low as four rupees, at others as high 
as ten rupees a maund of twenty-rive pounds. 
—Oriental Herald, August 28. W. T. L. 
