556 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December r, 1881 
it seems rash to say that stumps will not grow ; but 
if the evidence on this head were collected I am 
sure it would bear me out in my assertion. It would 
at least be risky for any one to try them on a large 
scale. 
If conservatism is inherent in the East, it certainly 
seems capable of infecting Governments and indivi- 
duals naturalized in it; and for illustrations of this we 
need not travel from home. I will say nothing of our 
island Government : its tendencies are only too notice, 
able. And what of our planting community ? Are we 
not saturated with it, moving in the same old grooves 
till dire necessity compelled us to step out ? We are 
quick to see apathy in natives. How was it with 
ourselves where cinchona was brought to our notice? 
Those who emancipated themselves from old ideas 
are now reaping that reward, whilst others have now 
repented, amended their ways, and live in hopes that 
they may not be too late. Nor is it any better with 
Liberian coffee and cocoa. How slowly their cultiva- 
tion extends. It surely cannot be for want of money, 
as we were assured a short time ago that, for sauud in- 
vestments, there was plenty in the country. Now, few 
will assert that cocoa is not a paying product, and there 
is plenty of land suited for its growth, if people would 
only look for it. There was a rush, a few years ago, 
to plant Liberian coffee, but since then its cultivation 
has not appreciably extended. Why is this ? Is it want 
of confidence, and, if if so, what has caused it ? Some 
of these causes are I think, very plain : the pioneers of 
this coffee knevv very little about it, and hence, to 
their cost, made some mistakes. To begin with the 
trees: they were planted 10 feet square, giving about 400 
trees to an acre ; some few even planting wider. To 
cover the expenditure, these 400 trees would have 
had to give very large crops indeed, and possibly they 
may yet do this and leave a fair profit. 
Experience has since shown that about 800 trees 
per acre can be grown without crowding, thus doubling 
the crops without much increasing the expenditure. 
Perhaps it is not generally known that 1,000 cherries, 
at 800 trees to the acre, yield 8 cwt ; and, as trees 
topped at 5 to 6 feet, giving from 2,000 to 5,000 
cherries, are not uncommon, surely the calculation of 
a yield of 1,000 cherries per tree isvery moderate ; and 
I am confident this can be considerably exceeded by a 
proper application of manure. Another cause no 
doubt is the fact that land has been opened and 
planted with Liberian coffee that would have been 
better left in jungle. This is a mistake that has 
been made by others as well as growers of low- 
country produce, as it was common enough for men 
of sense in other respects to attend sales and bid 
for land that they knew no more about than the 
babe unborn. This " buying a pig in a poke" has 
caused grief to many, and will still, I fear, in- 
times to come. This, however, should not be laid at 
the door of the coffee, for it will no more grow 
on bad soil than will its elder brother Arabian, though 
Liberian will force its roots through soil, and obtain 
nourishment from it where its more tender brother 
would starve, An advantage, that the grower of Li- 
berian coffee has is that he can, in alt the sheltered 
portions of his estate, grow cocoa, without at all 
iujuring his coffee. The difficulty of pulping is almost 
got over, and no doubt Messrs. Walker & Co. will 
soon perfect what they have already advanced so far. 
As regards a market for this coffee, I am not com- 
petent to speak ; yet there can scarcely be a doubt 
that for many years to come America will take all 
we can produce, and by them other markets are 
Bure to open up. My advice to intending lowcountry 
planters is this : do not buy your land hap-hazard 
but ascertain for yourselves that the land is really 
worth planting, and if you cannot do this for your- 
selves pay some compcteut and reliable person to do 
it for you. Far better to throw away £10 than £1,000. 
Then the rainfall should be at least 70 inches a year 
and pretty evenly distributed ; places with protracted 
drought, or that only get one monsoon, should be 
avoided. The distances apart should be 8 feet by 
7 feet, and in poor soils even 1\ x 6£ ; closer than 
this I would not recommend. All other matters are 
pretty much the same as in the planting of Arabian 
coffee. With decent soil, a fair rainfall, and proper alti- 
tude, Liberian coffee cannot be a failure. The crop cert- 
ainly does take a long time to ripen (13 to 14 
months as far as has been ascertained), but it may ripen 
within the year, when it settles into our seasons and 
loses its native habits. Has it been certainly ascert- 
ained how many months the berries take to ripen 
in Liberia? — Yours, &c, W. J. 
COFFEE LEAF DISEASE: THE CABBOLIZED 
POWDER TREATMENT AND MR. WARD'S 
REPORT. 
Agrapatana, 30th October 1881. 
Dear Sir, — Averse though I am to a discussion, at 
this stage, of mere opinions as to the merit of 
the carbolic acid treatment recommended by me (in 
face of actual practical results), there are a few re- 
marks on that subject, in Mr. Ward's final report, 
which have attracted my attention and which deserve 
some notice at my hands. Mr. Ward, though ad- 
mitting carbolic acid among the available reagents or 
chemicals which might be used for the destruction 
of generating spores, is of opinion that this acid is 
scarcely sufficiently soluble and diffusible for that pur- 
pose. 
Now, considering that carbolic acid is readily soluble 
in about 60 parts of water, and that a solution of 
less than one per cent strength suffices to destroy 
the spores whether germinating or not ; considering 
that the method I have devised of its application 
admits of its being diffused to a perfection unap- 
proachable by the sulphur and lime mixture ; 
and lastly considering that the vapour of carbolic acid 
given out by the powder is perceptible for nearly a 
fortnight after each application, I submit that Mr; 
Ward's opinion, as above quoted, is not based on 
sufficient evidence to carry weight. 
The carbolized powder, as used by me, comes strictly 
within the "compounds which" (to quote from Mr. 
Ward's report) " will continuously evolve and easily 
diffuse a readily soluble gas, forming with the water 
on the leaves a solution sufficiently strong to do the 
maximum of injury to the germinating spores, and 
the minimum of harm to the coffee leaf— the after- 
products of which are not injurious to the tree when 
washed to the roots." Mr. Ward, though admitting 
that a certain benefit may be derived from the carb- 
olic acid treatment (if done at the proper time), has 
expressed himself privately to the effect that the 
acreage treated under my advice would probable suffer 
after the first rain, from the carbolic acid being 
washed into the ground. This opinion results have 
proved completely unfounded. The areas, on the 
contrary, have considerably improved after every rain- 
fall, and our experience extends to 11 months. I am 
completely at variance with Mr. Ward regarding his 
statements that " the mycelium cannot be attacked 
after it has entered the leaf." 
I have seen proof to the contrary, which not 
only satisfied me and the planters who worked with me, 
but also one of our oldest and most respected authorities 
on the subject. 
One of the results of the carbolic acid treatment 
to which I attached great importance was that it 
prevented the mycelium of the majority of pinspots, 
on leaves marked for observation, from fructifying, and 
caused them to die and dry up — so far as the brown- 
