868 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1882. 
the rows of weeds, and throwing half the soil thus 
stirred ou the top of each row of weeds, we procetd 
thus till the whole is covered, forming when finished 
ridges about 18 inches wide and 9 inches high with 
an interspace of 30 inches. After allowing a few 
days for the weeds and grass to decay in some 
measure, and the ridge to settle, the suckers may be 
planted. These should be selected after the bearing 
season is over, or indeed any time between October 
and January, if the weather is not too wet for plann- 
ing. The lower dry leaves of the suckers should be 
removed to afford the small roots in their axils ready 
access to the soil, and then placed in the centre of 
the ridges to a sufficient depth to render them able 
to remain upright, to assist which they should be 
firmly rammed with a wooden rammer, leaving a small 
basin-like cavity at their base to hold sufficient water 
to solidify the soil and fix the plant firmly in its place. 
After the first or second watering no more is necessary 
unless a period of exceptional dry weather is experienced. 
The plantation must be kept free of all weeds, and the 
hoeings may be left in the trenches between the rows ; 
different kinds of vegetable refuse may also be placed 
there, and will benefit the pines by its gradual decom- 
position, as well as by the moisture it affords. Pines are 
not, however, as a rule benefitted by large quantities 
of manure ; a little may be applied at times, but 
gradually, as it is apt to induce them to rot at the 
base and thus spoil many a fine plant. The best 
and most profitable kinds are the Ripley, Black Antigua, 
Black Jamaica, Charlotte Rothschild and British 
Queen. 
P. L. Simmonds. in "Tropical Agriculture," says 
that in 1873 the canned fruit shipped from the Baha- 
mas was valued at over £14,000. Considering that 
their pines are, though much larger in size, consider- 
ably inferior to Jamaica Pines in flavour, it furnishes 
a fact worthy of emulation by Jamaica cultivators. 
The cultivation of this fruit in Jamaica is known to 
pay, and an instance is known to the writer in which 
the return, clear of expenses, for one acre has ex- 
ceeded £80 per annum. 
It is not intended by these specific instructions to 
convey the idea that the writer's method is the only 
one by which successful cultivation can be carried on, 
as no particular method of cultivation can, under all 
circumstances, be relied upon, and much must there- 
fore depend upon the care and energy with which 
the industry is developed, and all failures, successes, 
and other experiences turned to account. Planting 
on the flat, without any ridge, may be found in many 
cases to have not a few points to recommend it, but 
the writer's method, as before described, is one which 
may be depended upon as supplying to the uninformed 
the main points which lead to success in the pro- 
duction of large and well-flavoured fruit. — John Hart, 
Superintendent of King's House Gardens, Jamaica. — 
Journal of Applied Science. 
COFFEE AND TEA IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 
A return has been submitted to the Madras Govern- 
mpnt showing the number of coffee and tea estates 
in the different growing tracts in this presidency, the 
number of existing plantations, the yield of coffee and 
tea, and the cost, of cultivation. The progress which 
these industries have lately made and the large amount 
of capital invested in them have induced the Govern- 
ment, for the purposes of preparing the necessary 
statistics, to obtain these returns which however are 
not quite what are wanted. The column showing the 
number of plantations is misleading. I* it to be in- 
ferred that there are so many coffee estates in the 
different districts, or that the estates are divided into 
so many plantations ? We find it stated that, in the 
Madura District, there are 2,779 coffee plantations 
containing a total acreage of 4,581, so that each plant- 
ation is not quite two acres in extent. It would have 
been better to give the number of estates and their 
extent. But to the returns. We find that coffee is 
now grown in eight of the twenty-one districts of the 
presidency. In Vizagapatam there are only six acres 
of land planted with coffee ; in Madura 4,581 acres, of 
which 3,059 acres are filled with mature plants ; in the 
Tinnevelly district 2,844 acres of land have been taken 
up for coffee, and 2,005 acres are fully planted out. 
The coffee industry in the district having turned out 
well of recent years, has induced many persons to 
open up estates chiefly in the Tenkasi and Nan- 
guneri taluqs. In tbe Coimbatore district very 
little progress has been made in opening up estates, 
for, while about four thousand acres of land have 
been fiaken up for the purpose, about 316 acres 
contain mature plants. In the Nilgiri taluq 22,048 
acres are fully planted out, 221 acres contain immature 
plants, and 21,255 acres taken up for planting have not 
yet been planted out. The approximate yield of the 
coffee estates is returned at 10,128,799 lb. at the 
average of 4471b. per acre, the cost of cultivation 
being R100 to R130 per acre. It is to be feared that 
the next returns will show a large decrease under 
this head owing to the fact that many plots of land 
have, since the past ten months or more, been made 
over for gold mining purposes. In the Salem district 
the number of plantations is given at 32.3, the acreage 
planted with mature plants 3,932; with immature 
1,662, and the acreage taken up but not planted 5,073 ; 
total land taken up for coffee 10,667 acres ; approxi- 
mate yield of coffee 983,000 lb. The cultivation of 
coffee on the Shevaroy Hills is being pushed on steadily 
by the owners of estates, but there is just now not 
that desire to launch out capital in the enterprise as 
was the case fifteen or twenty years ago. In many 
cases, the estates have brought their owner large 
returns and, as in all other matters, a great deal 
depends on personal supervision, and where this is 
properly exercised, success is secured. The present 
year has not been a very favorable one for coffee on 
the Shevaroys; the rains have been late, but notwith- 
standing some of the esiates have given pretty fail- 
returns. The Malabar district which includes the 
Wynaad, has a total of 31,061 acres under mature 
coffee, the land taken up for cultivation being returned 
at 62,128 acres, and the yield given at 6,114,826 ib. 
In Cochin about 7,795 acres have been taken up for 
coffee, of which only 1,436 have been planted ; in 
Travancore, the extent of land planted with mature 
and immature plants is 16,775 acres against 37,067 
taken up. For the entire presidency, the figures are 
as follows : mature plants 78,822 acres ; immature 
plants 13,463 acres ; not planted out 83,925 acres ; 
total land taken up for coffee 176,210 acres ; approxi- 
mate yield of coffee 21,492,682 lb. The Travancore 
estates give an average of 175 lb. of coffee per acre 
of mature plants against 3231b. in Cochin and 1971b. 
in the Wynaad. 
The returns of tea cultivation are very small, but 
the success that has so far attended the efforts of 
enterprising people, has induced many to take to it. 
Tea is grown in three districts of the presidency, 
namely in Madura, Malabar and the Nilgiris— in the 
two firstnamed districts there are only five plantations, 
but on the Nilgiris there are 79. The total acreage 
of land under tea is returned at 2,573 acres against 
9,123 acres of land taken up ; the acreage of laud with 
immature plants is returned at 1,705. The approximate 
yield of tea of all the estates is returned at 649,460 lb., 
the cost of cultivation varying from R50 to R200 per 
acre. — Madras Times. 
