14 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1894. 
curor, caucho, &a. &c ; in finp, under all circum- 
stances and conditions possible ; a fact which 
readily shows that none of them can be the cause 
of the evil nor favour its development. Sometimes 
the epidmic is so abundant that it not only infects 
the coffee, but all the neighbouring plants also 
suffer from the destructive effects of the flisaase. 
The disease reappears in the same plot every 
winter, and it has been observed that each time it 
spreads considerably, but less if the year is very 
•fry- 
Neither all the leaves nor al' the fruit attacked 
by this disease fa'l to the ground ; if the plague 
does not gain ground, the leaves that remain lose 
the infected portion and continue living ; in the 
berries a complete mortification of the effected part 
of the sarcocarp is observed, a network of dead 
fibrous tissues alone remaining, and sometimes the 
evil effects penetrate as far as the feed, which ex- 
periences a check in its growth, and this is mani- 
fested by the crinkled portion of its surface. 
It appears that so far no efficacious means of 
combating this destructive disease has been dis- 
covered in this country, In some localities the 
coffee trees have been cut down to the ground, the 
shade got rid off, suckers allowed to grow, &c, &c, 
rind the results obtained do not allow us to deduce 
any precise conclusion or certain success; which 
could be considered as an axiom. In other parts 
the sick coffee tree has been allowed to go on grow- 
ing, and it was noticed that the lower and older 
branches were attacked worst, the upper and newer 
ones not at all, and that from them was produced 
and gathered a good crop every one or two years. 
The application of some mineral manures has also 
been tried, but perhaps this operation was not per- 
formed with due care, and its results are somewhat 
obscure. 
Considering the general causes of the development 
of the fungi, which may be excessive dampness, 
little evaportatioD, special temperature, abundance 
of nitrogenous material, &c, a system of treatment 
might be formed, taking also into calculation los 
fondamcutos aceptables de los medicacicmes dnteriores. 
Nothing can be done during the rainy season; 
but let us hope that at the approach of the dry 
weather thediseased patches will begin to revive, and 
then we should proceed in the following manner : — 
if the plantation should become too dense and 
with too much shad j , the drains must be slightly 
enlarged and the excess of shade be taken off the 
trees; if there are places liable to be overflowed 
the necessary drains must be cut, and lastly, during 
the beginning of summer and after the weeding of 
all the infected portions, a mixture of flower of 
sulphur and caustic lime must be sprinkled in the 
proportion of one part of the first to three of the 
second, and in a quantity of 150 to 200 grammes as 
a medium dose to each coffee tree. It is very 
probable that in this way would be destroyed all 
or nearly all of the spores of the fungus, which 
had lived and resisted without any injury the season 
of dry and hot weather. If it is thought that the 
effects of the treatment are not satisfactory, the 
application of sulphur and lime can be repeated a 
second time. 
As the consequences of a disease are so disastrous, 
that in a few weeks almost all the crops of the 
affected parts are lost, whose value is now-a-days 
so considerable, the remedy that I have suggested, 
whose cost is so small and its results so favourable, 
although it may not entirely destroy the fungus, 
yet it ought to be undertaken without hesitation, 
in view of the beneficial effects that the plants re- 
ceive from the action of those substances as manures; 
but if sufficient faith is felt in its results, it ought 
to be put to the test and a plot chosen for this 
purpose isolated from the rest of the plantation 
and free of the infection, taking into calculation 
the prevalent winds, the relative position, &c, &c. 
Let practical planters consent to clear up then- 
estates as much as possible, lessening the shade 
and destroying entire lines of coffee trees, leaving 
the next ones standing, so as to double the 
width of the lanes between, and, cause the action 
of the sun to become more powerful upon the sickly 
bushes. Thus, although the estate is lessened by a 
half and the cost of weeding is relatively increased, 
the probability is that the crop will not be com- 
pletely lost, and that the isolated coffee bashes will 
grow stronger and will not sicken or will bear the 
disease better. 
It may be said that to start a coffee estate, which 
should run the least riek of suffering from the 
havocs of the spot, a locality must be selected 
whose temperature should be 23°C. at least; a sug- 
gestion well founded, for it hag been observed that 
in lower temperatures the fungus develops with 
great facility. The coffee trees should be planted 
at a dietencc of two metres with the views of ob- 
taining crop from all duriog the first years, until 
the symptoms of the disease begin, and when that 
happens we must proceed to root out the alternate- 
lines of bushes, leaving them a passage four metre* 
in width. 
As I have also seen special symptoms under shade, 
let it be decided lo have either little or none at 
all, although the temperature of the place may be 
high. In this case, the result will b< that "the 
estate will yield abundant crops every two years 
that they will geierally come on with a rusb. SO 
that the planter will have greU difficu'ty in gather 
ing them and will most likelv lose some, that these, 
crops will alternate with small yields, and finally 
that the estate will last relatively a short time, for 
after each large crop a general array of bare sticks 
supervenes, which compromises the life of many of 
the trees which have to be supplied, until it comes 
to the replanting of the whole estate. 
Under this system of cultivation it may be said 
that the spot attacks the patches of coflee in a 
less degree, and that the trees are able to stand 
it and promptly repair the ravages which it causes, 
although the soil may not be of the first quality, 
and if it is, the disease causes the plant either 
very little injury or none at all. 
CULTIVATION OP COCA IN INDIA. 
The cultivation of Coca to supply the requirements 
of the Government Medical Departments in India 
appears to be in course of being established at the 
Government Cinchona Plantations at Mnngpoo. 
Bengal. The fo lowing correspondence on the subject 
has appeared in the Proceeding! of the Agri-Horti- 
cultural Society of India, January— March 1893:— 
J. Gammie, Esq.. Acting Superintendent. Cinchona 
Cultivation. Bengal, to the Secbetary to the 
Government of Bengal, Financial Department, 
Government Cinchona Plantation, Mungpoo, Kur- 
seong. 
May 20, 1892. 
xT Sil ^T V Y itl V ef ? rence t0 >' our office endorsement, 
Wo. 92, dated 6th January last, and your reminder 
dated the lith instant, concerning the manufacture 
of cocaine at the Government Cinchona Plantation 
bikkim, I have the honour to state that no experi- 
ments during the past year were made, as there 
are as yet no leaves to work upon. 
During the year the stock of plants and cuttings 
has been raised to 3,600, of which 1,270 have been 
planted out at an elevation of 2,000 feet above 
the sea, and ground is now being got ready 600 
feet lower down for another experimental plot So 
far the plants look healthy, but their growth is 
slow, and they suffer somewhat from the cold in 
winter. There is but one old plant of Emthivxvlon 
Coca on these plantations, all the others being IS 
montfis old or less, and few of them over a foot 
in height, so that some time must elapse before 
leaves are available for manufacturing purposes on 
even an experimental scale. A few seeds of the 
plant have been got from Ceylon, Madras, and 
Calcutta, and the plants raised from them show at 
least two distinct types. These types will be care- 
fully watched and compared with each other as 
I 'd hardiness ' ra P idit y ot i growth, and yet of 
