Dec.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
435 
that  a great  quantity  of  this  invaluable  preparation 
was  going  to  waste.  Even  in  the  gas  works  of  Bris- 
bane they  allowed  the  liquor  to  run  to  waste  in  the 
river.  In  Sydney  they  now  utilised  it  as  a manure. 
He  reckoned  it  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  man- 
ures next  to  ammonia.  Phosphates  of  lime  he  also 
reckoned  a highly  valuable  fertiliser.  Lime,  he  said, 
acts  in  two  ways.  It  is  a source  of  fertility  to  the 
lands  that  need  it.  Again,  it  was  favourable  to  the 
soil  and  makes  heavy  clayey  soil  loose  and  friable, 
and,  again,  it  puts  soil  in  a condition  to  be  used 
by  plants.  He  had  heard  of  two  or  three  hundred 
loads  being  put  to  the  acre.  Some  argued  it  must 
be  used  in  large  quantities.  Some  even  favor  it 
being  put  on  the  land  and  not  altogether  because 
the  plant  needs  the  lime.  That  lime  does  wonders 
to  the  soil  English  farmers  know  well,  even  in  their 
cold  slow  English  climate.  Even  in  this  sun-baked 
land  our  soils  have  another  source  of  dissij  ation  by 
what  plants  can  get  hold  of  them.  There  was  a 
need  of  thinking  twice  before  they  put  some  of  the 
old  adages  into  practice.  Referring  to  potash,  or 
wood  ashes,  he  said  it  was  an  element  generally  defi- 
cient in  the  soils  of  Queensland,  lu  some  soils 
where  potash  exists  if  you  taste  it  you  burn  your 
tongue,  but  where  it  is  deficient  such  is  not  the 
case.  Most  soils  were  deficient  in  this  element.  On 
the  other  hand  along  the  coast  the  mangrove  gets 
hold  of  a lot  of  it  and  generally  contains  a lot  of 
it.  It  would  therefore  be  wise  on  their  part  to  burn 
down  the  mangrove  and  they  would  get  the  same 
results.  Potash  was  largely  obtained  from  certain 
mines  in  Germany.  In  a salt  running  district  they 
discovered  a great  ruin  of  cyanide.  It  only  contains 
a small  amount  of  potash,  however,  12  per  cent, 
probably,  besides  a proportion  of  sodium,  lime.  etc.  It 
is  useful  where  soils  need  the  use  of  this  element. 
The  nitrate  is  better  when  applied  in  connection 
with  farmyard  manure.  Ail  commercial  fertilisers 
should  be  applied  with  others  to  supply  this  humus. 
The  nitrates  are  quick  in  action,  but  do  not  last  any 
great  time.  If  applied  injudiciously  you  get  a tre- 
meudous  growth  of  rank  vegetation  the  first  year, 
and  nothing  perhaps  the  next  year.  Just  like  an 
old  toper.  It  acts  as  a kind  of  whip  and  spur  to 
the  soil.  They  urge  things  on,  and  then  leave  ex- 
haustion. Unless  renewed  you  have  this  debauching 
influence.  There  is  such  a thing  as  debauch  in  manures. 
The  phosphates  on  the  other  hand  are  slow  in  action, 
but  last  longer.  Every  rain  carries  it  into  the  soil, 
and  the  roots  go  after  it  like  a race-horse.  Bonedust 
decomposes  slowly  and  can’t  be  washed  down.  It 
remains  on  the  land  a long  time.  It  is  therefore 
best  to  use  a good  deal  of  phosphate,  and  here  he 
added,  the  finer  the  phosphate  is  broken  up  the 
better.  Bonedust  contains  in  addition  a good  deal  of 
nitrogen.  It  may  be  interesting  to  use  tbe  bones 
that  are  found  round  about  our  slaughter-houses  in 
the  back  hand.  They  might  be  made  availab  e by 
every  farmer.  It  is  not  necessary  for  a farmer  to 
have  a mill ; with  a hammer  he  might  pound  down 
bones  to  a degree,  but  another  plan  was  to  gather 
the  bones  and  put  them  in  a pit,  say  a layer  of 
bones  then  a layer  of  horse  manure,  another  layer 
of  each  and  so  on,  keeping  moist  for  8 or  10  months, 
in  which  time  the  whole  will  soften  and  rot  away, 
then  they  are  in  good  condition  for  tbe  plant  to 
get  hold  of.  In  the  case  of  all  commercial  fertilisers 
the  best  practice  is  to  apply  small  doses  and  often. 
The  successful  manurers  know  this.  To  throw  it  in 
largely  is  to  waste  much  of  it,  as  it  gets  carried 
away.  With  the  phosphates  Sir  John  Bennett  Lawes 
applied  200  lb.  of  nitrate  of  soda,  with  200  lb.  phos- 
hate  of  lime ; a pretty  heavy  dose.  It  is  generally 
est  to  apply  near  the  surface  and  work  in  with  the 
hoe  or  rake.  Pine  apples,  cane  and  plants 
generally  feed  near  the  surface.  Most  of  their  food 
is  six  or  eight  inches  in  the  ground.  Keep  it  where 
the  roots  are.  It  is  nevertheless  possible  to  get 
along  without  any  manure  and  some  present  may 
have  tried  it.  An  old  adage  says  cultivation  is  man- 
ure. The  following  process  is  a wasteful  one  In 
Southern  Europe  he  had  read  that  crops  of  barley 
had  been  grown  for  2000  years  in  certain  parts  of 
Greece.  The  plan  adopted  is  tilling  this  year 
thoroughly  and  growing  a light  crop  the  next.  In 
the  East  of  New  York  State  the  farmers  plough 
freely  one  year  and  plant  rye,  then  change  the  crop. 
On  the  former  they  get  from  eight  to  twelve  bushels 
to  the  acre.  Sir  John  Bennett  Lawes  who  was  the 
most  practical  agriculturist  of  the  age,  and  who  might 
be  called  the  king  of  agriculturists,  and  besides  whose 
experience  all  others  were  as  child’s  play,  had  grown 
wheat  for  forty  years  on  the  same  land.  For  20  years 
he  got  16§  bushels  ‘to  the;  acre,  and  for  the  last  20, 
well,  he  was  not  quite  sure.  [Mr.  McLean : 12  bushels.] 
“ Yes,  12  to  the  acre  and  that  would  very  likely  go 
on  for  ever.”  That  soil,  he  said,  is  crumbled  down 
and  decomposed  to  furnish  food  for  that  quantity. 
It  is  for  the  farmer  to  determine  whether  it  is  pro- 
fitable or  will  not  be.  From  J.  B.  Lawes’  experi- 
ments he  was  sure  where  he  added  14  tons  of  farm 
yard  manure  he  got  30  bushels,  and  he  gives  a table 
showing  what  can  be  done  in  farming  by  the  use  of 
phosphates  and  the  other  is  mere  scourigng.  Sir  J.B. 
Lawes  in  these  experiments  wished  to  see  the  strength 
of  the  soil.  It  is  useless  to  think  of  applying  great 
doses  of  nitrogen  to  cane  as  it  will  give  great 
growth  of  stalks  with  a low  density,  and  that  is  not 
what  is  wanted.  You  must  use  largely  phosphoric 
acid,  the  chief  fertiliser  for  the  cane  crop.  Generally 
23  parts  of  phosphoric  to  about  6 of  nitrogen  and 
seven  of  potash.  The  phosphoric  must  equal  or 
be  considerably  more  than  the  combined  results  of 
nitrogen  and  potash.  He  apologised  for  the  great 
length  at  which  he  had  spoken,  but  the  subject 
was  a great  big  one  and  after  all  he  had  only  been 
able  to  touch  on  a few  of  the  most  salient  points. — 
Sugar  Journal  and  Tropical  Cultivator. 
THE  N1LGIRIS. 
COFFEE. 
What  has  become  of  the  N.  W.  monsoon,  is  a 
question  which  planters  are  asking  one  another  with 
increasing  earnestness,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  failure  up  to  date  of  the  usual  rains  has  already 
done  serious  damage.  On  Monday  and  Tuesday  there 
were  heavy  showers  in  the  evening,  and  the  weather 
generally  has  been  more  cloudy,  but  steady  rain  is 
what  is  wanted  for  a bit.  On  every  side  one  hears 
that  coffee  has  stopped  ripening,  and  that  black  cherry 
is  coming  on  at  an  alarming  rate,  while  there  is  no 
donbt  that  a continuance  of  the  present  state  of 
things  will  result  in  a terrible  falling  off  in  quality 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  crops.  Quality  last  season 
was  very  bad,  and  the  year  before  not  much  better, 
but  with  a good  S.W  , and  early  rains,  it  did  seem 
as  if  Nilgiri  coffee  would  this  season  regain  its  usual 
good  standard,  and  as  far  as  picking  has  gone,  this 
hope  has  been  confirmed.  However,  a failure  of  the 
N.E.  monsoon  is  never  without  bad  results,  and  it 
is  to  be  feared  that,  later  on,  these  results  will  show 
themselves  in  shrivelled  and  light-beans. 
Prospects  for  next  season  are,  at  present,  very  un- 
certain. Wood  is  ripening  far  too  rapidly  under  the 
influence  of  the  unseasonably  dry  weather,  and  this 
probably  means  too  early  blossoms  is  most  cases. 
Many  estates  are  having  sprinkling  of  blossom  out 
now,  otherwise  coffee  generally  is  looking  well.  A 
vicious  go  of  leaf  disease  has  mostly  passed  of  with- 
out doing  much  damage,  or  rather,  the  generally  im- 
proved cultivation  which  now  obtains,  enables  the 
trees  to  resist  their  old  enemy  more  effectually.  ‘Bug,’ 
both  black  and  green,  though  there  are  few  estates 
to  be  found  without  a touch  of  one  or  the  other,  is 
comparatively  harmless  at  present,  and  not  a few 
mean  look  forward  to  a bumper  next  season,  in  spite 
of  present  want  of  rain. 
TEA,  ETC. 
Tea,  of  course,  though  looking  as  usual  as  if  it 
didn't  care  a rap  what  the  weather  was,  is  not  flushing 
very  well,  and  cold  nights  are  not  conducive  to  tender 
leaf.  By  the  way,  apropos  of  nothing,  why  do  not 
the  population  of  the  Nilgiris  generally  show  an  in- 
terest in  the  proposed  amendments  of  the  Land 
Acquisition  Act.  There  is  no  doubt  that  eventually 
the  Nilgiri  Railway  will  be  extended  to  Ooty  and 
thence  to  Gudalore,  so  that  a gotp  deal  of  property 
will  be  interfered  with.— South  of  India  Ql/servei\ 
