Feb.  L 1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
503 
very  largely  to  the  estate.  Mr,  Charles  Schultz,  the 
managing  partner,  is  a friend  of  mine,  and  has  sent 
me  an  invitation  to  see  the  estate,  which  I shall 
avail  myself  of  when  the  dry  season  advances,  and, 
if  agreeable,  will  let  the  readers  of  the  Tropical 
.lifiicultuci.it  know  further  particulars  of  this  large 
and  excellent  property. 
Throughout  these  countries  a very  different  system 
of  coffee  planting  is  employed  to  the  method  we 
arc  acquainted  with  in  Ceylon  and  Southern  India. 
The  elevations  best  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee 
are  from  2,000  feet  to  5,000  feet,  much  the  same  as 
in  Ceylon.  From  8,000  to  4,000  feet  is  considered  the 
very  choicest  elevation  of  all.  It  in  very  difficult  to 
introduce  any  new  method  in  work  ; much  more  so 
than  it  would  be  in  Ceylon.  The  very  crudest  work 
is  all  the  Mozo,  Indians,  of  this  country-  can  under- 
stand; hence  the  agriculture  of  these  countries  is 
also  of  the  very  crudest  kind.  Unlike  the  Tamil 
cooly  the  Mozo  is  a very  stupi  person.  The  tool 
he  uses,  which  they  all  use,  and  the  only  one  they 
have  any  knowledge  of,  is  called  a machete,  a long- 
bladed  knife  22  inches  long  by  8 h inches  broad  at 
the  point.  The  point  is  very  broad  and  shaped  ex- 
actly like  an  ordinary  sailor’s  sheath  knife,  or  butcher's 
knife.  With  this  instrument  they  can  do  almost  any- 
thing. I have  seen  them  picking  their  teeth,  dig- 
ging jiggers  out  of  theii  toes,  felling  fairly-sized 
trees,  and  flatwise  flogging  their  wives.  They  are 
never  without  their  machete  journeying  or  at  home, 
they  have  it  ever  near  them.  It  constitutes  all  their 
belongings.  Their  whole  worldly  possessions  are  con- 
centrated in  a machete.  Hence  the  machete  is  a 
force  in  the  land.  All  agriculture  is  guided  ac- 
cording to  what  this  instrument  is  capable  of  accom- 
plishing. I can  fairly  state  without  the  least  exag- 
geration that  nearly  all  the  work  of  a coffee  estate, 
from  the  very  beginning  to  end,  outside  of  picking 
and  curing,  is  done  by  the  machete.* 
It  must  be  very  patent  therefore  that  any  planter 
coming  to  these  countries  with  a view  to  open  a 
coffee  estate  must  not  have  too  iron-bound  notions 
about  how  to  go  about  his  work.  Not  by  any 
means  must  he  sacrifice  and  put  away  all  his  pre- 
vious knowledge  and  experience.  This  would  be 
foolish  and  needless ; but  he  would  have  to,  of 
necessity,  adopt  the  general  principles  of  planting 
as  it  is  conducted  here,  which  would  force  him  into 
strange  and  new  channels  of  working. 
Firstly,  although  the  coffee  country'  is  all  very 
heavily  forest-clad,  like  the  jungles  of  Ceylon,  we 
planters  here  never  burn,  or  rather  very  rarely,  and 
when  a planter  does  burn  he  is  careful  not  to  make 
a big  one,  what  we  in  Ceylon  w'ould  call  a bad  burn. 
To  accomplish  this  he  watches  his  chances  carefully, 
after  the  clearing  is  dry  enough  to  fire  he  waits 
still  further  until  a heavy  shower  has  fallen  sufficient 
to  fairly  damp  the  ground,  then  scorches  off  the 
worst  brush.  The  usual  way,  however,  is  altogether 
different.  The  jungle  is  felled  down  and  allowed 
to  lie  for  not  less  than  two  years.  During  this  time 
a second  growth  begins  and  shoots  up  very  densely 
throughout  the  branches  of  the  fallen  jungle.  This 
growth  is  rapid,  spongy,  sappy,  and  has  a strong 
tendency  to  assist  in  rotting  the  fallen  jungle.  In 
two  years,  that  is  two  rainy  seasons  and  two  dry 
ones,  the  most  of  the  branches  of  the  jungle  are  rotted 
away,  in  three  years  or  four  entirely  so.  The  soft 
spongy  w'ood  that  has  taken  its  place  is  easily  cleaned 
off  again,  or  rather  fallen,  lining  is  then  done  im- 
mediately afterw'ards,  12  x 12  feet  apart.  A base  line 
is  run  as  is  usual  in  Ceylon,  between  each  peg,  or 
stake,  a distance  of  12  feet  is  carefully  measured. 
Then  a gang  of  four  men  are  furnished  with  two 
straight  sticks  12  feet  long.  These  sticks  are  placed 
each  one  end  at  the  bottom  of  a peg  on  the  measured 
line,  then  at  the  apex  of  the  angle  formed  by  join- 
ing the  other  two  ends  together  a peg  is  put,  and 
so  on  the  process  is  repeated  until  the  whole  islinedup. 
This  method  is  very  simple,  easily  learned,  and  difficult 
for  men  strange  to  the  work,  to  go  wrong  in.  In  fact 
the  whole  process  is  a repetition  of  the  first  propo- 
* Au  axe  is  usod  of  course  for  felling  big  trees. 
sition  in  Euclid  (to  which  refer);  given  a straight  base 
line  a,  b,  and  a triangle  raised  to  c,  then  the  angle 
a,  b,  c,  is  equal  to  the  angle  a.  c,  b ; and  the  whole 
an  equilateral  triangle. 
This  method  has  an  agreeable  look ; all  the  lines 
in  which  ever  way  the  person  looks  are  straight. 
Holing. — Holing  is  done  the  same  as  in  Ceylon.  A 
task  for  each  Mozo  is  80  holes  per  day  18  x 18  inches. 
We  are  able  to  get  a much  larger  task  out  of  our  people 
here  than  in  Ceylon,  because  of  the  nature  of  the 
soil;  being  very  free,  friable,  it  is  easy  to  dig,  much 
more  so  than  with  you. 
Before  dismissing  the  burning  of  jungle  I should 
like  to  say  that  I am  quite  a convert  to  the  rotting 
way  against  my  earliest  teaching  of  burning.  I believe 
most  thoroughly  that  burning,  however  right,  scorches 
and  ruins  the  surface  mould,  especially  in  these  coun- 
tries, whereas  the  gradual  decay  of  the  forest  timbers 
assuredly  returns  to  the  ground  more  and  retains 
the  virtue  of  the  soil  better  than  the  ash,  that  is 
the  residue  of  the  fire. 
I notice  from  the  five  letters  that  have  come  to 
my  notice  through  the  Tropical  Agriculturist,  written 
by  Mr.  Scott  Blacklaw,  the  information  he  gives 
of  the  modus  operand i of  coffee  planting  as  conducted 
in  Brazil  is  very  much  the  same  as  the  process  in 
vogue  in  these  countries.  I have  not  seen  all  of 
that  gent’eman’s  contributions;  and  there  are  great 
gaps  in  the  process  of  work  that  I have  missed  ; which 
I have  no  doubt  he  has  most  exhaustively  described. 
Xu /■series. — Especially  is  this  true  in  regard  to 
nurseries,  I have  not  seen  anything  he  has  written 
on  this  section  of  the  subject,  therefore  shall  de- 
scribe them  as  done  here.  This  work  differs  so  widely 
from  the  way  you  raise  the  coffee  plants,  that  I am 
not  far  off  in  saying  the  work  is  entirely  reversed. 
We  select  a piece  of  land  flat  and  entirely  open 
to  the  sun,  if  possible.  It  sometimes  happens  in  a 
virgin  forest,  no  open  clear  place  is  conveniently 
available  for  the  purpose.  Then  the  smallest  natural 
tree  shade  is  selected.  The  ground  is  cleaned 
thoroughly  of  all  surface  rubbish  and  the  surface 
merely  broken  to  rid  the  soil  of  strong  roots.  The 
Mozos  (coolies)  are  then  each  furnished  with  a stick 
9 inches  long  (nine),  and  beginning  at  one  end  of 
the  land  selection  measure  the  distance  equi-distant 
between  each  plant  and  work  backwards  until  the 
whole  is  filled  up.  No  beds  are  formed,  simply  a 
drain  is  made  to  carry  off  the  surface  water  in  the 
event  of  heavy  rainfall.  The  seedlings  are  sprouted 
in  a small  bed  and  are  set  out  in  the  extended  nur- 
series before  they  expand  into  anything  like  plant 
form.  While  the  form  of  the  coffee  berry  is  still  on 
the  delicate  stem,  it  is  considered  the  safest  time  for 
transplanting  into  extended  nurseries  ; when  the  two 
leaves  expand  first  they  are  called  Mariposa  (butter- 
fly) to  which  insect  they  have  quite  a likeness. 
The  seedling  is  never  transplanted  until  it  has 
passed  the  Mariposa,  and  has  produced  four  or 
more  leaves.  But  the  most  of  the  transplanting  is 
done  before  ever  the  leaves  open  at  all.  The  shade 
is  gradually  reduced,  and  the  plants  hardened  off 
in  the  usual  way.  The  planting,  when  the  season 
arrives,  is  what  is  benefited  by  the  form  of  nursery 
as  described.  The  cooly  cuts  around  each  plant,  in 
a very  skillful  way,  with  the  point  of  his  machete, 
and  extracts  a plant  with  a ball  of  earth  the  size 
of  a good  flower  pot  These  plants  are  then  care- 
fully carried  out  into  the  field  and  placed  into  the 
bottom  of  the  hole,  and  the  seeds  packed  with 
earth  mould  carefully.  A nursery  of  plants,  planted 
wide  apart  certainly  produce  themselves  infinitely 
better  than  when  crowded  together.  A two-year 
old  plant  is  considered  the  best  of  all,  although  for 
my  own  part  I have  been  more  successful  with  a 
hardy  14  or  16  months  plant. 
1 have  described  the  method  ruling  the  labor 
supply  of  these  countries  to  my  old  friend  T.  A. 
Cockburn  of  Rathkelle  estate,  and  as  he  usually 
sends  you  notes  that  may  be  fitted  for  printing,  I 
daresay  he  has  already  furnished  you  with  a de- 
scription. It  is  too  lengthy  a subject,  therefore  shall 
shunt  it  for  the  present.  Suffice  it  to  say  no  way 
is  wore  unsatisfactory. 
