March I, 1901.] TBE TKOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
613 
fisaot beginning grew into a considerable piece many 
times laiger thau the oiiginal was a marvel. In ad- 
dition this same man obtained another piece, stuck 
np a bunniah's shop where one was absolutely not 
required at all, and thereby annexed a piece o£ 
resting land for ponies and Bootias. Further, 
he hacked the jungle in the barbarous jhooming 
fashion right up to the Government Road, in flat 
contravention of another rule about jungle atljaceut 
to Government roads. Yet again this same man iu 
conjunction with another put in application for yet a 
third piece of land, but the officer before whom it 
came was one too many for him He has since died, 
having made a heap of money : since which Go- 
vernment, I believe, has resumed the original grant 
The wisdom of this sort of thing seems to me con- 
spicuous by Its absence. NICOTIAN A. 
— Pioneer., Jan. 17. 
♦ 
PL.A.NTING ON THE ANNAMALAI HILLS. 
{From a Correspondent ) 
I have on one or two previous occa.sioiis ^iven au 
account of planting progress on the Annanialai 
Hills, Coiinbatore District, aiid a iurthc r report 
may be interesting. Over 2,000 acres have now 
been opened, about 1,000 of this being 
COFFEE 
the growth of which is quite satisfactory. I have 
picked about tons of crop from plants, a few 
hundred of whicli were put out very laie iu 1897, 
the balance in 1898 ; and at the present time not 
only all the 1898, but a large proportion of the 1899, 
planting has a large, even spike, promising a line 
blossom after the next rain. Quality ot bean looks 
e.\cellent, and I am having the above small lot 
cured and shipped. If cottee is to keep down in 
price (it is useless going into the pros and cons of 
sucit a question here) good qualiiy means salvation, 
and I am trying both the Maragogipe and Costa 
Kica collee to get a line bean ; bu: from experience 
of various districts I am convinced that iiowever 
useful careful selection and cultivation are, the 
natural conditions of soil and climate ore mainly 
responsible for quality. No manuring has been 
done as yet, but 150 acres of the clearing arp being 
trenched at present. It is worth mentioning that 
there has been no failure of the S. W. Monsoon 
during the recent dry years. 
CARDAMOM 
clearings are doing very well ; and though a wary 
and somewhat pessimistic old planter, who was 
going round mine a few day ago, remarked that 
" good growth was all very well, but no doubt 
cardamoms would be selling at a penny a lb. in a 
couple of years," it is not an expensive cultivation, 
and if there must be a survival of the littest such a 
natural home of the plant should be amongst the 
survivals. It must not be forgotten that there is 
a large market in India for this product, so large 
that the local price is not dominated by Euro- 
pean rates, and the producer therefore does not 
suffer from the crushing effect which the Is 4d 
rupee has on the coffee and tea grower. Over 
1,000 acres in all have been opened in cardamoms 
up to date. Mysore .«eed has been tried, not all 
ways with success. I do not know whetlier it is 
unusual, but I notice that the short plump 
Mysore or Ceylon cardamom, and also the long 
Malabar fruit, are picked from indigenous plants 
growing side by side, and, I think, off the same 
plants, but this latter I cannot be sure of as yet. 
The partial clearing necessary for cardamoms costs 
i5 to 18 rupees per acre, 
TEA, 
2i years old, covers the ground well. I am not 
making tea from the few acres wliich I planted, 
more to see how it grew and to encourage others 
than fur any uther pur|iose, so the bushes, though 
they have been eui down, are some eight feet high 
or fro. A plantinj; at &t»ke, on another property, 
is, f am tolil, coming ■ n well, and from the great 
rapidity with which my plants grow and spread 
I can quite believe that the Annamalai tea-planter 
will be among the survivals, if quality can be 
obtained. 
CINCHONA 
I am very pleased with. Last year I planted 
C. Ledgeriana, Itelicving that we had just 
the light conditions to suit this valuable 
but delicate variety. The plants were very small, 
too small in fact to put out at all until August 
and September, 1900, but there are many 15 ins. 
high now, and their healthy appearance is all that 
can be de.«ired. A large amount of this variety, from 
the best Java seed, will be planted this year, the 
very free, deep soil, with its splendid drainage, 
ap|)earing to suit to perfection. Some neigh- 
bours are giving Succirubra and Hybrid a trial, 
thinking that Cinchonidine and quantity of bark 
will yet pay. Personally, if, as seems probable, 
we eventually .settle down to a penny unit, I pin 
my faith to good class Ledger, as, if it grows 
as well as it now promises, we shall have no 
difliculty in holding our own against the Java 
average of b\ |)er cent S Q. or even the Java 
Government average ot 7"16 per cent. With cin- 
chona also it is very marked how thoroughly suit- 
able conditions tell on the quality of the bark and 
send up the analytis. 
PEPPER, 
according to my experience, does not do well, pos- 
sibly, as has been suggested, because the elevation 
o,6u0\ is rather too great, and our evergieen forest 
climate is not forcing enough. 
HISVEA liRAZILIENSIS 
is making what I am told is excellent srrowth, 
but I know little about Para. I should have 
thought the elevation too great. Work on the 
giiaut road has gone on steadily, and we hope 
this will be completed to the nearer estates in the 
course of the year. Labour has presented no 
greater difficulty than in other district*, and 
the jungle tribe of Kaders has quite taken to 
long periods of steady work on the estates. 
Health generally has been excellent. On the 
whole, in spite of the general depression among 
planters, 1 feel sure that the youngest planting 
district will be by no means last in the race. — 
Madras Mail, Feb. 7- 
■ ♦ • — 
COFFEE PRODUCTION IN MADAGASCAK. 
Recent reports by the French Bureau of Poregn 
ommerce contains statistics relating to the tea and 
cofiee industry of the Protectorates of Annam and 
Madagascar. The production of coffee in the eastern 
coast of Madagascar isexpected to deveolp soon into 
important proportions. In the past it has been 
insignificant, but the French Government has pub- 
lished figures thowing that in a short time an esti- 
mated crop of 713,000 kilogrammes (1,568,000 
pounds) may be looked for. The receipts of coffee 
from all the Frencli colonies in 1889 were only 
963,000 kilogrammes 2,118,000 pounds. -From /o»r«(»( 
of the So^iiPj of Arts, Peo, 28, 1900, 
