736 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
May 1, 1901. 
The price of laboar soon rises, short dehveries 
and advance iu prices being the result, owing 
to want of confidence; but a re-action soon seta 
in as a rule ; with a good crop, an efficient labour 
supply, and ^ood prices, the turn of the tide may 
be looked for. Such experiences as set forth in 
the foregoing pages are not uncommon in other 
coffee-growing countries, but things ai-e usually much 
more serious, owing to the greater amount of capital 
invested ; so it is to be hoped that our wave ot de- 
pression will soon pass over and have no disastrous 
result; From the latest statistics, issued by the 
London, American, and Continental markets, it is 
evident that stocks are low and that prices will 
now improve and be maintained for some years to 
*'°The future of coSee planting in B. C. A, should 
not by judged be the results of the past. It may 
be considered for various reasons (which 1 shall 
endeavour as briefly as possible to point out) that 
we have arrived at a more enlightened stage of this 
country's coffee culture, and that there is a bright 
future in prospect for the coffee enterprise here. 
The fact has been recognised that a permanent 
and efficient labour supply must be maintained to 
warrant success with coffee planting and to ensure 
remunerative results; and it is believed that the Labour 
Bureau just formed will in time solve this difficulty ; 
that agents residing on the spot will be able to gain 
the confidence of the people and supply all the needs 
of the planting industry, provided they are allowed 
a free hand by Government. 
Amongst enemies of the coffee tree, spotted bug 
and borer are the two worst ; and fortunately they 
can both be kept in check, if proper measures are 
adopted by planters and labour is available for the 
^"lt°was only supposed that spotted bug did harm 
to coffee, till Mr. K. L Cameron discovered that 
they are a serious enemy of no minor importance. 
I am convinced after eareful experiments carried 
oat by myself that those bugs are the cause of much 
unsound coffee. I also believo that those bugs sucking 
at the terminal shoots, which form the secondary, 
lateral and tertiary branches of the coffee tree, 
disease the sap of those branches, causing black 
patches in the wood and bark ; and thiit in the course of 
time the disease spreads with the flow of sap to the 
fruit so that all subsequently produced wood yields 
a light and empty berry as well as barren or bastard 
^have proved by experiment that the spotted bugs 
when imprisoned upon healthy young shoots do 
disease the bark and suck the wood, and if the experi= 
ments I am at present making go to prove that bugs 
do the same harm when at liberty, -it will certainly 
revolutionize the coffee industry in the future. 
It is not to be woundered therefore that planters, 
■when they discovered that no sound coffee could be 
got from old trees, cut them down as the only remedy 
for barren bushes. 
I am quite certain that no sound coffee can be 
cot from a coffee tree that has had one or two bugs 
on it during the blossoming months, and for one or two 
months after tho berries have formed. Then, although 
the fruifdoes come forward, it is unsound and worthless 
The sp'otted bug is to be found throughout the year, 
althnigh not so numerous during the winter months, 
May to August. Uuiing the bush-fire months, Septem 
ber to December they fly liefore the bush fires and find a 
home and breeding ground in a Coffee Garden. 
The Borer longicorn beetle also flies before the bush 
fires October to December, and also finds a home on a 
Coff';e Estate where they feed upon the bark of the 
Coffee trees and lay their eggs. 
ToenHure success with Coffee in B.C. A, my exper- 
ience proves that the searching for both bug and borer 
must be considored by planters one of the nost im- 
portant works on a plantation and if not fought against 
constantly it is useless expecting mature Coffee trees 
JQ yield crops, 
If those enemies are carefully and successfully over- 
come, L am of opinion that there is no need for cu'ting 
down or uprooliny coffee trees in B. C. A., any mjre 
than in other countries, and that a good yield of 
crop can be maintained without the aid of fertilizers 
for several years at least. 
After the coffee trees on an eastate have forme i a net- 
work of roots in 6 to 8 years, over the avail ble feeding 
area, manuring and pruning must be d ne to ke p 
up a good yield. 
In this country the cheapest manure avail able is 
bush gras=, either made into compost with ammonia 
or applied yrccn by digging it in or burying iu trenches. 
Leguminous crops might also be growa during the 
rainy season and dug in when matured, saving much 
wash as well as being useful as a fertiliser. 
This country has better facilities for manuring, 
than any I know rf, owing to the extensive area of 
bush lirass surrounding most coffee estates. It has 
bteii proved by analysis that green manure is richer 
than cattle manure. 
fiolh manuring and pruning have been proved to 
give better results by practical experience; so tliat 
any system laid down on pap r would not be of much 
service, for opinions differ, and hardly two men can 
be got to apply manure or the kn-fe alike. 
The climate of B, C. A, is n'lt unlike that of Mysore, 
Coorg, and Travancore, in India — and the drier parts of 
Uva, Ceylon. The seasons may be divided as follows; — 
15th Deer, to 15th April .') months' rain, 15th April to 
15th July a few showery days each m-juth, 15th July to 
1st October occasional showers, loth October to loth Dec 
rainless except for one or two thunderstorms. 
jMay to August are cool a' d temperate months and 
sometimes there is frost in June and July. 
Blossoms come on coffee August to Nov, and crop 
April to July, 
With regard to the Indian districts mentioned above, 
most of the Estates were opened by Veylon mfu origin- 
ally, and every stick of timber felled, with the result 
that after a number of years' cultivation it was found 
that estates did not pay and total abandonment was the 
result in most cases, Stiade was then thought of ani 
tried and proved a success; many estates that 
had been abandoned were re-opened, and during 
the past 15 or 20 years shade has been consider, d 
as absolutely necessary for the successful cultiva- 
tion of coffee, and I b lieve no coffee is grown 
now in those districts without a canopy of shade. The 
climate of B. C, A. during the blossoming months 
cannot be relied on for rain and they have often 3 or 4 
months without any at all. When they do gi-t the rain 
however they get crops, which was not the case with 
coffee in tbe open, as then blossoms and berries too 
weredestroyed by hot winds and sun. 
In Travancore I saw myself estates of 200 and 300 acres 
with hardly a leaf on the trees and laden with blos- 
som to tbe tune of 7 or 8 cvvts per acre, but it 
was all destroyed for want of rain. Had there been 
shade on those properties, I was told the blossoms 
would have been saved. 
The climate of B. C. A. in some years is all that 
could be desired. On the other hand, my experience 
proves that 0 out of 10 years were bad and unfavourable 
for the health, vigor, and successful fruiting of coffee 
without shade, or protection from hot winds. 
If shade is too dense, coffee will not yield well at from 
2,000 to 3,000 tt. above sea level, although it might do 
better at a lower elevation. I do not think 
dense shade is required for the Shire Highlands, and 
I am of opinion that the silver oik, Grevillea Robusta 
and the Eucalyptus Robusta, and other red guma 
would suffice to temper the hot winds and cool the 
atmosphere on a coffee plantation ; provided those 
trees are planted north and south in lines, and 
pretty close together, 
Grevilleas and red gums do no harm to tea or 
coffee and have been planted for many years as wind 
breaks and for timber on most estates in Ceylon and 
India. Blue gum again cannot be grown with te4 
or coffee, without starving those products, 
