254 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct, 1, 1899, 
the fertilisers dumped in an covered up. Now for 
all practical purposes that is like what the natives 
of this country do with their gold, they bury it 
instead of putting it into a Bank. The plant may 
make use of that fertiliser but only in a long course 
of time. But if, on tlie other bo.nd it is spread 
finely over the surface broadcast and then dug into 
the earth, the plant would be in a better position to 
get at it than if it v^'as covered and hoarded up. Of 
course there is no rule without an exception. There 
may be steep lands on which you are using a com- 
paratively easily soluble manure where it might be 
necessary to make a browpifc and bury the fertiliser, 
but whenever it can be done, by all means always 
broadcast your fertiliser ; then when you dig it in 
the plants get at it more easily than when it is 
heaped together in a pit. A matter which also is 
of great interest to you is the use of saltpetre. 
Saltpetre is a fertiliser which is beneficial no doubt, 
and you are fortunately located in being able to 
get it comparatively cheaply; but great care should 
be taken in its application. Yon should not apply it 
just before heavy rain or in the rainy season. Salt- 
petre, as you know, contains two of the three most 
important constituents of plant food, nitrogen and 
potash. Nitrogen in the form of nitrate washes into 
the soil readily, and if there is vigorous vegetation 
going ou these nitrate will be afcsorbtd by the plant 
and it is this nitrate which gives the flush of wood with 
the large deep green leaf. I am aw.'xre that my remarks 
are rather rambling, but before sitting down 1 would 
like to refer to the action of lime. Lime in the soilhMS a 
two fold action. It serves the purpose first of a plant 
food, and secondly it aids in decomposition, not 
exactly in a chemical way but by combination Vi'ith 
certain bacteria in the soil. Lime in the soil is almost 
absolutely necessary, as it helps very much in the 
process of uitrefactiou— the nitrefacti&n of the com- 
Earatively inert nitrogen in organic matter in the 
umus into nitric acid which is absorbed by the plant 
If heavy rain comes, it has a tendency to vvasli the 
lime out of the soil ; but it always remains in the soil 
provided you have a snifioient amount of moisture and 
a sufficient amount of heat, of which theie can be no 
doubt in this country. (Cheers)', 
The Chairman said : — It only remains for me to 
thank Dr. Lehmann very much for the most interest- 
ing little lecture he has given us. I am sure it has given 
us a great deal of information and is the precursor of 
a great many more. The Mysore Province is bound 
to benefit very much by his residence in it. 
Mr Scot Skibving proposed and Mr. Hodgson 
seconded " That the U. P. A. S. I. send a cordial vote 
of thanks to the Mysore Government for appointing 
an Agricultural Chemist of such ability as Dr. 
Lehmann and thereby rendering a great service to the 
planting community of South India." 
The Resolution was carried with acclamation. 
Dr. Lehmann then made some further remarks on 
the pro;:er method of conducting experiments with 
fertilisers and answered several questions put him by 
the Chairman and delegates. 
LEAF DISEASF, ETC. 
Mr. J. Cameron, the Mysore Government Botanist 
made the following remaik : — This is the third, 
occasion on which I have been honoured in being 
invited as a visitor to this meeting. Needless to 
say, I am proud of the honour for which I thank 
you very much. I have embodied my view on coffee 
planting so recently in the form of a Report that 
there is a very little more to be said to-day. There 
are one or two things, however, which I omitted 
to put fully before you in the Report and for which 
I have been called to book more or less severely. 
One of these is that I t, ok no notice whatever of 
the ripening and colouring of the berry, and also 
the colouring f>f the bean, which I understand is 
an important matter. I have repeatedly, during the 
last season's harveatirjg, seen that a great deal of 
green coffee has found its v/ay into the murket or 
which low prices were paid. Now, what wiis the 
reaaon for this green coffee being so abundant 1 
It might be one of various reasons. It might be 
dii* to being planted on high levels and a very wet 
season late in the year; it might be overcrowding 
or overshading and one or two other causes. Now, 
gentlemen there are things I would like you to 
take up practically. Ste if you cannot ripen your 
coffee more fully by given it a lighter shade. Of 
course you can't alter the rainfall or the season 
but by giving a lighter shade in the colder parts 
of country where the coffee is not likely to ripen 
well, you will be helping yourselves. In the same way 
vcu can help by draining the ground properly. 
Probably it is due lo a want of drainage that you 
have some bushes which do not fully ripen. This 
question lias to do not only with the ripening of 
the bean itself but alfo %vith ripening of the wood. 
There is a time of the year when you like to have 
your bushes more fully exposed than at any other 
time, and the wood at that time may be partially 
ripened or it may be fully ripened. It is importan* 
that it should be fully ripened if you wish to hav« 
not only a full crop but also ripened fruit which 
produces good prices in the market— fruit with a 
high colour and well formed. I will now mention 
another thing which I don't think I touched one 
sufficiently in the Report, namely, what practical 
steps should be taken in the matter of leaf disease. 
In travelling through Coorg last November, I found 
the bushes were healthy looking and that they had 
an abundf.nce of young heiilthy leaves and also an 
iibnndance of old leaves underneath piled one o^er 
the other and in some parts these were diseased and 
in others were showing signs of disease. Now I 
believe the old and partially decayed leaves which 
formed itndeineath in layers were carefully removed 
and burnt and the ground swept and the debris 
burnt, yon would do much to suppress the disease. 
To ennble you to •io this thoroughly in a District 
like Coorg, you should have burning grounds, open 
spaces here and there in the marshes, where the 
leaves could be collected and burnt. If this could not 
be done, the next best thing to do is to collect the 
leaves in convenient sized pits and cover the whole 
thing over with caustic lime. If this was done it 
would prevent the spores of the disease being carried 
over the whole of your estate of your neighbour's. I 
don't think it would hurt the shrub to remove half 
the leaves, as it produces at the time new leaves 
very qnicklj. I don't think I have any more to say 
to-day, hut before sitting down 1 would thank 
Mr. (3-raham Anderson for the kind way in which he 
has spoken about my report. I may tell you that 
I spent an enjoyable and instructive time in Coorg 
and should you wish me to visit any other District 
hereafter, I shall be glad to do so with the, permis- 
sion of my Government (Cheers). 
Mr. Sphott moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. 
Camerton for his interesting and instructive Report 
on his tour in Coorg and also for the instructive 
remarks he had just made. 
The vote was carried with acclamation. 
Mr. Cameron then gave a short account of some 
snccessfol ctoss fertilisation experiments he had 
succeeded in making: and dwelt upon the importance 
of hybridisation, quoting from the remarks cf the 
President at a Horticultural Conference which was 
recently in England- 
GoPEA IN Tonga Islands.— News from this 
islands dated July 4th says : — Copra is steadily 
coniiiit; in, and the statistics of this year — if the 
GoverniiienL sees fit in its wisdom to compile 
any — will show a more satisfactory state of 
aflairs than those of the last few years. The 
price is soniwhat easier, the current quotation 
b'lng about £10 at steamer's side ; in Vavau it 
rules son^ewhat higher. Heavy and. continaons 
rain has interfered much with the northern island, 
bui the crop is excellent. Very favourable reports, 
too, come from the ]Siuas. Some 400 tons go to 
Messrs. Lever Brothers by steamer from the 
Tongan group. Shippers are still complaining of 
the unsatisfactory returns from fruit consign- 
ments, but they go on shipping. 
