July 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
37 
time note the foUowiug. About six months ago, 
1 met a planter from the native States over here 
on a visit. He reluctautly admitted that the 
coffee in the Peninsula was not belter than what he 
had aeon here. Secondly : a friend of mine visited 
Selangor a few weeks ago and returned fully con- 
vinced that his property was on the right side 
of the water. He is a Serdang proprietor. Thirdly : 
a Selangor resident, not a planter, was through the 
length and breadth of this district a few days ago ; 
and he said without fear, favour or intimidation, that 
the coffee here struck him as looking finer than 
that in Selangor. The soil here must be richer than 
that across the narrow, though deep, atrip of water 
that divides Sumatra from the Malay Peninsula : 
and to anybody who reads Wallace's • Malay Archi- 
pellago or Island Life, the explanation is as clear 
as mud in a wine-glass. Wherever one goes the 
richness of the soil strikes one, and I can't help 
recalling a saying of old John Scott, who died 
near Nuwara Eliya a few years ago. I asked him 
about something or other growing in a certain kind 
of soil. His idea of its productive powers was 
summed up in his emphatic answer. " Graw, men, 
graw ?" he roared, "stick yer pipe into the groon' 
an' it '11 graw terbacker!" So it is here. 
The Singapore Free Press of 13th inat. quotes 
Liberian coffee at §17'50 per pikul— the quotation 
having been $17— for many weeks. I have all along 
held that prices will recover in the course of time, 
South America having cut her own throat by over- 
oroduction. She has tried the same game before ; 
hut this time she has gone parlous near the jugular. 
Who will give us reliable figures of S. America's 
cost of production ? Surely she cannot atand against 
the cheap labour of the East ? 
A gentleman largely interested in coffee in the 
Malay Peninsula, writes as follows :—Afier referring 
to "retrenchment" tactics — "Personally I am in- 
clined to think the present a good time for capital 
to be invested, feeling confident that in a couple of 
years' time there will be a change for the better, 
for the simple reason that the low prices will induce 
a larger consumption. It is a question whether 
Brazil can afford to go on at these prices." 
Them's my sentiments to a T: or should I not 
rather say, to a Coffee ? 
W. TURING MACKENZIE. 
Daisydale, Lohopakam, O. K. Sumatra, 
24th May, 1898. 
P.S. — I should mention that my last-named cor- 
respondent is not " on the sell.— W. T. Mk. 
MANURING OF TEA vs. CHEAP 
PRODUCTION. 
Dear Sir, — In my previous letters I have drawn 
attention to the natural sources of nitrogen due to 
mioro-orgh,nisms in fixing and converting the atmos- 
pheric nitrogen and in reducing the organic nitro- 
gen already present in the soil into nitrates, the 
form in which nitrogen is taken up by plants. I 
have pointed out the conditions under which the 
formation of nitrates is going on, conditions that 
are rendered specially favorable by our climate : an 
even and warm temperature and a good and well 
distributed rainfall. I have further pointed out how 
the formation of these nitrates can be increased 
artificially by loosening the soil, in bringing it in 
contact with the oxigen of the air and by making 
it more retentive for water. The conclusion drawu 
therefrom was that only small quantities o£ nitro- 
genous manures were needed for our tea crops. 
I would now approach the subject afresh and state 
that where those climitic conditions are fairly ful- 
filled I see no reason why any nitrogenous 
manures should be needed at all. To support 
my theory it is necessary that I should place 
before the reader the researches which of late 
years hive been made at home with a view of 
ascertaining the composition of drainai;e waters 
i.t. water that had fllterei through the soil. As 
fireviously mentioned, the nitrates have a dep- 
orable habit : contrary to what takes place with 
the other elements of fertility like phosphoric 
acid and potash, the nitrates are incapable of being 
fixed or retained in the soil. The loss of nitrates in a 
soil covered with vegetation is very small but in a soil, 
devoid of vegitation they are carried off with the water 
that filters through it. Therefore in analysing the 
composition of the drainage water it is easy to calcu- 
late the amount of nitrates formed in a given soil. The 
experiments to which I refer had been carried out 
on a French Agricultural station under the direction 
of one of the most eminent agricultural chemists of 
the day, and were undertaken with soils tf totally 
different character and which had not been previ- 
ously manured. The average quantity of nitrates 
found in these drainage waters amounted to the 
following figures, viz. : — 
In winter about 11 lb. of nitrogen per acre. 
In spring ,, 16 lb. ,, „ 
In Summer ,, 24 lb. „ ,, 
In autumn ,, 37 lb. „ „ 
Total per year „ 88 lb. „ „ 
From this it will be seen that the formation of 
nitrates is smallest during winter; it is a little 
better in spring, when with the warmer temper, 
ature the conditions for micro-organisms become 
more favourable; it increases coi.siderably during 
summer, but owing to the comparative dryness of 
the soil, it reaches the maximum only in autumn. 
At this period the soil which had been heated during 
summer no*' also contains a fair amount of mois- 
ture, and thus the conditions for the micro-organisms 
are all the most favorable. Other experiments 
had been carried out which show the influence of 
the aeration of the soil on the formation of the 
nitrates by micro-organisms. Before the analysis of 
the drainage waters was begun, the soil had been 
turned and brought thoroughly in contact with the 
air and afterwards was left to itself. During the 
first year the nitrates collected in these drainage 
waters amounted to about 195 lb. of nitrogen per 
acre, during the second year to 71 lb. of nitrogen pir 
acre, and during the third year to 65 lb. of nitrogen 
per acre. Thus the utility of loosenii g the soil ia 
clearly demonstrated. 
But to return to the first series of experiments it 
will be interesting to draw some practical conclusions 
therefrom. The average quantity of nitrogen removed 
by a crop of cereals or potatoes at home is about 
50 lb. of nitrogen per acre. This it will be seen 
could be amply met by the natural production of 
nitrates during the course of a year. If such 
or better crops cannot be grown as a rule 
without the aid of nitrogenous manures, it is owing 
to the fact that the bulk of those nitrates are 
produced at a time when they cannot be taken 
advantage of by th* growing crop. In July and August 
most of the crops have already ceased to assimilate 
nitrogen, and it is owing to the insufficiency of the 
nitrates produced in the spring and early summer 
that the application of nitrogenous manures has to 
be resorted to at home. 
How are we now placed with regard to our staple 
produce ? We are not tied down to particular 
seasons for our crop and th» plants can therefore 
take advantage of whatever nitrates are produced in the 
soil during the year. Is it likely that the production of 
nitrates in our soils during the year is inferior to 
that at home ? To suppose it, we would have to assume 
that our vegetation is poorer than at home. Let us there- 
fore examine what those 83 lb. of nitrogen produced na- 
turally in the soil mean to our tea crop per year. 
We know that 400 lb. of tea take up 20 lb. of nitro- 
gen ; therefore we can multiply this crop by four 
before we oee those natural sources of nitrogen ex- 
hausted by our crops. Now I do not mean to imply 
that all the nitrates produced in the soil are pure 
gain for the plants ; but at any r^vte I believe I liave 
demonstrated the fact that there is enough nitrogen 
for the most ample crops and that if they are 
denied to flB it is not for want of nitrogenous food for 
