May 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
75] 
well-marked varieties in cuUivation known by the 
Tocal names of " Coorg," "Chick," " Nalknad and 
'• Golden drop." Another variety, intermediate be- 
tween - Chick " and "Coorg." evidently a natara 
cross? is abundant on the Hellei^ estate, wlrei-e it 
was pointed out to me by Messrs. Mans es and Sprott 
Specimens 01 the "Golden drop" colfee, weie 
se^u at Mr. John Logan's place in South Coorg and 
also at Santagherry in North Coorg^iieie Mi, H. 
F Daw is Superintendent. Instead of being red 
when ripe, the cherry in this variety is of a bnght golden 
colour. But the most important vanation in cottee 
is that which improves the size, colour-, weight and 
quality of the bean, conditions which the plantei is 
no doubt on the alert to discover. It is not likely, 
however, that much improvement in this direction 
will occur without greatly enhanced vigour in the 
plant. In other words, the present strain of coffee 
should be improved by artificial fertilisation. 
CROSSING AND HYBRIDISING. 
In my last report on the Lai Bagh at Bangalore 
I have written as follows on the subject of hybrid 
" The possession of hybrid plants on several estates 
in Southern India now appears to be an undisputed 
fact These new forms are reported to combine, more 
or less, the characteristics of Cojfea Liberica and 
Coffea arabica, and are only found in localities where 
the two species have been cultivated and pr-opagated 
toeether. They have not been introduced by the 
olanters as new varieties, and were unknown prior 
to the introduction of the West African species, Cqtfea 
Liberica. It is therefore reasonably .inferred that 
these intermediate plants are true hybrids. Ihe most 
remarkable thing about them is their immunity from 
coffee-leaf disease, a condition which can only be 
attributed to enchanced vitality in the constitution 
of the hybrid. This is a discovery of much importance 
to the planter, and will encourage him to pursue the 
operation of crossing on methodical lines, with a 
view to raising improved strains of seed, as has 
already been done in most of the chief products of 
agriculture and horticulture in Europe. What 
should be aimed at now is the systematic crossing 
and re-crossicg of different species and well marked 
varieties until a really good hybrid or cross is pro- 
duced With this object, a small coffee-plot has 
been planted in the Lai Bagh. It consists of 13.5 
bushes in two species and one variety as named in 
the margin. Most of the plants were of a good size 
Cofea Liberica (Liberian) 1 when put down, and 
„ ^l;-a6ica (Arabian). yit is almost certain 
Arabica {var. Maragogipe) ) that a few of the 
Liberian and Maragogipe specimens will flower early 
next year, when crossing operations will be com- 
menced. , n /• 
" On the occasion of the Planters Lonierence at 
Bangalore last August, the writer had the honor 
of being invited to attend the discussion on " Scien- 
tific Investigation," when the opportunity was taken 
before the representative planters of Southern India 
to advocate the advantages of crossing and hybridising 
coffee with a view to invigorating growth and increas- 
ing productiveness. 
" The same advice has been given in official corres- 
Oosoor Estate, Manjarabadi pondence with planters, 
Ubban ,, ,, [ and the institution is 
Koppa Kadur Dig. 'generally doing what it 
Panora Peak S. Wynaad [can to promote the 
Kalpatti do 1 welfare of the planting 
Beechlands S. Coorg J industry. Hybrids, or 
supposed hybrids, have been reported from tho 
margi ually noted estates." 
It is now some years since the operations of 
crossing and hybridising were first advocated by 
me and as time advances, I feel more convinced that 
in these operations, carefully conducted, we possess 
a potent means of resuscitating worn-out estates. 
Without a rotation of crop it stands to reason that 
coffee will become less productive, unless some radical 
change is brought about to modify or alter its con- 
dition. Change of constitutiou iu a plant really 
means change of action on the soil as well, and where 
the effete plant must eventually languish, even under 
the best of treatment, the newly born one will 
flourish. Coffee planting is a special industry which 
c nnot conveniently or profitably be rotated with 
other cultures ; therefore, to keep the plant going 
for an indefinite period we must change its nature a 
little, so as to be in harmony with its environment. 
.Judging from the foregoing remarks, and from what 
has actually taken place on estates where Cojf'ea 
Liberica is established with the older species, theie is 
no doubt but the shrubs, in both cases, are predisposed 
to cross fertilisation. That important point being 
set led it now remains to discuss how a good hvbrid 
or cross is most likely to be produced. Thi< I have 
already done vshen lecturing at Mercara and Polli- 
betta, but it will refresh the planters' memory to 
reproduce the more salient points here, while the 
information given under Appendix 1 affords the 
modus operandi of the work in some detail. A defini- 
tion of the terms " cross" and " hybrid" will be found 
in the same place. As far as I am aware (hut this 
is open to correction), no artifiuial cross or hybrid 
has yet been produced in the genus Coffea. At any 
rate not in this country, and the new i r varying 
forms referred to above are all nature-crosses. 
But artificial crossing, done with a definite object, 
has been productive of many useful and beautiful 
plants in Europe. Indeed it may bs said that horti- 
culture (and agriculture) is to a great extent revolu- 
tionised by this means. It is therefore not a fad, 
but a potent reality iu the improvement of both 
economic and ornamental plants. Iti crossing, the 
object chiefly aimed at is to reproduce the desir- 
able qualities of two distinct individuals, of different 
kinds, in the body of one individual. It is not 
always easy to do this, but it can be and has been 
done extensively ; and is well worth trying as a 
perfectly feasible means of improving an important 
and growing industry such as coffee-planting. A 
hybrid produced from two distinct species is called 
a " pr^nary hybrid," and succeeding generations, if 
intercrossed, may become secondary and tertiary 
hybrids, etc. 
When the characters of both parents are pretty 
evenly blended in the hybrid, the latter may be called 
the ''mean" of the former. But it often happens 
that the prevailing characters are more approximate 
to one parent than to the other, iu vihich case we 
have what is known as a "goneoclinio hybrid." 
Another way of producing the latter is to cross 
a hybrid with one of the parent stocks. Ternary 
hybrids are the indirect offspring of three difierent 
species. 
It is in the production of the two latter form - (gjneo- 
clinio and ternary) that the greatest achievements in 
hybridisation have been made. 
The hybrids naturally produced at Oossoor seem to 
possess the vegetative vigour of the maternal parent, 
Coffea Liberica, but are deficient in the productive 
qiiality of the paternal plant, Cofea arabica. To 
remedy this defect, a cross should now be tried be- 
tween the latter and the hybrid, as the pollen of C. 
arabica would possibly be more potent in the second 
degree. In nature there are numerous and beautiful 
inventions to facilitate the crossing of flowers, but 
in a paper of this scope it is inexpedient to attempt 
more than a brief reference to what transpires in the 
short-lived coffee flower. The latter is structuially 
hermaphrodite, but net functionally so in every ca.=e, 
as I have observed small insects crawling over the 
mature stigma before the anthers had dehisced, 
having pollen from other flowers attached to their 
legs. I cannot say to what extent this provision is 
made for cross-fertilisation, but as the flowers open 
progressively for 24 hours and are visited by swarms 
of insects at ttie time of opening and during tho 
receptive period, it is probable that a large perceutiige 
of the whole are cross fertilised. 
The active life of the individual flower is of short 
duration, and possibly within the first hour of its 
existence it has been fertilised, cross-fertilised or 
aterilijcd. It belongs to tho eutomopbiloas claaa of 
