Dec. 1, 1903.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
379 
THE LBEMING SYSTEM FOll 
COFFEE. 
(From a rianlinri Correspondent.) 
Signs are not wanting, not only in India but almost 
all over the world, that there is to-day an awakeuing 
to the need of science in agricnlture and horticulture. 
Some nations are especialTy enterprising in organising 
Experimental Stations for scientific research ; others, 
again, are quick to take advice in matters in which 
they have failed to originate. It has been said that 
the more we know of the way in which the plant lives 
and of the manner in which it carries out its life's work, 
the fuller onr knowledge of the conditions and limita- 
tions under which these operations are carried on, 
the greater will be our success as practical men. 
Ordinary routine work well carried on ensures a large 
measure of success, but it affords no hope of advance- 
ment, no chause of breaking new ground and no power 
of adapting ourselves to unforeseen conditions. 
What has been found to be true of agriculture and 
horticulture generally is especially the case with coffee 
cultivation. Coffee planters in Southern India were 
very prosperous some seven or eight years ago. Profits 
on most estates were high and men could afford to 
cultivate highly. Then when conditions changed and 
the unforeseen conditions of over-production and oon- 
Beqnent low prices, as well as deterioration in the 
coffee produced, had to be faced, how many were able 
to adapt their methods accordinely ? Many men who 
had to cut their ooat according to their cloth enforced 
most stringent economy in the working of their estates, 
bat it was mostly at the expense of labour or manure 
that could ill be spared. One planter only, I believe, 
studied the coffee plant scientifically and introduced a 
system whereby he made certain of i\>duuing his ex- 
penses to the lowest possible figure, and at the same 
time thought to improve both the yield and the quality 
of the produce of his trees. Iseedless to say I refer to 
Mr. Leeming, about whose sj'stem much has been 
written, but of which much is yet imperfectly under- 
stood. It is in the hope of correcting existing 
misunderstandings that the following notes have been 
written, and of enlisting on behalf of the system the 
attention of those who so far hive not thought fit to 
give it trial. Those who can ' • make coffee pay " under 
present conditions may be wise to "let wellaloue." 
Even they, however, could do no harm by experiment- 
iuff with the system on a few small blocks. They 
might obtain even better results than they obtain now. 
In agriculture, as in most things, there is no standing 
still. We must advance or, sooner or later, go back- 
wards. To those, on the other hand, who cannot at 
present prices make coffee pay, but hope on for better 
times in ihe assurance that " it is a long lane that has 
no turning," I would say "try Leeming," because 
there seems very little chance of any turning being 
encountered for a long time yet. 
The first stages in the evolution of Mr. Leemiug's 
system date back many years. He first gave up prun- 
ing and handling because he saw no good in forcing 
new wood to grow to be eventually cut off again, and 
because he found it did not pay him to continue these 
works. The money he saved thereby he put into 
manure and into labour, with the result that his trees 
grew matted, and it waa evident that they suffered 
from too little space v/i;hin which to develop. Mr. 
Leeming was led by this fact, and by the appearance 
of old coffee trees grown on ueiglibouring estates and 
in the neighbourhood of the Malayalis' villages which 
were at least 15 ft. in diameter, and by what he had 
read of coffee-growing in Brazil and Central Americi, 
to out out half his trees diagonally throughout a plot 
of two acres. The GOO trees per acre which were left 
he allowed to grow as they would, without even remov- 
ing the suckers. This was in 1891. He was so pleased 
. with the result both in the crops obtained and in the 
appearance of his trees that in 1893 he treated 25 acres 
similarly ; an^ he ha^ contiaued (he prgccsa ever siuce, 
is 
till now it has been adopted all over his estate of 
" Scotforth," on the Shevaroy Hills. This estate ia 
composed of the following gardens :— 
1. 64 acres old coffee planted 6' >-! 6'. Tho whole of 
this block (except 10 acres which contain 600 trees to 
the acre) has been cut out now, for the second time 
leaving HOO trees to tlie acre. 
2. 25 acres planted 6' 5' in 1888. First cutting out 
was done in 1898. Second cutting out was commenced 
in 1900, carried on in 1901 and completed in 1902, 
leaving 330 trees to the acre. 
3. Three acres planted 6' v, 6' in 1891 and 1892. First 
cutting out was done in 1899, and second cutting in 
1901. 
4. 35 acres planted 8' k8' in 1895. These have only 
been cut out once, in July of this year, leaving 325 
trees per acre. 
5. 45 acres planted 8' « 8' ih 1896. These have only 
been cut out once, in June and July of this year, 
leaving 325 trees per acre. 
6. 17 acres planted 8'«8'in 1899,1900 and 1901. 
These have not been cut out at all as yet. 
The total area planted was thus 189 acres, from 
which must be deducted 40 acres entirely destroyed by 
borer (30 acres of 1895 and 1896 plantings and 10 acres 
from rest of the estate) leaving 149 acres of old and 
young coffee in good order. 
These 40 acres destroyed have since been " supplied, " 
and concerning them a Llysore planter who has just 
visited " Scotforth " writes : — " I should never have 
believed you could have eradicated borer as you have 
done after what I did see two years ago. The old 
coffee is looking wonderfully vigorous and healthy 
compared with when I saw it last and the improvement 
in the patches, which were bored, struck me especially." 
The following returns from three fields, longest 
under " the system, " may prove of interest : — 
No. 1 Field, cut out first in 1898. Second cutting 
out commenced in 1900, continued in 1901 and cDm- 
pleted in 1902, so that there now remain 25 per cents 
of the original number of trees. It yielded 1,.S43 
bushels of cherry per annum for four years previous to 
cutting out and 1,217 bushels after cutting out,— a losa 
of 129 bushels. There is little doubt, however, thac 
the loss would have been turned into a gain had the 
second cutting out not been commeacedi and continu- 
ed, so soon. 
Field No. 2, cut out in 1899 and again in 1901 
(leaving the trees 14" n 14' apart) yielded 288^ bushels 
of cherry per annum for four years previous to cutting 
out, and 333 bushels after cutting out,— a gain of 44^ 
bushels. 
Field No. 3, cut out in 1899 and again in 1901 (leaving 
the trees 12' x 12' apart) yielded 1'3 bushels of cherrry 
per annum for four yeais previous to cutting out and 
162 bushels after cutting out, a gain of 69 bushels. 
Coffee trees may be seen in all stages of development 
at "Scotforth," and two noteworthy points in connec- 
tion with the system are (1) that the results of cutting 
out have in each case been so oonspicious as to induce 
r.Ir, Leeming to persevere with the same treatment 
with the remainmg blocks and in no case has he re- 
gretted doing so, and (2) that the whole system is still 
only in the experimental stag© and therefore no final 
results have yet been obtained. As regards the dis- 
tance at which the cofi'ee should be finally left, Mr. 
Leeming says that all depends on circumstances. For 
instance, his practised eye will tell him whether tha 
blocks which now contain coffee 14ft. y. 14ft. will be 
allowed to remain at that distance or whether they will 
require yet more space. Similarly with regard to that 
at 12ft. apart and with the young coffee at 8ft. x 8ft., 
the growth of the plants will enable Mr. Leeming to 
decide when tho time has arrived for giving them more 
room. No definite rule can be laid down. It is in this 
particular more especially that Mr. Laemiog's experi- 
ence stands him good stead, and where those who 
would profit by his example would do well to enlist 
his services. Coffee trees, if left too close together toa 
long, receive a check, Mr, Leeming finds, from which 
they will ugt recovei' sometimesj £91- yeara, S9aig es^ 
