go 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1891. 
distance, how much less is its production likely 
to be profitable in Ceylon where our forage grasses 
are generally so poor and imported food in the 
shape of gram and gingelly poonao so expensive. 
On nearly every estate, of course, a few cattle 
must be kept as milk yielders ; and there are 
estates which find it profitable to employ bullocke 
lor draught purposes. In such cases, the 
manure is a by-product, and will be very 
valuable, as will horse manure, when applied 
near the sheds and stables, but it seems 
pretty evident that, as a general rule, estates when 
they need applications of fertilizing matter must 
rely on artificial manures ; and the question to be 
solved is, what are the best to choose and employ ? 
Analyses of soil, such as Mr. Pringle gives, must 
be of great assistance. He shows that while 
nitrogen is specially wanted in one case, it would 
be simply a costly folly to add it in another. 
So with lime and in the case of kainit or 
other potash manure. We suppose that anyone 
buying bones or castor cake from any 
of the leading firms in Colombo is guar- 
anteed but certainly a system of public 
and cheap analyses would be very useful, as new 
manures are occasionally ofiered for sale. Mr. 
Pringle is mistaken in supposing that planters 
have devoted slight attention and incurred but 
small expenditure on analyses and manures.* Apart 
from the employment of Mr. John Hughes by 
the Ceylon planters and the expenditure of large 
sums in the unsuccessful combat with leaf-disease, 
we had, in the Observer towards the end of the 
seventies a series of elaborate letters from a Mr. 
Tolputt, embodying detailed analyses of Wynaad 
soils and of manures recommended and applied 
with reference to such analyses. Only a few days ago 
in going over accumulated papers, we found a series 
of soil analyses received from the gentleman named, 
which had been put by for publication at a convenient 
season. The figures will now be of interest in com- 
parison with those given by Mr. Pringle or those 
which he may hereafter adduce. Meantime the 
paper we today publish, although specially devoted 
to coffee, is just as applicable, in the general principles 
laid down of adapting manures to constituents 
of soil shown by analysis to be deficient, 
to tea, cinchona, cacao, cardamom and even 
coconut palm culture as to coffee. We can never 
go far wrong in applying bones and castor cake, 
in moderate quantities and in due proportion to 
our soils, at intervals of about three years, what- 
ever the product cultivated may be. Such a potash 
manure as kainit will be useful on many of the 
older coffee estates, replanted with teaj; and where 
it can be afforded, we should think it would be 
eminently beneficial to coconut land, not only 
for the potash, but for the appreciable quantity 
of common salt it contains. Lime, bones and 
kaini, ought, we submit, to largely increase the 
growth of the palms and the yield of nuts, while 
the moderate and judicious use of bones, super- 
phosphate, castor cake, fish and in some cases 
kainit, ought to increase the quantity and improve 
the quality of tea flush. 
COFFEE MANURE. 
By William Piiingle, m. s. c. i., 
late ageicnltubal chemist to messes. mathesou & co. 
IN COORG. 
( Under special arranement for 2nihlicaiion. in the " Cey- 
lon Observer" and " Tropical Aricidiurist,") 
The question of manuring cofiEee has had little sys- 
tematic work spr-ut on it , compared with the vast 
• Tho lato Mr. It. 15. Tytler had everything con- 
neoted with llio coffee tree and soil analysed before 
m akiiigr up his patent manure, Bombreyrum. 
terests at stake ; most planters have been content t 
use such manures as were most readily come at , with 
out bothering their beads as to whether they got an 
adequate return for the money spent on them or not. 
I have known line rubbish carted five miles ; it could 
only in very rare instances be worth the cartage. 
In selecting a manure to be used on an estate we 
should be guided by the analy»es of the soil, as well at 
by our knowledge oi the composition of the coffee shrub, 
and its requirements. 
One glance at the annexed analyses of South Coorg 
soils will show that they require verv different treat- 
ments:— 
Parts per hundred. 
A. 
B. 
0. 
* Organic matter and combined 
water 
9-530 
8 080 
5-475 
Oxides] of iron and alumina 
13-065 
6-861 
7-844 
Lime .. .. .. 
•522 
•120 
•380 
Magnesia . . . . . , 
•396 
•446 
•101 
Potash 
•044 
•127 
•042 
Soda 
•019 
•063 
•020 
Phosphoric acid .. 
•135 
•039 
•122 
Sulphuric acid . . . . 
•128 
•079 
•013 
Chlorine .. 
•003 
•001 
•002 
lusolnble sihcates 
76-158 
84-184 
86-001 
1 
00-000 100-000 100-000 
* Containing Nitrogen 
•143 
■292 
•089 
Equal to Ammonia . . 
•174 
•355 
-094 
Moisture iu air dried sample . . 
3-24 
12-13 
1-78 
On A and C the great object should be to con. 
serve the moisture by shade, and the use of as much 
good cattle manure, made by bedding the cattle with 
leaves and ferns, as possible. Both nre rather short 
of potash, and one cwt. of nitrate of potash (nitre) per 
acre should be added to the manure: this will supply 
nitrogen as well as the potash, and C is very short 
of that most important element. 
A, requires nitrogenous manures with potash, but a 
little bone phosphate should be added to prevent soil 
exhaustion. The following manure was recommended : — 
2 cwt. bone meal 
1 cwt, nitrate of potash 
This should be mixed with 1 cubic yard of burnS 
earth or 2 bandy loads of cattle manure. 
It would be a sheer waste of money to apply lime to 
such a soil. 
B, is very?short of phosphoric acid bones in fine 
meal will be the best manure, 4 cwts. per acre will be 
enough and lime may be used with advantage six 
months afterwards. 
To use oil cake as a manure to such land to say the 
least would he a waste of money. Lime used before the 
phosphates have time to act would lead to the rapid 
exhaustion of the land. It is a case where the indica- 
tion of the analysis is very clear. On such a land 
ammoniaoal manures used without phosphates would 
never produce any results commensurate with the ex- 
penditure, and would do more harm than good. The 
laud as shown by the moisture is very retentive, 
drainage is a necessity it the coffee is to be kept healthy, 
over such land the shade .may with advantage be kept 
very light end thin. 
C on the other hand is a poor sandy soil, greatly 
wanting in moisture, shade should be kept thick, as leaf 
mould will render great assistance in retaining the mois- 
ture ; cattle and organic manures will also give results 
beyond their mere manurial value on such land. In fact 
on such places cattle manure is invaluable. I recom- 
mended cattle manure, iJ tons with 1 cwt. fine bone 
meal, 2 cwt. pure dry fish, and ^ cwt. nitrate of potash 
per acre. These examples show how we may be 
guided in our choice of a manure by the soil analysis, 
that a knowledge of the power of the soil to retain 
moisture will assist us in regulating the shade, 
and decide many vexed questions of the best methods 
of. cultivation to be followed in a given case. 
The system of cultivation that might be succesefoUy 
worked on B would not answer on C : the whole 
treatment required is different, also the manures. So 
far I have mentioned, as coffee manures, cattle muck 
