iS6 
rm TS^OPICAl AQft!0ULTUftl3T. [September i, 1891, 
ahe 24 hours every day, and a'l tbere was pleuty of 
tuMshine it was just the sort of weather to give rs e 
to the steamy heat un'!er shade which, aucordingt o 
Mr, PriuRle, is so coDdncive to tl;e iucepbion cflaf 
disease. The ominous specks hive showu ihemeelvos 
on trees weakened hy heavy beating hist season and 
on others by the attacks of the borer grub. On the 
80th ultimo tho rain set in verj heavily and continued 
uninterruptedly till the lOth inbtant, when there wms 
a change, the amount regitteied for that day being 
only 46 cents, as oompfired with an average fell of 2 
inches 31 cents, from the let to 9lh instuut, both in- 
clusive. The heavioat fall was on the 6th, when .'i inches 
86 cents, were n jjisteted. Thtre was a small reeijile 
after the 10th, which continued till the 13th when 
the rain atarte-d heavily once more, only agaiu tos*op 
on the 16th, since when there hus been a wtlormo 
break whicli promises to holdout fof some htfcie lime. 
The total fall of rain gauged at Meroaro from the 
1st to the 10th instant, boih days inoinsive, «as 21 
inches 24 oenta. All this hea^y rain has ome most 
opportunely for the paddy fields. The ryots were 
complaining that their nursery l-eds wore dryicg 
up for wabt of water ; hut now they are quite satis- 
fied, aud ploughing operations are being profeouted 
briskly. It is surprising what a difference every few 
miles inland east of the ghauts m ikes in tho raiufnll. 
The average rainfall for tho past 10 ytars in San- 
tacorpa Distri- t, only 9 miUs east of rcara, is about 
63 inche.", whereas in the latter place it is more than 
donble that amount. 
Labourers, have beeu slow in putting in an appearance 
from South Cmara this sea^'cn, owing to the nun 
having reached ihem late- Their presence ou estnles 
just now is very wilcome as the latter are mustly 
in a very bad way, with weeds and grass hidiii:^ the 
trees from view, supply plantirg and the taking out 
of bnrtr being at a s'.audstill. New ch aringa especially 
are in a wretched state of weodiness, aud all that c;iu 
be done now is to get the weeds nudtr at any sacri- 
fice, supplying, &o., t>eiug secoudary considera- 
tiouR, Thero are a few fortunate places where 
labour is huffiuienlly abundant to carry on bU 
branches of work that ought to he douo 
at this tim.^ of year; bul the majority of estaes 
arie badly nff. it'is owiug to this coiis'antly recurring 
fa lure of labour at ti,e r'ght time which retards such 
anall-imporlant work s ipplyini^ up vacancies, ana 
sometimes causes it to be neglected .iltogether with 
the results, seeing the loss s sustained through bortr, 
that, they como lo present a rather bare appearance m 
parts. What makes us e^-peciaily sore on this question 
of labour is that heavy advances are given lut to con- 
tractors wlo never hold t) tt.eir coiitrai;ts, It apptars 
to have come to l>e an nnd. rstood thing that Oannrose 
labour from the Mysore couutry is not to be looked lor 
till September, in fp'te ot lucrea'cd wages, reg sli-atiou 
ol Maistries a-id uhai not. Aud in a few J'^^'^'L,! be- 
lieve we sLali have to depend mainly ou South Oanara 
and Malabar coolies for the workinK of our estiites. 
These cnolie?, for the most part Woliavs and fr'arleyi', 
are in a state of abject slavery in their ovyn country. 
The largo landholders thero extrcise a proprietory right 
over them and merely provide their n-arnago and luuo- 
ral expenses, food and a f«w rags at times in exchanee 
fir their labour. For such faults as ev. di. g or shirking 
work, shamming sick, cfeo , they arc visited vuth t he 
severest punihhmeut, which muMy consists in the de- 
linquent l,ein- tied to a tree and having the chasteniug 
rod laid on him with very little regard to mercy 
These people are allowed by their owners to come and 
earn a few rupees on coffee estates after all their paddy 
field work, &c , has been completed ; but woe betide 
them if they are not br.ek in time to re.p the paddy. 
Thev know what would he iu store for them, and hence 
it is almost impossihleto keep them hero evea a few 
days after tho end of S.ptc,ub,.r. Their nsuid time for 
comii.g in is fiom the m ddlo of July t- tm> middle o 
Ani'uBt, so that unless they come m swarms tbey eS'i t 
be relied on fer nmeb. They ave fMcly good at weed- 
ing digging and manuring-. Out lor such works as handi- 
ng pruning, &c., which require skill, intelligence and 
tho exercise of some judgment, they are next to uaole.sa. 
TLey do pretty well, however, when tutored by Oaus.ps 
coolies. They are such an apathetic, indolent, depraved 
lot that I am afraid any exertions on their behalf, like 
that inaugurated in Madras on b*'l'a!f of tr e Pariah, 
would bo utterly futile. They usunlly return again at 
the end of Novamber and work on till the end of Febru- 
ary, when they begin to be wanted once more to reap 
a second crop of paddy, There are other b'gh class 
coolies who come from South Canara. They corsist of 
Bhuntae, Moplaha and petty landholderr, or Gowdas; 
but Ihey generally follow in thfi wake of a contractor, 
who takes up work at eo much per sere. It is really 
astonishing to see the amount of certiiiti kinds of work 
these pto|d6 aro cipabjs of doing ; opeui' g out pits, for 
instance. I have known some of them to do 2^ times 
as much as an ordinary cooly, working from early in 
the morning till evening, and they are paid accordingly. 
Tho Mopiahe especial y are fine specimens of men and 
very hard workers. Prom what I have seen of them, 
I believe they ought to furnish splendid fighting mate- 
rial, and it is to be hoped si me notice will be taken 
of your advocacy of the scheme of raising regiments 
from them. 
Circumstances over which I have had no control have 
prevented me being regular with my ooutributious of 
planting notes, and noticing the remarks of Mr. PriURle, 
which were the outcome of my no'es of the I9th May 
last. He complained that I had not given him credit 
for the discovery of a remedy for leaf disease. The 
information that bad reached me was to this effect — 
if it was wrong I owe Mr. Pringle an apology. I 
Bhould have been the last person to have withheld the 
mede of praise that wai his due had I known that his 
efforts in this line had beeu crowned with success.^ Not 
knowing, I should have held my peace ; but my infor- 
mition has beeu slartlln[;'y corroborated by no less a 
person than Mr. Meynell, Messrs. Mathe.'ou & Co.'s re- 
presentiitive here, ill his letter to the Hfidf in which he 
quotes from Mr. Pringk-'s letters to himself to show 
that, according to his own conf'cfsinn, tho results he 
had obtained were doubtful. Mv. Frioftle replied to 
this letter, but it was noticeable that hj did not explain 
away the somewhat damaging quotations from his own 
letters to Mr. Meynell. I can understHnd the difEcnlties 
under which Mr.Pringletaboured as he had not got a pro- 
per spray-diffusing machine till last February, and as leaf 
disease is not very prevalent during the hot months, ha 
had not an opportunity before he left of testing his 
remedy on a large scile. I hive no dtubtthatMr. 
Pringle has every reafon to belirve in the efijcscy of 
his remedy, but planters want to see the result ot 
the experiments he has initiated on Messrs. Matheson 
& Oo.'s places before they commit themselves to any 
line of action to secure his services for their especial 
benefit. Mr. Pringle has dona inestimable service to 
the country iu showing what uses burnt soil can be 
put lo, and also in showing that manure is best put 
down broadcast so as to insure its equal distribution 
all over the land. The n ethod in vogue not so many 
years ago was to Fcrape a eaucer-like hollow from 3 to 
6 inches above the trees, put in the manure and cover 
it over. I am not so sure that this is not practised 
even now on some places. It is needless to refer to 
the absurdity of the thing. Mr. Meynell's assertion 
that beyond keeping estates alive manure is of no use, 
has caused some amnscrav^nt amongst planters, the 
large majority of whom ca-i't agree ftith him. It isa 
fact the! e is no getting over that places which are sys- 
tematirally manured are paying a great deal better 
than I hose that are not. There are two pieces of coffee in 
Mercara on the poorest land imaginable, which were 
raised soh ly by manure. One of these has been for a 
longtime old coffee. Blr. Meynell must le aware of 
its existence, aud will I'.e say that it would boar from 
12 to 15 cwts. of crops as it doeswilhcut manure? 
till-. Print^le does not agre3 with roe that L'berian 
coffee iu Cocrg would prove a d lasio-i and a snare, 
iuid Bsks me whether I have seen tho trees on Mr. 
Tlamilton's <■•.^lale in the forest cr those at Tanner- 
Uiiller (inubal)iv Thuiiiru Hnlla O.iiiarefe, Coldwater 
Hulh/vv, 18 meant) and say that if I did I would i.O'. 
sp/a!i 1 cwt, an acre being diffinult to get. It 
IS rather too much to ask Mr, Pringle to look up 
thf) file of tho Jliail and refer to my notts of tho 
