640 
YHT tropical agriculturist. [March i, 1892. 
BgainEt an average of 3,557 tons.. Tlie cardamom 
crop was not quite so bad as the previous year, 
bnt Btill a poor one, and as the low prices continue, 
the growers of this produot are becoming much im. 
povenehei.— Madras Times, Jan. 20th 
{From our own Correspondent.) 
OooBG, Jan. 15th. — There was a harvest thanks- 
giving servioe held in the Polli-Betta Church on 
Sunday, the lOlh inst., owing to the almost pheno- 
menal crops that are being picked in the South Coorg 
District this season. Nothing like it has been seen 
for several years past, and with the present prices 
ruling in the market the losses of bad teasons will 
in Eome measure be recouped. The Eev. Mr. Maiden 
conducted the eervice. In the case of one estate I 
hear the estimate was only 10 tone, but over 30 tons 
were picked off it, and there was still a little leaf. 
The estimate on another place was 20 tone, acd 
nearly 40 was picked off it. The like stories come 
from almost every quarter of the District. 1 have 
also beard that in some places they ran so short ot 
water for curing purposes that coolies had to be 
employed to carry up water in pots to wash the 
coffee. This could not have been very satis- 
factory, and I am sure the planters concerned 
would have been really glad if some heavy showers 
had fallen to help them in their difficulties. 
The water running short can only ba accounted 
for by the heavy crops that had to be cured, as I 
believe the rainfall in the District this season ex- 
ceeded the average by about 10 inches. The crops 
in North Ooorg will not, I am afraid, turn out as 
■well as the South Ooorg ones, but it is hoped that 
they will all be paying ones. Of course there are 
several exceptions, where crops will be large. I think 
the reason why the crops in North Ooorg were not 
quite BO large as those in the Southern District is 
owing to the fact that while South Coorg was 
having a bad time of it during the past few years 
North Ooorg has done fairly well. I one day visited 
an estate where there was a very good crop, and where 
the trees were looking in prime condition in spite 
of being heavily laden with berries. The proprietor, 
who was with me, pointed out a field off vthich he 
said he had on a forrter occasion picked 15 owt. 
an acre during the second picking. 1 almost felt 
as if a Eoyal salute was being wafted on the brteze 
to me and that a Guard was presenting arms when 
I heard the statement. 
Your Nilgiri correspondent's remarks about the 
colour of coffee have been most opportune. Every care 
ehould be taken to prevent coolies from picking helf 
ripe berries ; but it sometimes happens that in spite 
of the strictest supervision tome of them will bricg in 
unripe fruit. I was surprised once to heat a planter 
of very large experience say that halt ripe berries 
made no difference whatever in the colour of the beans. 
The usual mode of curing coffee in Coorg is to have 
it pulped directly it is brought in the evening. The 
pulper most in favour is Gordon's fluted barrel brcajt 
pulper ; others are also used, such as the disc pulper, etc. 
Directly the offiee is pulped it is allowed to fermtut for 
from 30 to 48 hours. It is then washed throughly aud 
placed upon drying tables, where it remains for 3 or 4 days 
prior to being removed on to the barbecues. It ia 
diried in all about 8 days before it is des 
patched to the coast^coffee works. Usually at this 
time of the year there is nodearth of carts and there 
ia generally therefore co necessity for storing the 
cofl'ee long. If it has to be stored it is frequently 
turned over and given an airing in the fun ones in 
a way. Iti Oeylon, where the weather during crop 
time is most uncertain and raio continues to fall some- 
times for six weeks at a time, the coffee u-^eJ to be 
dried by what was known as the hot-air process in 
stores especially constructed for the purpose. This 
mtist have been highly expensive, but s^me of the 
planters there were of opinion that it was not a com- 
plete succe ss. It need Inrdly be Mnid, therefore that 
it was rot generally Rfloptcd throughout the cour'try. 
'J'ho drying tabli s referred to above are constructed in 
different ways. There io the rough and ready one, 
which consists of forked sticks driven into the ground 
and covered over with a frame work of bamboos. 
Oter this is spread coir matting and the cofiee laid 
on the top of it. The breadth of these tables generally 
vBrieg from 3 to 6 feet. Permanent tables are con- 
structed in the following way. Brick-pillars are built 
at regular intervals, about a foot and a halffquare 
and about three feet high, end frame works of 
reapers and rafters are placed on the top of 
these when they are required for drying coflfee 
on. When they are no longer required they are 
removed into the store till the following season. 
An ex-Oeylon planter called these tables " gims." The 
strangest part of it was that he used to go in for 
them himself! ■ 
The cuffee from Canon's Estates in Mysore hss 
always held the highest place in the English market, 
and one year when prices were ruling very low every, 
tody was surprised to note the very high prices obtained 
by Canon's coffee. This induced a planter here to obtain 
a sample bag of the coffee, to compare it with his own. 
No difference could be detected, with the exception that 
the beans were somewhat larger. It was then assumed 
that the estates being very old the coffee had succeeded 
in obtaining a good name for itself years ago, which it 
has sue eeded in maintaining ever since. I remember 
reading n an old copy of Pv.nch, I think of the year 
1866, of the estates being supposed to be offered for sale, 
and a Company wa9 at once formed to purchase them. 
The whole thing was a mistake, which was all caused 
by an illegible signature of another proprietor who 
offered his estate for sale. Although the estates are 
now of great age they are ttill, methinks, in a flourish- 
ing condition, and are giving paying crops to the pro- 
prietors. The soil in that part of the country 
is, I believe, moft excellent, and almost inexhaus- 
tible, while labour is also very cheap and obtainable, 
locally. The working of the estates costs very much 
less than it does in Coorg, where pprmanent 
gangs have to be kept, as directly work is finished 
on these Mysore estates the local labourers is dis- 
misted till their services are required again. 
Some years ago, when the price of coffee was very 
low, efforts were msde almost on every estate iu the 
country to improve the colour of the beans by drying 
coffea under shade for a few d&ys be-fore putting it 
out in the open. Although I heard from one or two 
places that, this had resulted in obtaining for the 
coffee a couple of shillings or so in excess of ruling 
prices, yet it was j.enerally believed that the drying 
of the coffee like this in no way benefited the beans 
in improving their colour. I think ju^^t about that 
time, or a little iater, a gentleman in charge of curing 
works at Coimbatore wrote to your paper aud said 
that the experiment had been tried years ago and the 
whole thing exploded. A good outturn at curing 
works really means a good price. The best outturn 
ever known was that of Dunkeld Estate, North Coorg, 
which one year turned out 79 bushels of parchment 
to the ton ! I am indebted for this piece of informa- 
tion to the gentleman above referred to, who was in 
charge of the Ooimbatore curing works. Some estates 
give a very bad outturn amountiog sometimes to as 
much as from 93 to 95 bushels a ton. 88 bushels to 
the ton is verv good, but in calculating the tonnage 
on the estnte 90 bushels is nsually allowed to the ton. 
There was a discussion at one time as to whe'therthe- 
beans of coffee grown in the open had greater weight 
than of that grown under shade, and I think it waa 
decided that the beans in the former case had the 
advantage in weight. — M. Mail. 
AMERICAN QUININE RUMOURS. 
All during the Christmas week, says the O ,P. ^- D. 
Itc'porter, there have been reports current in America 
that a eon)bination of the European manufacturers of 
quinine was about to be accomplished. Details are 
lacking, but the trades reems to have put some faith 
in the seports as the transactions during the week have 
* But what does " gim " mean ? Contraction of 
"gimcrack"? The writer seems never to have heard 
of " Clerihews." — Ed, T. A, 
