nib:  TROPICAL  AGRICULrURISr 
317 
Niov.  1,  1^595.] 
Tiie  coli'ea  plant  ia  a very  hn\ly  one  and  will 
su.vive  anil  yield  after  years  of  neglect  and  repeated 
attacks  from  its  many  toes.  These  latter  are  nume- 
rous. Its  living  enemies  are,  beside.s  the  siiuirrelsj 
monkeys,  rat ;,  and  birds,  who  love  the  sweei  pulpy 
covering  of  the  ripe  birry,  the  coffee-bng  and  tno 
■'  borer,”  a most  destructive  inseit.  The  chief  dis- 
eases to  uhich  the  coffee  shrub  is  heir  are  leaf  rot 
— which  is  caused  by  damp — and  prevails  in  rainy, 
mi.ity  climates,  and  its  worst  foe,  the  dreaded  leaf 
disease.  This  latter  is  the  latest  and  most  serious  of 
plagues  to  which  the  long-suffering  plant  is  subject,  and 
it  is  as  lasting,  damaging,  and  incurable  as  the  odium  ih 
the  vine.  This  is  a most  serious  disease,  which  appears 
to  have  its  seat  in  the  sap  of  the  tree,  appearing  and 
disappioaring  with  no  apparent  cause,  on  all  soils,  at 
every  elevation.  Although  it  has  not  yet  made  its 
appearance  in  so  dangerous  a form  on  the  Nilgiris 
as  in  the  lower-lying  countries  of  the  Wynaad,  Coorg, 
Mysore,  or  Ceylon,  no  coffee  planter  can  say  that 
his  crops  have  not  been  reduced  by  leaf  disease. 
Although  the  cay  for  realizing  large  fortunes  in 
tea  has  gone  by  with  a fall  in  the  price  of  the 
leaf,  that  has  brought  it  within  the  reach  of  the 
poorest,  tea  cultivation  yields  a steady,  if  not  a big, 
profit  to  the  planter,  who  is  willing  to  devote  himself 
to  it;  persona!  supervision  and  oven  labour  being  of 
the  utmost  importance  in  tea.  The  task  of  ihe 
tea-planter  is  altogether  a bigger  one  than  that  of 
the  cultivator  of  coffee.  In  tea  there  are  at  least 
twenty  ■*  piuckings  ” a year;  it  therefore  requires 
more  continual  labour  on  the  estate,  as,  unlike 
coffee,  tea  is  prepared  ready  for  consumption.  Tea 
thiives  best  on  the  Southern  and  Eastern  slopes  of 
the  Nilgiris,  which  get  a fair  share  of  both  mon- 
soons, i.nd  at  the  same  time  possess  a warmer  and 
more  equable  climate  than  the  Western  slopes.  It 
requires  sul'ticieiit  moisture,  and  a certain  richness 
of  soii  and  good  drainage;  but  the  less  the  laud  on 
the  plantation  slopes,  the  better  it  is  for  the  tea. 
Like  coffee,  tea  is  raised  from  seed  in  nurseries, 
and  while  the  seedlings  are  growing,  the  estate  should 
be  prepared,  if  necessaiq’,  by  terracing  and  by 
••lining,”  or  marking  out  and  “pitting”  cylindrical 
pits  cf  Ja  inches  being  tho  best  size. 
The  quality  of  tea  depends  on  the  care  bestowed 
on  each  of  tho  jirocesscs  it  undergoes ; the  grade  is 
determined  by  •“  sifting.”  This  is  performed  by 
women  or  children,  who  do  it  by  hand  or  by  machi- 
nery, in  sieves  varying  in  size,  the  tea  falling  through 
them  upon  a cloth.  The  grades  in  tea  are  : — 1. 
orange  flower,  or  broken  pekoe;  2.  pekoe;  3.  pekoe 
souchong;  4.  souchong;  5.  congou.  The  dust  which 
results  from  all  these  manipulations  especially  from 
sifLng.  is  sold  by  itself,  and  not  mixed  with  the  teas. 
Labour  has  always  been  a matter  of  difficulty  to  the 
Nilgiri  planter.  Local  labour,  alas ! is  becoming 
scarcer  with  every  year.  It  was  formerly  obtained 
chiefly  from  the  Badegas,  or  “Northmen,”  descen- 
dants of  Kanarese  colonists  from  the  Mysore  country. 
These  Badegas  are  a hard-working  and  a thrifty  race, 
and  thanks  to  their  industrious  nahits  they  are  be- 
coming a compai’atively  wealthy  people.  Their  villages 
are  characteristic  of  their  prosperity,  and  form  a 
striking  contrast  to  those  of  the  other  hill  tribes, 
with  their  rows  of  neatly  thatched  or  tiled  houses, 
standing  in  fields  of  korali  or  sami  and  surrounded  by 
woll-slocked  farm  yards.  Prosperity  has  made  them 
very  iiuleiicndeiit,  and  they  arc  becoming  very  unsatis- 
factory woikers,  as  they  keep  innumerable  holidays, 
and  stay  away  altogether  on  the  smallest  provocation. 
Having  learnt,  too,  the  principles  of  conee-plauting, 
and  acquired  a complete  knowledge  of  its  manu- 
facture, they  have  lately  set  up  as  planters  them- 
selves in  a small  way,  and  quantities  of  colfee  are 
grown  and  sold  locally  by  the  more  wealthy  Badegas. 
'There  arc  oven  iiistaiicos  of  Badegafe  having  taken 
over  plantations  on  the  death  or  retirement  of  the 
owner  ; and,  idle  and  trying  as  they  arc  as  hire- 
lings, they  display  the  greatest  energy  on  their 
own  behalf,  and  will  work  night  and  day  for  them- 
selves. When  any  district  becomes  congested,  as 
Mysore  did  some  five  and  twenty  years  ago,  there 
is  little  difficulty  in  obtaining  labour  from  it. 
On  the  other  hand,  should  a country  be  blessed 
by  good  seasons  and  consequent  prosperity,  or, 
again,  should  it  be  visited  by  a famine,  which 
relieve i congestion,  the  dilficulty  of  obtaining  labour 
is  proportionately  increased,  and  it  becomes 
necessary  to  tap  more  distant  districts.  The 
southern  districts  of  India— Trichinopoly,  Madura, 
and  Tinuevelly— are  the  great  recruiting  f<roimds  for 
the  planters  of  Ceylon,  the  Straits  Settlements, 
and  Mauritius.  This  naturally  impoverishes  tire 
labour  supply  ef  the  Nilgiris  and  other  planting 
districts  of  Southern  India.  The  labour  question  is 
the  most  important  of  all  the  difficulties  that  arise 
to  harrass  the  planter,  and  when  he  has  succeeded 
in  obtaining  labour  his  troubles  are  by  no  means  at 
an  end.  Anyone  who  has  had  the  slightest  acquaintance 
with  Indian  life  will  realize  some  of  the  labour  dif. 
Acuities  of  a European  employer,  and  will  under- 
stand how  constantly  friction  may  arise  between 
the  planter  and  his  coolies.  At  the  head  of  all  the 
labourers  ou  the  estate  is  the  writer  or  overseer,  who 
acts  as  a go-between  between  master  and  men , and  super- 
vises all  the  field  labour.  But  in  planting,  as  in  most 
things,  the  eye  of  the  master  is  of  supreme  im- 
portance, and  only  those  planters  who  are  willing  to 
devote  their  whole  time  and  attention  to  their  estates 
can  hope  for  a reasonable  profit.  The  lowcouiitry 
coolies,  who  are  brought  often  from  a great  distance, 
are  housed  by  the  planter  on  the  estate  in  cooly- 
lines  which  every  planter  is  obliged  to  build  for 
them.  Some  o\raers  also  have  a bazaar  on  the  estate 
for  their  coolies,  which  is  managed  by  the  writer,  and 
where  the  labourers  and  their  families  can  obtain 
necessaries  at  the  usual  rate.  Of  all  the  lowcouiitry 
coolies  those  from  Mysore  are  the  most  respectable. 
They  are  also  the  most  cai'eful,  saving,  and  indus- 
trious, being  of  higher  caste  than  the  others.  The  low 
caste  or  Pariah  coolies,  on  the  contrary,  are  reck- 
less, extravagant,  and  generally  in  want.  The  low- 
country  coolies  work  from  7 a.m.  till  5 p.m.,  while 
the  hill  coolies,  who  are  not  housed,  but  go  to  their 
homes  after  the  day’s  work,  come  at  9 a.m.  and  leave 
again  at  5 p.m.  A male  coolie  employed  in  ordinary 
field  labour  earns  4 as.,  a woman  ‘2^  as.,  and  a child 
from  2 as.  and  under  a day.  Skilled  labourers  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  tea  and  coffee  are  paid  at  a 
higher  rate,  and  work  overtime  ia  paid  for  separately. 
It  is  a matter  of  great  regret  that  the  Supreme 
Government  seem  but  little  disposed  to  follow  the 
excellent  example  set  by  the  Ceylon  Government, 
in  enabling  planters  to  contract  for  the  services 
of  coolies  for  a term  of  years,  but  are  rather  in- 
clined to  give  as  little  encouragement  and  assistance 
as  possible  to  this  industry  in  the  way  of  legisla- 
tion, even  when  the  Madras  Government,  who  are 
in  a position  to  understand  local  requirements, 
strongly  recommended  the  adoption  of  certain 
mea,8ures  sought  for  by  the  planters  of  Southern 
India.  Instances  of  this  indifference  were  given 
in  their  opposition  to  the  Breach  of  Contract  Act 
and  the  Coffee  Stealing  Prevention  Act,  and  to  other 
measures  of  the  same  character. — Tiincn  of  India. 
Sept.  24. 
— ♦ 
EXPORTS  OF  COTTON  SEED  OIL 
FROM  THE  IT.  STATES. 
During  the  last  fiscal  year  the  exports  of  cotton 
seed  oil  reached  21,161,728  gallons,  valued  at  i6,TS06,.S13. 
This  was  a gain  over  the  exports  of  1894  of  6,203,419 
pounds.  Of  the  total  exports  3,463,412  gallons 
went  to  the  United  Kingdom ; to  Germany,  2,674,263 
gallons;  France,  2,463,994  gallons ; rest  of  Europe, 
8,922,716  gallons  ; Me.xico,  l,7^20,8r)9 ; Brazil,  .593,295 
gallons ; British  North  America,  423,067  gallons.  It 
seems  incredible  that  a few  years  ago  cotton  seed 
oil  was  not  known  as  a commercial  product,  and 
that  the  cotton  States  wasted  material  which  now 
brings  the  country  nearly  fi7, 000,000  in  a single  year. 
The  utilization  of  waste  products  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  chapters  in  the  history  of  recent  times, 
— Amciican  Grocer. 
