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THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
DEEP  DI(H;I]S(J  for  coffee. 
A Correspondent  in  iSouth  Coorg  writes  to  a 
Madras  paper  : The  change  that  is  worked  in  a sick 
piece  of  coffee  by  a deep  digging  is  little  short  of 
marvellous ; in  a couple  of  weeks’  time  one  would 
hardly  know  it  for  the  same  piece  of  coffee.  Any- 
one has  only  to  try  it  to  be  convinced  of  the  fact. 
It  seems  strange  under  the  circumstances  that  the 
important  work  of  digging  should  in  any  case  be 
neglected;  and  yet  I have  heard  of  its  discontinu- 
ance being  advocated,  and  of  this  being  put  partially 
into  practice  in  several  places.  The  argument  used 
in  favour  of  discontinuing  digging  is  that  it  as  very 
seldom  done  in  the  Spicy  Isle,  and  yet  crops  used 
to  be  large.  It  would  be  well  to  call  to  mind,  when 
using  argument  of  this  description,  that  almost  all 
the  coffee  in  that  delectable  land  has  gone  out. 
It  has  also  got  to  be  remembered  that  soils  differ 
and  that  work  suited  to  one  description  of  soil  would 
be  quite  unsuited  to  another.  In  Coorg,  for  instance, 
digging  is  not  generally  so  necessary  in  the  open 
friable  forest  soils  as  it  is  in  the  Damboo;  although 
even  there  it  would  have  been  beneficial  in  all  cases 
where  the  slope  of  the  land  admitted  of  its  being 
carried  out  without  the  risk  of  loss  of  soil  through 
wash.  The  result  of  stopping  digging  for  a couple 
of  seasons  in  the  Bamboo  or  the  Santikoppa  District 
would  cause  such  a rough  awakening  that  I am 
sure  it  would  never  be  attempted  again  ; the  lesson 
learned  would  be  too  severe  to  be  easily  forgotten. 
I may  mention  that  the  increase  in  borer  alone 
would  be  starling  ; although  it  is  as  likely  as  iiot 
to  be  attributed  to  this  cause.  The  following  brief 
extract  from  Professor  Johuston,  although  referring 
more  particularly  to  the  plough,  is  equally  applicable 
to  the  fork,  will  afford  some  reasons  as  to  w.iy 
digging  should  naturally  be  beneficial.  “ I3y  the 
use  of  the  plough  the  parts  of  the  land  are  more 
minutely  divided — the  air  gels  access  to  every  particle 
—it  is  rendereff  lighter,  more  open,  more  permeable 
to  the  roots.  The  vegetable  matter  it  contains 
decomposes  more  rapidly  by  a constant  tuining  of 
the  soil,  so  that  whatever  the  fibres  of  the  roots 
penetrate  they  find  organic  food  provided  for  them, 
and  an  abundant  supply  of  oxygen  of  the  atmos- 
phere to  aid  in  preparing  it.  All  soils  contain, 
likewise,  an  admixture  of  fragments  of  the  minerals 
of  which  they  are  formed,  and  which,  by  their 
decay,  yield  new  supplies  of  inorganic  food  to  the 
growing  plant.  The  more  frequently  they  are  ex- 
posed to  the  air,  the  more  rapidly  do  these  fragments 
crumble  away  and  decompose.  There  are  few  soils 
so  stubborn  as  not  to  show  theinselycs  grateful  m 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  this  kind  of  labour 
that  may  be  bestowed  on  them.  I might  make 
many  (|Uotations  from  other  authorities  in  support 
of  the  beneficial  action  of  digging,  but  the  above 
ought  to  suffice  to  convince  any  sceptic.  In  the 
case  of  the  estates  above  referred  to,  it  is  the 
practice  to  place  the  manure  on  the  surface  of 
the  hard  ground  near  the  stems  of  the  trees,  the 
idea  being  that  it  all  sinks  into  the  ground  ana 
that  none  of  it  is  lost.  Tbis  may  look  very  well 
in  theory,  but  in  practice  a two-fold  loss  is  en- 
tailed on  the  manure,  one  by  the  wash  and  the 
other  by  the  escape  of  the  organic  part  as  gas 
into  the  air,  and  I am  sure  that  if  the  quantity 
of  manure  used  were  not  l«rge,  the  results  \vould 
be  very  evenescent.  One  bad  result  of  putting  down 
manure  in  this  way  is  that  the  stems  of  the  trees 
throw  roots  into  it  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  these  become  exposed  if  any  part  of  the  manure 
is  washed  away  ; or  they  arc  injured  it  a coolie  is 
careless  with  his  mamooty  in  scraping  weeds  or 
digging ; so  that  here  also,  as  far  as  the  trees  are 
concerned,  there  is  a further  waste  of  manure 
^Vheu  the  roots  are  injured  they  are  deprived  of 
the  only  means  of  taking  in  the  manure  just  when 
they  had  begun  to  do  so.  Dr.  Voelckcr  had  said 
that  it  does  harm  to  go  upon  the  land  when  it  is 
wet  evidently  because  this  tends  to  make  it  liaid 
and  compact.  Hut  how  is  going  upon  the  land  when 
it  IB  wet  to  be  avoided  ? The  Bcasonable  pciTurmaiico 
of  the  different  works  entails  going  upon  the  laud 
often  when  it  is  very  wet.  The  only  way  to  coun- 
teract the  bad  effects  of  this  is  to  fork  and  stir 
th(^  soil  several  times  if  feasible.  But  here  the 
planter  is  exercised  by  the  fear  that  this  would 
cause  too  much  root  oisturbance.  So  long  as  the 
roots  are  not  turned  up  and  exposed,  I believe  no 
barm  results.  The  fork  should  be  inserted  deeply 
near  the  big  trees  and  the  soil  be  prised  up.  Even 
if  some  tearing  of  roots  results,  the  injury  is  slight 
and  is  more  than  compensated  for.  This  cannot  be 
done  in  the  case  of  young  plants  as  they  are  apt 
to  bo  lifted.  In  this  connection  the  following  will 
be  of  interest.  Thus  Mr.  Phillips  in  “ Principles  of 
(Tropical)  Agriculture  ” : — “ Mr.  Mills  is  known  as 
the  grower  of  some  of  the  finest  pines  ever  seen, 
and  the  secret  of  his  method  is  thus  characterised 
in  the  (1  cerdenem’  Chronicle The  foundation  of 
his  success  is  common  sense.  He  keeps  his  soil 
perfectly  open  and  well  drained  ; his  roots  are  pre- 
served by  tliis  means  in  a healthy  condition  ; he 
does  not  cramp  thein.  These  are  his  great  rules 
of  conduct.  They  apply  to  other  plants  as  well  as 
pines. — I/ulian  Aijiiculturist. 
THE  (’EDAU  OF  ( ENTUAH  AKKirA. 
In  Commissioner  Johnston’s  report  of  the  first 
three  year's  administration  of  the  eastern  portion  of 
British  Central  Africa  there  is  a sketch-map  showing 
the  agricultural  condition  of  this  country  and  the 
extent  of  such  forests  as  yet  remain.  Mr.  Johnston 
says; — The  dense  forests  are  now  mainly  confined 
to  certain  hilly  regions,  where  local  circumstances 
protect  them  to  some  extent  from  destruction  by 
bush-fires.  They  are  always  associated  also  with 
either  an  unusual  rain-supply  or  the  presence  of 
underground  springs.  Slightly  stagnant  or  surface 
water  appears  to  contain  too  many  salts  in  solution 
to  be  favourable  to  the  growth  of  forest,  and  such 
forests  as  are  usually  found  growing  near  swampy 
districts  arc  palm  thickets.  There  is  one  magnificent 
forest  of  raphia  palms — one  of  the  grandest  sights 
I have  ever  seen  in  the  vegetable  world — near  .Junibe’s 
town,  Kota- Kota,  in  the  valley  of  a sluggish  stream 
flowing  into  the  Bua.  As  a remarkable  feature 
peculiar  to  British  Central  Africa  should  be  noted 
the  splendid  cedar  forests  on  the  upper  plateau  of 
Mlanje.  Under  the  explorations  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Whyte,  the  naturalist  attached  to  my  administration, 
it  was  not  known  that  any  conifer  existed  in 
Central  Africa,  south  of  A’oyssiiiia,  and  north  of  the 
Drakensberg,  with  the  exception  of  a few  small 
juniper  bushes  discovered  by  Mr.  Thompson  growing 
on  Mount  Kenia  and  one  or  two  other  heights  in 
Equatorial  Africa.  The  existence  of  conifers  on  the 
top  of  Mlanje  was  first  reported  by  the  Kev.  Robert 
Clelland,  a missionary  belonging  to  the  Church  of 
Switland  Mission.  Not  much  heed  was  given, 
however,  to  this  news,  because  no  specimens  were 
sent  homo  for  identification.  But,  undoubtedly,  Mr. 
Clelland’s  ftiformation  put  us  on  the  scent,  and  one 
of  the  first  things  I attempted  on  arriving  here  in 
1891  was  to  have  the  upper  plateau  of  Mlanje  ex- 
[dored.  As  a consequence,  Mr.  Whyte  discovered 
the  grand  conifer,  of  the  genus  Widdringtonia,  to 
which  his  name  was  given.  An  account  of  this  tree 
and  the  circumstances  of  finding  it  were  given  in  an 
earlier  report  of  mine  printed  by  the  Foreign  Office. 
This  Widdringtonia  would  appear  to  be  nearest  allied 
to  the  cypresses,  as  it  unquestionably  is  by  the 
shape  of  its  seed  vessels,  and  the  nature  of  its  foliage  ; 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  widely  different  to  the  cy- 
presses in  shape  and  size,  and  far  more  resembles 
the  cedar,  both  in  appearance  and  in  the  fragrant 
smell  of  its  timber.  It  would  seem  now  as  though 
there  were  two  different  species  of  Widdringtonia 
growing  on  Mlanje,  one  a very  lofty  tree,  reaching 
fully  to  11)0  ft.  ill  height,  and  the  other  scarcely 
exceeding  i!0  or  -10  ft.,  and  growing  in  a very  straggling 
habit.  There  is  a slight  difference  in  the  foliage 
of  the  two  species.  SVe  have  not  yet  been  able 
to  get  the  dwarf  species  edeutitied,  but  hope  to  do 
so  before  long.  In  regard  to  this  Widdringtonia, 
I might  mention  that  Mr.  Whyte  lias  spared  no 
efforts  to  introduce,  or  lot  us  say,  re-introduce  its 
growth  into  all  parts  of  the  bhire  highlauds  above 
