390 
TH^: TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 1 , 1897 
coffee properties in British Central Africa is 
given The total acreage planted, it will be 
observed, is very considerable, albeit most of the 
clearings are young. Some local authorities think 
aliade will be needful for coffee in Myassaland 
ss it is in Mysore and Coorg. 
COFFEE IN BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 
It has often been discussed within this Protectorate 
as to whether a coffee bush will continue to bear crops 
for a long period. It is worthy of notice that a patch 
of the oldest coffee in the country, on Messrs. 
Buchanan Brothers’ Zomba plantation, which was 
planted 12 years ago, this year gave a crop of between 
three and fmr hundredweight to the acre of good 
coffee. — B. C. A/iica Gazette, Aug. 1. 
The following notes on coffee plantations in B. C A. 
have been recently collected by us. As our readers 
will see, they are by no means exhaustive, but are 
meant to give outsiders in other planting countries, 
such as Ceylon, India, &c., some rough idea as to 
what is being done in coffee in B. 0. A. 
We have been freely supplied with information and 
statistics by all the planters we have applied to 
(except one). Should we have omitted to mention 
any plantation now in existence, it is through inad- 
vertence. — Ed. B. C. a. Gazette. 
Namasi District. — The agent of Mrs. A. L. Bruce 
at Namasi has now about 200 acres of coffee planted, 
and a clearing of 70 acres ready to plant oat. Prom 
what is seen of this plantation from the miin road, 
it appears to be in a thriving condition. Plants of 
two years’ growth look particularly Healthy. Mr. 
Owen Stroud has been in charge of this estate since 
Mr. Livingstone’s departure on leave of absence, 
and the neat appearance of the estate shows what care 
is bestowed on it. There is a line of blue gum and 
Pride of India trees along the road, and another line 
of Mlanje cedars planted a little further back. With 
a good brick house, which is being erected this year, 
the plantation will be completed. 
Mr. J. Boyd-Wallace has already planted 116 acres, 
and has about 100 acres cleared ready for planting 
next season. Mr. Wallace ha,s laid out his estate with 
taste, and the roads passing through are lined with 
Pride of India trees. All the plants are only of one 
year’s growth so that two years must elapse before a 
return is obtained. 
Mr. Gordon Mitchell’s estate is being managed by 
Mr. J. R Greenshields. He has aboulTO acres under 
coffee : 100 acres of this is only first year, 70 acres 
second year, and 25 acres third year. This latter 
portion of 25 acres was originally planted with second 
nursery plants, and though this is but the second 
year since planting, the crop, being really third year 
plants is coming on, and looks promising. Mr. Green- 
shield, has also planted blue gums and Pride of 
India strees along the avenues on this estate, and 
along the main road. These are sufficiently well 
grown to afford shade. There is one rather notice- 
able feature in his estate in regard to shade : some 
of his young coffee plants were planted in the shade 
of a large Jicus, near the Namiwajva river, aud 
though the rest of the estate looki in a flourishing 
condition, the plants under the shade of the fig tree 
are sickly and delicate. 
The following are the other Namasi planters with 
the approximate area under coffee : - Messrs. Robert- 
Boa and Wren, 140 acres cleared and about 150 acres 
planted ; Mr. K. Keiller, 100 acres planted ; Mr. J. 
Cameron, about 30 acres planted, and Mr. P. Morkel, 
about 40 acres planted. 
Another flourishing p’antation along the Zomba 
Blantyre road is that of Mr. S. Israel. He has about 
60 acres third year, 70 acres second year, and 80 
acres first year: about 210 in all. He does not in- 
tend to plant any more this year, but this does not 
tell agaiut^t the rate at which he intends to extend 
his estate, because he has decided to transplant from 
his first year nurseries into a second year nursery, 
and this, while being much cheaper than actually 
putting in the seedlings where they are to remain 
in the fields, does not retard their growth ; and 
next year, when these plants are finally set in the 
plantations, they are expected to be much stronger 
for the second transplanting, and a smaller proportion 
of blanks are obtained. The following is an ex- 
tract from Mr. Israel’s notes on coffee : — 
“ The first step, of course, is to choose the site of 
your estate. I selected mine on account of the 
healthy appearance of the forest trees and rich growth 
of grass. When the forest is cleared, pegs are put 
in where the pits are to be dug. This is called 
“ pegging.’’ After pegging comes the pitting, then 
draining. In my case, I prefer to drain immediately 
after pegging, because the drains can be made better 
then. Thorough drainage is necessary, as the open 
drains prevent wash, and admit air into the soil. 
Then the ashes of the burnt trees and grass are 
carefully mixed with earth and put in the 
pits where the coffee plants are to be set. It 
is not advisable to leave the ashes exposed as the 
rain may wash them away, or the winds blow them 
about. Putting in the plants is a simple matter, if 
well looked after. Pruning should be constantly 
kept up, and is even advisable in the second nursery. 
I have between 30 and 40 men continually pruning. 
After the plants are three years old, before bearing, 
I make pits between the rows, one pit between every 
four trees, and into these pits I throw all the weeds, 
rotten leaves, and decaying vegetable matter, as a 
substitute for manure. Then I cover up these pita, 
and when the substances decompose, a valuable 
manure is obtained. I also ‘‘ thatch " my plantations 
in bearing, that is, cover the ground between the 
coffee trees with grass. After picking my crop I 
propose to manure the trees of one ^art of my 
plantation in the following way : dig a hole about 12 
inches deep and about one foot distant round the 
stem in a half circle, fill this with cow dung, 
coffee-pulp and ashes, well mixed with soil. An- 
other part of my plantation I intend manur- 
ing with sulphate of ammonia and phosphates, of 
which, for an experiment, 1 have purchased six ton. 
I have now commenced to plant shade trees, and 
have big nurseries of different kinds of Australian 
trees for this purpose, I shall not be able to tell o 
two or three years what effect the shade trees 
will have. Coffee estates might be advantageously 
laid out in gardens of from 5 to 10 acres each. When 
these are numbered and recorded, it is easy to make 
reference to certain plots, and to know what has 
been spent on them, when weeded, what is produced 
and the working by task work is easier. In this man- 
ner my estate is laid out aud worked. The follow- 
ing improvements will become necessary for a 
systematically worked plantation. Large cattle 
stalls (built near the coffee gardens so 
as to save carriage of manure), brick houses, 
for collecting ashes and manure, and good brick 
houses for the native labourers (to keep them in 
good health), good stores for drying coffee, 
for grain, aud for general merchandise. Well 
laid out vats add to the value of a 
plantation. I ha''’e never a scarcity of labour 
Labourers are coustanly applying for work, and even 
in the wet season I am always well off. The fact of 
giving them good houses, giving them the option of 
food or merchandise to buy food with, weekly sup- 
plies of silt, and medicine when anyone is ailing, 
adds to a ci-itain repute amougit natives, I notice 
that every tribe liao i s peculiarities and special 
fitness for certain kinds of work: — The Ajawa for 
skilled labour, such as sawing, pruning, brick-laying, 
carpentering; the Machinga, a section of Ajawa, are 
a strong set of men, and well suited for build- 
i ig, cutting trees aud similar work, where strong 
m iscles are required. The Augoni cannot be beaten 
lor pit-making or careful weeding, and the Atonga, 
a strong and active race, can be made useful for 
all-round work. The Anguru are not well suited for 
garden work, but are excellent for tenga-tenga work — 
carrying loads up to 75 pounds. 
