August i, 1891.] 
133 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURIST. 
fishery. Whether 1« is the shortsightedness of the 
fishermen thinking to keep up the prioe of oorel, ortho 
want of knowledge in the use of the apparatus, we 
oanuot tell ; hut in the oases where we have supplied 
diving aiiparatoa the owners have spoken of their 
great suueees in obtaining pure specimens in all 
colours, from the pale pink to the dark red, and in some 
oases black, and we believe they have not oomplained 
either in the commercial point of view. Amber is 
found in the Ualtic, ou the coast of Prussia, in toler- 
able quantities, but as yet the use of the diviug 
apparatus has not formed any important industry. We 
hope wUen the attentiou of practical men has been 
brought^ to this fishery, like those already mentioned, 
the diving apparatns will be the only meaue of obtain- 
ing this important tcsiiious exudation of an extinct 
genus of coniterous trees from the depths of the sea.* 
flew TO DrVK. 
Here are a few hints which Mr. Gorman gives to 
divers With inexperienced men it is advisable to have 
a rope ladder down to the bottom, but an expert diver 
prelers simply a rope ; they must both be weighted at 
the bottom. Kach diver while under water requires a 
sigaalmau to hold his lite lioo and air-pipe, both of 
wiiioh should bo kept just taut, clear of iho guuuel, so 
that any movement of the diver may be felt. The diver 
should diwoend slowly, halting for a few minutes after 
his head is uuder water, to satisfy himself that every- 
thing is ourreet, and then ooutiuuo tlie descent. If he 
feels uppressed or experieuces any humming noise in 
hxs ears, he should rise a yard or two and swallow his 
saliva several times; he must not oontinne to descend 
unless he feels comfortable, U oppression, singing in 
the ears, or headache oontinne he must not persevere, 
but toluru slowly to the turfaoe. To dive to groat 
depths, such as 130 or 150 feet, requites men of great 
praetico aud able to sustain tbo consequent enormous 
pressure. On arriving at the bottom tbo diver will give 
one pull on the life-line to notify that he is “ all right.” 
lu returning from great depths the diver should asoond 
ve.y slowly, and thus avoid the etfeots of passing too 
abruptly from considerable pressure to that of the open 
or; ii hesiop.s now and thou, ho gets gradually aud 
regularly accustomed to the ebatige. The ascent from 
the depth of iwouiy fathoms should occupy abont five 
minutes. “It is more important to move slowly in 
rising than in deicendiug.” The diver takes down with 
him the ladder line, which be seonros tu the feat of the 
ladder or rope by which ho ba.s doacouded ; this line 
should be eeiled up in his hand with a loop round 
bis wrist, aud as he leaves the ladder he lets the lino 
gtadually uncoil, so that if he be at any distaiico oU 
he can find his way back to the ladder when be wants 
to return, ff working in thick water, while at the 
bottom he should never lot go the ladder line ; if by 
any aooidenl ho does so, aud oanuot find the latter, he 
must make the signal to bo hauled up . — /‘all Mail 
i^adget, 

THE AKT OE MANUIUNO COFFEE. 
. Jo the Editor Madras Mail. 
Sir, In your issue of the Pth instant you have a 
long article on this subject by Mr. Pringle, in which ho 
public gratia information that has cost us 
A5,000 stcrlnig. In the flrat oolnmn, on page 6, he 
writes: — ‘‘ The great question is, what is ueeessary, 
and how much To help in the settlement of this 
qnstion, I submit the aggregate results of some of my 
experiments, giving the weight of olean cofl'eo yielded.” 
xhen follow the results. I think it right to warn your 
readers that those results ate, by Mr. Pringle’s own 
ooiifossion, vofnslasi. lie wrote Messrs. Mathesou A 
f o., iu ounueoliou therewith, as follows “ 1 am very 
sorry to say that tbo crop from the exporimoutal plots 
>» very disappointing,” and iu a letter to myself, n<i- 
clod— « The plots were too small, and each one has 
alfeoted its neighbour. I have oompared the results in 
exery way, and it is impossible lu say what manure is 
best.” He wrote mo again, on alst Mirch last, “ and 
* Amber is washed on to the shores of the Ualtio in 
considerable quantities after storms.— E d, T. -d. 
though ray experiments in regard to manures and leaf 
disease are incomplete, they have thrown considerable 
light on tho subjects, and the doubtful results I have 
obtained may yet be turned to useful acoouut.” Iu fur- 
ther proof that the results are unreliable, I may men- 
tion that tho manured plots gave an average for 4 yoras 
ut unly cwt. 3'20 per acre, while the unmanured gavo 
owt. 3 05, The excess was, therefore, only cwt. (e 15 per 
acre, worth, on the trees, .say BO, or about a aixtb of tbo 
cost of tho manures and application ncceiaary to 
produce it The self-evident cunolnsioD is that 
manuring, except as a means of keeping the estates 
alive, is a misUko wliich carries absurdity on the 
face of it. His figures with regard to cattle and 
cattle manure, too, are fallacious aud misleading. 
There U not a bandy and pair of bullooks in Cuorg 
that costa K23-15-4 per mensem. If they did, the work 
they perform would bo wortli Bl-8-0 a day instead 
of a rupee, and they would work 26 days instead of 
24. The profit, therefore, instead of being 8 pie per 
month plus the manure, would bo BIG plus the manure. 
Meroars, 12lh June. C. Mbinbli., 
Attorney for Mathesou and Co. 
II. 
Sir, — There is no doubt that planters like the 
farmers of old in England have a distrust of Agri- 
cultural Chemists. Two geollemeu now claim they 
can cure leaf-disease. It has long been known that 
any given coffee tree can be cored and kept olear of 
leaf-disease by the use of sulplinr end other ageuts. 
As far as a laboratory or garden experiment goes 
there is no great dIHioulty in the matter. In fact, 
without the nao of any such agents, if the soil is 
made rich oiiuugli iu the ingredients ooSeo loves 
(decayed vegetable matter beiug the chief) a coffee 
tree will praollcally defy leaf-<lises»e — that is it will 
bear heavy aud coutinuons crops and uot sutler from 
them. What any man has to do who wishes to get 
planters to adopt his oure fur leaf-disease is to show 
them a field of 10 or 20 acres in an estate which he 
has kept clear of disease fur 3 years; which has 
borne an average crop uf at least 5 tuns par acre 
for 3 years, aud which shows a marked superiority 
in appearance and yield tu the fields adjoiuiug it. 
Any man who oau do that and patents his 
procosa mar be sure of every plauior adopting his 
process aud paying him a handsome royalty. Mu 
system which cannot do this at a moderate cost will 
ever be carried beyond a garden experiment. Now of 
the two gentlemen who are offering their cures for 
our Bccoptanco Mr. Vernode is I believe a planter, 
and Mr. Pringlo has been experimenting for 4 years ou 
hlossrs. Mathesou and Oo.fl' estates. Presumably these 
gentlemen have applied their oboap and infalliblo 
cures to at least one of the fields nnder their care. 
Let them afaow us those fields and the records of 
their crops, and if they can ahow they have made 
coffee averaging iI3 per acre yield an average of £6 
pot acre by keeping it clear of leaf-disease and borer 
the planter will be convinced, but nothing else sctU 
convince him. 
I shonid like to make a few remarks on the article 
on the art of mannring coffee as it rather illustrates 
why a planter distrusts an Agricultural Chemist. 
Mr. Pringle gravely assares no that gram-fed cattle 
who do not work cannot be made to produce manure 
uuder B150 for ton tons of msnnre. I don't suppose 
any practical planter ever gives gram to cattle which 
do not work, but I can assiiro Mr. Pringle that a 
cattle manure wbich has excellent effects on coffee 
oau be made in Wynsad and applied to tho coffee at 
the rale of 16 to 22 tons on aero for B50 per aore — 
including every charge for tending cattle, cattle sheds, 
a certain amount of feeding stiilfs for the hot weather 
and medicines, carting and application, and that this 
is habitually done iu theWyuaad over large acreages. 
I have done aa mnoh as 100 acres a year for two or 
throe years, and I know other places where it U done. 
How Mr. Pringle gets his cost of application np to 
K3 per acre I don’t know. If a oooly applies manure 
to 100 trees, that is 3 per acre of 1,200 trees, ho 
could fork 70 trees, which would make a total of E701. 
Another K1 for filling baskets and commission to the 
