AtfOWST'Ji'**®!.] 
-rt^r TftOWtJAL AQRtfSllLTUWST. 
»45 
THE PLANTING INDUSTRY IN 
A^'YNAAD. 
A brief dleontnion bu reoentl; baen held in these 
eoinmne between our Wynaad eorreipondeot eud our 
eontributor of pUetinjr Tiotf*, “ St. Looil,’’ oonoarDitur 
the etatn of the plenUug eoterpriee, and more eipe- 
eletly Ar»W»n Coffee, in 'Wvneed. 'Wyneed i»:lh»t 
tract of upUnd country whioh Kes between th» Nil- 
ffiri plateea and the Western Obftti, at the citrnine 
southern end of these before they fall away and form 
what is commonly known as the Falphat fiep, The 
elevation varies from 3,000 feet at Manintoddy, North 
Wynaad, to over 4,000 f^et at Nellaootta in South-East 
'Wynaad. The rainfall a'onc the ghAts runs as With as 
900 inches In the year, while in the districtR remote 
from them 70 inchee may be stated to be the annual 
aversge. Wynsad obtained a notoriety in the London 
Rnanolal markets early last decade by the reckless and 
prodigal manner in whioh Gold Mining Companies 
wore floated, and in the maJorUy of oases nothing was 
ever done to justify thtir oriatenoe. 'fhess Oompanios 
■till exist, and own latgo traets of land in Bonth- 
East Wynaad. After most of their capital bad been 
squandered in the purchase of worthless maohinery, 
I in the eceotion of extravagant buildings and the eon- 
struolion of unneoessaty roads, in the remnnemtions 
of directors and the npkocp of a large estsbliabment 
tn London, and after the onltivation had been per- 
mitted so go to rack and ruin for several years, they 
suddenly turned their attention to this, and devoted 
the residue of their capital to Irregular and perfunctory 
Operations in the field. The iiatiiral conseqeenoe hss 
been that the cultivation has hardly paid its way, 
and where a profit has baen made which was not 
■entirely swamped by London t barges. It has been so 
dwarfed bv the gisantto origlniit capital as to appear 
next to nU. It is no wonder that the British in- : 
vestor should come to look ou Wynsad as a veri- 
table “Dismal Swamp’* io wiiioh no one except a 
Mark Tapley coni d be happy. If - has been told Shat 
it U the land of Opliir, hut disonvirg that gold is con- 
apiouous by its absonre. It is p -into<1 out to him as 
a seonnd Oanamn, a land flowiuK with milk and honey, 
or, to he exact, rich in coffee and quinine, hut an far aa 
his balance at bis bankers is ooncernod, H might be a 
howling Sahara. Those Companies are lining much to 
retard the planting industry. It would be a fortanate 
day whenanl/iH'ienti.al C mipany wltli a smiH capital 
was started to take over these biooks of land ainl to 
open out cultivaticu ou a senbiltloand tco.wjini.**-!* p’ui. 
With work carried on syRtematically and regnlarlynnd 
the eoitivation of several prodnols undertaken on a 
pwying scale, there iv l.nl little <to.ibl that auoh a Com- 
pany would heebie, in the course of a few years, to 
return handsome dividinda te its sbaroholdera. 
The first fact that particularly impro’oes rtce'f 
on the mind ot the Plaiiier traveiling through 
Wynaad for the first time is that it ia essentia. ly 
hot a one product diirtriot. tlidfeo, b. .h Aiiihi,<i 
and Liberian, tea, cinehona and pepper all grow 
tigoronsly and crop well, and it wo arc 1 caido 
the mark when wo oay that mi.iiny waamnd.' ut of 
•II these pr'xIoctB last year, a disns' rously had season ; 
yet if we except Liberian coffee, whioh hu» just 
begun to be planted up, we arc well within the 'ruth 
when we state that during the past quiquunnium. 
Coffee, oioohona, tea and pepper have all v* lided a 
handsome, profit in one or other district of Wycaad. 
Wynaad ia split into three dirisiims, knu vn as North, 
Honth, and Sonth-Haat. The first two are in the 
cnlleetorato of Malabar, the last in that of thi' Niigiris. 
Theao divisions, with the exception of N irth Wynaad, 
arc sub-divided into planting distriota, the South 
jnto Vayitri, Meppadi and Sultan's Batleiy ; the 
oouth- East into Nillacotta, Dcvala and Oheiauibidi. 
Va'itri, Dcvala and Obetambadi are situated on the 
gbata, but where the ghats at Vayitri fsoa tho 
weat, at Devala and Cherambadi they face thosjulh. 
Meppadi lies close to tho Ghats, but is protected by 
^e Vollera Mulla range of hills. Bnitan’s Battery and 
Nollucotta are inlind; and their raiiifoll only averagos 
hO to 70 iuohes in the year. Tim vnrion ■ situa'ions 
of tn#, distriots, with their fliiioLcnt ia..i£aU aud- 
elevations, make one district better sni^ ter ofie 
product and one for-anotHer ; so that Swo fin’d at Va^lri 
that tfsi, ofnohona and fleDper thriva bast i aijMemUdf, 
ooffee, oinohona and pepper: at finltan’i Bat+etv, coffee 
and pepper ; at Cherambadi, cinehona ; at Devala. tea ; 
and at Nellaootta, ooffee and obichofia. floifart's 
Battery and Nellaootta have the beat repfltatlrtn for 
coffee plintlna at the nreaent day The latter la 
a comparatively now dlatriot which has attracted 
the attention of enoecsafnl -ooffee ’growers In other 
parts of Wynaad and in Coorg, but there are 
some old estates there which have givon splendid 
rasnlti for many seasosa In sncceaaion. In Devala 
tea has lately been opened not with the most aatia- 
faoterv roadlts, and It will io every probabilltv do 
eqnsITy well at Cherambadi. now simply a otnehona 
producing country; and as these two distrlcta h^e 
a largo supply of local labour, Oommbiirs and fnnWe 
tribes which Hye in Wvnasd all the year rdond, 
there ahould never ho a went of hands for plunk- 
ing leaf. Meppadi Is a district in which everv-om. 
dnot appears to thrtre eqaslty. Vayitri may bo said 
to he the last gh&t diatrlet in which ooS'ce haarHpgered. 
Last year leaf disease swent thrnngh with terrible 
virnlence, and much land hsd lo’he abandoned. Hei-e 
are some of the flne.Rt fle'ds of dnehona. more esosnial. 
Iv Ledger, that are to he eeeii in Wynaad. Pepper 
flnnrisbes and ' Otbps' well; aurnra. has been nroved to 
pay in this dlatriot. North AVynaad is the healthiest 
part of the country, and contains the unly town of, »nv 
size. ManintoSdi. Them Is bnt little cnltivallon left 
here, though toa ahould grow well on the hills all mund 
the town, nod there would never 1 >b auy want of 
labour. Pepper cnltivotion should also pmve a r"- 
muneratiye onterprlso. On the Bramaglietriet, suwe 
twertty miles north of Manintoddi and bordering on 
Onor.’, there are one or two coffee estates which pio- 
diiee a bean that in holdneas, weight and colour is not 
aurpassed hy any eoffee in Snnlhern India. 
Tu every district ot Wynaad more land is being 
opened ont this monaorni under one Ot othec produnl. 
It is estimated that a thonasnd aorea ot ooffee Ar/i- 
hicii, and five hundred aoras of Liberian eoffee will 
ho planted op.* A large noreage will be opened l^ith 
tea. and Ledger oinohonas. and lakhs of pepper out- 
lines will he put ont. The labour supply is ade- 
quate, so there will ho no delay in pnshing on 
with the wnth.-and the last neconots -to hand spask of 
perfect planting weather. T^e planting indnatry is 
evidently in a healthy and oxpanaive elate: We ahould 
like to Bee more capital brought into t’-e nCnntry, etiff 
there is no reason why there should not 'he, if only 
"Wynasd could get rid of that had narne trbich the gold 
fever'lett behind it and for which the deshltory onlti'- 
vation to which we have already alluded, haa aince 
been largelv rosnonaiblo. With five anoh staple* aa 
Arabian ooffee, Liberian ooffee, cinchona, tea a'tid pepper 
all growing luxuriantly and cropping hhavilv when 
seasona are at all favonrahio; the oountry ahUnld attract 
the attention nf oapitalista both targe and small. 
There ere very few corners of the world where a 
yon n't fellow with a love of ontdoor life and a little 
mooey at bis hack ia morn likely to get 'a Handaorae 
return on his capital and at the same time ioleada 
more healthy and happy life, tn a good 'olimate with 
lota of shooting, both big game and small game, at his 
door, and plenty of pleasant neighbnnra. The large 
capitalist ought also to find a good investment for his 
money here, provided that he does not put ail Ida 
egga into one basket but cultivates all the varions 
products, not experimenially, hut on a large remun- 
erative scale, and np.'ns cut land -in varmtre drairiets 
simultaneoualy. Ooffoe lias recovered wonderfnlly 
after last season's had attack of lesif diaoase ; oin- 
ohona if oidy rich in qniuine, still T#!*" iu apite - of 
the low unit, and this wave of mnuariza that haa 
swept over Kngland shows what a little thing isueedevt 
to send the price up ; tea is in a trsjisition state, but 
it is generally thought that the incroaard oonsump- 
tion of Indian and Ooylon kinds will keep pace with 
increased produotion; the popper market is -depresaad 
r Then, sin-oTy the leaf fnn;.^ns has 
.imiai’n.tiv'elv IniioAiiitvii ?— Ef). 7^. .4 
