174 
THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURIST 
[September i, 1891. 
It Qliould be got out a*! soou after the heavy raoti- 
soou rain is past uo possiblo. If put cut just after 
crop it is exposed for months to a blistering sun, 
followed by ‘2U to IIS iiicbee of rain in June and July. 
With 11 monsoon of 66 iuohos over 6,600 toos of water 
full on an aoru of land, sufiiciuiit, if all fell at unoc, to 
submerge the whole district to a depth of 5 ft. 6 inches. 
Of this enormous quantity of water about l.f OO to 2,000 
tons fall in Juoo and 1,500 to 2,000 in July. During 
these two mouths the rain is gBcerully eo continuous 
that only a very small proportion is evaporated, 
the temperature only varying from 60 deg. to 70 deg. 
Fh. the barometer almost steady at 26 5 inches, 
and only about 3 deg. between the wet aud dry 
bulb thermometers. Thabnlkot the rain must Iheie- 
fore pass oil by surface or subsoil drainage. In either 
case tills heavy downpour will wash all the si luble 
stiis down below the feeder roots or carry t' cm off 
with tim surface waah; at any rate a very large loss must 
occur, and this is probably the reason why tuoh a small 
{lorcoutage of potash is found in tropical soils. TIio 
loUowiug experiment proves that such is the case 
2Ulb. oiUla manure or rather pure dry gram-fed 
cattle duu 2 was placed iu a basket, which was buried in 
tUo ground up to the tim, in such a way that it was 
nut subject (o surface wasb,b it was ce nearly as possible 
under tlie same conditions as the surrounding soil. 
To preserve the basket it was carefully washed with 
a strung solution of arsenito of copper and then latr. d. 
It WBB lelt sxpi sed fur four mouths, namely, May, 
June, July, and Auguit. 
Tue dung taken out dried aud weighed was found to 
have lost 22 3 per cent in weight aud deteriorated iu 
quality over 60 per cent. 
The following analyses will help to make this clear : — 
(1) Organic Matter 
Lime 
Alkaline Salts 
JfhoBuherio Acid 
Iron and Alumina 
Insoluble Matter 
Undetennined 
Pure Dung. 
Before Exposure. After. 
Parts per lO'l 
66-80 
1-87 
1-31 
•90 
10b 
28-30 
■38 
100-00 .. 100 CO 
•617 
•212 
(1) Containing Nitrogen 
Should those figures fail to conviuco anyoue let 
him iust look at the rush of water over and off the 
suif.co of a piece of flat land such ss e tennis 
c or a read, when a thundorslonu of an inch 
or more tain falls iu an hour, _ot whm there is a 
cucca bur.A of the monsoon, rogisteriug 4 to 0 inches 
in 21 hours, and I think he will agree with nio 
that it is necessary to supply tho tree with easily 
assimilable food as soon as possible after the heavy 
rains are past, to compensate for tho monsoon loss. 
I cannot too strongly urge the planters of Coorg to 
nut out their mauuios during the first break at the 
end of July or in August. All otfcov works should be 
subordinated to this, even supplying. It is the crop 
that pays for this and every other work. If la' or is 
obtained there is plenty of timefor supplying, hut the 
time at which manure can be applied to obtain maxi- 
mum results at the minimum cost is very limited. 
The ouffoo tree is a surface feeder; and unless 
the laud baa been deeply cultivated from tho 
1> urinuiog aud is of loose aud friable character few 
feeder roots are found below 0 inches in com- 
parison with the number above that depth This 
points to the necessity of satface. broadcast man- 
Snng. by which I moan that m good coffee free 
frouT blanks, that the manure should be evei ly scat- 
tered over the surface up to within about a toot of 
the stem, ond lightly forked m. An account of an 
iutercstiiig experiment first devised by_ Nebbe will I 
hope satisfy you of lbs necessity for distributing the 
manure evenly round tho tree. 
Any planter can make tho experiment and so satisfy 
himself of tho ootteotueis of the followiug statements. 
Take a go 9 d- 8 i*ed tub s»y 2 feet iu diameter by 2 it, 
drop, bond a piece of tin (an old kerosine oil tin 
will do) at an augie of UO deg. and place it on end iu 
tho tub fitting the edges to tho tub ai.-ios, so that it 
is pjsaiblo to fill tho tub with well washed land 
without oiictoaohiiig on the enclosed fourth. Boro some 
boles in the bottom of tho tub, fill in for three inobes 
with oloau washed pebbles or broken quarts, pieces ^ 
to 1 inch will do, fix the tin iu position, fill with 
clean well washed sand outside the tiu. And iu the 
loiirth enclosed fill with first-class soil; arranging 
in It three vertical lubes place about throe icohes 
or BO apart and equidistant from the centre. 
The tubes should not le over two inelies in dia- 
meter; they may be of tiu, copper, glass or any other 
material; stiff paper rolled round a rod and glued 
BO as to form a tutm will do. Compuct tho soil gently 
round the tubes, aud fill one with bonos, one with fish, 
aud one with cattle manure, all iu flue pow.ler. Now 
withdraw tho tubo.s, Icavirg the ooinmus of rasuures 
standing in tho soil, and then withdraw tho angle tin, 
leaving the soil and sand iu contact; if tho work 
is well and carefully done the manure will 
not be mixed wnh tho soil, nor tho sell 
with the sand. 
ilaviug prepared tho tub (nr six of them to guard 
against aouidonis) plant n ouffee siodling iu each at 
the ooiitre point of the junction of tho sand and soil; 
the plant then has sand on three side-s aud soil on one. 
At tho end of twelve months take tho plant that 
appears most vigorous, knock the hoops off the tub, 
and careibllv wash all tho soil and sand away from 
tho ront.s. You will find very few feeder roots in the 
sand, while iho manures are surroniided by a mass 
of (htiii. As far as the ruota go tho plant is quite 
lopsided. Now if manures are put iu alavauga holes, 
or in trenches cut a short distance from the tree, the 
roots are prepared to grow and duvelopo ' in tho 
soil enriched hy them. ^ But that terrihle weapon 
tho muiiiotio comes into play, and often eats 
through the roots juet when the demand for plant 
food is greatcat, when tho tree is ripening crop. 1 
most unliesitaliugly condemn all mamotie digging. I 
have taken clods of earth after a mamotie digging, 
curried them home and washed (out tho fine feeder 
roots, often finding the clod one mass of them. Need- 
less to say that on many cstateB leaf diaeaie followed 
the digging when tlie trees were csriwiug crop. Ex- 
cept a light folk over at tho cud of July or in tho 
beginning of Augu-st when tho manure is put out, 
there should he uo digging from the time tho blossom 
sets till crop is picked. Every planter shouU do all 
ho oau to preserve Ills surface soil and save his tree 
roots. When the soil is light and friable aud has 
been deeply and well cultivated from tho begiuuing, 
the fsedet roots are found at a much greater depth 
thau wiieu it is stiff aud hard a few inches from the 
surface. 
Deep fork digging ouoe a year just after crop 
sends the roots down, aud they are leas affootod by 
the tuu and drought. 
When rain falls in tlio spring, if tho feeder roots 
are just below the Eurfaoe a light shower will start 
the blossom, but may not be suSciont to set it, aud if 
uo rain falls lor a month or bo to back I he first 
shower up. 'tin b’osEom runs a great risk of being 
burnt. ^ Witn deep cultivation this seldom bappCDS) as 
the rain which is siilfcioutly heavy to reach the roots 
oml briotj out the blossom will aUo servo to ett it, 
the sun not haviu]^ the power to evaporate the mois- 
ture which IS weJl 
Superficial cuItivQtmu-aiid want of mauuro are the 
main causes of the failure of crops to come on after 
a good bloBsom ; the raiu hiH run off and been eva- 
porated before the trees had time to gather it to 
themfelve^. 
Oullivato deeply, but not cxcosbively, manure 
systomatirally, do jt at the right time, keep the ear- 
face soil up to tho tree, do cot humbug the roots by 
lusmotio digging while crop is on the tree : in fact 
assist Nature, do not bully her, and good results may 
bo depended on, WILLIAM PBINOLE, m.s.o.i., 
Bangalore, July Slat, 
Agricultural Ohemist. 
