THE TROPfCAL AQHIOULTURIST. [SEPTEMBfiR t, 1S91. 
I 86 
•he 24 hour! every day, and a' there wan plenty of 
tHnshine it waa ja»t the aort of wi other to give ra e 
to the ateamy heat un'ler shade which, aocordinuto 
Mr. Pringle, la condncive to the inception ofi af 
diaeaee. The ominoiia speoka have shown thtmacivoa 
on trees weakened by heavy hearing last season and 
on others by the atiaoka of the borer grab. Ou the 
Both ultimo tbo rain set in very heavily and oontinned 
uuinterrnptedly till the \0th instant, when there w,.s 
a change, the amount rcgitteied for that day being 
enly 46 eenta. aa compared with an average fall of 2 
inches 81 eenta. From tho let to 9th iostuut, both iu- 
clnaive. The hoavioat fall tvas on the 5tb, when i inches 
86 cents, were rigistered. There was a small respite 
after the 10th, wibich oontInucJ till the IBIh when 
the rain started heavily once more, only again toa'op 
on the 16th, since when there hiia been a wcloouio 
htaak which promlHOi to hold out foi some littlo iimu. 
The total fall of rain gauged at Mercara from the 
let to tho 10th lusUnt, both days molnslvo, was 21 
inches 24 oeuti. All this heavy tain baa oomo most 
opportanely for the paddy fields. Tho ryota were 
ooraplaii.iog that their nursery beds were drying 
up lor want of water j but now they are quite satis- 
fied, ami plonghiog eperaiiona are being prorecuted 
briskly. It is aurptiaiiig what a difference every few 
mibs inland east of the ghauts mskes in the rainfall. 
The average rainfall for tho past 10 years in 8an- 
tacocp* Dlitricl, only 9 miba east of .\I,rcara, is about 
65 inches, whareaa in the latter place it ia more than 
double that amount. 
Labunrr ra, have been alow in putting in an appearance 
from Sooth Csnsta this staaon, owing to tho ruin 
having reached them late. Their presence on eatales 
jnst now ia very wdeemo as iho latter are mostly 
in a very bad way, with wieda and gvats hiding the 
trees from view, supply planticg and tho takins'ont 
of borer being at a B'audatill. New ob aringa eaptcially 
are in a wretched atato of weediiieaa, and all that can 
be doue now is to get the weeds under at any aaeri- 
fice, Bupplyingi Ao., being secondary considera- 
tions. There are a few for Innate placea where 
labour is snffioiently abninlant to carry on all 
branolica of work tbnt oug.ht to bo dona 
ut tliia time of year; but. tie, majority of esta ea 
ario badly e(T. It'is owing to this coiis'autly recurring 
fa lure of labour at ILc right time which retards such 
anall-imporlaul work a' a ipplying np vaounoiea, au.l 
sometimes causes it to bo neglected altogether with 
the reaults, seeing the 1 las, s emtaiued tbrongh burer, 
that they come to present a rather hate nppearanoe in 
parts. What makiB us especially acre on tliia question 
of labour is that heavy advances are given rut tu eon- 
tra' tors wl o never lioi-I t> tnoir coiitraota. It appturs 
to have come to he an undi ratnod thi ig thatCannreae 
labour from the Mysore country is not to ho looked tor 
fill September, in ipit" of iiicttn-ed wagea, reg alrstiuii 
ol MaiHlrie.s and whiii not. And in a few ytats 1 bi,- 
lieve Wo shall have to depend mainly on SoiilU Uanrra 
and Mulalmr oooliea tor tho working of nut (states. 
These coolies, for the most part Mhdiars and 1 arley.s, 
aieina atato of nl ji-ot alavery in their own countrv. 
Tho largo landholders there oxiroire a proprietory right 
over them and merely provide thiir icarriag" and fune- 
ral expenses, food and a few rnga at tiinea in exchange 
f ir their labour. For such faults sa ev du g or shirking 
work, aharoraing sick, Ao , they nro visited with the 
aeverest punishment, which usualiy consists in tho de. 
liiiquent being ti(d to e troa and having the cliaaleniug 
rod laid on him with very lUllo regard to mercy 
These people are allowed by their owners to come and 
earn a few rupees on ooffee cslates alter all their Mi ly 
g^u^nrk ,t'e has been completed ; but woo betide 
?bli^f 5hev arruot buck in time to leap the paddy. 
The^ know what would ho in atorof.ir them, and hence 
it bair.atTmpos.sihlelo keep them here . veo a few 
be relied ou for much. They ate fairly good ' 
tog, digging and muauriug, but for such works as ““ddb 
ing, pruning, ko,, which require skill, tntelligeiioe aud 
the exercise of somo judgment, they we next to ^fiele^8. 
They do pretty well,howevert when tutored by Ottusts 
oootiea. They are inch an apathetic, indolent, depraved 
lot that I am afraid anyexertioDS ou their behalf, like 
thftt. inaugurated in Madras ou b**baif Pariah, 
would hfl utterly futile. They usually retnrn again at 
the end t/f* November and work on till the end of Febru- 
ary, when they begin to be wanted ouco more to reap 
a seo iiui crop of paddy. There are other high olaaa 
oooliea wlio come from South Canara, They cocaiat of 
Bhuntas. Moplfths find petty landholder?, or Oowdas; 
but they get orally follow in lh^ wake of a contraolor, 
who lakoa up work at eo mnch per acre. It is really 
aatobishing to see tho amount of certi'in kinda of work 
thfRH piojile aro oipable of doing ; open!' gout oils, for 
IiistaiicQ. I have known some of them to do 2i timrs 
as much as an ordinary cooly, working from early in 
the mornmgtili evaoiug, and they are paid aooordiogly. 
Tho Moplfthe eapeoialiy are fine specimens of men aud 
very hard workers. From what I have seen of them, 
I believe they ought to lurnish splendid fighting mate- 
rial, and it is to be hoped B<<mu notice will be taken 
of yonr aovooaoy of the soheme of raising regiments 
fr« m them. 
OitcamataLces over which I have bud no control have 
prevented me being rtguUr with my ooutributiona of 
plauting nnt( a, and noticing the remarks of Mr. PrinKio, 
which were tbo outcome of my no’e? of the lOthMay 
UAt. Hh complained that I bad unt piveu him cr^*dit 
for the discovery of a remedy for leaf dlseaM). The 
information that bad reached me was to tliis effect— 
if it was wrong I owe Mr. Pringle iiu apology. I 
Bbcnid have been tho last person to have withheld the 
medeof praise timt wa^ his due had 1 known that his 
efforlB in tbis line had bien crowned with AUOcesB. Not 
knowing, i should have held my pence ; hut my infer- 
ni'itioti liAB been startlingly corroborated by no le^s a 
pertou than Mr. Mejntll, Mois^rs. MathcHou & Co.'s re- 
presentutive hero, in hie lelter to the in which he 
quoteii from Mr. l*ringlo’H letters in himaelf to show 
that, Rccoriliug to hin own confessinn, tho resnlts ho 
had obtniuod were dcubtful. Mr. PrioRlo replied to 
this letter, butil was noticeable that ht* did not explain 
hway the somewhat damaging quotations from hia own 
letters lo Mr. Meynell. lean nudcrstind the diihcnliies 
nuder which Mr.Pringle laboured as he bad not got a pro- 
perApray-dtif using niacbino till Isat February, and as leaf 
disf ftgfi is not very prevalent during tho hot rnomhe, be 
had Udfc an opportunity before ho loft of tenting his 
remedy on a large scale. 1 Inive no dtubtthatMr. 
Pringle has every roa>on to belu ve in tin* eflioscy of 
bis remedy, hnt planters want to see tho result of 
the experiments ho has iiiiliHted on Messrs. M&thesou 
& Oo.^e places kiefure they commit Ihcmselvf s to any 
line of action to securo his servicfs for their especial 
benefit. Mr. Pringle haa dona incsllinable aerviooto 
Iho country in showing what uses burnt soil can be 
put to, and also in showing that manure is best put 
down broadcast HO as to insure its equal distribution 
all over the land. Tho irothod in voguo not so many 
years ago wasto pcrapeu fiaucer-liko hollow from 3 to 
u inches above tbo trees, pul in the manure and cover 
itovEr. I am not so sore that this is not practised 
even now on some places. It is needless to refer to 
tho ftbeurdny of the thing. Mr, MeynelPs assertion 
that bo}ond keeping estates alive roannre is of no use, 
has caused Romo nmnscnient amouget planters, the 
largo majority of wboin ra-i’t agree ii itb him. ll iaa 
act UioK. IS no getting over that places ivhioh are ays- 
Im P“yi"Kagreat deal bettor 
Mo ’.In ' fbore are two picocB of coffee in 
®.oa .oi l ® '“"'I '■»>'>Kit‘»ble, wbioli wore 
raised solely by man nro. o„o of theae has been for a 
M^ynoll must loawarenf 
,.a ex Sto ICO, and will |,e aay that it would boar from 
12 to 15 owls of craps a, it 'docs witlicnt mannrof 
Mr. Priiiijle docs 
Hot agren wilh me that I.'bcrian 
'"sim and a snare, 
Tlauiiltoiia '^JhIo in ibo forest i r fboso at Tamicr- 
llu or (probably Thiiiiirn Hiil'a Onnnrcc, Coldw.itcr 
Hull, w, IS monut) ami ;[ j qi,) j 
speak 1 owt, an acre being difficult to get. It 
ll “> to W up 
the file of the Mail and refer to my notes of the 
