342 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[October i, 1891. 
Theoretically a very poor Boil bos suiBoient materials 
for a great number of crops, practically it has cot; heuco 
the value of manures. 
There is a general law of (be greatest practical im< 
portance to all agriculturists aud planters, viz : “ That 
if a soil be deficient in ant one ei.embkt, no manure is of 
value on that laud that does not tuppltt the deficiency. 
For instance in Bugland practice has shown pbcsphoric 
acid to be the element required by turnips, and as a 
rule phospbatic manures produce good results ; but if 
the soil is short of nitrogen or potash, manures eiipr ly- 
ing only phosphates will bo of little or no value. 
Again if Iho soil bo short of iron or sulphuric acid, 
wonderful results may bo got by the application of irou 
sulphate in moderate doses ; but if there happens to bo 
a large quantity of ferrous salts alr.'.ady in tbo laud 
the results are nil or wors,'. the crop may bo 
killed off. Gypsum, t, e. Sulphate of Inmo, is often 
very useful where lime aud sulphuric acid are 
required, as it supplies them cheaply especially, when 
a super phosphate is used, as only the soluble phos- 
phates are paid for. 
Kvery agriculturist is familiar with the fact 
that repeated applications of lime exhaust tho land 
unless they are well backed up by manure. Thi.s 
results from tho ciroorastanoo that lime rei.ders tho 
nitrogenous matter of the soil more easily assimil- 
able by the plant, the ammonia acts as a power- 
ful stimulant and the increased energy ot the plant 
enables it to absorb such food as the coots come in 
contact with more rapidly. The soil is exhausted when 
any one of the elements of fertility is redneed in quan- 
tity below that necessary to supply tho immediate 
requirements of tho plant in an easily asssimillabln 
form. There may be plenty of the olein, ut in tho soil, 
but BO shat np by its combinaliou with silica &c. that 
it is not immediately available as plant feed ; the 
value ot comparative soil analyses whieb enable us to 
judge what is necessary to supply tho deCoieney of the 
toil is of primary importance, os wo are by them able 
to render tho necessary assistance to Ibe soil, that is 
supply a manure that will remedy the defect. To 
qnoto Sibsun and Dr. Voelckcr “Tho infertility of a 
soil U oUen explained by aiionalysis; tho soil may bo 
snfforing from the want of some material iude<pcuaib!o 
to the growth of plants, or it may contain something 
poisonous to plantr; in either ctso chemistry is generally 
able to enlighten us aud to point out means of remedj - 
iug the evil. Of a soil whoso fertility is impjrcd wo 
can all pronounce that it wants manuring j but with 
the assistauoe ot an analysis we may also learn in what 
substance the soil is deficient or what kind of manure 
it wants. With this knowledge we may resloie its 
fertility in the most ooonomioal manner,” As pointed 
out iu my paper on coffee manures, soil analyses settle 
many vexed questions of cultivation ; tiicy decide the 
question as to whether tho land requires drainage ; 
whether shade should be thick or tliin, but tho greatest 
valco to the plautrr lies in the fact that they enable him 
to get full maiinrlal value for bis money, liaviug 
settled what the soil requires wo must next enquire 
what tbo plant demands. Unforluually there is no 
royal roadto this end. Experiments on soilsof known 
oompositinn with widely varying ooiiditions, of climate, 
soil, &c. are needed to finally settle the question. 
The cereals and rout crops ol liritalu have been and 
aro the snbjeota of constant etndy uiid experimtut. 
Lawes aud Uilberl’s work has douo inuob to solve 
many nbstraao questions aud to place tho cultiva- 
tion of cereals and root crops in Eugland on a scien. 
tiflo basis, aiiabliug her to compete niili the prairie 
lands ol Ametios, Australia and the cheap labour ot 
India in the growth of wheat and other crops. Such 
cxperimenls aro much needed in connection with Tro- 
pical Frodnoe. It was the want of such cxperimHuta 
lu reRftrtl to ooffeot teft| cocoa* <&o. th«t luJ qih in ojy 
paper on ooffeo raamires to say that ‘‘ Tlju (lutistioii 
of manuring coffee Uaa had little systeiuatio work 
•pent ou it, ooiuparod with the vast intovepts ii>; 
stake.” Had I said -Mitlle eystemaiio experimcnUl 
work.” moat people would have agreed with mo. I 
was fully aware i»f tho valuble work done by Messre. 
Marehall Ward, MorriN, Thwaitos, 'Irimeu aud others 
in oonuectiou with JleuuUia vastairia, Tho thorough 
I syatematio invf^fitigation of tliat pest is cleserviug of 
the hifchewt praise: I consider that the thanks of the 
whole c( ffee pUnting community are duo to the before 
named fffutlemen, th(» Ceylon Pionters, Guverument:, 
and Observey newspaper for tho energy and zeal dis- 
played in thc^ir ernsade agiiiurit the pusti ; the inforiua- 
tiuQ gained is of inostimable value iu guiding future 
inveBtigfttionp. 
UngliHs’ antil}6fia I know ami fully appreciate the 
value of, blit I would like to see systeiuatio experi- 
ments put in hand to dettrmiuo wbut is to usie Ville’s 
words the ** doimnaut uli meut” required in a 
mannro for coffee, tea, cocoa, aud other tropical 
products. Having found the doutiuKut ilemont wo 
must supply the deficiency— (if any oxi&t4, 
and the probability that it docs is great) in the soil, 
then apply it. From tho view of a plant, few soils aro 
compluto; a complete bOil should grow any aud every 
plant equfflly well provided the oliuato is equally 
boitahle; it's only a question of £ p. d. With suitable 
manuros yoa cau gr I) w plants iu calcined eaiul. Coffee 
Arabioa can be made to yield a ton per acre ; on 
small blocks say up to 5 uores or so, it pays to spend 
H200 to 11300 per acre per annum and pick crops of 10 
cwt. lo a ton. But when, we come to 200 to 1,000 
acres or more, the labour difficulties rru so great tbat 
such cultivatiou is M practioal impa.xsibiliiy. An aver- 
age of 6 cwt. per aero must for oolfco under shade 
with ordinary work and manure bo considcri d good. 
Except cij very poor land, aud patchts of such exist 
on every estate, auch crops oau bo got iu South Coorg. 
Tho crop of one block cf (sLaioa thore has 
averaged 4 cwt. per acre per annum lor the lust ten 
years, and there aro otln-r b'oek^ as good ; individual 
estates with much higher avoragea are lo bo seen 
throughout the district. 
There is every prospect of the average being rai.sed, 
as the lab mr difficuhics aro overcome aud the gt rieral 
work can bo kept well iu band, allowing ol steady 
sys ojjatic annual hroudc.ist uiauuriug being carried 
cut at the right time. There is Uitlu doubt tlutit is 
bettlo mauuro evr*iy port'on of the cotato y early, but 
under some circumstauci s if the labour is suffioient, 
twoninnurings woubi be bolter for the trees, East veac 
(1890) South Ooorg was no better off for labour tiiau 
her neighbours ; the evil tffocts werepuntul cu:, aud 
the district bestirred itself and procured coolies tu re- 
place tbo Cautkrceo. Tamil lubuur was introduced ; 
coolies were not paid off at the usual time, but wore 
retained as loug us ponsible. All the supply pits re- 
quired for p^reept’.blo VftcaucuoH were cut in the hut 
weather, the woods were kept down, and I h.id the 
pUasure of seeing supplying briskly proceeding early 
in Juno. 
L^-at diseafo (lo Ooorg) in the hot Wfutlier recedvea 
a pcvtiio check and I du iiot think that where the laud 
is well au«l deeply oultivuted ain' eftlciontly manured 
that llit-ro is much fear of it ou well drained Hnd kil- 
ling off tho trees ; but there is no denying that it does 
ofun seriously ftlfect cropo. A tree cu-iuot exert it’s 
energies to prodnee leayos when bearing ciops, ^^ithoat 
dropping some of it. Effbientmaiiure.s adapt id to the 
necessity of the plant and the deficlenees of tho soil 
aro of the greatest assihtuioe. 
Too much stress as ri gards manures for noffeo hai 
been bud ou tli*) composition of ih© btun, and too littio 
attt nliou dev-it^'d to tho leaves atjd prniiiiiga. Taka 
MarshHil Winds fi<;uiep, iweity-oue weokH as tho 
duration of tho life ol a < oifee leal, tne tneinuat bhed 
all its leaVf'B 2^ times iu a yoir; under Bbuue they 
remain a little longer, but the trees as a rule certainly 
renew their leaves at least twice a yenr. This loss ou 
a luuULy froo ia uut noticc l as it procevtls all tho 
yoarroniid. It is h jio ir tree t f f.even years growth 
that hHM not ai sumo period ol theyiai-at least fitteen 
hundred b'avcs, a fair average tree will have over two 
thouKAud, and afirstclart-* ouenifull leaf as many as 
three thoo^nnd or more. Then there arc iho pruniogs. 
Let practical p'nnte-s cxperinient an JNlr.Cameron p.l.b. 
of the Boiauicai Uardeup, Bangalore, suggested to mo 
tbe oth'T d.y: Purrouiidiiig a trLCa with wire 
noit'ug, collecting the lenves aud prunings weekly or 
monthly, dry aud weigh them, and have them aualy sed. 
