August 4, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
89 
under the most favourable circumstances with regard to richness of soil, 
abundance of water, favourable aspect, &c., had to be abandoned long 
before the period at which it ought, under ordinary circumstances, to 
have yielded its first crop, and this solely in consequence of the leaf 
■disease. It would appear from the above experiment that the disease 
was propagated by atmospheric influences alone, and was not the result 
•of any inherent weakness in the ordinary Coffee of the district produced 
•by raising plants from the same seed for a number of years, as was sup- 
fposed at one time by many planters. 
Estates at high elevations escaped the scourge of leaf disease for a 
•considerable time after it had wrought such havoc on estates at an 
average elevation of 3000 feet, but eventually it reached them, but 
•hardly with such disastrous results, the colder nature of the climate at 
these higher elevations helping the plants through their seasons of priva¬ 
tion. When an estate suffered to such an extent (I mean on the lower 
elevations) as to leave it without a single healthy leaf by the end of 
December—which was often the case—it was usual to prune the trees 
back severely, the primary shoots coming under this operation, which, 
under more favourable circumstances, were never touched. Manure was 
■then given to the roots to the greatest extent possible, and with the first 
irain the trees at once started into growth, and were quickly reelothed in 
verdure, but of course no hope could be entertained of a crop for the 
next season, the tree only producing fruit on the one-year-old wood. 
All would go well up to the bursting of the monsoon, and throughout 
.■all the rainy months. When the rains ceased the trees presented 
generally a very beautiful appearance, covered with long freshly made 
•shoots and glossy leaves, but only, alas ! to succumb to the attacks of the 
fatal fungus as soon as the dry weather again set in, and thus the battle 
went on till the year I left India ; in some instances the planter con¬ 
tinuing the unequal contest season after season, while others, not 
believing that any ultimate good would result from such an expenditure 
■ of money, abandoned their properties to the indigenous growths of the 
country, which quickly obliterated every trace of the Coffee shrub and 
former cultivation. Many planters arc. I am given to understand, even 
up to the present date, continuing the fight, but with what result I am 
unable to say ; but I know, that notwithstanding all the efforts to 
counteract this disease, they have not succeeded in driving it from the 
.land. 
With one exception I never found the fungus attack any other 
plant, even in the near neighbourhood of plantations suffering from the 
disease. This exception was in the case of a large timber tree—Lager- 
stroemia microcarpa. The leaves of this solitary tree were to all appear¬ 
ance affected by the same kind of fungus, but it did not seem to spread to 
other trees, and the disease may be said to belong esssentially to the 
•Coffee plant, but its origin and gradual dispersion over Ceylon and the 
Coffee districts of Southern India is enshrouded in mystery. 
To make matters still worse for the Coffee planter of the Wynaad, if 
■that could possibly be, the great Madras famine took place during the 
last two years of my sojourn in India—viz., 1876-77. This dire calamity 
resulting by some computations in the death of nearly six millions of 
human beings in the Madras Presidency, affected the Coffee planter in 
several ways. Labourers came in from the Mysore to the estates in such 
.a wretched condition from a long-continued scarcity of food, that they 
were wholly unfitted for work, and in hundreds of instances only 
arrived on the plantations to die, and their bodies in too many cases to 
-go without burial. Hundreds perished by the waysides, their unburied 
bodies becoming the prey to wild animals of various kind's, the planters 
and even the representatives of Government itself in this wild district 
being quite unable to meet the emergency. The sights seen all over the 
•district were appalling and revolting to the last degree, and can never be 
•effaced from my memory. Every effort was made on the part of the 
planters to mitigate the distress, but under the circumstances they could 
■do but little. Each and every hut on the estates was transformed into 
an hospital, full of men, women, and children, perishing from hunger 
and disease, and receiving no response to their piteous cries for help. In 
-the district of Wynaad itself there was no actual failure of crops, as the 
total failure of the south-west monsoon in that region was never known, 
but in the Mysore country it was different, and as sufficient grain could 
not be produced in the Wynaad for the consumption of the imported 
coolies, and as the famine extended all over the Mysore territory, it 
followed that when the bands of labourers arrived on the Coffee estates, 
af in some cases able to work, could find little or no grain to purchase 
with the wages received. Grain was imported at the instance of pro¬ 
prietors of estates from Bombay, and even Burmah, but only in insuffi- 
-cient quantity to supply the working portion of the estate coolies, and 
as the^istrict was far from the centres of Government relief arrange¬ 
ments, little could be done for those who were unable to work, and 
great mortality followed in consequence. It was very remarkable the 
■quiet behaviour of the labourers under these fearful circumstances. No 
attempt was ever made to loot the small stores of grain on the different 
estates, although any step in that direction could not have been success¬ 
fully met by the planters. Seemingly, the natives preferred quietly to 
suffer starvation and death rather than break the law, and this was 
characteristic of their conduct, not alone in the Wynaad, but all over 
the Madras Presidency, during those two dreadful years. Previous to 
this famine it was the general belief that the eyots of Mysore had 
enough Baggy and other grain stored in the underground granaries to 
last out the longest period of any famine, but the fallacy of this belief 
was soon revealed after the first six months of 1876 had passed. The 
English nation responded nobly to the urgent call for help, and if I 
rightly remember, something like £600,000 was sent out for the relief of 
the perishing thousands. This sum together with that voted by the 
Indian Government doubtless saved innumerable lives, but relief could 
only reach certain centres, such as the town of Madras and other large 
towns along the lines of railways ; the districts and towns remote from 
these means of communication suffering beyond the belief of all except 
those resident in the particular districts at the time. Could the terrible 
evils and consequences of an Indian famine be fully realised by all 
those engaged in the legislation of the Empire, they would, I imagine, 
throw fewer obstacles in the way of any scheme of irrigation or other 
work having for its object the prevention of any such disaster as over¬ 
took a large portion of Southern India during 1876-77, resulting in the 
death of some six millions of the native population. 
This closes my remarks on the district of Wynaad. The little I have 
to add in my concluding papers will be devoted to subjects in connection 
with the Neilgherry Hills. —Planter. 
(To be continued.) 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
July 2Gth. 
Scientific Committee.— Present: Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S , in the 
chair; Messrs. Since, O'Brien, Wilson, MacLachlan, Bennett, Smith, and 
the Hon. Sec,, Bev. G. Henslow. 
Eryngium qiganieum —Mr. Wilson showed a handsome spray of this 
plant, remarking that it was extraordinarily attractive to bees, which 
seemed to prefer it to all other flowers in blossom at the same time. He 
was not aware of its having been noticed as a “ bee-plant,” but strongly 
recommended it. 
Strrpto~arpus hy\ —An interesting series, raised at Kew, was exhibited, 
betwe n. S. Dunnu (male parent) and S. Rexii (female); also between 
S. Dunnii and S. parviflorus. Dr. Masters called attention to the great in¬ 
terest attaching to these plants, and to their curious habit of producing only 
one leaf subsequent to the cotvledons. 
"Rust" on Plants. —Specimens of Croton, Bpgonia, Bouvardia, and 
Soianum, supposed to be attacked by rust, were received from M srr j . J. B. 
Pearson & Sons, Phil well. They were referred to Mr. W. G. Smith for 
examination and report. 
Gypripedium Lawrenr.ianum Malformed, received from Mr. Gordon, 
Twickenham. It wa\ referred to Dr. Masters for examination and report. 
Dilophosptnra graminis. —A specimen of this curious fungus, which 
attacks ears of Wheat, destroying spike’ets and disorganbing the stem, was 
exhibited and described by Mr. Smith. It is local and erratic in its 
appea ance. It occurred in South Bedfordshire. 
Fas'-iated Stems.- —Mr. Wilson remarked upon the prevalence of fasciated 
stems in Lilium auratum. Professor Church corroborated lri-> observations 
by mentioning a similar occurrence in Kew Gardens. Mr. O’Brien observed 
that the habit has become more or less fixed in L. lancifolium when raised 
from bulbs, but nothing is known of this variety, monstmsum b-ing raised 
from seed. Apropos of laising L lies by seed, Mr. O’Brien remarked that if 
seeds of Lilies be saved and sown in South Africa they will flower within 
six months. Also, if English-saved seeds be planted in South Africa they 
will not bloom under a year ; showing the influence of climate upon the 
development of the plant. The only Lily, Mr. Wilson remarked, which 
comes up quicklv is L. tenuifohum. 
A Hcoiiann ojjinis. —Mr. MacLachlan exhibited a blossom in a synanthic 
state. 
Laurel Leaves Becov ring from Frost. —Mr. Henslow showed a drawing 
and specimen of Laurel 1 aves which had been severely injured at their 
apices and along the margins in early spring, but which had thrown off the 
injured part and formed a new cuticularhed edge in place of it. The 
serratures were wanting, so that the portions renewed were entire. They 
were received from F. C White, Esq , of Ealing. 
Varieties of Wheat. —Dr. Masters exhibited specimens of Wheat received 
from Messrs. Carter & Co., showing the extreme variations raised by them 
on well-known varietbs. 
Glazing Bars for Glass Houses —A specimen was exhibited and explained 
by the patentee*, Messrs. E. & F. Newton, of Hitchiu and Srevenage. The 
merits of the invention lay in the facilities for allowing the glass to expand 
and contract under varying temperatu es ; and the method of conveying 
away the drip-water ; also, in the ventilation, and the important point of 
price. In all these particulars the Committee were favourably di-posed 
towards the invention. Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Smee undertook to report more 
fully at the n xt meeting upon the invention. 
Cattleya Gaske/Iiana. —The Bon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen exhibited 
splendid sprajs of this Orchid, showing various tints. They were from 
plants imported in the spring of 1886. A vote of thanks was given to him. 
Conclusion of the Session. —As the present was the last meeting of the 
summer session, a vote of thauks was passed to the Chairman and Hon. 
Secretary. 
THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF PLANTS. 
At a meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences some 
time since, Mr. Thomas Meehan called attention to the well-known fact 
in geographical botany, that species of plants which once had evidently 
a wide dispersion now existed only as separate colonies often of a few 
plants only, the intermediates between these widely separated colonies 
having evidently disappeared. The cause of these disappearances had 
not been definitely determined. It was found that the still existing 
individuals were evidently in good health ; they flowered freely, and 
perfected seeds, but still the plants did not spread. He gave a number 
of illustrations within his own observation of a few rare plants that had 
maintained their existence for over a quarter of a century, with aboflt 
the same number of individuals now as at the beginning of the term. 
As the seeding was regular and perfect, why was dispersion arrested ? 
There could he but one answer. Something prevented the germination. 
