256 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September it, 1887. 
healthy. These were an example—and a good one—of the six-months- 
system of culture. 
A Tomato trial of some importance is being conducted by Messrs. 
Sutton ; between sixty and eighty varieties are being tested, and they 
comprise fruits of all sizes and shapes. There are Tomatoes in the shape 
of Currants, Grapes, Cherries, Plums, Apples and Pears. The plants 
occupy an open quarter, each having a stout stake some 3 feet high for 
its support, and each occupying only about a foot Of space each way, 
lateral growth not being permitted. Many varieties were of great excel¬ 
lence, but two attract special notice. The first was a small-fruited 
variety of extraordinary productiveness, the fruit hung on the plants 
literally like ropes of Onions, twenty or more being counted in several 
clusters on the same plant. This variety will no doubt be named during 
the coming season. The second sort referred to was Reading Perfection, 
a fine kitchen and exhibition Tomato that has won many prizes this 
year. The fruits are handsome and of great size, bright scarlet-crimson 
in hue. This bears very freely, and should soon prove very popular. 
There are many novelties in this large collection of great merit, and they 
will perhaps be heard of br-and-by. 
Cockscombs in 4^-inch pots were worthy of note. The plants were 
healthy little specimens, the combs curling well over the rims of the 
pots. Trials of Melons and Cucumbers were in progress. The latter 
were growing in a sharply sloping span-roof structure, plants of 
each variety being grown at the north and south sides, so that one 
secured no advantage over another from position. Outside many 
varieties of Phlox Drummondi grandiflora were being tried. These 
splendid half-hardy annuals have endured the drought wonderfully well, 
and have flowered with great freedom over a long period. The plants 
grow about a foot high, and the flowers embrace every shade of colour. 
There was a fine lot of Petunias too, and a broad border of Portulacas 
on a sunny exposure. These must have looked magnificent at their best, 
unfortunately they were nearly over. A final word must be devoted to 
the Hollyhocks. Some hundreds of plants 6 to 7 feet high were grown 
in rows neatly staked, and they were blooming grandly, no trace of 
disease having appeared. —Visitor. 
INDIAN EXPERIENCES. 
(Continued from page 214.') 
THE NEIL GHERRY HILLS. 
It was at the beginning of 1867 that I left the Wynaad district for 
the first time, having obtained a situation on the Neilgherry Hills to 
superintend the opening of a large Chinchona plantation at a place 
called Dcva Shola, situated about ten miles to the south of Ootacamund, 
the chief town of the Hills. Before, however, giving an account of my 
experiences as a Chinchona planter, I may be allowed to say a few words- 
on the general aspect, climate, and capabilities of the Neilgherry range, 
which is without doubt one of the most interesting spots to be found 
in the whole of our vast Indian possessions, more especially on account 
of its climate, which is so admirably suited to the European constitution, 
and producing in a high degree of excellence a vast number of trees, 
plants, and vegetables similar to those cultivated in Europe. 
The Neilgherry Hills (or more correctly, Nilgiris, from the Tamil 
“nil ” blue, and “ giri,” a mountain) are situated between 11° and 12° 
north latitude, and 76° and 77° east longitude, and rant e in altitude 
from 6000 to about 9000 feet above the sea level. They are some 
250 miles from the Coromandel coast on the eastern side, and forty 
miles from the Malabar coast on the western. The area may be roughly 
taken at 1000 square miles. The Nilgiris were first visited by Europeans 
in the year 1820. They are believed to have formed part of the territory 
of the Pandyan kings, whose dominions included Travancore and the 
Western Ghauts. The average rainfall is 50 inches in the north and 
east, and increasing to nearly 100 inches towards the south and north¬ 
west. The Nilgiri Plateau is subject to the influences of both 
monsoons ; the south-west monsoon in June, July, and August, and the 
north-east monsoon in October and November. The geological formation 
is of the primitive igneous order, the mass of the mountains being 
granitic. There is little or no lime in the composition of the soil, which 
nevertheless is rich and productive. The natural aspect is undulating, 
with isolated patches of low, but very beautiful forest, called Sholas, on 
the slopes, from the majority of which flow perennial streams of the 
purest water of more or less volume. There are many swampy hollows, 
the beds of which have a considerable depth of black mould, and there 
are bogs in several parts of the Hills, the peat from which is extensively 
used as fuel. The undulating land, or as Sir E. Grant Dufi admirably 
puts it, the “rolling downs,” separating the beautiful schola patches, 
are covered mostly with short grass, with here and there clumps of 
shrubs, such as Hypericum, Indigofera, &c. Splendid groups of the 
Rhododendron arboreum arc frequently met with, and are very striking 
when in full flower about the month of December. 
The climate of the Nilgiris is invigorating, and has been declared by 
competent authorities to be one of the most equable in the world. The 
following is a correct statement of temperature, &c. 
Mean annual temperatuie. $90 
M.x.mum „ . *’ 7,0 
Minimum „ .. .. * 3^0 
Max. power Bun'd lays.[ ** gl 0 73' 
Avtrage iaLge .* ** 170 
At Ootacamund, the _ loftiest and most important station on the 
Hills, according to a series of observations extending over seven years, 
the mean maximum temperature ranges from 60-06° in December to 
68-76° in May. The hottest months of the year are April and May ; 
the coldest December and January. The hottest hours of the day in 
summer and winter do not vary more than 9°, and the extreme variation 
of temperature throughout the year is only 21-15°. The mean annual 
temperature of the four principal stations on the Nilgiris as compared 
with that of London and the three Presidency capitals of India stands 
something as follows :—London, 50°; Ootacamund,57° ; Kotergheiry, 
62° ; Wellington, 62° ; Coonoor, 64 ; Calcutta, 78° ; Bombay, 81°; and 
Madras, 85-2. The second, third, fourth, and fifth named places are the 
most important stations on the Nilgiris, and have an elevation above sea 
level of 7227, 6427, 5860, and 5927 feet respectively. 
Ootacamund is the coldest and Coonoor the warmest station on the 
Hills, Kotergherry is a medium between the two. The climate of 
Wellington, where the extensive convalescent barracks for the army of 
the Presidency are situated, is the same as that of Coonoor. The latter 
station being near the edge of the Ghaut on the eastern side is subjected 
to thick fogs from the sudden condensation of the moisture contained in 
the heated atmosphere rising from below the tableland. 
This may perhaps convey to the reader some general idea of the 
adaptability of the Nilgiris to the European constitution. If furthes 
proof were wanted it could be found in the healthy and robust appear¬ 
ance of the permanent English residents on the Hills, as well as in the 
rosy cheeks and buoyant spirits of the European children. 
The products of the Hills include Tea, Coffee, Chinchona, Peaches* 
Oranges, Loquats, Pears. Apples, Plums, Potatoes of excellent quality* 
and most of the other English vegetables, which are all produced both 
by European and native of exceptionally good quality, and all the year 
round. Wheat is also grown as well as Bariev, Mustard, Poppy seeds, 
Garlic, two kinds of Millet, called in the native language Koralie and 
Samay (Panicum italicum and P. miaceum). The last two are exten¬ 
sively grown by the native population, but their cultivation is of a very 
wasteful description. A piece of land is chosen, ploughed, and harrowed, 
and the seed sown, land is chosen that has not been under cultivation 
for some years, no manure is applied, and when the crop is gathered the 
land is left to itself for perhaps three or four years before it is ploughed 
again. 
No such thing as flat land exists on the Nilgiris excepting the 
swamps. Consequently when the land for the cultivation of grain is 
proughed and loosened on the hillsides large quantities of soil are swept 
down to the ravines below by the heavy rains. This denudation goes on 
to such an extent that I have seen whole hillsides rutted and furrowed 
to such an extent before the roots of the grain could make sufficient pro¬ 
gress to hold it, that it seemed wonderful how a crop could be obtained 
at all. Of course it never enters into the native mind to construct catch 
drains or anything of that kind ; and, worse than all, he has no one to. 
instruct him. This sort of thing has been, no doubt, going on for ages, 
the strata of soil becoming thinner and thinner and the crops shorter in 
ear and in straw year by \ ear. 
Another plant called Keeray by the natives (Amaranthus campes- 
tris) is grown by the hill tribes, the seeds of which when ground into 
flower is much relished. A large field of this plant when in full flower 
has a very striking and beautiful appearance. There are two varieties, 
one having leaves, stems, and flowers of a bright scarlet colour, and the 
other of a yellow or buff colour, and when mixed have a very beautiful 
appearance. The leaves are also eaten as a Spinach. Numbers of 
English flowers flourish with little or no cultivation, including the- 
Dahlia, Fuchsia, Heliotrope, Pelargonium, Verbena, Petunia, and 
numerous others. Fuchsias and Heliotrope are greatly used in the for¬ 
mation of hedges, and are to be seen in flower all the year round, the 
latter particularly making a very beautiful hedge if kept well trimmed, 
the scent from the flowers being very powerful. It is no uncommon 
thing to see at Coonoor and other places of the same elevation Pears, 
Apples, Plums, Oranges, Dahlias, Loquats, Geraniums, Coffee, many 
varieties of Hibiscus, Tea, Petunias, Allamandas, Asters, Poinsettias, 
Calceolarias, Begonias, Rhododendrons, Lilies, Roses, and scores of others 
growing side by side and flourishing in one garden. Passiflora edulis and 
several species of Taxonia also grow and fruit freely at these elevation?. 
At lower elevations on the eastern slopes tropical fruits and spices are 
grown, such as the Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon, Mango, Shaddock, Pome- 
granite, Lychee, and many others. 
Deva Shola, or the God’s Wood, the place I was appointed to, is 
situated, as I have already said, about ten miles to the south of Ootaca¬ 
mund with an elevation a little over 6000 feet above sea level. The estate, 
consists of 1000 acres, 500 of which is forest land and the remainder 
grass. This land was obtained from Government upon certain con¬ 
ditions, one of which was that the proprietors should supply to the 
Government so many thousand cartloads of firewood (always a scarce 
commodity on the Nilgiris) within a given period, cut and stacked from 
the forest then standing. The proprietors, after having obtained the 
title deeds of the land from Government, thinking the above condition 
irksome, and that it might probably hamper them in the rapid planting 
of the forest area of the estate with Chinchona—for the one object 
with private planters in those early days of Chinchona planting on the 
Nilgiris was to be first in the market with bark at whatever cost— 
bethought themselves of a plan which was ultimately adopted, but 
which proved, as the sequel will show, vastly more disastrous to the 
proprietors than to the Government, The plan carried out consisted of 
first felling the whole of the forest area of 500 acres, which was one 
continuous block, cutting and stacking the stipulated numbers of cart¬ 
loads of firewood while it was green, and then politely requesting the 
