Gold, Sport, and Coffee Planting in Mysore Part 15

"6. After pruning without manure having been applied, or from want of digging.[57]

"7. Even after manuring when the trees have large succulent roots in an immature condition--generally a sign that fibrous surface roots are deficient, and that large, deep-feeding roots are present in excess.

"8. After large quant.i.ties of green or rotting weeds have been deeply buried, or large quant.i.ties of acid, unrotted, or forcing manures have been applied.

"Leaf disease is also liable to occur:

"1. In poor gravelly soils, and on land which has caked in the hot weather, or become unmanageable during rain.

"2. On land where ill-balanced manurial preparations have been used.

"3. In soils suffering from a deficiency of the available supply of phosphates and alkalies.

"4. Under unsuitable shade trees."

Now it is to be observed that these are preventable causes, or aggravations of leaf disease, and, if carefully attended to, the planter will have little to apprehend from leaf disease. Mr. Anderson, in his communication to me, lays, and very rightly, particular stress on the maintenance of the physical condition of the land and its state of fertility. And it is satisfactory to find that he is exactly confirmed by Mr. H. Marshall Ward in his third report (dated 1881) on coffee leaf disease in Ceylon, and he points out (p. 3) that "Leaf disease appears to affect different estates in different degrees on account of varieties in soil, climate, and other physical peculiarities."

"But," he continues, "I would draw particular attention to this. Careful cultivation and natural advantages of soil, climate, etc., enable certain estates to stand forth prominently, as though leaf disease did not affect them, or only to a slight extent, while poor nutrition, the ravages of insects, etc., have in other cases their effects as well as leaf disease."

Or, in other words, he states that, as was suggested to me by Mr.

Reilly--a planter of long experience near c.o.o.noor on the Nilgiris--that much loss of leaves, which has been attributed to leaf disease, is often due to other causes.

Mr. Brooke Mockett--one of the planters previously alluded to--informs me that "Leaf disease is certainly worst (1) on trees that are cropping heavily, (2) on trees that have been severely pruned (heavy pruning being ruination in my opinion), (3) on plants under bad caste shade trees (these plants it seems to cripple), and (4) on plants in the open."

It is worthy of note that the Coorg plant is not nearly so liable to attacks of leaf disease as the original Mysore Chick plant. I have seen a tall plant of the latter variety heavily attacked, while a Coorg plant partly under it was only slightly attacked on the side next the Chick plant, and hardly at all on the side not under the Chick plant. I observe, too, from the Planting Correspondent's Notes in the "Madras Mail" of January 30th, 1892, that the same thing has been observed in Coorg, and that occasional Mysore plants, which had by some accident found their way into the Coorg coffee, got the disease first, and that it then spread into the surrounding coffee.

It should be borne in mind that leaf disease does not kill the tree, but only injures it, and diminishes its powers by depriving it of much of its foliage, so that there is nothing alarming in leaf disease when it is controlled by good management of the tree, and good shade, cultivation of the soil, and manuring; and the only case I can hear of where anything like permanent injury has occurred, is where the disease has existed under the shade of bad caste trees. But it is far otherwise with the justly dreaded Borer insect, which, however, can, as we shall see, be effectively controlled by good shade. To the attacks of this insect I now propose to direct the attention of the reader.

The too well-known coffee Borer is a beetle, about as large as a horsefly, which lays its eggs in any convenient crevice, and generally, it is supposed, near the head of the tree, in the bark, or wood of the coffee tree. After the larvae are hatched they at once burrow their way into the tree, where they live on the dead matter of the inner or heart-wood of the stem, and there they reside from, it is supposed, three to five months, till their transformation into winged beetles. Then they bore their way out of the tree, and fly away to carry on their mischievous work. This insect has been declared to be, by Mr. John Keast Lord, "a beetle of the second family of the Coleoptera Cerambycidae, and to be closely allied to a somewhat common species known as the wasp-beetle (_Clytus avietis_), which usually undergoes its changes in old dry palings." And in a collection made by M. Chevrolat in Southern India, and now in the British Museum (at least it was so in 1867, when Mr. Lord investigated the point), a specimen was found, to which the name of _Xylotrechus quadrupes_ was attached. This Borer, like the leaf disease, has probably always attacked coffee, but the earliest probable notice of it is to be found in Mr.

Stokes's Report on the Nuggur Division of Mysore, in about 1835, where he observes that coffee trees in dry seasons often wither and snap off suddenly at the root. The cause, or probable cause of this he does not state, but there can be little doubt that the Borer had attacked the trees alluded to. Since then the Borer seems to have attracted little or no attention till towards the end of 1866, but about that time, and during the three following years, an alarming attack of Borer took place, and inflicted immense injury on plantations, and there can be no doubt that this was in a great measure owing partly to insufficient shade, and partly to bad caste shade trees, accompanied by dry, hot seasons, which were favourable to the hatching of the eggs of this destructive insect. But since then much attention has been paid to shade, both as to quant.i.ty and kind, and the Borer may now be regarded as an insect which can with certainty be held in check if the land is properly shaded with good caste trees. And I say good caste trees, because bad caste trees encourage Borers, and Mr. Graham Anderson, who has had a very large and disagreeable experience of the effects of bad caste trees, informs me that he has "seen worse Borer under dense _bad_ caste shade than in open places in good soil on northern slopes." "Some bad shade trees," he continues, in his communication to me on the subject, "keep the coffee in a debilitated state. They allow it to be parched up in the dry weather, and they smother it in the monsoon. They rob it of moisture and manure with their myriads of surface-feeding roots, and prevent dew and light showers benefiting the plant. I do not fear Borer under well-regulated shade of approved descriptions. Renovation pits left open in the hot weather, large clod-digging in a light soil even under fair shade, weeds left standing in dry weather; all these, by increasing evaporation, tend to cause increase of damage from Borer. A hard caked surface, or a compact, undug soil is equally bad. Rubbing and cleaning the stems is a valuable operation, because it removes rough bark in which eggs may be deposited, and contributes to the health of the tree. The prompt removal and burning of all affected trees, properly arranged shade of selected varieties, frequent light stirring of the surface soil, having well arranged shoots distributed all over the coffee trees, not opening the centre of the trees too much, and keeping the trees succulent and vigorous by culture and manure, may be at present cla.s.sed among the best remedies for the Borer pest." In other words, he would say that the Borer loves dry wood. Keep your coffee tree green and succulent and well shaded, and you have little to fear from it.

I have also obtained the opinion of Mr. Brooke Mockett, who informs me that "Borer is certainly as destructive under bad caste trees as in the open." "Borer," he continues, in his communication to me on the subject, "is always much worse in land where there has been a burn than in unburnt land. It is also bad in rocky and stony places. In good soil, where there has been no burn, I have never had Borer severely, even though for a time there has been no shade whatever. I do not fear Borer now that such an excellent system of shade raising has been discovered. Rubbing stems once in about three years I look upon as of great use."

I too have had great experience of Borer, and agree with what my friends have written on the subject, with the exception of what Mr. Graham Anderson has said as to the advisability of promptly removing and burning all bored trees. This I am aware is the common practice, but I have never carried it out on my property, and yet, though the trees were riddled with Borer in the great Borer years, and I have had since then a fair proportion of it on some part of my property, I believe that no estate has less Borer now. Instead of removing the bored trees I removed the Borer itself with the aid of the shade of good caste trees, and especially, I believe, by paying strict attention to what I have particularly enforced in my shade section--the prompt filling up of every spot in the plantation that called for more shade. For it is in such spots that the Borer first locates itself, and then it spreads to other dried up trees in the plantation. There is little use, I think, in removing the affected trees.

You must remove the cause of their being affected, because, if you do not, the _sound_ trees that are insufficiently shaded will in time be affected: and then it must be remembered that the Borer is a winged insect which, as long as you leave suitable ground for it, will be sure to make its appearance. Out of curiosity I lately cut down and carefully examined a coffee tree which I could see, from the appearance of the bark, had once been heavily bored, but which I felt certain had no Borer now, nor any recent attack of it. The tree I found, after a careful dissection, had not a sign of Borer present in it, nor any sign of a recent attack, and yet in years gone by it had been heavily attacked and bored literally from end to end of the stem. The explanation was that the land had formerly not been sufficiently shaded, while now the shade is ample. The Borers had then left the trees, and their descendants had either not thought it worth while to lay any eggs on them, or the eggs had, from the lowered temperature caused by the shade, become addled. Many years ago I remember cutting down a fine coffee tree, when the round gimlet-made looking hole through which the insect makes its escape was plainly to be seen, when I found that a single Borer had drilled a hole down a part of the centre of the tree, then pa.s.sed into the fly state and left the tree. It was a fine succulent and nouris.h.i.+ng tree, and would, in all probability, have not again been attacked. To remove, then, all attacked trees, as some planters do, seems to me to be a great waste. To do so will not prevent other Borers arriving from some quarter or other to continue the deadly work; but shade, if it does not prevent their arrival, either prevents the insect from laying its eggs, from instinctively feeling that the ground is unsuitable for their being hatched, or causes the eggs to become addled.

But whatever the cause may be, it is certain that succulent trees in well shaded land will not suffer from Borer, while it is equally certain that coffee trees in a dried up state, and with either insufficient shade, or shade of bad caste trees over them, are certain to be attacked by Borer again and again, and will eventually be killed.

I turn, lastly, to the consideration of a disease in coffee which is popularly known by the name of rot, and scientifically as _pellicularia koleroga_, a fungoid plant which crawls over the leaves and seals up their breathing pores, till at last the leaf dies, as man does, from want of breath. On one of my estates we have had a considerable experience of it, and, whatever may cause rot, I feel sure that what aggravates it, and causes it to be very injurious, is the want of free circulation of air over the land, and through the coffee trees; and I am the more convinced of this because we have found rot worse in the open, and where there was little undecayed vegetable matter present in the soil, than in rather thick shade with abundance of undecayed vegetable matter on the surface.

But in the latter case the land is on a rather high ridge exposed to the constant winds of the south-west monsoon, while in the former case the land was in a hollow under a hill which lies between it and the west--a hollow completely sheltered from the wind. And it is in such sheltered spots that we find rot worse, and quite independently of the presence or absence of shade or of vegetable matter lying on the land. To check rot, then, the free circulation of air is necessary both over the land and through the plant. Much may be done in the first case by judiciously opening channels for air through the shade trees so as to admit a free circulation of air into hollows, and much in the latter by freely handling out the centres of the trees which, in the monsoon, and especially in hollows, are apt to grow a superabundance of young wood, which chokes up the centre of the tree and thus hinders the free circulation of air. The soil, too, is often excessively saturated in these hollows, and, where this is the case, the land should be surface drained. Though I have not as yet adopted the plan of sweeping up and putting into the manure heap, or burying with a little lime added, the numerous dead leaves that are apt to drift into hollows, I feel sure that either of these plans would be attended with advantage, by lessening damp, and allowing a free circulation of air over the land. I am confident, I may add here, that the removal of the lower branches of the coffee trees, branches which in any case bear hardly anything in well-shaded land, would be of great advantage in lessening the damp in the plantation, and so diminis.h.i.+ng the causes that promote rot.

With reference to rot, it is of great importance to thin out young wood as early as possible, so that, when the rot season arrives, the trees may have a moderate amount of well-matured young wood, with fully-developed hardened leaves, instead of a largo number of small succulent shoots covered with succulent leaves, which are very apt to be rotted bodily away. And the importance of this is equally great with reference to leaf disease, and Mr. Ward, in his "Report" (p. 15), points out that pruning and manuring should be so timed that the tree may have, at the beginning of the wet weather, mature wood and leaves, and the whole of his observations on this head point to the conclusion that manuring ought to be carried out at the close of the monsoon, and that pruning, which encourages the growth of much young wood, should be limited as much as possible to the removal of utterly useless, worn-out wood. Under the head of pruning and handling, the reader will find some remarks with reference to the important subject of the best time for pruning so as to limit rot and leaf disease.

I am glad to say that I have no other pests to chronicle as regard Mysore estates, but as estates on the Nilgiris sometimes suffer from green-bugs, I give the following treatment, which was discovered, and has been effectually used by Mr. Reilly of Hill Grove Estate, c.o.o.noor, who has kindly permitted me to publish the recipe.

For every 30 or 35 gallons of water take a bundle of wild merang (_Leucas zeylanica_ or (Kanarese) Thumba Soppu) plants about two feet in diameter, and, after removing the roots, boil it for about four or five hours, and let it cool all night, and in the morning apply the decoction to the coffee trees affected, with the aid of a garden syringe. The trees should be well syringed, and it is advisable to give the tree a second application. The refuse of the boiled plant should be scattered on the ground around the stem of the tree.

This prescription might probably be useful in the case of garden plants or shrubs which have been attacked by insects.

FOOTNOTES:

[56] Mr. Reilly, of Hillgrove Estate, c.o.o.noor, told me that he had first noticed leaf disease about twenty-six years ago. It commenced low down on the coffee on the c.o.o.noor Ghaut, and then came gradually up the Ghaut.

[57] A planter on the slopes of the Nilgiris gave me a well marked instance of leaf disease being increased from want of digging, when there was a good opportunity of contrasting the dug with the undug soil.

CHAPTER XV.

THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR PLANTATIONS, AND THE VALUATION OF COFFEE PROPERTY.

The selection of land for the planting of coffee requires great judgment, and the consideration of many circ.u.mstances besides the question as to whether the land is or is not capable of growing good coffee. For, in addition to questions of the age of the forest land, climate, the steepness of the gradients, aspect, and soil, we have to consider the healthiness of the climate, the water supply, the facilities for procuring labour, and the proximity of the land to good means of communication. Then as to the valuing of coffee plantations we have, of course, to consider all these points, as well as many others, to which I shall presently allude when I come to treat of that branch of my subject.

In Mysore, notwithstanding the enormous quant.i.ty of forest land stretching along the Western Ghauts, there is, compared to the total area of forest, but comparatively little land, suitable for coffee, to be cleared. In the southern part of the province there is none, that I am aware of, worthy of the attention of Europeans, but one of the planters in the northern part of Mysore tells me that in that part of the country there is still much uncleared land, partly in the hands of the State, and partly the property of individuals. Such uncleared lands (and it is important when valuing a plantation to remember the following cla.s.sification) may be divided into three cla.s.ses, (1) the original forest, or, as the natives call it, mother jungle, that has never been touched by man; (2) the forest of secondary growth which has sprung up after the mother forest land has been cleared for grain growing, and abandoned after a crop or two has been taken from the soil; and (3) land on which young forest is growing, and which has never previously had any other forest on it. These three cla.s.ses of lands are easily recognized by experienced persons, and even at a considerable distance. In the first there are large numbers of trees of great size, and often of timber of good quality. In the second there are no large trees, or perhaps only one or two samples of the original forest--generally mangoe, as they are often used as wors.h.i.+pping places--towering from fifty to sixty feet above the present level of the forest. In the case of the third, or young forest: this cla.s.s of land may readily be recognized by the number of young Nundy and other deciduous trees. The first-named cla.s.s of forest is of course by far the most valuable; the second will be more or less valuable according to the time that has elapsed since the mother jungle was felled--in some cases this may be only 40 or 50 years ago, in others from 50 to 100, and perhaps in some instances upwards of 150 years ago. In the last case, of course, the land will approximate in value to the mother jungle, but in the first there is an enormous difference in the value of the land, which will easily be understood when we consider what takes place when forest is cleared, burnt off and cropped. For in the tremendous conflagration that ensues, much of the acc.u.mulated wealth of ages is destroyed; and I may remind the reader that an iron peg driven firmly down till its head was level with the ground of a newly-cleared piece of forest, was found to be projecting no less than six inches from the surface after the fire was over. Then a crop is sown which indeed is not an exhaustive one, but it must be remembered that the land is exposed to heavy tropical rains, and perhaps for two years, after which it is abandoned, and allowed to grow up again into forest. So that the injury to the land from the burning of the forest, the removal of one or two crops of grain, and especially the loss from wash, bring about a state of exhaustion which a very long time is required to repair. The value of the land, then, in which this secondary growth of forest has sprung up, will entirely depend upon the time when the forest was cleared and burnt off, and as this is more or less conjectural, it is difficult to give on paper any guide as to the probable time, and the valuer can only form an opinion from the practice he has had in examining forest lands. As regards the third cla.s.s, i.e., young forest on land that has never had any previous forest growth, the valuer can have little doubt. Such lauds are not desirable, and are as inferior to lands of the second cla.s.s as these generally are to those of the first, or mother jungles.

I have said that a vast quant.i.ty of forest along the Western Ghauts is unsuitable for coffee; and it is so because of the excessive and continuous rainfall, and the estates, fortunately very few in number, which were started in the wet mountain regions which fringe the Mysore tableland, have all been abandoned. But on the eastern side of the pa.s.ses the rainfall gradually diminishes, and at a distance of about six or seven miles from the crests of the Ghauts the coffee zone commences, and stretches inland to varying distances from the Ghauts till the forest region gradually dies away into the wide-spreading plains of the interior of the province. Of the rainfall in this coffee region we have no reliable accounts, and it varies much even within short distances, but it is generally believed to range from 50 inches on the most easterly side of the coffee districts[58] to about 120 on the west. Opinions vary much as to the most desirable site for plantations, but I think that most planters are inclined to think that a rainfall of about 70 inches is the most desirable. As regards elevation above sea level, plantations vary from 2,800 feet to upwards of 4,000, and it is generally supposed that the highest elevations yield the best coffee, but it is very difficult to form any precise conclusion on the subject. Cannon's coffee, which is mostly grown at about 4,000 feet, always fetched a high price, but this was owing, I believe, to its long-established good name, for, when I grew coffee at elevations of from, I believe, 3,200 to nearly 3,500 feet, and of the same variety of plant, a large wholesale and retail dealer told me that whether they bought my coffee, Cannon's, or Santawerry (an estate of the best reputation) it was all the same. After looking over many lists of sales in recent years, I am struck with the small differences in the prices obtained for Mysore coffees, with the exception of Cannon's and a few estates which still grow the old original plant of Mysore. But all the estates which grow the Coorg plant obtain prices very similar, though there is a considerable difference in the elevation of the estates, and therefore, so far as the price of the coffee is concerned, I should not, in valuing land for planting, attach much importance to mere elevation, as long as it does not go below 2,000 to 3,000 feet, for below that we have no experience to go by, and are, therefore, unable to say what effect a lower elevation would have on the character of the coffee. We have now considered both climate and elevation, and the values of the various kinds of forest land, and have next to look at, and if possible value, the effects of aspect.

The more I have seen and studied coffee the more am I struck with the value of aspect, and this is of enormous importance in such a climate as Mysore, which is liable to suffer so often from prolonged droughts, and as it is quite a common thing to have five months without a drop of rain, and also during part of that time to have either dry winds or hot desiccating blasts of air coming in from the heated plains of the interior, it can easily be understood that in valuing lands, much consequence should be attached to forest which contains a large proportion of north and north-western aspects. As to the relative value of the various aspects I have fully treated the subject in my remarks on shade, and I must leave it to the personal experience of planters to determine how much more value they would attach to land mainly facing north and north-west as compared with land facing mainly south and south-west. For myself I should consider that the former was at least ten per cent. more valuable than the latter; and that the relative value of the other aspects should be carefully weighed before coming to an opinion as to the price that should be given for forest land.

In the valuation of land the next thing we have to consider is the steepness of the gradients on it. Now after having had much experience of steep land, land on moderate slopes, and land which might almost be called flat, I have no hesitation in giving a decided preference to the moderately sloping land. I object to the steep land, because it is troublesome to work and manure, and because the ridges on it are sure to be poor; and to the flat land, because the soil is apt to become sodden in our heavy monsoons, and because it is soon apt to harden, and thus is troublesome to work. In my opinion, the highest value ought to be attached to the moderately sloping lands, less value to the flat, or nearly flat lands, and less still to steep lands.

As regards the kinds of soil suitable for coffee, there are points on which some difference of opinion exists. All however are, I think, agreed in thinking that the most desirable soils are those of dark chocolate colour, considerable depth, and of easily workable character--what would be described in England as a rather heavy loamy soil. Then, and sometimes touching these soils, there are soils of decidedly whitish appearance, against which a general prejudice exists; but though some of these soils are light and of inferior character, others are capable of growing coffee quite as well as the best of the chocolate soils. Occasionally there are small sections to be found in good coffee lands of soil of a light character and pinkish hue, which few people not familiar with it could suppose to be a good soil, but in this I have found that coffee flourishes remarkably well. There are other cla.s.ses of soil which are generally considered to be inferior to those above mentioned, lightish, bright rod soils, black soils (though I have seen very good coffee in such), and soils of a whitish and rather sandy character; but it may be laid down as a general rule that all the soils we have, and I think I have soil of almost every cla.s.s, are capable of growing good coffee if the climate is suitable, and if the forest in it is of undoubted primaeval character; and I have much reason to think that, where soils have been found to be unfavourable, it is owing to the original jungle, say 50 or over 100 years ago, having been felled, burnt off, and cropped with grain for a season, and then abandoned. In from thirty to forty years very fair forest can be grown, but I should say that it would take at least 150 years to restore the land to anything approaching its chemical and physical condition when the primaeval forest was first felled.

We have, lastly, to consider the healthiness of the climate, the water supply, the facilities for procuring labour, and the proximity of the land to good roads.

As regards the climate of the coffee districts in Mysore, I have no evidence before me to show that there is much difference as regards health in any of the climates, though some, from elevation and nearness to the Ghauts and the source of the sea-breezes, are decidedly more agreeable than others which are lower, hotter, and more distant from the western pa.s.ses. Manjarabad, however, is generally considered to be the healthiest district, and some are of opinion that certain parts of the northern coffee district are rather below the average as to healthiness. A good water supply for drinking, and for pulping and nurseries, is, of course, of great importance, and a careful account should be taken of this in valuing land for planting. Then the facilities as to the supply of labour require to be carefully taken into consideration. They vary very much, as, in some cases, the whole labour has to be imported, while in other cases a considerable supply can be drawn from villages in the immediate proximity of the land. At one time it was always considered that it was a great advantage to have local labour, but the local labourers have now become so well off and independent that many planters much prefer the imported labourers, because the former are so uncertain in their attendance, while the latter, when once on the estates, have nothing to take them away from their work till the season arrives for their departing to their homes, either below the Ghauts, or in the interior of the province, from both of which sources the planters of Mysore draw so much of their labour. But in the picking season there can be no doubt that the vicinity of villages is a great advantage, as this generally occurs before the rice harvest, and before that takes place, many people are glad to work for a month or two months on the plantations. So that, in valuing land, proximity to villages ought certainly to be taken into favourable account. Finally, in valuing land, the proximity to good roads and easy access to them is of great importance--and I say easy access to them because it sometimes happens that land is situated on the wrong side of an unbridged river which is sure to be in flood for many months of the year.

I now turn to the important subject of valuing plantations of various ages.

I may commence here by observing that all the points enumerated as regards the valuation of land suitable for coffee apply equally to plantations, but it is hardly necessary to say that there are many additional points to be considered when valuing a plantation that is for sale, or for which a valuation may be required for any other purpose. The first point that a valuator should inquire into, is the age of the forest land on which a plantation has been formed. This may not be very easily determined, as the whole of the original forest may have been removed, but there are nearly certain to be corners left, and the valuator should remember that the surest sign of very old forest is an occasional very old and partly decayed Nandi tree, or large and aged Marragudtha trees. The next point to be considered is as to whether the forest was all felled at once and burnt off with a running fire, or whether it was cleared by degrees--i.e., in the first year cleared of underwood and a few of the large trees, and the wood piled and burned in separate heaps, and the large trees gradually removed in subsequent years. This may be regarded as a very important point, for in the latter case the physical condition of the soil will be sure to have been better maintained, and, in the opinion of one of our most experienced planters, the coffee will be much less liable to attacks of the Borer. The age of the plantation should next be inquired into, but mere age, it must be remembered, though it may be of great importance, is by no means always so. At first sight it would appear that a young plantation, with its virgin soil, must be more valuable than an old one, but I have in my mind's eye a plantation in Manjarabad, belonging to friends of mine, and the planting of which was begun as far back as 1857.

Last year one of my friends took me over it, and a finer plantation it would be impossible to find, and at the end of our walk he said to me, "The place is better than you ever saw it." And so it most undoubtedly was: and, as another planting friend once wrote to me, "All the old established estates in Mysore are to the front still, and many of them better than they ever were," and better because manuring and cultivation have improved pieces of inferior land and ridges to such a degree as to make them superior to what they were before the land was first cleared and planted. One of the estates in question was opened about ninety-five years ago, and yet contains as fine coffee as one could wish to see. All depends upon the care with which the estate has been kept up, and into that the valuator must specially inquire, and he must also specially inquire into the age of the coffee trees, which, always supposing that the soil has been well kept up, is of far more importance than the mere age of the estate. My friends' estate, for instance, above alluded to, was an old estate, but it was, comparatively speaking, a fresh plantation, for all the old trees had been removed, and the whole property replanted with the Coorg plant. So that, though the estate was old, the coffee was by no means so.

From what I have hitherto said, it is evident that in many cases the valuing of an estate presents to the mind an extremely complicated problem, and there are so many exceptions and limitations, and so many points of doubtful nature--the question of the age, for instance, at which the coffee tree declines--that I cannot attempt to do more than indicate those to which the valuator should turn his attention. There are, however, points on which I can express a more decided opinion--the shade on an estate, its kind, or kinds, and regulation.

After what has been previously written as to shade, its weight in determining the value of a plantation must obviously be very great; so much so, that planters, when going round an estate in Mysore, are generally more taken up with observing the shade than the coffee underneath it. And I cannot, perhaps, better ill.u.s.trate the effects of bad caste trees than by mentioning what a neighbour said to me when I was going round his plantation. He pointed to the coffee under a bad caste tree and said, "The coffee there gave a good crop this year, but the trees are suffering now, and will give a poor crop next year; while the coffee under the good caste trees there gave a good crop this year, are looking well now, and will give a good crop next year." Such, then, is the difference, and sometimes it is much more, between bad and good caste shade trees. And when the reader remembers that Mr. Graham Anderson has said that he has experienced more misfortune of every kind owing to the presence of bad caste shade trees, it is evident that a valuator should attach a much higher value to a plantation shaded entirely with good caste shade trees than to one with bad or indifferent kinds of shade trees. For the latter mean diminished crops, and more Borer and leaf disease, while the former lead to the very opposite effects.

Manurial facilities have next to be taken into consideration, and here we shall find a very great difference between estates. Some, but I am afraid very few, have spare, odd bits of jungle land which the proprietors have acquired for the purpose, or angles of the original forest which they have left uncleared, from which valuable top soil may be procured, while others are in parts of the country where the grazing for cattle is good, and where cattle manure can sometimes be bought from the natives. But many estates have no top soil resources, and but poor facilities of making bulk manure, and all these points require to be carefully considered when valuing an estate.

But besides all the previously mentioned points, there are the labour facilities, the water supply, and lastly, but by no means leastly, the concentration of all the points of most importance in one central point to be taken into consideration. It often happens on estates that the nursery is in one place, the pulping-house half a mile from that, and the bungalow half a mile from either. But is it not obvious that an estate is more valuable when the bungalow, drying-ground, pulper, and nursery are all within a stone's throw of each other?

Lastly, we come to the most difficult question of all. How many years'

purchase is a coffee property worth? To this question I can give no answer at all, nor is it likely that any answer can ever be given till all the facts connected with the industry become widely known. And of all these determining facts, the execution of the projected railway line through the southern coffee district to Mangalore will certainly be the most important. This line, in fact (which will probably be opened in three years' time), will alter the entire position of coffee, as it will not only provide for the carriage of coffee to the coast and the importation of manure, but will bring the planters within ready touch of the finest sanatorium in the world--the Nilgiri Hills.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] My friend Mr. Graham Anderson presented to the Durbar, at the meeting of the Representative a.s.sembly in 1892, an interesting memorandum on rainfall in Mysore, and the influence of trees on the condition of climate, and in this he has given a return of the rainfall for a section of the Manjarabad Talook, stretching inland from the crest of the Ghauts to about the termination of the forest tract--a parallelogram of fifteen miles in length from west to east, and about four miles from north to south. This section shows, from April to end of August, a rainfall of 291.53 inches on the extreme west, as compared with 44.21 inches on the extreme east. But it is remarkable that this variation of no less than 247.32 inches occurred on the northern side of the tract, the variation on the southern side being only from 232.46 inches to 72.42 inches, or a difference of only 160.04 inches. This shows an extraordinary, and at present unaccountable, deflecting of the South-West Monsoon current. Mr.

Anderson remarks that, though in heavy weather and with favourable winds, the Monsoon rain is often carried to a considerable distance to the east of the termination of the forest tract, it is of common occurrence to find an almost total cessation of continuous rain a few miles beyond the forest zone.

In the memorandum in question Mr. Anderson also remarks on the well known and interesting fact that the clearing away of certain descriptions of trees, and the subst.i.tution of others improves the supply of water in the springs. But the whole memorandum is both interesting and practical, and its presentation at the meeting of the Representative a.s.sembly is an additional ill.u.s.tration of the value of that inst.i.tution in pressing matters of importance on the attention of the Government. The returns of the rainfall were obtained from various planters on the section of country investigated by Mr. Anderson.