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COFFEE: 

ITS   CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


COFFEE: 


ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT 


BY 

EDWIN    LESTER  ARNOLD. 


AUTHOR   OF    "ON     THE    INDIAN    HILLS;    OR,   COFFEE    PLANTING   IN    SOUTHERN    INDIA, 
"  A    SUMMER    HOLIDAY    IN     SCANDINAVIA,"     &C. 


UBRA^. 

f  THt  r    ^\ 

ITY  J 

y 

LONDON : 
W.  B.  WHITTINGHAM  &  CO.,  91,  GRACECHURCH  STREET. 


1886. 
[A  II  Rights'  Reserved.} 


PREFACE. 


TT  was  with  considerable  diffidence  I  undertook  the  task 
of  preparing  a  new  handbook  on  Coffee  cultivation. 
Already  many  names  of  weight  and  authority  were  down 
on  the  roll  of  those  who  had  gained  experience  in  the 
wide  field  of  practice,  and  had  recorded  in  admirable 
handbooks  the  results  of  many  years'  planting  wisdom. 

Sabonadiere   has   enshrined    his   name   with    the   best 

\  ^  -N 
period    of    Ceylon    Coffee    culture ;     Laborie's   works    are 

classical,  and  still  useful ;  R.  H.  Elliot's  "  Experiences 
of  a  Planter  in  the  Jungles  of  Mysore "  has  thrown  a 
glamour  over  the  industry  in  the  eyes  of  many  an  out- 
ward-bound "  griffin ;"  Ellis,  Hull,  Keen,  Lewis,  Shortt, 
and  Simmond  have  all  contributed  treatises  of  good 
sense  and  point  on  the  same  subject,  thus  thrashed 
over  and  over  again,  until  a  casual  observer  would 
deem  there  was  but  small  chance  of  any  stray  grains 
of  fact  remaining  untouched. 

But   the   truth   is,   the  world    moves,    and  with   it    its 
most    mundane    affairs,    not    excepting    those    of    Coffee. 


VI  PREFACE. 

What  was  the  view  of  experts  twenty  years  ago  is 
now  as  often  as  not  looked  upon  as  antiquated,  and 
fresh  demands  are  continually  being  made  upon  science 
and  research  for  investigation  and  the  fruits  of  novel 
discoveries.  Then  also  new  districts  have  been  opened 
up,  many  deserving  that  the  attention  of  those  interested 
in  this  branch  of  commerce  should  be  drawn  to  them 
as  supplying  fresh  fields  for  enterprise  and  capital,  and 
changing  by  their  prosperity  the  face  of  regions  which, 
though  once  clothed  in  dense  jungle,  are  now  patched 
with  the  luxuriant  green  gardens  characteristic  of  the 
industry,  and  dotted  with  the  white  bungalows  of  European 
superintendents.  To  gaze  over  a  tract  thus  changing 
hands — from  Nature's  to  men's — is  an  experience  not 
easily  forgotten ;  the  fair  and  fruitful  plantations  already 
won  from  primeval  barbarism  lying  along  the  hollows 
of,  it  may  be,  a  wild  upland  valley,  surrounded  on  every 
side  by  the  swelling  masses  of  forest  only  awaiting  their 
turn  to  come  under  the  woodman's  axe ;  a  mountain 
stream  winding  down  the  glen,  a  thread  of  silver  in  the 
dry  weather,  and  a  turgid  torrent  in  the  monsoon,  sup- 
plying water  for  the  wants  of  man  and  beast,  besides 
motive  power  for  pulping,  saw-driving,  and  all  the  other 
hundred  wants  of  a  plantation ;  the  long  ghaut  road 
trailing  away  into  the  distance,  with  its  slow-moving 
trains  of  bullock  carts  or  labourers,  the  populous  native 
huts,  and  all  the  many  signs  of  busy  active  life. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

To  look  down  upon  such  a  region,  as  I  have  done 
very  many  times,  bursting  into  usefulness  in  the  face  of 
great  odds,  inevitably  impresses  on  the  observer  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  vast  amount  of  wealth  and  energy 
constantly  devoted  to  this  productive  and  widespread 
industry,  hinting  at  the  great  possibilities  that  are  open- 
ing up  for  its  furtherance  in  new  lands,  while  at  the 
same  time  explaining  the  constant  demand  for  works 
on  the  subject  by  both  those  who  supply  the  motive 
power  in  the  form  of  home  capital  for  all  such  under- 
takings, and  those  who  go  abroad  to  accept  the  practical 
portion  of  the  task. 

My  enterprising  Publishers  think  there  is  an  oppor- 
tunity for  rendering  assistance  to  both  parties  by  the 
preparation  of  a  handbook  which  shall  be  at  once 
concise  and  yet  full  of  practical  information,  equally 
useful  at  home  or  in  the  hands  of  the  young  assistant 
making  his  first  voyage  to  the  tropics ;  up  to  the  day 
in  its  data,  containing  the  latest  figures  on  production 
and  profits,  and  hints  on  every  matter,  in  fact,  that  can 
be  required  by  either  of  the  two  great  divisions  of 
investors  in  Coffee  already  mentioned — those  who  embark 
capital  in  it,  and  those  who  dedicate  their  lives  and 
energies  to  the  profession. 

The  outcome  of  my  task — undertaken  with  due  doubts 
in  my  abilities,  and  carried  through  with  a  genuine 


VI 11  .PREFACE. 

pleasure  born  of  pleasant  reminiscences  and  a  congenial 
subject — is  now  before  the  reader ;  and  that  it  may 
prove  useful  and  convey  a  lucid  impression  of  the 
"  facts  and  figures "  of  Coffee  cultivation  is  the  chief 
wish  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP/TER  PAGE 

N/  I.  THE  PLANT ....'.  i 

"J  II.  SOIL  AND  CLIMATE        ........  19 

III.  LABOUR  AND  LABOURERS  ........  35 

IV.  PURCHASE 49 

V.  THE  NURSERY 58 

VI.  FOREST  CLEARINGS       .    •  -.        .        .  '     '.        .  69 

VII.  PITS  AND  PEGS           .        .        .        .        .         .         .        .        .  78 

VIII.  "  SHADE  " 87 

IX.  PLANTING 96 

X.  WEEDS 104 

XI.  PRUNING     . 109 

XII.  ENEMIES          . 117 

XIII.  BUILDINGS  AND  BUNGALOWS '.  135 

XIV.  ROADING   AND    DRAINING 153 

&     XV.  THE  CROP.,      .        »        ..     V 158 

XVI.  PULPING  AND  PREPARING      .        ...        .        .        .  167 

XVII.  CATTLE  AND  FODDER        . 185 

XVIII.  MANURES  AND  MANURING 194 

^  XIX.  COST  AND  PROFIT      ...                 215 

\ 

3  XX.  COFFEE  COUNTRIES        ........  229 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

BACK  AND  FRONT  VIEW  OF  BUNGALOW          ......       143 

TRANSVERSE  SECTION  OF  COFFEE  MILL 170-71 

"  Disc "  PULPER      ........        .        ,        .        .        .        .      173 

THE  COMBINED  CRUSHER  AND  PULPER 174 

LONGITUDINAL  SECTION  OF  COFFEE  MILL 176-7 


COFFEE: 
ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    PLANT. 

THERE  are  certain  historic  facts  relating  to  the 
cultivation  of  Coffee,  and  the  introduction  of  the 
drink  into  this  country,  which  are  interesting,  if 
not  of  much  practical  value,  and  must  receive  a 
brief  notice  here. 

The  plant,  whose  natural  climatic  range  lies 
between  the  isothermal  lines  of  25°  North  and  30° 
South  of  the  Equator,  is  said  to  have  been  first 
observed  in  Caffa  (whence  its  name),  a  district  of 
Southern  Abyssinia.  From  thence  it  was  intro- 
duced along  the  old  caravan  routes  to  Yemen,  in 
Arabia,  about  the  beginning  of  the  I4th  century. 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  it  has 
always  grown  spontaneously  in  various  quarters  of 
the  tropics,  Persia,  Peru,  and  the  West  Coast  of 
Africa  (whence  an  important  species  takes  its 
name)  being  rivals  for  the  honour  of  its  parentage. 


2  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

The  Medina  Sheik  Abd-el-Kader  is  the  oldest 
historical  authority  on  the  use  of  "  blood  red 
Keweh,"  as  the  Tunisian  Ibu  Waki  named  the 
beverage.  It  may  be  assumed  that  the  Coffee 
Plantations  of  Yemen  increased  until  the  yield 
served  for  export  as  well  as  for  home  consump- 
tion. In  the  1 6th  century  mention  is  made  of 
the  consumption  of  Coffee  by  the  Turks,  and 
Lord  Bacon  among  other  writers  alludes  to  it. 
The  Coffee  came  by  ships  from  Mocha  to  Suez, 
and  overland  by  caravans  to  Damascus  and  Aleppo, 
the  total  export  from  Mocha  in  the  middle  of  the 
1 7th  century  being  estimated  by  Dufour  at  about 
16,000  bales,  weighing  about  300  Ibs.  each,  i.e., 
about  2,150  tons.  Rauwolfius  brought  some  young 
plants  to  Western  Europe  in  1573,  and  Alpinus 
stood  sponsor  to  them,  scientifically  describing  and 
naming  the  botanical  curiosities  in  1591.  This 
seems  to  have  drawn  some  attention  to  the  new 
shrub,  for  Bishop  Compton  successfully  reared  a 
few  plants  in  the  uncongenial  English  soil  during 
1696  and  subsequently.  Then  the  Dutch,  with 
their  native  talent  for  making  secondhand  dis- 
coveries, fabricated  a  legend  of  trees  which  had 
not  only  flowered,  but  borne  fruit,  in  the  fogs  of 
the  Lowlands — adding  a  rider  to  this  statement 
by  asserting  the  seed  from  this  source  to  have 
been  that  whence  most  of  the  gardens  of  the 
East  Indies  were  initiated.  It  is  at  least  certain 
that  the  plant  was  known  to  the  savants  of  the 


THE    PLANT.  3 

West  long  before  its  commercial  product  was 
familiar  to  the  public. 

Probably  Coffee  as  an  invigorator  is  of  much 
older  origin  than  our  scanty  records  on  the  sub- 
ject tell  us.  The  Egyptians  in  the  time  of  the 
Pharoahs  may  well  have  used  it,  since  half  their 
trade  lay  inland — up  the  valley  of  the  Nile — to 
the  great  Negro  cities  of  its  reputed  birthplace. 
The  Galla,  for  instance — a  wandering  nation  of 
Africa — in  their  incursions  into  Abyssinia,  being 
obliged  to  traverse  immense  deserts  and  to  travel 
swiftly,  have  been  accustomed  for  ages  to  carry 
nothing  with  them  to  eat  but  Coffee  roasted  till 
it  could  be  pulverised,  and  then  mixed  into  balls 
with  butter,  and  put  into  a  leather  bag.  One  of 
these,  the  size  of  a  billiard-ball,  is  said  to  keep 
them  in  strength  and  spirits  during  a  whole  day's 
fatigue  better  than  either  bread  or  meat. 

To  Persia — its  classic  home  as  a  strength-giving 
draught- — we  are  told  to  look  for  the  first  rise  of 
the  art  by  which  the  pretty,  but  hitherto  useless, 
berries  were  "pulped,"  roasted,  ground  and  in- 
fused, to  make  that  decoction  now  so  dear  to 
Eastern  palates.  Who  endowed  The  Land  of  the 
Lion  and  Sun  with  this  boon  is  a  moot  point,  but 
a  Mufti  of  Aden  obtained  the  secret  when  on  a 
pilgrimage,  and  introduced  it  amongst  his  followers. 

Thence   it   spread    to    Turkey,*    where,    owing 

*  Sir  Francis  Bacon  says  :  "  They  have  in  Turkey  a  drink  called 
Coffee,  made  of  a  berry  of  the  same  name,  as  black  as  soot,  and  of 


4  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

probably  to  the  Koranic  injunction  against  its 
rivals  the  spirituous  liquors,  it  soon  became  a 
popular  favourite,  and  over-rode  all  opposition 
from  interested  pashas  and  conservative  fakirs.* 

In  our  own  country,  it  was  at  first  regarded 
with  great  suspicion  as  a  beverage,  from  the  use 
of  which  all  sorts  of  terrible  evils  might  be  ex- 
pected to  follow.  Mr.  Edwards,  a  merchant  of 
Turkey,  was  perhaps  the  first  to  bring  the  fragrant 
preparation  under  British  notice.  In  the  year 
1650,  he  imported  a  Greek  youth,  named  Pasqua 
Rosee,  who  was  proficient  in  the  art  of  preparing 
Coffee;  and  so  greatly  did  the  new  drink  "take," 
after  the  first  opposition  was  over,  that  in  little 

a  strong  scent."  He  was  thus  probably  the  initiator  of  the  popular 
fallacy  that  Coffee  is  made  from  "  berries."  Latham's  edition  of 
"  Tod's  Johnson's  Dictionary  "  says,  that  "  Coffee  is  an  infusion  of 
the  berries."  It  is  no  more  an  infusion  of  berries  than  it  is  of  leaves 
— the  "  beans  "  used  are  of  course  seeds'. 

*  "  Coffee  comes  to  us  laden  with  the  fragrance  of  Oriental  bazaars 
and  the  romance  of  the  'Arabian  Nights.'  Its  early  history  as  an 
economic  product  is  involved  in  considerable  obscurity,  the  absence 
of  historical  fact  being  compensated  for  by  an  unusual  profusion  of 
conjectural  statements,  and  by  purely  mythical  stories.  Throwing 
legend  aside,  the  use  of  Coffee  seems  to  have  been  introduced  from 
Ethiopia  into  Persia  about  the  year  875  A.D.,  and  into  Arabia  from 
the  latter  country  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Not- 
withstanding that  its  use  as  a  beverage  was  prohibited  by  the 
Koran,  it  spread  rapidly  through  the  Mohammedan  nation,  and  it 
was  publicly  sold  in  Constantinople  in  1554.  It  easily  found  its 
way  from  the  Levant  to  Venice,  where  Coffee-houses  were  established 
as  early  as  1615.  A  Jew  named  Jacob  opened  the  first  Coffee-house 
in  England,  selling  it  as  a  common  beverage  at  Baliol  College, 
Oxford,  in  the  year  when  the  Long  Parliament  met." — American 
Paper. 


THE    PLANT.  5 

more  than  a  year,  it  is  said,  there  were  as  many 
Coffee-houses  in  London  as  in  Constantinople. 
However  this  may  be,  the  public  seem  to  have 
approved  of  Rosee's  speciality.  An  old  advertise- 
ment on  the  subject  says  the  Coffee  drink  "  much 
quickens  the  spirits  and  makes  the  heart  lightsome. 
It  suppresseth  fumes  exceedingly,  and  therefore  is 
good  against  the  headache,  and  will  very  much 
stop  any  defluxion  of  rheums  that  distil  from  the 
head  upon  the  stomac,  and  so  prevent  consump- 
tions and  the  cough  of  the  lungs.  It  is  excellent 
to  prevent  and  cure  the  gout,  dropsy,  and  scurvy. 
It  is  known  to  be  better  than  any  other  drink 
for  people  in  years.  It  is  most  excellent  remedy 
against  the  spleen,  hypochondriac  winds,  and  the 
like.  It  will  prevent  drowsiness,  and  make  one 
fit  for  business  if  one  have  occasion  to  watch ; 
and  therefore  you  are  not  to  drink  it  after  supper 
unless  you  intend  to  be  wakeful.  It  is  observed  in 
Turkey,  where  it  is  very  generally  drunk,  that  they 
are  not  troubled  with  many  maladies,  or  scurvy, 
and  their  skins  are  exceeding  clear  and  white." 
If  at  the  present  time  we  are  hardly  able  fully  to 
endorse  every  word  of  the  enthusiastic  Greek  in 
praise  of  his  favourite  beverage,  we  can  yet  feel 
there  can  be  no  doubt  he  would  be  gratified  could 
he  see  the  proportions  the  "  trade  "  has  assumed, 
or  know  the  millions  of  pounds  of  British  capital 
invested  in  the  preparation  of  the  article  of  which 
he  was  practically  the  earliest  English  champion. 


6  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

The  first  Coffee  grown  in  America  was,  no  doubt, 
introduced  into  Surinam  by  the  Dutch  in  1718. 
The  Governor  of  Cayenne — De  la  Motte-Aigron — 
having  been  at  Surinam,  obtained  some  plants  in 
secret  and  multiplied  them  in  1725. 

The  Coffee  plant  was  introduced  into  Martinique 
by  De  Clieu,  a  naval  officer,  in  1720.  Thence  it 
was  introduced  into  the  other  French  islands — into 
Guadaloupe,  for  instance.  In  1730  Sir  Nicholas 
Lawes  first  grew  it  in  Jamaica.  Du  Fougerais 
Grenier  introduced  Mocha  Coffee  into  Bourbon  in 
1717.  It  is  known  how  the  cultivation  of  this  shrub 
has  been  extended  to  Java,  Ceylon,  the  West  Indies, 
and  Brazil.  Nothing  prevents  it  from  spreading  in 
all  tropical  countries,  especially  as  the  Coffee  plant 
thrives  on  sloping  ground,  and  in  poor  soils  where 
other  crops  cannot  flourish.  It  corresponds  in 
tropical  agriculture  with  the  vine  in  Europe,  and 
tea  in  the  far  East. 

Passing  on  from  the  commercial  to  the  natural 
history  of  the  Coffee  plant,  we  will  take  a  brief  look 
at  its  distribution,  species,  and  habits.  The  three 
chief  varieties  of  the  plant  are  easily  recognizable 
to  those  who  have  had  much  to  do  with  Coffee. 
The  Mocha^bush,  growing  on  the  hot,  sandy  terraces 
of  the  Red  Sea  littoral,  is  sparse  of  leaves  and 
somewhat  gaunt  and  stunted  in  appearance,  as 
beseems  a  thing  of  the  desert.  Looking  at  the 
signs  of  its  condensed  vitality,  it  appears  easy  to 
understand  the  aromatic  pungency  of  its  dwarfed 


THE    PLANT. 


berries,  which  have  never  been  equalled  by  any 
achievement  of  scientific  cultivation.  Ljberian 
Coffee,  on  the  other  hand,  is  freer  of  growth,  as  is 
natural  to  a  plant  whose  habitat  is  among  the 
alluvial  flats  of  low  altitudes ;  the  leaves  are  broad 
and  abundant,  the  berries  big  and  somewhat  coarse: 
they  pay  the  planter  who  sells  by  gross  weight 
better  than  the  finer  product,  but  make  a  poor 
beverage.  The  third,  or  so-called  Arabian  Coffee, 
is  the  plant  most  generally  cultivated,  and  holds 
an  intermediate  place  between  the  former,  both 
in  point  of  growth  and  intrinsic  value  of  its 
yield. 

A  new  Coffee,  that  may  be  of  importance  in  the 
future,  called  "  Ma£agpgirje,"  has  lately  been  dis- 
covered in  Brazil,  and  a  Commission  was  formed  to 
investigate  the  qualities  of  the  Coffee  and  also  of 
the  plant,  and  they  decided  entirely  in  its  favour. 
Not  only  does  it  produce  a  greater  crop,  but  the 
Coffee  berry  is  much  larger,  and  possesses  a  very 
silky  -  looking  smooth  surface,  with  high  quality 
flavour.  It  stands  well  on  the  high  lands,  and  the 
first  planters  who  have  adopted  it  in  Brazil  are  so 
delighted  with  the  results  that  they  are  cutting 
down  their  splendid  Coffee  trees  of  the  older  kind 
of  Coffee  and  planting  this  new  "  Maragogipe " 
variety.  A  gentleman  who  has  just  returned  from 
visiting  many  of  the  higher  estates  in  Brazil  found 
the  planters  speaking  in  the  highest  terms  of  this 
new  species  of  Coffee.  Von  Glehn,  of  London, 


8  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

writes  : — "The  Maragogipe  Coffee  tree  which  I  have 
seen  growing  in  Brazil,  on  the  plantations  of  Mr. 
Francisco  Clemente  Pinto,  has  a  much  larger  leaf 
than  the  ordinary  Arabian  tree.  It  grows  with  extra- 
ordinary vigour,  and  trees  three  to  four  years  old 
were  already  eight  to  ten  feet  high,  and  full  of  fruit. 
The  tree  seems  to  come  into  full  bearing  much 
sooner  than  the  ordinary  sort,  and  the  bean  is 
very  much  larger.  Altogether  the  weight  of  Coffee 
per  acre  must  be  very  much  more  when  the  land 
is  planted  with  Maragogipe  than  with  the  ordinary 
Coffee  tree." 

Lately  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  dispatched 
the  following  official  note  to  the  President  of  the 
Province,  in  relation  to  the  propagation  of  the  new 
species  of  plant  there  discovered  : — "  The  species 
of  Coffee  called  '  Maragogipe,'  which,  according  to 
information  in  this  Department  of  State,  was  dis- 
covered in  your  Province  by  Crisogno  Jose  Fer- 
nandes,  has  found  great  favour  among  the  planters 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  the  merchants  who  have 
examined  it  in  this  market,  and  in  various  countries 
of  Europe,  all  agreeing  that  in  size  of  berry,  aroma, 
and  taste  it  is  one  of  the  species  most  recommend- 
able.  With  a  purpose,  therefore,  of  propagating  its 
cultivation,  your  Excellency  is  hereby  authorized 
to  acquire,  on  account  of  this  Department,  and  to 
remit  500  kilogrammes  of  this  fruit,  in  a  condition 
suitable  for  the  plantation.  Also,  I  recommend  that 
your  Excellency  order  the  extension  of  the  culti- 


THE    PLANT.  Q 

vation  existing  there  to  be  verified,  and  the  results 
which  it  has  produced,  as  well  as  under  what  con- 
ditions can  be  obtained  the  greatest  quantity  of 
seeds,  having  in  consideration  the  vigour  of  the  plant, 
the  time  of  harvest,  the  price,  and  the  guarantees 
of  origin  and  quality." 

To^botar^iSj^Q^fm^j^abic^  is  a  species  coming 
under  the  class  Pentandria  Monogynia  of  Linnaeus, 
and  the  family  Rubiacece,  though  by  some  it  is 
placed  among  the  Cinchonacece,  with  a  good  show 
of  reason  ;  but  this  botanical  quibble  matters  little. 
It  is,  in  cultivation,  a  shrub  of  close  and  systematic 
growth.  Where  allowed  to  follow  its  own  natural 
instincts,  in  uncleared  jungle  or  old  and  forsaken 
plantations,  it  grows  to  a  height  of  fourteen  to 
eighteen  feet,  and  is  then  a  tall,  slight  bush,  with 
a  straight  stem  free  of  branches  for  the  greater 
part  of  its  height  ;  and  an  abundance  of  fine, 
fibrous  roots  underground,  with  a  deep-penetrating 
and  all-important  "  tap  root,"  whose  welfare  is 
bound  up  with  that  of  the  plant.  Dwarfed  by  the 
pruning-knife  of  the  cultivator,  it  rarely  exceeds 
an  elevation  of^six  feet  in  light  sandy  soils,  and 
nine  feet  in  the  very  richest.  The  latter  is  an 
unusual  height,  and  as  a  matter  of  experience,  I 
have  noticed,  when  riding  through  the  best-managed 
estates  of  Lower  India,  that  the  topmost  twigs  of 
the  plants  have  rarely  been  higher  than  my  knees 
when  bestriding  a  hill  pony,  which  would  be  some- 
thing less  than  five  feet  from  the  ground.  If 


IO  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

allowed  to  grow  higher  than  this,  the  difficulties 
of  efficient  cultivation  and  picking  are  enhanced. 

The  branches  of  the  plant  are  placed  in  pairs 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  stem,  each  pair  having 
its  longitudinal  axis  at  right  angles  to  the  next. 
In  shape  the  leaves  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
Portuguese  laurel,  smooth  and  polished  on  the  upper 
surface,  pale  red-green  when  just  unfolded,  and 
dark  olive  when  older.  This  contrast  of  colour 
is  pleasing  and  striking  when  the  plants  are  making 
new  growths.  In  Sumatra  and  elsewhere,  we  read, 
these  tender  young  leaves  are  used  as  a  common 
beverage  amongst  the  natives,  who  attribute  to 
them  many  advantages.  They  "  possess  slightly 
tonic  and  stimulating  qualities/'  without  the  ex- 
citing effects  of  the  decoction  from  the  roasted 
bean.  Though  naturally  far  cheaper  as  a  drink 
than  the  preparation  of  berries,  and  less  marked 
in  its  effects  on  the  nervous  system,  it  probably 
requires  an  educated  taste  to  be  appreciated ;  and 
neither  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Gardner,  who  patented 
and  exhibited  a  process  in  the  Great  Exhibition 
of  1851  for  the  preparation  of  Coffee-tea,  nor  several 
other  efforts  in  the  same  direction,  have,  as  yet, 
served  to  bring  the  drink  into  popular  use.  Occa- 
sionally, young  and  soft  shoots  and  leaves  are 
used  by  the  Singhalese  to  flavour  their  curries, 
but  these  two  uses  sum  up  the  purposes  to  which 
this  portion  of  the  plant  can  be  applied. 

From  the  axil  of  each  pair  of_leaves;  when  Jhe 


THE    PLANT.  II 

plants  are  in  full  vigour,  spring  cluste£S-^£-twelve 
to  sixte^n_joVxwer=b^ds,  these  opening  at  the  blossom- 
ing season  witrT  great  rapidity.  The  planter  goes 
over  his  young  estate  one  morning,  probably,  in 
March,  and  sees  the  long  arrays  of  healthy  shrubs, 
watched  and  tended  with  so  much  care,  heavy  with 
green  clustering  buds  full  of  promise  for  a  bumper 
crop,  and  he  rises  a  morning  or  two  afterwards 
to  behold  the  whole  extent  of  hill  and  valley  under 
cultivation  a  wide-spreading  expanse  of  snow-white 
blossom,  almost  hiding  the  dark  green  carpet  of 
foliage,  and  reminding  him  of  hoar  frosts  in  his 
own  far  away  country,  or  of  its  hawthorn  hedges 
in  May.  The  scent  from  this  mass  of  bloom  is 
very  powerful.  My  own  coolies  have  frequently 
asked  for  extra  remuneration  when  carrying  letters, 
or  otherwise  passing  through  estates  in  the  full  flush 
of  blossoming,  declaring  such  duty  frequently  gave 
them  attacks  of  fever.  However  this  may  be,  the 
Coffee  flower,  in  colour,  odour,  and  form,  is  pleasant 
enough  to  English  senses — a  great  favourite  with 
the  natives  for  decking  their  images  of  Buddha,  &c. 
Botanically  it  is  said  to  be  "  axillary,  sessile,  calyx 
monopetalous,  funnel-shaped,  and  cut  at  the  limb 
into  fine,  reflexed,  lanceolate  segments." 

There  are  generally  two — sometimes  three — 
relays  of  blossom  before  all  the  buds  have  arrived 
at  maturity  (which  is,  no  doubt,  owing  to  the 
number  of  buds  in  each  cluster  preventing  their 
all  coming  out  together),  but  the  principal  one  is 


12  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

generally  the  first  which  comes  out  in  March. 
After  a  day  or  two,  the  flowers  gradually  turn 
brown,  and  fade  away ;  the  slower  and  more 
gradual  this  process  is,  the  better.  Rainfall,  while 
the  blossoms  are  out,  is  much  to  be  deprecated ; 
but  once  the  latter  has  set,  a  good  shower  will 
be  beneficial  rather  than  otherwise.  This  will 
wash  off  the  withered  petals,  leaving  exposed 
to  view  the  numerous  pistils,  or  fruit  germs, 
upon  which  all  depends.  These  should  have  fresh, 
whitish  tips,  to  indicate  a  healthy  appearance ;  and 
when  this  is  the  case,  the  blossoms  are  said  to 
have  "  set  well,"  and  a  crop  may  be  looked  for 
proportionate  to  the  abundance  of  the  blossom. 
Sometimes,  however,  an  ominous  little  black  speck 
is  discernible  in  the  centre  of  the  pistil ;  and  where 
this  is  the  case,  fructification  will  not  follow.  This 
is  most  commonly  the  result  of  inopportune  rain 
while  the  flowers  are  out ;  or  it  may  follow  a  pro- 
longed season  of  drought,  and  be  due  to  a  weakly 
condition  of  the  plant. 

Beautiful  while  they  last,  and  delighting  the 
planter's  eye  with  their  likeness  to  the  flowers  of 
the  English  hedgerows  in  spring  time,  or  filling  him 
with  pleasant  thoughts  of  future  profits,  accordingly 
as  sentiment  or  practicability  dominate  in  his  mind, 
their  life  is  yet  short,  and  in  three  or  four  days 
the  beauty  of  the  plantation  is  gone,  and  the  petals 
lie  yellow  and  withered  on  the  ground. 

From  the  short  stalks  whence  they  have  fallen 


THE    PLANT.  13 

rise  groups  of  berries,  at  first  _yj3llow  and  harcLjff 
the  touch,  lying  in  the  hollows  of  the  leaves.  As 
they  ripen  under  the  influence  of  a  meridian  sun, 
their  colour  deepens — not  regularly,  but  by  crimson 
and  scarlet  shades  and  tints  which  spread  over 
the  skin  until  about  October  its  surface  is  covered, 
and  the  "  cherry"  (for  so  it  is  now  called  by  a  happy 
comparison  with  the  familiar  fruit)  has  mellowed  to 
a  deep  glossy  purple-black,  with  a  smooth  and 
bloomless  cuticle. 

Laborie,  whose  works  are  of  undiminished 
value  though  amongst  the  oldest  on  the  planter's 
shelves,  waxes  eloquent  over  the  charms  of  the 
Coffee  bush  in  its  various  stages  of  growth. 
"In  both  states,  of  flower  and  fruit,  nature  is 
nowhere  more  profuse  and  beautiful  in  the  variety 
of  its  colours  and  forms,"  he  writes,  and  we  feel 
much  sympathy  with  his  enthusiasm.  At  this  period 
the  cherry  is  picked,  some  little  experience  being 
required  to  know  just  the  right  time,  which  is  when 
the  fruit  feels  quite  soft  to  the  touch,  and  a  few 
of  the  ripest  are  already  falling  to  the  ground. 
Different  sides  of  a  bush  will  be  ready  on  different 
days,  and  different  aspects  may  be  as  much  as  a 
week  apart  in  ripening.  This  is  a  boon  to  the 
planter,  who  has  his  hands  very  full  at  this  busiest 
of  all  seasons. 

The  cherry  has  many  and  voracious  enemies. 
A  few  birds  wax  fat  on  the  sweet  pulp  at  the  planter's 
expense ;  Sambur  deer  are  not  above  an  occasional 


ffUNIV]  Y  )} 


14  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

raid   into  the   gardens,   while  jackals   and   monkies 
•   are  fond  of  the  ripe  fruit. 

"Monkey  or  Jackal  Coffee,"  once  highly  valued 
as  the  choicest  form  of  berry  procurable  for  drink- 
ing purposes,  is  simply  the  undigested  Coffee  seeds 
which  have  passed  unaltered  through  the  intestinal 
canal  of  the  animal  that  has  stolen  them,  and  have 
been  left  about  in  the  jungles.  Elliot  does  not 
believe  in  "  Jackal  Coffee,"  regarding  the  name 
as  applicable  "  to  the  seeds  that  have  been  knocked 
off  the  trees,  or  spilt  by  the  pickers,  of  green  berries 
that  will  not  ripen,  and  of  stray  berries  that  have 
dried  on  the  trees."  With  all  due  deference  to 
that  accomplished  writer,  we  can  only  point  to 
the  well-known  facts  with  which  every  planter  is 
familiar.  Dr.  Shortt,  in  his  "  Handbook  of  Planting 
for  Southern  India,"  devotes  some  space  to  the 
consideration  of  the  reasons  why  such  berries  make 
a  better  beverage  than  others.  We  take  a  central 
position  between  these  authorities,  holding  with 
one  that  the  appreciation  of  such  stercoraceously 
deposited  beans  by  natives  is  an  undoubted  fact, 
and  with  the  other  that  they  are  of  little  or  no 
superior  value  to  those  plucked  in  an  ordinary 
way  from  the  trees. 

To   return   to   the    subject   of   the   berries    just 
ripened   upon   their   bushes.      We  have    seen  they 
have  many  admirers  besides  the  legitimate  owner, 
and  this  is  wholly  on   account  of  the   sweet   pulp 
Several    experiments    have    been    made    to    utilize 


THE    PLANT.  15 

this  succulent  covering,  but  without  much  success. 
The  cHemislry  of  waste  products  has  yet  an  in- 
exhaustible field  before  it,  and  our  cherry  covering 
is  an  instance. 

As  manure,  we  shall  mention  it  again.  It  is 
in  this  form  of  moderate  value,  like  any  other 
vegetable  refuse,  but  contains  too  large  a  portion 
of  water  in  the  crude  state  to  recommend  it  highly 
to  the  economical  planter.  Spirit  is  occasionally 
distilled  from  it,  but  not  in  India ;  and  abroad, 
dried  and  pounded,  it  has  been  tried  as  a  substitute 
for  Coffee  with  but  very  poor  results. 

It  is,  however,  with  ^he__s^ed^ot_covers  we  have 
most  interest.  This,  in  its  barest  form,  cannot 
fail  to  be  familiar  to  everyone  who  has  looked  into 
the  shops  of  towns  or  cities  and  observed  large 
stores  of  "  Ceylon  Plantation,"  "  Mocha,"  "  Native 
Ceylon,"  or  "  Rio "  Coffee  piled  up  in  heaps  and 
ready  for  sale.  In  that  condition  it  is  chocolate- 
colour — roasted  ;  and  unroasted,  of  a  greenish-grey 
tint,  varying  slightly  with  the  nature  and  growth 
of  the  species.  These  pale  green  "beans!! — for 
that  is  their  technical  name  (derived  from  the 
Arabic  word  bunn,  an  authority  tells  us,  and  thus 
from  the  same  root  as  the  humble  cake) — are  con- 
vex on  one  surface _and_  flat  uEon_Jbhe__gther.  In 
the  centre  of  the  rij^Jruj^ 

together  (smooth  surface  to  smooth  surface),  each 
covered  first  by  a  very  fine  jmd._delicate  garment, 
termed  "  the  silvery  skin  ;"  nextly,  each  has  a  some-  \ 

& 


i6 


COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


what  rougher  cartilaginous  membrane  of  smooth, 
shiny  consistency,  for  this  reason  called  the  parch- 
ment. Above  the  latter  comes  the  pulp,  "  muci- 
laginous, saccharine,  and  somewhat  glutinous,"  as 
an  exact  author  terms  it ;  and,  outside  again,  there 
is  the  external  skin. 

Coffee  varies  in  colour  from  brown  to  bluish 
green.  Not  only  do  Coffee  seeds  vary  in  colour, 
but  also  in  size.  The  following  table  will  give  an 
idea  of  the  size  of  the  berries,  and  also  of  the  com- 
parative value  of  Coffee  from  different  localities  : — 


No.    of    Seeds    in 

A 

a    Unit     Measure 

II 

holding  50  Grams 

Per  Cut. 

\l 

of    Water     (about 

iJt^ 

2j    OZS.) 

(    /  Fine  brown  Java      

187 

£       s. 
8        o 

P    Fine  Mysore  

I98 

6       10 

Fine  Neilgherry       

203 

4       13 

Costa  Rica    

203 

3       10 

Good  ordinary  Guatemala  .. 

207 

2       16 

Good  La  Guayra     

210 

3       10 

Good  average  Santos 

213 

2         I4 

*Fine  long  berry  Mocha 

217 

6       10 

*Good  ordinary  Java 

223 

3         0 

Fine  Ceylon  Plantation      ... 

225 

4       13 

*Good  average  Rio   

236 

2         12 

Medium  Plantation  (Ceylon) 

233 

3       18 

^Manilla 

248 

2          12 

*Ordinary  Mocha      

270 

5         o 

*West  African            

313 

2            0 

Those  sorts  which  are  marked  with  an  asterisk 
are    irregular   in    size    and    colour,    and    have    the 


THE    PLANT.  17 

appearance  of  being  carelessly  prepared  ;  and  the 
reason  why  Rio,  Manilla,  and  West  African  fetch 
the  least  money  seems  obvious  enough. 

The  high  prices  of  the  Mochas  lead  one  to 
think  that  there  is  something  in  a  name,  but  the 
light  colour  of  the  seeds  indicates  probably  not 
only  a  very  complete  ripeness  when  gathered,  but 
considerable  age  as  well  ;  and  be  it  remembered 
that  Coffee  improves  with  age,  and  will  continue  to 
improve  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  The  brown 
Java,  priced  at  i6os.,  has  not  only  very  fine  seeds, 
but  it  has  been  six  or  seven  years  in  the  island. 
If  Coffee  bg_kept  in  a  dry  place  jt  :  matures  and 
It  loses  water,  gets  lighter,  and  when 


roasted^_developes^  more  aroma  The  fact  that 
Coffee  can  je  stored  in  bulk  for  household-Jig^, 
and  continues  to  improve  with 


meoid^it_to_the^careful  .housewife.  "C'est  Page  qui 
fait  le  bon  Cafe,"  says  the  writer  of  the  mono- 
graph, "  Le  Bresil  a  1'Exposition  Internationale 
d'  Amsterdam." 

In  preparing  Coffee  after  it  is  plucked  from 
the  trees,  the  pulp  is  removed  by  water  and  fer- 
mentation, and  the  parchment  subsequently  shred 
from  the  beans  by  passing  them  between  carefully- 
adjusted  rollers  and  winnowing.  It  is  then  ready 
for  sale  and  transport,  and  this  is  all  the  work 
of  preparation  that  falls  to  the  planter's  hands. 

'  "  To  dream  of  drinking  Coffee,"   says  De  Can- 
dolle,    "  is   a   favourable    omen,    betokening    riches 

c 


i8         COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

and  honours."  To  dream  of  planting  it,  and  to 
follow  up  the  vision  practically,  may  lead  to  a 
like  result  if  skill  and  caution  guide  affairs  and 
characterise  the  planter's  operations. 


CHAPTER     II. 

SOIL     AND     CLIMATE. 

As  a  general  rule,  it  is  said,  the  best  zone  of 
latitude  for  Coffee  is  150°  on  each  side  of  the 
equator,  of  altitude  from  3,000  to  4,500  feet. 
The  deeper,  freer,  and  richer  the  soil  is  the 
better.  It  should  be  specially  tested  for  phos- 
phoric acid  ami"  potash.  The  latter  will  be  in 
abundance  when  a  large  forest  has  been  felled, 
but  burned  grass  land  must  be  very  good  to  grow 
Coffee. 

Soil  and  climate  are  subjects  of  primitive 
importance  if '~6uF~garden  is  to  succeed  and  our 
crops  to  be  bumper  ones. 

Looking  at  soil  from  an  annalist's  point  of 
view,  says  Pogson,  we  find  it  consists  of  an 
organic  part,  which  placed  in  the  fire  will  burn 
away,  and  an  inorganic  or  mineral  part,  which 
will  not.  The  constitution  of  the  first  is  well 
known.  It  is  formed  by  remains  of  animals, 
insects,  minute  visible  and  invisible  organisms 
of  various  kinds,  from  the  dung  of  animals, 
birds,  caterpillars,  and  worms,  and  from  the 
roots,  stems,  and  leaves  of  decayed  vegetables. 
The  inorganic  part  consists  of  sand,  clay,  lime, 


2O  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

magnesia,  oxides  of  iron,  oxides  of  maganese, 
potash,  soda,  sulphuric  acid,  phosphoric  acid, 
carbonic  acid.  The  preponderance  of  one  or 
more  of  the  natural  divisions  makes  the  soil  pro- 
ductive or  unproductive,  while  certain  plants  make 
special  calls  upon  one  or  more  substances,  and 
consequently  such  must  be  present  and  available 
in  a  soil  that  is  to  suit  them. 

Officially,  five  kinds  of  soil  are  recognized  in 
India,  but  in  truth  there  are  a  greater  variety 
than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world  except 
China. 

A  rich   soil   gene^^_j:pjitairia^fiv£^ier  -cent., 


or  one  twentieth,  of  its  weight  of  organic  matter 
in  combination  with  other  fertilizing  substances. 
As  for  the  best  ground  for  Conjee  in  particular, 
it  may  be~TToT:e37jhat  our  chief  authorities  differ 
in  their  viewsj^but  as  a  broad  principle  the  best 
soil  is  the  j^ches^^no  matter  what  its  colour,  or 
whether  it  be  the  volcanic  mould  of  Java,  the 
rich  red  earth  of  Brazil,  the  deep  valley  silt  of 
Arabia,  or  the  Ceylon  jungle  mould. 

Sabonadiere's  description  of  a  good  soil's 
exterior  character  is  as  good  as  any  we  have  read. 
"We  come  to  the  conclusion,"  he  says,  "that 
a  dark  chocolate-coloured  soil  mixed  with  small 
stones,  under  ledges  of  rock,  and  bestrewn  with 
boulders,  is  most  suitable  for  the  trees."  In  this 
he  will  be  found  to  have  given  a  very  accurate 
description  of  much  of  the  best  ground  in  Ceylon 


SOIL    AND    CLIMATE.  21 

and  Southern  India.  It  is  plain,  however,  that 
he  has  only  given  the  superficial  and  casual 
characteristics  of  a  suitable  earth,  since  many 
causes  may  produce  the  dark  colour  he  admires, 
and  the  fact  that  land  is  bestrewn  with  small 
fragments  of  rocks  and  scattered  boulders  can 
have  only  a  remote  influence  on  the  yield  of 
fruit. 

In  general,  a  fair  idea  of  the  nature,  of  any  soil 
can  be  obtained  by  a  study  of  the  jungle  that 
grows  upon  it.  Scattered  "  sholas,"  or  clumps  of 
trees  interspersed  with  expanses  of  waving  lemon 
grass  and  such  like — picturesque  as  it  may  be — 
will  never  do  for  the  shrub,  since  they  show  a 
shallow  soil  on  layers  of  rock.  Rather  we  must 
seek  to  find  thick,  heavy  jungle,  close  grown,  with 
soft-wooded  trees,  such  as  the  sacred  fig,  creepers, 
tree-ferns,  and  giant  lichens.  Where  these  abound 
and  grow  luxuriantly,  the  earth  below  them  is 
certain  to  be  richly  loaded  with  decayed  vegetation, 
and  thus  fulfils  one  requirement  of  the  planter. 
Parasitic  plants — and  especially  orchids,  I  have 
noticed  (though  their  connection  with  the  soil  is 
but  secondhand) — seem  to  indicate  and  thrive  best 
on  the  richest  ground.  The  presence  of  trees  of 
large  and  free  growth,  running  up  straight  to  the 
sky  and,  as  it  were,  racing  for  precedence,  points 
to  a  good  depth  of  mould  under  their  roots. 

Plants  in  general,  and  Coffee  in  particular, 
require  a  soil  free  from  stagnant  water,  sufficiently 


22  COFFEE  !     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

friable  to  be  open  to  the  passage  of  air  for  admitting 
of  "  respiration,"  and  possessing  a  sufficiency  of 
those  constituents  which  are  essential  to  the  growth 
and  nourishment  of  the  vegetable. 
^  Coffee,  as  previously  jnoted,  is  tap-rooted,  and 
it  is  essenHaTjo~lts~proper  well-being  that  this 
root  may  -penetrate— down  into  the  body  of  the 
earth,  where  should  lie  those  reservoirs  of  moisture 
and  manure  that  must  be  looked  to  for  nourishment 
and  support  during  trying  times  of  drought  and 
sunshine.  This  points  to  the  necessity  of  a  deep, 
and  penetrable  soil.  Where  mould,  no  matter 
how  good,  is  shallow,  and  rests  on  hard  clay  or 
"  slab  "  rock  at  small  depth,  planting  is  useless  ; 
an  admixture  of  gravel,  however — or,  more  properly 
speaking,  the  hill  shale  so  common  in  Coffee  dis- 
tricts— is  not  a  bar  to  success  if  the  surrounding 
circumstances  are  favourable.  Ground  broken  up 
for  the  first  time  under  the  shade  of  primeval 
forest,  it  will  commonly  happen,  however,  possesses 
such  a  depth  of  mould  that  practically  the  subsoil 
is  non-existent.  In  my  own  region  of  Southern 
India  much  of  our  Coffee  was  on  four  and  six  feet 
of  rich  black  earth  that  crumbled  to  the  touch, 
being  both  "warm"  and  "free"  in  texture.  This, 
of  course,  in  the  more  favoured  hollows  of  the 
valleys,  and  such  a  depth  is  not  to  be  looked  for 
everywhere. 

It   will  be   as   well   for    the    young    planter   to 
remember  that  an  estate  may  have  everything  to 


SOIL   AND    CLIMATE.  23 

commend  it  to  the  external  view,  and  fulfil  to  a 
nicety  all  the  conditions  he  has  been  taught  to 
seek,  and  yet  disappoint  when  the  crucial  test  of 
crop  times  comes.  On  some  land  the  plants  thrive 
amazingly  for  a  time,  vigorous  in  growth  and  glossy 
in  foliage.  Such  promise  is  deceptive,  and  the 
bushes  never  achieve  anything  beyond  a  plentiful 
harvest  of  leaves.  Other  districts,  again,  seeming 
to  invite  cultivation,  rear  Coffee  entertaining  a 
curious  liability  to  suffer  attacks  from  various  foes 
and  diseases. 

The  secret  of  these  variations  no  one  quite 
understands.  They  form  a  still  vexed  question, 
upon  which  there  are  probably  as  many  opinions 
as  planters.  Every  country — and  not  only  every 
country,  but  every  district — has  its  peculiarities 
and  traditions.  These  can  hardly  be  understood 
except  by  personal  inspection.  Planters,  as  a  rule, 
scorn  laboratory  tests,  preferring  to  judge  by  rule 
of  thumb  in  their  selection  of  garden  sites.  They 
are  usually  right,  and  the  beginner  is  lucky  who 
can  get  an  old  hand  in  the  district  to  ride  over 
and  give  him  a  friendly  opinion  on  the  capabilities 
of  his  proposed  location  ! 

After  all  is  said,  the  Coffee  plant  is  a  hardy 
shrub ;  and  though  the  best  soils  jfor__it  can  be 
only  recognized  by  experience^ __the_Jact  that  it 
is  sprea^r^Dye^alf^arts  of  the  world,  and  is 

fruitful    gn_   the sandy_-terraces.    of    the    Arabian 

littoral    or    the    moist,   alluvial    flats    of    Gambia, 


24  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

tends  towards  showing  it  has  a  wide  range  of 
tastes. 

"The  following  opinions  of  writers  on  the  question 
of  soil  will  be  read  .with  interest,  and  are  instructive 
in  marking  the  uniformity  of  judgment  amongst 
them. 

Sabonadiere  says,  in  "  The  Coffee  Planter  of 
Ceylon:" 

"The  most  suitable  soil  for  the  Coffee  bush  is  that 
which  grows  soft  timber.  The  hard  '  doon '  wood  (useful, 
however,  for  shingles  and  beams)  is  usually  found  on  high 
quartzy  ridges,  which  both  the  nature  of  the  soil  and 
exposure  to  winds  render  unsuitable.  The  best  land  for 
Coffee  is  a  dark  chocolate-coloured  soil,  mixed  with  small 
stones  and  overspread  here  and  there  with  boulders  of 

granite Those  estates  where  slab  rock,  gravel, 

or  clay  prevail  are  worked  at  a  questionably  remunerative 
return,  and  must  ere  long  be  abandoned  as  not  paying  for 
their  cultivation." 

In   Mr.    Hull's   opinion    ("  Coffee    Planting    in 
Southern  India")  : — 

"When  the  soil  is  dark  in  colour,  loose,  and  full  of 
roots,  it  is  rich  in  organic  matter,  and  therefore  good  for 
Coffee,  which  is  a  hardy  plant  not  on  the  whole  difficult  to 

please  in  this  matter The  best  criterion  as  to 

the  quality  of  the  soil  is  the  luxuriousness  or  otherwise  of 
the  vegetation  it  produces  in  its  original  state.  For  instance, 
in  forests  which,  in  addition  to  a  large  growth  of  timber,  have 
a  dense  close  underwood  and  abound  in  mosses  and  ferns, 
if  may  safely  be  concluded  the  soil  is  good." 

An    experienced    writer    in    Balfour's    excellent 
"  Cyclopaedia  of  India  "   says  : — 

"  In  Ceylon  the  best  soil  is  a  deep  chocolate  colour, 
friable  and  abounding  with  blocks  and  small  pieces  of  stone. 


SOIL   AND    CLIMATE.  25 

Such  patches  of  land  are  generally  found  at  the  bottom  of 
the  escarpments  of  the  hills  or  in  elevated  valleys,  and 
rarely  on  the  slopes.  Quartoze  land  must  be  carefully 
avoided,  and  clay  is  equally  bad.  A  good  surface  soil 
should  have  at  least  two  feet  of  depth,  as  the  Coffee  tree 
has  a  long  tap  root." 

Mr.  P.  L.  Simmonds  remarks  in  his  "  Tropical 
Agriculture :  " 

"  Coffee  trees  flourish  in  hilly  districts  where  the  subsoil 
is  gravelly,  for  the  roots  will  strike  down  and  obtain  nourish- 
ment so  as  to  keep  the  plant  alive  and  fruitful  for  thirty  years. 
Trees  planted  in  a  light  soil,  and  in  a  dry  and  elevated  spot, 
produce  smaller  berries,  which  have  a  better  flavour  than 
those  grown  in  rich,  flat,  and  moist  soils.  The  weight  of 
produce  yielded  by  the  latter  is,  however,  double  that  obtained 
from  the  former ;  and,  as  the  difference  in  price  between  the 
two  is  by  no  means  adequate  to  cover  this  deficiency  of 
weight,  the  interest  of  the  planter  naturally  leads  him  to 
the  production  of  the  largest  but  least  excellent  kind." 

A  writer  on  American  Coffee  tells  us : — 

"  The  best  crops  that  I  have  seen  have  been  on  a  rich 
black  loam,  too  rocky  to  be  worked  with  the  plough,  and  on 
the  slopes  of  ravines.  It  is  said  that  the  plant  dies  out  in 
a  few  years  on  clay  soil.  But  the  Liberian  plant  is  said 
to  flourish  on  such  soil.  I  attribute  the  better  condition 
of  the  plants  on  sloping  ground  to  the  fact  of  their  being 
more  shaded.  It  is  generally  held  that  the  Coffee  will  not 
flourish  on  wet  ground,  though  the  best  plants  I  ever  saw 
[as  far  as  leaves  went  ?]  were  within  a  few  feet  of  an  unfailing 
stream." 

And  "An  Old  Planter"  thinks  we  should  look 
to  the  subsoil : 

"A  rich  chocolate  is  my  favourite,  and  I  have  generally 
seen  the  best  estates  where  that  was  the  body  of  the  soil. 


26  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

But  a  deep  black  is  also  good — sometimes,  indeed,  very  fine. 
And  there  are  other  kinds  not  to  be  despised.  A  free,  friable 
kind  of  soil  is  generally  a  very  desirable  first  condition, 
whatever  be  the  colour.  But  it  should  not  be  sandy,  clayey 
or  ferruginous.  If  well  studded  with  large  boulders  so  much 
the  better.  These  keep  the  soil  together,  as  well  as  improve 
it  by  the  process  of  their  decay.  Avoid  land  where  there 
is  much  slab-rock  cropping  out  on  the  surface,  however. 
The  soil  is  seldom  deep  upon  such  rock,  and  it  gradually 
slides  away  :  while  even  before  it  slips,  the  roots  of  the  Coffee 
trees  coming  in  contact  with  the  hidden  rock  cause  the  tree 
to  wither  and  die  when  in  its  very  prime." 

The  matter  of  climate  is  at  least  as  important 
as  the  previous  one,  and  can  be  approached  with 
more  confidence  of  accuracy.  That  also  of  aspect 
is  worth  consideration.  Coffee  of  one  sort  or 
another  will  grow  and  thrive  more  or  less  from 
the  sea  level  to  6,000  feet  of  ele^attenT"" 

TrTCeylonrthe  result  of  much  experience  and 
innumerable  failures  from  too  much  humidity,  or  an 
excess  of  dryness  in  the  atmosphere,  has  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  a  height  of  3,000  feet,  with  a 
divergence  of  500  feet  higher  or  lower,  is  the  best 
elevation  that  can  be  chosen. 

The  highest  estate  of  Travancore  is  in  Velaven- 
godu  district,  at  an  elevation  of  3,900  feet ;  but 
there  are  only  two  estates  there,  which  comprise 
unitedly  395  acres,  and  the  outturn  of  which  has 
been  412  Ibs.  per  acre  of  mature  plants.  The  lowest 
estate  is  in  Neduvengaud,  altitude  above  the  sea 
about  400  feet;  and  on  this  154  Ibs.  per  acre  were 
gathered.  The  average  produce  for  all  plantations 


SOIL    AND    CLIMATE.  2J 

was  about  276  Ibs.  per  acre  of  full-grown  plants. 
Where  the  cost  of  cultivation  is  greatest  the  out- 
turn also  is  greatest.  In  the  two  highest  estates 
mentioned  the  cost  of  cultivation  was  said  to  be 
Rs.  in  per  acre. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  while  considering 
this  subject,  that  Coffee  requires — (i)  a  suitable  soil, 
(2)  a  temperate  climate  within  the  tropics,  (3)  a 
range  of  heat  between  60°  and  80°  Fahrenheit, 
and  (4)  a  rainfall  of  not  less  than  80  inches,  falling 
chiefly  in  the  monsoon  or  planting  season,  but  never 
withheld  for  many  weeks  at  a  spell. 

Ceylon  is,  as  a  rule,  more  humid  than  India.  It 
is  encircled  on  every  side  by  the  sea,  and  hence 
the  collection  of  clouds  and  consequent  rainfall  is 
in  excess  of  that  of  India,  where  the  rain  comes 
in  certain  consecutive  wet  months,  followed  by  half- 
a-year  of  cloudless  skies  and  parching  winds.  As  a 
consequence,  it  may  be  roundly  stated  that  3,000 
feet  in  that  island  of  palms  and  spices  will  be 
equivalent  to  4,000  feet  in  India,  since  the  heat  and 
dryness  of  the  latter  must  be  met  by  ascending  to 
greater  and  cooler  elevations. 

This  general  principle  suffers  modification  from 
such  causes  as  aspect,  local  peculiarities  of  climate, 
abundance  of  forest  shade,  and  special  cultivation. 
For  instance,  many  native  gardens  around  Colombo 
growing  Coffee  Arabica  are  at  the  sea  level,  but 
then  they  are  overshadowed  by  thickets  of  foliage, 
abundantly  manured,  and  carefully  watered  in  the 


28         COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

hot  weather.  Some  European  estates  on  the  Neil- 
gherries,  in  Madras,  on  the  other  hand,  are  6,000 
feet  above  the  plain,  and  in  that  delightful  region 
there  seems  no  limit  to  the  available  area,  stopping 
short  only  at  the  line  of  frosts. 

In  Ceylon  an  eastern  aspect  is  considered  de- 
sirable. In  Southern  India  Elliot  argues  strongly 
in  favour  of  a  northern  slope,  since  it  loses  less  of 
its  moisture,  stored  during  the  monsoon,  than  the 
opposite  slope,  exposed  to  the  vertical  rays  of  a  sun, 
and  preserves  a  more  equal  temperature.  Eastern 
and  western  slopes  are  more  equal  in  respect  to  the 
influence  exerted  upon  them  by  the  sun,  and  thus 
advantageous  or  the  contrary  according  to  their 
exposure  to  rainfall  and  wind. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  while  the  influence 

of  too  much  heat  upon  unshaded  Coffee  is  palpable 

in   the   gaunt,    famished   bushes,    and    their   sickly 

array  of  yellow  leaves,  the  opposite  extreme  of  an 

excess  of  cold   and  moisture,   though  equally  fatal 

in  its   effect  upon   the    actual  crop  of  cherries,  is 

more  delusive,  and  for  a  long  time  the  bushes  grow- 

\mg  under  such   circumstances  delight   the    inexpe- 

,Henced  eye  by  their  wealth  of  verdure. 

A  garden  so  placed,  high  up  on  a  mountain  side, 
where  all  the  water-laden  clouds  from  the  sea  first 
strike  and  go  to  pieces  upon  the  barrier,  discharging 
their  freights  of  rain  and  mist,  is  a  disappointing 
investment.  The  Coffee  is  planted  and  flourishes 
amazingly.  Soon  the  soil  of  the  garden  can  hardly 


SOIL    AND    CLIMATE. 


be  seen  anywhere  for  the  rich  green  carpet  of  glossy 
foliage  that  covers  it ;  but  this  is  all.  The  crop 
never  comes,  or  comes  very  thinly,  and  will  not 
ripen.  This  is  only  natural  when  we  remember 
that  we  are  here  growing  a  tropical  plant  under 
the  atmospheric  conditions  of  northern  countries. 

The  golden  rule  applies  to  India  as  well  as  all 
other  countries,  that  a  happy  mean  must  be  hit — 
temperature  about  60°  or  80°  Fahrenheit,  and  rain- 
fall 80  inches  per  year. 

Annexed  is  four  years'  rainfall  of  a  central 
district  of  Ceylon  : — 


Month. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

January    ... 

3.48 

5.89 

H-39 

14.26 

February... 

7.09 

8.25 

2.10 

8.86 

March 

5.64 

13-95 

2.02 

6.17 

April 

9,OO 

7-38 

6.48 

3-77 

May 

5-92 

0-55 

4.28 

4-97 

June 

0-59 

1-38 

3.36 

1.67 

July 

6.70 

3-i8 

4.03 

2.83 

August 

3.86 

3-75 

3.29 

5-79 

September 

7-32 

2.48 

6.02 

1.36 

October    ... 

4.16 

15-50 

19.18 

11.13 

November 

11.49 

19.85 

8.79 

18.30 

December 

9-50 

12.25 

19.84 

15.36 

TOTALS 

74-75 

94.42 

91.41 

94-47 

Trinidad  in  the  West  Indies  has  only  65  inches 
in  the  year;  Upper  Rajawalla  in  Dumbara  (Ceylon) 
shows  a  yearly  average  of  55.78  inches ;  Kurune- 


30  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT, 

gala,  84.09.  Upon  Delgolla,  another  Ceylon  estate, 
nearly  100  inches  fall  per  year.  In  the  Indian 
jungles,  with  which  I  am  most  familiar,  we  some- 
times had  as  much  as  120  inches  in  the  twelve 
months. 

The   total   average   rainfall    in  each    district  of 
Madras  ranges  thus  : — 


District. 

Inches. 

District. 

Inches. 

South  Canara 

143.60 

Nellore 

36.47 

Malabar 

114-95 

Salem  

35-30 

Madras 

57-96 

Trichinopoly... 

34-94 

Chingleput    ... 

48.22 

Kistna  

32-58 

South  Arcot  ... 

44-77 

Cuddapah 

30-97 

Ganjam 

44-03 

Kurnool 

30.01 

Tanjore 

43-49 

Coimbatore  ... 

24.81 

Vizagapatam 

40.65 

Bellary 

25-77 

North  Arcot  ... 

40.34 

Madura 

23-73 

Godavari 

39.28 

Tinnevelly     ... 

22.85 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  rainfall  given  above  is 
merely  the  average  for  a  district,  and  that  it  not 
unfrequently  happens  that  the  rainfall  in  one  part 
of  a  district  varies  as  widely  from  that  in  another 
part  of  the  same  district  as  it  does  from  that  in 
stations  in  other  districts,  if  not  more  so. 

If,  in  spite  of  any  feasible  elevation  that  can 
be  reached,  the  tropical  sun  will  have  its  way,  and 
pours  down  on  the  baked  soil,  threatening  destruc- 
tion to  all  but  the  deepest  rooted  vegetation,  then 
we  must  have  recourse  to  shade-trees,  and  grow 


SOIL    AND    CLIMATE.  3! 

our  Coffee  in  an  imitation  of  its  native  jungles. 
In  fact,  trees  are  of  the  first  importance  to  regulate 
the  climate  of  a  country. 

Lieut.-Col.  Beddome,  in  his  Report  to  the 
Famine  Commissioners,  gives  a  striking  instance  of 
the  damage  indiscriminate  felling  of  forests  works  to 
a  district,  and  we  can  fully  corroborate  his  remarks, 
knowing  the  Mettapolliem  gorge  well  : — 

"  The  clearing  away  of  forests  protecting  a  spring  or 
head  of  a  stream  almost  always  dries  it  up,  and  the 
denudation  of  the  forests  protecting  the  slopes  of  ravines 
down  which  it  runs  seriously  affects  it,  causing  a  great 
rush  of  water  after  heavy  rain  and  corresponding  diminution 
at  other  times.  These  facts  are  too  patent  to  require  proof, 
but  can  be  established  by  most  forest  officers.  To  illustrate 
the  ill  effects  of  deforesting  steep  mountain  ravines  I  could 
mention  nothing  more  appropriate  than  the  Coonoor  ghat 
ravine,  the  approach  to  the  Nilgiri  from  Mettapolliem.  I 
have  been  up  and  down  this  many  times  nearly  every  year 
since  1857,  and  watched  the  gradual  destruction  of  the 
forest,  trying  hard  to  stop  it,  but  with  what  result  is  very 
evident,  although  Government  have  passed  several  orders 
forbidding  the  clearance  of  the  forests.  When  I  first  knew 
it  the  ravine  was  all  forest-clad,  both  sides,  and  in  the 
heaviest  rain  there  was  no  very  apparent  wash  of  the  soil, 
no  land  slips  or  rolling  boulders,  and  the  rivulets  feeding 
the  river  down  the  centre  of  the  ravine  all  running 
tolerably  clear.  Now  the  north-east  slopes  or  the  slopes 
above  the  road  have  been  almost  entirely  deforested,  and 
it  is  quite  dangerous  to  go  up  the  ghat  during  very  heavy 
rain,  which  often  occurs  in  October,  November,  and  the 
beginning  of  December,  and  sometimes  in  May.  Boulders 
of  rock  of  various  sizes,  from  several  cwts.  to  100  tons, 
come  rolling  down,  rendering  the  old  and  new  ghats 
impassable  and  destroying  the  bridges,  and  the  soil  in 


32  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

many  places  pours  over  the  road  like  lava,  and  the  water 
in  the  streams  is  of  the  consistency  of  cream.  Most  of 
this  deforested  land  has  been  planted  with"  Coffee,  and 
many  people  would  argue  with  advantage  to  the  State ; 
but  the  forest  officer  says  steep  mountain  slopes  like  this 
must  be  protected  from  denudation  for  Coffee,  as  it  is 
utterly  impossible  that  the  soil  can  last  very  long.  The 
forest  has  now  been  replaced  by  Coffee,  and  in  the  future 
Coffee  will  be  replaced  by  a  rocky  barren  mountain  slope 
with  no  trees  or  cultivation  of  any  sort,  and  the  State  will 
then  say  how  improvident  our  ancestors  were.  Tree-planting 
will  then  be  too  expensive." 

This,  however,  is  a  subject  that  will  be  glanced 
at  subsequently. 

Insect  life  is  a  danger  to  Coffee  that  is  con- 
siderably influenced  by  climate.  An  excess  of  wet 
encourages  the  "  black  bug,"  a  deadly  form  of 
blight,  and  a  great  range  of  temperature  from  high 
to  low  produces  a  million  foes  to  the  planter  in  the 
form  of  insect  life  or  an  overflow  of  rank  weeds. 

There  is  one  other  thing  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked in  forming  a  plantation,  and  that  is  the  force 
and  nature  of  the  winds  beating  upon  the  ground. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  say  anything  upon  this 
subject  except  that  the  young  planter  will  do  well 
to  get  his  plants  as  much  sheltered  as  possible_by 
forests,  by  ranges  of  hills,  or  by  belts  of  woodland 
1  lefF  standing  when  the  jungle  is  felled,  and  more 
\  especially  when  the  wind  is  one  of  much  the  same 
character — either  a  very  hot  blast  or  a  very  wet  one. 
The  former  singes  vegetation,  and  often  at  the  time 
when  plants  are  fruiting  and  in  need  of  all  available 


SOIL   AND    CLIMATE.  33 

strength,  the  latter  beats  the  bushes  to  ribbons, 
snaps  their -tender  rootlets  as  they  are  formed,  and 
does  unlimited  damage  to  an  exposed  site  by  hurt- 
ling the  seasonal  rains  against  it,  thus  washing  into 
the  ravines  with  each  muddy  torrent  all  its  best 
soil.  The  aspect  of  the  jungle  trees  will  often 
indicate  the  nature  of  the  winds  that  beat  upon 
them.  A  tempest  -  swept  soil  usually  presents  a 
hardened  and  washed-out  appearance  which  a  little 
experience  will  enable  one  to  detect. 

The  planter  must  see  to  the  sheltering  of 
his  Coffee  as  best  he  can  in  this  respect,  and 
should  remember  that  the  rules  which  suit  his 
next  door  neighbour  will  by  no  means  of  a  necessity 
apply  to  him. 

We  may  quote  Elliot  on  this  subject.  Speak- 
ing of  the  Indian  monsoons,  he  says  : — 

"  These  south-west  winds  are,  however,  only  fatally  inju- 
rious on  the  first  barrier  of  hills  they  strike.  Further  inland 
their  force  is  greatly  modified,  and  to  such  an  extent  that 
little  injury  results  from  them.  For  instance,  along  the  whole 
of  the  westerly  frontier  range  of  the  Mysore  tableland  Coffee 
can  hardly  be  grown  at  all  in  face  of  the  south-west 
monsoon,  and  eastern  aspects  are  therefore  the  best ;  while 
five  miles  further  inland  an  eastern  aspect,  from  the 
climate  being  so  much  drier  and  hotter,  is  most  to  be 
avoided,  and  a  western  aspect  may  be  considered  rather 
favourable  than  otherwise." 

To  sum  up :  a  perusal  of  the  foregoing  sugges- 
tions should  give  the  beginner,  no  matter  what  part 
of  the  world  he  may  be  in,  some  idea  of  those 


34  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

adverse  circumstances  to  avoid  in  forming  his  garden, 
modified  only  perhaps  by  the  species  of  Coffee  he 
cultivates ;  but  as  Coffee  Arabica  is  almost  invariably 
the  plant  grown  by  English,  this  latter  clause  is  not 
of  much  importance. 

He  must  not  locate  himself  in  a  shadeless  torrid 
zone,  swept  by  parching  winds,  or  the  first  hot  spell 
after  the  trees  have  come  to  maturity  will  wither 
their  leaves  and  his  hopes  at  the  same  time.  If 
he  goes  high  up  the  mountains  amongst  the  drifting 
clouds,  he  will  get  into  a  climate  wetter  and  even 
colder  than  the  English,  and  will  possess  in  the 
fulness  of  time  a  garden  admirably  suited  for  pro- 
ducing the  ingredients  of  Coffee-leaf  tea,  but  little 
else.  He  may  be  fond  of  a  sea  view,  but  must 
remember  that  sea  winds  are  laden  with  over  much 
moisture,  while  those  from  the  land  are  usually 
deficient  in  that  very  respect.  To  strike  the  happy 
mean  between  extreme  adverse  points,  and  to 
modify  nature  where  he  cannot  control  her,  is  half 
the  planter's  art. 


35 


CHAPTER   III. 

LABOUR     AND     LABOURERS. 

IT  is  a  stern  fact,  unfortunately  impossible  to  ignore, 
that  to  grow  Coffee  we  must  employ  labour,  and 
to  a  large  extent. 

Natives  of  most  warm  countries — and  certainly 
of  Lower  India — are  physically  inferior  to  the  work- 
ing classes  of  the  invigorating  north.  Doctors  tell 
us  the  blood  of  dark  races  is  thinner — there  are 
fewer  red  corpuscules  in  a  given  quantity  than  with 
European.  For  this,  as  for  other  reasons,  native 
vital  energy  is  lower  and  their  powers  less  than  in 
our  own  and  other  white  races. 

Mr.  Monier  Williams'  recent  volume,  "  Modern 
India,"  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  Coffee 
planter.  He  tells  us,  in  a  single  paragraph,  the 
history  and  characteristics  of  the  chief  races  of 
labourers  with  whom  the  Indian  planter  comes  in 
contact : 

"  Southern  India,  not  including  Aryan  Orissa,  is  peopled 
first  by  the  great  Dravidian  races  (so  called  from  Dravida, 
the  name  given  by  the  Sanskrit  speakers  to  the  southern  part 
of  the  Peninsula),  whose  immigrations  into  India  in  successive 
waves  from  some  part  of  Central  Asia  immediately  preceded 
those  of  the  Aryans.  These  Dravidians  are  of  course  quite 
distinct  from  the  Aryans  ;  their  skin  is  generally  much  darker, 
and  the  languages  they  speak  belong  to  what  is  called  the  South 


36  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Turanian  family.  They  may  be  separated  into  four  distinct 
peoples,  according  to  their  four  principal  languages — Telugu, 
Canarese,  Tamil,  and  Malayalam.  Secondly,  by  the  wild 
aboriginal  races,  some  of  them  Negroid,  and  as  dark  in  com- 
plexion as  Africans,  and  others  of  a  type  similar  to  the  savages 
of  Australia.  They  are  now  usually  called  Kolarians.  Their 
irruptions  preceded  the  advent  of  the  Dravidians,  and  they  are 
still  found  in  the  hills  and  other  outlying  localities.  Of  the 
Dravidians  the  Telugu  and  Tamil  speakers  are  by  far  the 
majority,  each  numbering  fifteen  or  sixteen  millions.  The 
Tamil  race,  who  occupy  the  extreme  south  from  Madras  to 
Cape  Comorin,  are  active,  hard-working,  industrious,  and 
independent.  Their  difficult  and  highly  accentuated  language 
reflects  their  character,  and  possesses  quite  a  distinct  literature 
of  its  own.  The  Telugu  people,  inhabiting  the  Northern 
Circars  and  the  Nizam's  territory,  are  also  remarkable  for  their 
industry,  and  their  soft  language,  abounding  in  vowels,  is  the 
Italian  of  the  East.  The  Canarese  of  Mysore  resemble  the 
Telugu  race  in  language  and  character,  just  as  the  Malayalams 
of  the  Malabar  coast  resemble  the  Tamils.  I  noticed  that  the 
seafaring  Tamils  of  the  southern  coast  near  Ramnad,  Rames- 
varam,  and  Tuticorin  are  much  more  able-bodied  and  athletic 
than  ordinary  Hindoos.  Numbers  of  them  migrate  to  Ceylon, 
and  at  least  half-a-million  form  a  permanent  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  that  island.  They  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  Coffee 
plantations,  and  work  much  harder  than  the  Singhalese. 
Indeed,  all  the  races  of  South  India  seem  to  me  to  show  readi- 
ness and  aptitude  for  any  work  they  are  required  to  do,  and 
great  patience,  endurance,  and  perseverance  in  the  discharge 
of  the  most  irksome  duties.  The  lower  classes  may  be  seen 
everywhere  earning  their  bread  by  the  veritable  sweat  of  their 
brow,  and  submitting  without  a  murmur  to  a  life  of  drudgery 
and  privation.  But  they  are  not,  as  a  rule,  physically  strong, 
and  their  moral  character,  like  their  bodily  constitution, 
exhibits  little  stamina." 

Whatever  the  descent  of  the  coolies   employed 
(and  districts  often  vary  greatly  in  this  respect),  the 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS.  37 

estate  work  is  usually  done  by  labourers  who  reside 
upon  it,  and  take  weekly  wages  from  the  owners 
or  their  representatives.  This  is  especially  the 
case  in  new  districts  surrounded  by  wild  country. 
In  older  neighbourhoods  there  may  be  populous 
villages  hard  by  whence  labour  can  be  drawn  day 
by  day  ;  and  occasionally  the  work,  or  portions  of 
it,  are  put  out  to  contractors. 

In  the  first  case,  the  procedure  is  somewhat 
as  follows  :  The  planter  goes  to  the  lowlands  and 
puts  himself  in  communication  with  half-a-dozen 
"  Maistries,"  "  Kanganies,"  or  head  men,  to 
whom  he  communicates  his  needs  in  the  way  of 
labour.  They  assure  him  they  can  obtain  a 
good  and  sufficient  supply,  and  are  forthwith 
provided  with  advances  (a  signed  and  witnessed 
agreement  having  been  made  with  them) — i.e.,  Rs.  5, 
or  so — for  each  man  they  agree  to  find.  This 
money  is  supposed  to  pass  into  the  coolie's  hands, 
and  act  as  an  inducement  for  him  to  leave  home, 
or  as  something  to  support  the  family  while  he  is 
away. 

At  the  stipulated  time  the  Maistries  appear 
in  the  jungle,  each  at  the  head  of  his  gang  of 
coolies,  all  heavily  loaded  with  earthen  "  chatties  " 
or  cooking  pans,  native  shawls,  supplies  of  dried 
fish,  curry  stuffs,  &c. ;  and  "salaaming"  to  the 
European,  they  settle  down,  building  themselves 
"lines"  or  huts,  if  there  are  none  ready,  and 
working  off  those  advances  entered  (on  the  first 


38  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

occasion  when  they  are  all  mustered)  against  their 
names  in  the  estate  books. 

This  is  the  simplest  way  in  which  labour  is 
imported.  When  it  comes  from  remote  districts, 
or  even  across  the  sea  (Malay  labour  has  been 
tried  in  Northern  India),  the  expense,  as  will  readily 
be  understood,  is  greatly  increased. 

Lieut. -Col.  Edward  Money  says  on  this  subject, 
in  his  admirable  "  Cultivation  and  Manufacture 
of  Tea:"* 

"  Each  coolie  imported  costs  Rs.  30  and  upwards  (it  used 
to  be  much  more)  ere  he  arrives  on  the  garden  and  does  any 
work.  After  arrival  he  has  to  be  housed  ;  to  be  cared  for  and 
physicked  when  sick  ;  to  be  paid  when  ill  as  when  working  ; 
to  have  work  found  for  him,  or  paid  to  sit  idle  when  there  is 
no  work ;  and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  every  death,  every 
desertion,  is  a  loss  to  the  garden  of  the  whole  sum  expended  in 
bringing  the  man  or  woman.  Contrast  this  with  the  advantages 
of  local  labour.  In  many  cases  no  expense  for  buildings  is 
necessary,  as  the  labourers  come  daily  to  work  from  adjacent 
villages,  and  in  such  cases  no  expense  is  entailed  by  sick  men, 
for  these  simply  remain  at  home.  There  is  no  loss  by  death 
or  desertions.  When  no  work  is  required  on  the  garden, 
labour  is  simply  not  employed.  All  this  makes  local  labour, 
even  where  the  rate  of  wages  is  high,  very  much  cheaper  than 
imported." 

Contract  labour  again,  where  it  is  possible,  has 
many  and  obvious  advantages.  The  manager  of 
the  estate  is  freed  from  the  petty  and  harassing 
worries  resulting  from  personal  care  of  workmen. 
Yet,  if  this  arrangement  of  giving  jungle-felling, 

*  Published  by  Messrs.  W.  B.  Whittingham  and  Co.,  91,  Grace- 
church  Street,  E.G. 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS.  39 

building,  road-opening,  or  what  not,  into  a  con- 
tractor's hands  has  advantages  and  looks  feasible, 
it  has  its  drawbacks. 

The  troubles  which  the  planter  escapes  of  un- 
certain labour  supply,  unpropitious  weather,  and 
all  similar  difficulties,  weigh  equally  upon  the 
responsible  native  to  whom  he  transfers  them. 
That  person  may  commence  his  task,  proceed  a 
certain  way  with  it,  and  then  become  a  fraudulent 
absentee,  or  his  funds  may  really  give  out,  or  he 
may  not  finish  the  allotted  task  within  the  prescribed 
time — any  of  which  is  very  painful.  Planters — 
and  especially  those  whose  practical  experience  is 
limited — advise  the  taking  of  sureties  and  bonds 
when  a  contract  is  formed  for  estate  work.  The 
chief  objection  to  this  is  that  few  natives  are  in 
a  position  to  give  any  adequate  forfeit  money ;  and 
those  who  might,  usually  will  not ! 

My  experience  leads  me  to  believe,  work  the 
men  really  understand,  and  earn  their  usual  living 
from,  will  generally  be  done  well  and  honourably 
by  them.  I  have,  for  instance,  employed  gangs  of 
Tamils  as  sawyers,  and  others  as  fellers  of  forest. 
They  brought  their  own  tools  ;  built  their  own  huts, 
according  to  fancy  ;  had  abundance  of  the  food 
they  were  accustomed  to,  and  received  far  the 
largest  portion  of  their  money  on  finishing  and 
leaving.  A  mutually  satisfactory  result  to  both 
sides  was  the  usual  result.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  a  Hindoo,  more  distinguished  for  his  push 


4O  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

than  business  integrity,  brought  up  a  band  of 
bazaar  loafers  and  station  hangers-on  for  my  early 
building  operations,  the  result  was  eminently  un- 
pleasant all  round. 

The  coolies  of  certain  districts — or  special 
villages,  it  may  be — will  be  adepts  at  peculiar 
operations  ;  and  in  such  they  may  generally  be 
employed  for  contract  work,  under  the  most  credit- 
able and  best-known  master  who  offers  his  services. 
Of  course  sureties  may  be  taken,  by  all  means, 
when  they  can  be  had ;  but  in  India,  at  least,  the 
necessary  legal  formalities  are  tedious  and  elaborate. 
One  thing  is  certain,  that  with  the  natives  of  all 
lands — but  with  none  more  so  than  the  simple, 
yet  keen,  natives  of  the  Empire — a  straightforward 
bearing,  and  an  honest  interest  in  their  welfare, 
is  one  of  the  readiest  roads  to  success  and  satis- 
faction. The  coolie  gauges  his  master's  mind  and 
weaknesses  with  a  woman's  shrewdness.  It  is  a 
peculiarity  of  his  race  to  be  what  the  ungracious 
would  term  a  sycophant;  yet  he  appreciates  kind- 
ness, and  will  repay  encouragement  and  consideration 
with  fidelity  and  zeal. 

When  the  young  planter  has  got  his  men  together 
— twenty,  perhaps,  with  their  allowance  of  women 
and  children,  for  the  first  two  hundred  acres  he 
opens,  and  more  in  proportion — then  comes  the 
careful  and  skilful  working  of  them,  his  aims  being : 
(i)  To  get  as  much  work  out  of  them  as  he 
reasonably  can  without  (2)  being  unduly  harsh,  for 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS.  4! 

in  that  case  they  would  bolt,  his  estate  would  get 
a  bad  name,  and  he  would  be  left  entirely  without 
labour. 

When  the  first  morning  for  work  comes — and 
the  mornings  in  the  jungle  are  decidedly  raw  and 
cold,  with  usually  a  thin,  drizzling  mist  or  damp 
fog  hanging  about  until  the  sun  is  up — the  planter 
turns  out  about  5  a.m.,  and,  after  sounding  the 
muster-call  on  his  great  bell  or  gong,  makes  a  hasty 
toilet  and  partakes  of  the  invigorating  hot  Coffee 
and  toast  which  his  "  cook  boy"  has  prepared. 
Then,  as  soon  as  the  coolies,  all  swaddled  up  to 
their  chins  in  blankets,  have  sauntered  up  to  the 
open  ground  by  his  hut,  he  takes  his  memorandum- 
book  and  goes  down  to  divide  them  according  to 
the  work  to  be  done.  Twenty  men,  perhaps,  under 
one  maistry,  are  sent  with  axes  and  crowbars  to 
cut  and  move  the  logs  from  the  line  of  a  new  road ; 
ten  or  twelve  more  to  weed  the  "  nursery ;"  so 
many  women  and  children,  under  two  or  three 
overseers  (they  always  want  a  lot  of  looking  after) , 
take  baskets  and  hoes  and  depart  to  weed  the 
Coffee  land  already  planted  ;  some  are  sent  to  fetch 
grass,  some  to  building,  and  so  on.  As  each  party 
goes  down  to  the  store  to  get  the  necessary  tools, 
the  assistant  has  to  see  that  each  one  takes  the 
right  thing  and  only  the  right  thing,  and  the  building 
is  full  of  coolies  pushing,  fighting,  and  quarrelling, 
some  taking  the  wrong  implements,  and  some  none 
at  all,  in  spite  of  vigorous  endeavours  to  get  affairs 


42         COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

straight.  Even  when  all  the  natives  present  at 
muster  have  been  told  off  and  started  with  their 
tools,  the  day's  troubles  are  only  beginning ;  for 
no  sooner  are  they  clear  of  the  settlement,  and 
winding  along  the  narrow  jungle  paths,  than  they 
make  all  sorts  of  attempts  to  escape  and  get  back 
to  their  huts,  hoping,  by  being  present  at  the  morn- 
ing muster  and  again  at  evening  roll-call,  that  their 
absence  during  the  day  will  not  have  been  noticed, 
and  so  they  may  get  pay  for  doing  no  work. 

Then,  when  the  constant  supervision  of  the  day's 
work  is  over,  comes  the  evening  roll-call,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  week  roll-call  and  pay-muster  in 
one.  Perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  quote  here 
a  suggestive  sketch  of  a  Saturday  evening  muster, 
showing  how  coolies  are  paid  off  at  the  end  of  the 
week  on  Indian  and  Ceylon  estates : 

"  The  first  pay-day  in  the  jungle  is  always  a  difficult  one 
for  the  new  arrival,  especially  when  he  has  to  be  his  own 
paymaster  to  the  forces,  his  cashier  and  clerk  all  rolled  in  one. 
The  coinage  is  strange  to  him,  and  he  is  sure  to  get  more  or 
less  mixed  up  in  his  pice,  annas,  and  rupees,  unless  he  has 
a  head  better  fitted  for  a  mercantile  desk  at  home  than  the 
backwoods.  Most  of  those  who  try  Coffee  planting  have  souls 
above  mathematics,  and  to  them  their  first  experience  of 
paying  a  horde  of  coolies  (who,  like  all  natives,  dote  on  litiga- 
tion) will  be  long  remembered  as  a  dies  ivce.  Still  it  is  a  thing 
which  has  to  be  done,  however  unpleasant ;  but  I  feel  for 
King  James  of  blessed  memory,  who  naively  remarked  when 
receiving  a  petition  to  pay  his  Scotch  bills,  «  Of  all  petitions 
this  is  the  one  which  his  Majesty  liketh  least.' 

"  Unfortunately  for  me,  the  next  day  after  R 's  flight 

to  the  lowlands  was  Saturday,  and  all  day  long  I  was 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS.  43 

practising  rapid  reduction  of  rupees  to  the  smallest  coin  of  the 
Empire,  while  striving  to  draw  some  consolation  from  the 
fact  that  the  estate  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  cowery 
shells,  5,120  of  which  go  to  the  rupee.  The  thought  of  giving 
or  receiving  such  small  change  of  that  sort  would  be  dis- 
traction— four  pice,  or  cash,  to  the  anna  being  quite  as  much 
as  I  could  stand  with  equanimity. 

"The  day,  like  its  predecessors,  was  miserably  cold  and 
dull,  and,  fearful  of  being  overtaken  by  darkness  before  getting 
through  the  paying,  the  estate  bell  was  rung  an  hour  earlier 
than  usual  to  recall  the  coolies  to  the  mustering  ground. 
They  came  trooping  in  from  all  parts  in  strong  force,  and 
apparently  with  considerable  interest,  to  see  what  was  going 
to  take  place.  When  they  were  all  mustered  the  crowd  was 
thicker  and  denser  than  I  had  ever  seen  it  before,  everybody 
having  turned  out,  even  to  the  lame  and  sick  who  were  too  ill 
to  go  to  work. 

"  When  I  entered  the  great  circle  of  nearly  two  hundred 
men,  women,  and  children,  looking  as  solemn  as  might  be, 
with  the  fateful  day-book  in  one  hand  and  a  huge  bag  of 
copper  and  silver  coins  in  the  other,  having  the  half-caste 
clerk  at  my  elbow  to  interpret,  I  was  conscious  that  all  eyes 
were  upon  me,  and  my  smallest  motion  was  being  watched  in 
deep  silence  by  the  assembled  coolies.  Determined  to  get 
into  practice  as  soon  as  possible,  instead  of  letting  the  half- 
caste  call  over  the  names,  I  determined  to  do  it  myself,  and, 
shooting  out  the  bag  of  money  into  a  glittering  heap  on  the 
rough  wooden  table  in  front  of  me,  plunged  at  once  into  the 
long  columns  of  outlandish  names,  which  filled  ten  or  twelve 
folio  pages  of  the  day-book.  Opposite  to  each  name,  in  our 
system  of  book-keeping,  there  were  six  rows  of  columns,  one 
for  each  day  of  the  week,  and  in  each  of  these  columns  there 
was  a  whole  mark,  a  half,  or  a  blank,  according  as  the  coolie 
had  worked — a  whole  day,  a  half-day,  or  none  at  all.  Beyond 
these  columns  was  one  to  record  the  total  number  of  days 
worked  out  of  the  last  six,  and  then  another  division  to  record 
the  pay  given  out.  At  the  end  of  the  month  the  columns  of 
each  page  were  added  up,  both  across  and  up  and  down,  and, 


44  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

if  exactly  correct,  the  final  reading  in  the  bottom  right-hand 
corner  was  the  same  for  both.  Thus  it  was  impossible  to 
make  a  mistake  of  even  a  pie  without  being  able  to  discover 
it ;  but  at  the  same  time,  among  so  many  densely  packed 
columns,  it  wras  difficult  to  avoid  small  errors,  which  would 
show  up  large  in  the  final  result,  and  cause  a  vast  amount 
of  trouble  to  correct.  Thus  I  had  to  call  each  coolie's  name 
first  of  all,  and,  if  he  had  been  working  all  day,  put  him  down 
in  the  Saturday  column  with  a  mark  ;  then  add  up  his  total 
work  for  the  week — say  five  and  a-half  days — put  this  down  in 
the  space  devoted  to  it,  calculate  five  and  a-half  days  at  five 
annas  a-day  (the  rate  at  which  we  pay  our  men),  put  down 
Rs.  i  na.  2p.  in  the  pay  space,  count  .it  out  of  the  heap  of 
coinage  at  my  elbow,  give  it  to  the  man,  and  dismiss  him. 

"This  may  sound  simple  enough,  but  there  were  many 
little  difficulties  to  be  surmounted.  When  I  began  calling  the 
fearful  and  wonderful  Tamil  and  Canarese  names  there  was  a 
general  titter  round  the  circle,  and  three  or  four  men  answered 
at  once,  my  pronunciation  being  so  shaky  that  they  could  not 
distinguish  whose  name  it  was.  However,  I  suppressed  the 
giggling,  and  having  obtained  '  silence  in  the  court,'  forged 
slowly  ahead,  every  now  and  then  making  some  mistake  which 
set  the  natives  smiling,  but  getting  slowly  into  the  way  of  the 
pronunciation,  and  running  up  the  sums  and  counting  out  the 
change  like  a  booking  clerk.  Often  a  coolie  would  conclude 
he  had  not  got  the  right  amount,  and  open  a  discussion,  which 
I  had  to  cut  very  short ;  and  fifty  per  cent,  of  them  thought 
their  rupees  were  bad,  so  that  from  all  sides  rose  the  sound  of 
money  being  chinked  upon  the  rock  to  test  its  ring.  Each 
native,  as  he  came  up,  salaamed  and  held  out  both  his  hands, 
to  receive  the  overflowing  bounty  of  the  sahib. 

"  Poor  people  !  The  strongest  man  amongst  them,  who 
had  worked  in  the  sun  and  rain  all  the  week,  only  took  six 
times  five  annas — about  equal  to  three  shillings  and  fourpence ; 
and  on  this,  of  course,  many  had  to  support  a  wife  and 
children  too  weak  or  too  feeble  to  work  themselves.  Then, 
again,  the  women — many  of  them  mothers,  with  small,  brown 
fragments  of  humanity  slung  upon  their  backs — got  three 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS.  45 

annas  a  day,  and  the  most  they  could  earn  was  little  more 
than  two  shillings  a-week.  Even  the  little  children  came  up, 
ducked  their  small  shaven  heads  in  comical  homage  to  the 
great  white  sahib,  and  held  out  very  small  brown  hands  for  the 
price  those  hands  were  supposed  to  have  earned  at  the  rate 
of  a  penny  a-day.  Last  of  all,  the  maistries  received  pay  at 
the  rate  of  six  or  eight  annas  per  diem ;  and  then  the  horse- 
boys, cook,  sweepers  and  hangers-on  of  all  sorts.  When  these 
were  satisfied,  there  was  still  a  small  crowd  of  non-contents 
who  came  up  and  complained  that  their  money  was  bad ; 
would  I  change  it  ?  which  I  always  did  when  possible,  as,  if  a 
poor  fellow  earned  one  rupee  and  chanced  to  get  paid  with  a 
bad,  unchangeable  coin,  there  was  nothing  but  starvation  for 
him  during  the  next  week.  Others  thought  there  was  a  mis- 
take somewhere — always  to  their  disadvantage — and  their 
names  had  to  be  hunted  for,  and  the  amount  of  money  given 
compared  with  that  entered  in  the  book.  It  was  hopeless  to 
please  them  all ;  but  on  going  over  the  accounts  during  the 
course  of  the  next  evening,  I  was  well  satisfied  to  find  there 
was  only  an  error  of  a  few  annas — happily  too  much  given 
out,  not  too  little. 

"  Muster  and  paying  over,  and  the  stores  and  outhouses 
locked  up,  the  estate  pony  seen  to,  and  his  feed  of  grain 
measured  out,  there  were  still  the  sick  and  ill  clustered  round 
the  bungalow  verandah  to  be  attended  to  before  being  released 

for  the  day.     With  these  I  was  much  helped  by  R 's  son, 

who,  having  spent  all  his  life  in  the  south  of  India,  knows  the 
language  and  habits  of  the  natives.  Between  us  we  bandaged 
up  half-a-dozen  ulcerated  legs,  sewed  up  a  chopped  finger, 
administered  castor  oil  and  epsom  salts — a  horrid  brew  of 
Charlie's  invention — to  two  babies,  gave  a  dose  of  quinine  to 
a  young  coolie  girl  who  thought  she  had  fever,  and  some 
sulphur  ointment  to  two  in-patients  suffering  from  the  itch. 
One  old  woman  who  had  recently  had  smallpox  came  up  for 
her  daily  allowance  of  cod  liver  oil.  All  these  and  many 
others  had  to  be  attended  to  before  we  could  dine." 


We  have  said  the  blood  of  the  native  is  thinner 


46  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

than  that  of  the  European.  This  shows  itself  in 
many  ways.  He  will  get  an  attack  of  fever  or 
dysentery,  it  may  be,  and,  lying  down,  inform  his 
friends  he  is  going  to  die  ;  and  he  too  often  keeps 
this  melancholy  resolve,  apparently  lacking  the 
resolution  to  hold  his  vital  spark  in.  Again,  he 
is  for  the  most  part  hopelessly  unambitious,  except 
when  famine  spurs  him,  whence  come  much  of 
the  planter's  "  labour  difficulties."  He  knows  he 
can  subsist  for  a  week  away  in  his  own  fertile 
plains  on  the  amount  of  "  raggee,"  "  paddy," 
"  cumboo,"  or  other  grain  purchasable  by  four 
annas  (equal  to  fivepence)  ;  and  that  being  a  day's 
pay  on  most  estates,  he  saves  a  few  rupees,  and 
then  returns  to  his  hut  to  lie  in  the  sun  and  take 
his  daily  measure  of  pulse  amongst  children  and 
friends — an  existence  which  fulfils  all  ^his  ideas 
of  life. 

The  jungle  has  no  attraction  for  him  unless 
he  is  kept  in  it  by  the  magnetism  of  an  English- 
man's presence.  It  is  a  region  of  mist  and  terror, 
not  only  held  by  the  fever  mists,  and  ravaged 
(in  his  excited  lowland  imagination)  by  wild  beasts, 
but  also  peopled  by  fearsome  tribes  of  ghouls  and 
goblins ;  no  wonder  he  dreads  the  dark  wooded 
mountains,  ascends  them  reluctantly  and  quits 
them  hurriedly  (too  often  with  his  "  advances " 
unrepaid)  for  hospitable  and  familiar  plains!  Times 
of  famine  tell  greatly  against  the  prosperity  of  an 
estate,  for  labour  is  then  scarce,  precarious,  and 


LABOUR    AND    LABOURERS. 


47 


indifferent  when  obtained.  What  "  famine  prices'* 
mean  to  these  poor  people  will  readily  be  under- 
stood from  the  following  table  taken  from  "  The 
Hindoo  Patriot:  " 


Denomination  of  Articles. 

Amount  obtainable 
per  Rupee. 

_            i 

1870. 

1878. 

S.     C. 

17    o 
14    o 
i5     8 
26    o 

12      8 
22      0 
20      0 
12      O 

4  *4 

8    12 

i     5* 
9     o 
3     4 
Rs.  6 

s.    c. 

12      O 

7     4 
12     5 
16     o 
16    o 
13     o 
10     8 
16     o 
4     8 
8    o 

i     4 
8    o 

2    IO 

Rs.  6 

Best  Rice  

Wheat  (Jowali)    

Barley 

Gram          ...         .  .         .  .         . 

Lentils  —  Khesari 

Musoor  ... 

Kuily  (Mash)  
Sugar 

Salt  

Ghee           

Milk            

Oil  (Mustard)       

Wages  of  unskilled  Labourers  per  month 

It  will  be  seen  that  common  rice,  which  sold 
in  1 86 1  at  21  seers  and  in  1870  at  17  seers,  sells  at 
about  12  seers  to  the  rupee  during  scarcity.  This 
rice  is  of  a  quality  chiefly  consumed  by  the  poorer 
classes  at  the  rate  of  one  seer  daily  on  an  average 
per  head.  The  rice  alone  thus  costs  him  every  day 
about  i  anna  and  4  pie.  Add  to  this  amount  the 
price  of  firewood,  vegetables,  fish,  oil,  &c.,  and 
his  two  meals  cost  him  2  annas  daily,  or  Rs.  3-12 
a-month  at  the  least.  It  will  be  perceived  at  the 


48  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

foot  of  the  table  that  the  monthly  wages  of  "  un- 
skilled labourers"  remain  unchanged,  that  is  to 
say,  Rs.  6  per  month.  Such  people  must  live  on 
stinted  rations,  as  many  of  them  now-a-days  un- 
happily do,  or  neglect  those  depending  upon  them. 

The  coolie's  interest  is  the  planter's.  He  should 
be  lodged  well,  fed  sufficiently  whatever  the  price 
of  grain  is,  and  kindly  treated.  An  estate  managed 
on  these  principles  will  have  good  labour  at  com- 
mand when  other  estates  round  about  are  being 
ruined  for  want  of  hands.  Let  the  planter  remember 
(whether  he  works  in  the  east  or  west)  that  he  and 
his  prospects,  his  manners  and  his  ways,  are  the 
subject  of  keen  enquiry  and  gossip  not  only  in  the 
"lines"  that  lie  below  his  bungalow,  but  all  over 
his  district,  and  further  still  perhaps ;  therefore  let 
him  cultivate  a  good  repute,  and  when  he  has 
got  his  gangs  together,  guard  them  carefully. 


49 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PURCHASE. 

HAVING  attained  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  land 
required  to  grow  Coffee,  and  the  usual  methods 
by  which  labour  for  its  cultivation  is  obtained,  there 
come  the  questions  as  to  purchase  of  land,  taxes, 
surveying,  accessibility  (i.e.,  roads,  communications, 
outlets),  house  sites,  &c.,  &c. 

Of  acquiring  land  there  are,  of  course,  many 
ways.  The  simplest  is  the  permission  of  a  native 
Raja,  or  Chief,  and  the  subsequent  selecting  of  such 
a  slice  of  woodland  as  may  suit  means  and  ideas. 
The  next  simplest  is  when  a  local  government  gives 
the  same  permission  with  the  proviso  that  the  land 
selected  shall  be  surveyed  and  the  cost  thereof 
borne  by  the  planter  ;  a  few  conditions  being,  per- 
haps, added  as  to  roads  to  be  opened,  and  rent  to  be 
paid  at  a  future  date.  Either  of  these  is,  no  doubt, 
the  pleasantest  way  of  becoming  a  landed  proprietor 
known.  Unfortunately,  both  are  practically  things 
of  the  past,  at  least  as  far  as  India  is  concerned. 
Now-a-days  land  must  almost  everywhere  be  rented 
or  bought,  and  native  sovereigns  are  becoming 
very  wideawake  to  the  value  of  freeholds  in  good 
districts. 


50         COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

Soil  in  private  hands  may  be  (i)  bought  in  the 
rough,  when  particular  attention  should  be  paid 
to  sellers'  proper  proofs  of  ownership,  as  many  an 
estate  is  burdened  during  its  early  years  with  here- 
ditary legal  feuds  between  the  ostensible  owner  and 
small  proprietors — it  may  even  be  junglemen,  along 
the  borders,  who  persist  in  asserting  that  the  English- 
man's concession  has  overlapped  their  marches,  and 
devote  whole  lives  cheerfully  to  endless  litigation 
for  a  worthless  acre  of  rock  or  land.  (2)  It  may 
be  purchased  ready  planted,  a  few  months  estab- 
lished, in  bearing,  or  practically  abandoned  as  worn 
out  or  barren.  The  first  two  conditions  will  save 
him,  of  course,  a  lot  of  trouble,  and  he  will  have 
to  pay  proportionally ;  and  as  to  the  latter — 
well !  a  really  clever  planter  may  often  pick  a 
seemingly  valueless  estate  out  of  the  fire,  buy  it 
at  a  nominal  rate,  and  by  scientific  pruning  and 
manuring  make  his  garden  into  a  nice  little  invest- 
ment. But  by  the  time  the  "  griffin "  is  able  to 
do  this  safely  he  will  be  past  the  guidance  of  any 
books. 

The  following  rules  used  to  hold  for  the  acquiring 
of  land  in  various  districts,  and  they  do  so  still, 
except  where  they  have  been  modified  by  Orders 
in  Council,  or  any  of  those  numerous  local  memo- 
randa which  the  authorities  emit  from  time  to  time, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  local  attornies  and  the  mysti- 
fication of  the  public. 


PURCHASE.  51 

IN    CEYLON, 

Those  desiring  Government  land  send  their  appli- 
cation to  the  Court  of  the  Agent  or  chief  Revenue 
official  of  the  province  where  it  lies.  The  speci- 
fied block  will  then  be  surveyed  by  an  official, 
and  an  advertisement  inserted  in  the  Government 
"Gazette,"  naming  a  day  for  the  public  sale  of 
the  tract  at  the  Cutcherry,  or  Civil  Court  of  the 
district,  and  the  highest  bidder  above  the  reserve 
or  upset  price  of  £i  per  acre  becomes  its  freehold 
proprietor,  without  taxes  or  restrictions  of  any  kind. 
In  many  cases,  of  course,  at  this  nominally  public 
"  roup  "  there  is  no  competition,  and  the  applicant 
gets  his  land  at  a  moderate  price  ;  on  other  occasions 
the  rivalry  is  keen  and  speculative. 

THE  WYNAAD, 

Possessing  even  now  a  bad  name  for  fever  and 
indifferent  communication,  has  complicated  land 
laws.  The  applicant  for  waste  Crown  land  has 
to  supply  the  nearest  Collector  with  details  of  the 
hill-side  he  desires,  its  boundaries  and  neighbours 
in  the  way  of  cultivated  land  or  pasture.  Into 
this  the  Revenue  Department  will  inquire,  and  if 
the  title  of  the  land  is  free  and  good,  it  is  advertised 
and  sold  by  auction — the  upset  price  being  the 
cost  of  survey.  There  is  also  an  annual  tax  of 
two  rupees  an  acre,  compoundable  by  twenty-five 


52  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

years'  tax.  Land  purchased  here  privately,  from 
wealthy  natives,  or  the  priests'  of  even  wealthier 
temples,  is  free  of  this  tax  until  it  has  been  brought 
under  cultivation,  when  the  Rs.  2  per  annum 
commences. 

Through  a  recent  copy  of  The  Madras  Mail, 
we  see  a  new  land  question  is  engaging  the 
attention  of  planters  and  other  landowners  in  the 
much  troubled  Wynaad.  The  Government  is  orga- 
nizing a  resettlement  of  revenue,  and  at  a  meeting 
held  at  Vythery,  Mr.  Castlestuart  Stuart,  Special 
Assistant  Collector,  Nilgiris  and  Malabar,  attended 
to  explain  the  intentions  of  the  authorities.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  settlement  would  be  for  thirty 
years,  and  all  lands  capable  of  cultivation,  though 
yielding  no  revenue  to  the  occupants,  will  have 
to  pay  tax.  The  rates  of  assessment  are  not  yet 
fixed,  but  probably  will  be  settled  within  the  next 
six  weeks.  Partial  abandonment  of  estates  after 
the  resettlement  will  not  be  permitted  ;  the  whole 
of  the  land  will  be  subjected  to  assessment,  whether 
any  portion  be  abandoned  or  not.  The  meeting 
thanked  Mr.  Stuart  for  his  information,  and  passed 
resolutions  thereon  representing  to  the  Govern- 
ment that  "  the  existing  rates  of  taxation  are  as 
heavy  as  can  possibly  be  borne  in  the  present 
state  of  extreme  depression,"  and  deprecating  any 
action  that  would  tend  to  increase  their  burdens 
until  the  views  of  the  planters  and  landholders 
can  be  laid  before  Government. 


PURCHASE.  53 

COORG 

Once  distributed  its  Coffee-land  free,  subject  only 
to  a  proviso  that  so  much  should  be  cultivated 
annually — that  golden  period  for  the  small  capi- 
talist is  now  over,  and  he  must  register  his  land 
and  bid  for  it  publicly,  paying  down  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  price  on  the  day  of  sale  and  the  rest 
within  thirty  days,  the  reserve  being  two  rupees 
per  acre,  including  all  surveying  expenses. 

TRAVANCORE. 

Most  of  the  land  in  the  district  has  been  taken 
up  from  the  Travancore  Government.  The  land 
is  first  put  up  to  auction  and  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder,  the  original  applicant  very  often  being 
kept  out  of  the  purchase  by  competition.  At  the 
last  sale  of  lands,  as  much  as  Rs.  70  an  acre  was 
paid.  This  arrangement  is  hard  on  those  who 
have  at  great  expense  and  trouble  selected  a  piece 
of  forest,  and  some  consideration  and  preference 
should  in  fairness  be  given  to  prospectors.  For 
five  years  no  tax  is  levied ;  after  that  grace,  which 
is  supposed  to  allow  the  planters  to  get  a  portion 
into  cultivation,  twelve  annas  an  acre  is  charged  per 
annum  on  both  cultivated  land  and  forest.  A  duty 
of  a  rupee  a  cwt.  is  further  charged,  and  taking  the 
average  crops  of  the  district  at  three  cwt.  an  acre, 
the  planter  does  not  get  off  under  (with  interest  on 
original  purchase)  four  to  five  rupees  an  acre — a 


54  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

very  high  rate  when  what  planters  pay  in  other 
districts  is  considered.  The  Peermaad  planters, 
however,  have  some  quid  pro  quo  for  the  highest 
rate  they  pay  by  having  good  roads  all  over  the 
district,  and  there  is  scarcely  an  estate  that  could 
not  be  reached  by  cart.  I  believe  the  last  sale  of 
land  was  long  ago ;  since  then  no  grant  has  been 
given,  and  it  is  the  present  intention  of  the  Travan- 
core  Government  to  dispose  of  no  more  forest  land. 
Perhaps  it  is  a  wise  decision,  as  in  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  districts  in  the  Province  estates  have  in 
some  cases  been  abandoned,  and  the  Government 
is  loser  to  the  extent  of  the  land  tax,  while  the  land 
probably  never  returns  to  forest  again.  There  is  an 
assessment  also  of  one  rupee  per  acre  after  four 
years,  and  two  rupees,  after  nine. 

The  estate  surveyor,  who  has  been  mentioned 
once  or  twice  above,  is  a  useful  personage.  Often 
a  Government  official,  and  perhaps  a  half-caste,  he 
comes  up  with  his  theodolites,  note-books,  and  half- 
dozen  bill-men,  establishing  himself  in  your  newly- 
erected  and  very  modest  "  prospecting*'  hut  in  the 
jungles.  The  next  day  he  takes  you  half-a-mile,  a 
mile,  or  even  two  miles  it  may  be,  up  the  stream, 
destined  to  work  future  pulping  mills.  That  is  your 
boundary  on  the  west,  perhaps.  Thence  his  bill- 
men  clear  him  a  path  and  "  blaze "  the  trees, 
measuring  as  they  go  to  the  foot  of  some  solitary 
peak,  henceforth  the  corner-post  of  your  estate  in 
that  direction.  In  a  few  days,  more  or  less  accord- 


PURCHASE.  55 

ing  to  the  difficulties  met  with,  he  works  along 
the  ridge  for  a  third  side  of  your  kingdom,  turning 
homewards  at  the  big  jack  tree  on  the  spur ;  and 
then,  his  work  done,  spends  a  last  night  with  you 
drinking  prosperity  to  the  little  realm  of  which  he 
has  thus  set  the  frontiers. 

The  price  of  land  will  vary  greatly,  not  only 
according  to  soil,  but  also  in  regard  to  communi- 
cations. No  one  likes  the  farthermost  lots,  where 
civilization  has  not  penetrated  and  roads  are  un- 
known, whether  it  be  in  India  or  elsewhere,  and  as 
a  consequence  such  blocks  are  usually  the  cheapest. 
If  they  are  promising  in  other  ways  they  are  not 
to  be  despised,  however,  for  Government  very  rarely 
leaves  an  estate  upon  which  work  is  actually  being 
done  long  without  means  of  communication,  and 
the  arrival  of  the  road  largely  increases  the  value 
of  the  pioneer  estate.  There  is  almost  as  much 
difference  between  the  price  of  a  garden  amongst 
others  and  bounded  by  good  roads,  and  a  tract  of 
as  yet  unopened  "  impenetrable  "  forest,  as  there 
is  between  a  villa  on  the  Thames  and  a  "  villa  "  on 
the  west  coast  of  Ireland!  In  Ceylon,  the  best 
Coffee  soil  has  been  costing  £8  to  £10  per  acre,  and 
£20  to  ^30  per  acre  is  estimated  for  bringing 
the  land  into  bearing,  providing  proper  buildings, 
roads,  drains,  &c.  In  other  countries  it  is  far  less. 
In  Queensland,  as  an  instance,  we  see  by  a  recent 
Blue-book: — "Any  applicant  for  selection  of  land 
within  ten  miles  from  the  coast  or  a  navigable  river 


56  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

not  included  in  the  leased  half  of  a  pastoral  run, 
who  states  in  his  application  that  he  intends  to 
use  the  soil  for  the  cultivation  of  sugar  or  coffee, 
shall  be  allowed  to  select  a  block  of  agricultural 
land  not  less  than  320  acres,  nor  more  than  1,280 
acres ;  and  on  proof  of  his  having  cultivated  one- 
tenth  of  the  land  in  either  sugar  or  coffee  within 
three  years,  he  shall  be  relieved  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  residence,"  which  means  the  land  is  free 
to  settlers.  In  some  other  places  land  is  to  be  had 
on  equally  easy  conditions,  and  in  others  it  goes 
up  to  fancy  prices. 

The  labour  question  always  has  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  this.  Scarcity  of  labourers  ruined  Natal 
Coffee ;  in  the  South  American  estates  they  are 
working  plantations  to  death  before  "dark"  labour 
finally  sets  up  for  itself;  and  in  Fiji  the  owners  are 
grumbling  and  will  entirely  desert  those  charm- 
ing islands  unless  the  ridiculous  coolie  laws  are 
amended. 

The  intending  settler  would  do  well  to  look  about 
him  and  gather  the  best  information  before  investing 
his  money.  Better  still,  he  should  seek  employment 
under  some  able  manager  for,  say,  a  couple  of 
years,  when  he  will  have  learned  the  language,  and 
fairly  mastered  the  details  of  his  business.  This 
arrangement  need  not  prevent  his  acquiring  land 
meanwhile,  or  purchasing  an  estate  if  a  favourable 
opportunity  offers  itself.  In  the  latter  case  the 
work  had  better  be  entrusted  to  a  manager,  while 


PURCHASE.  57 

the  purchaser  is  gaining  his  experience  on  another 
estate. 

"  Stretch  your  legs  according  to  your  blanket," 
observes  a  sagacious  Canarese  proverb,  and  a  little 
good  land  is  a  much  better  investment  for  a  young 
man  than  a  cheap  and  poor  lot.  There  is  one 
guide  to  the  value  of  a  district,  an  old  hand  hints, 
which  may  firmly  be  relied  upon.  If  an  estate  fre- 
quently changes  hands  it  is  certainly  a  bad  or 
indifferent  one  ;  if  seldom,  you  may  be  pretty  sure 
Coffee  pays  well,  and  further  than  that  a  man  need 
give  himself  no  concern,  for  hardly  any  landed 
investment  pays  so  well  in  India,  supposing  we 
have  little  or  no  blight  or  disease,  as  good  sound 
Coffee  property,  and  people  are  therefore  seldom 
inclined  to  part  with  it. 


58  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE     NURSERY. 

ACTUAL  operations  upon  the  estate  begin  with  the 
formation  of  a  "  nursery,"  or  secluded  corner,  where 
those  young  plants  are  to  be  reared  for  subsequently 
filling  up  their  appointed  places  in  the  permanent 
fields.  It  is  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  satis- 
factory works  the  planter  has  to  perform,  as  one 
of  the  earliest. 

Having  established  himself  in  some  sort  of  a 
hut  (if  he  lives  upon  the  estate — as  he  probably 
will  do  and  certainly  ought),  placing  the  hut  as 
much  above  the  general  level  of  the  country  as 
can  conveniently  be  managed — his  jungle  paths 
roughly  cut,  and  coolies  got  into  some  sort  of 
working  order,  the  next  thing  is  to  start  his  future 
plants. 

The  first  requisite  is  a  good  piece  of  ground, 
level  perhaps — or,  better  still,  with  a  moderate 
slope  in  one  direction,  in  order  to  facilitate  natural 
drainage — a  reasonable  depth  of  soil,  and,  above 
all,  a  ready,  abundant,  and  never-failing  water 
supply.  Let  him  be  careful  that  the  stream  he 
selects  is  perennial,  or  it  may  fail  him  just  when 
most  needed.  It  is  astonishing  how  completely 


THE    NURSERY.  59 

a  spell  of  hot  weather  saps  the  existence  of  a 
woodland  torrent  in  the  tropics.  In  our  moisture- 
laden  isles  we  know  nothing  like  it,  but  under  the 
equator,  or  a  few  degrees  on  either  side  of  it,  a 
stream  that  in  the  monsoon  is  strong  enough  to 
sweep  away  a  herd  of  cattle,  in  the  hot  season 
hardly  serves  to  find  drink  for  a  stray  troop  of 
monkeys  or  a  thirsty  sambour  !  Let  him  choose 
a  stream,  then,  that  holds  its  own  against  the 
seasons.  Probably  his  land  will  be  above  it,  on 
the  inclining  banks.  In  that  case  a  convenient 
ghaut  or  slope  and  a  dipping  place  will  have  to 
be  made.  But  we  need  not  say  that  if  by  the 
exercise  of  a  little  engineering  skill — even  though 
of  amateur  kind — and  the  erection  of  an  embank- 
ment or  two,  he  can  get  such  a  head  of  water  as 
will  suffice  to  bring  a  supply  of  the  fluid  by  any 
rough  tubing  to  his  nursery,  the  labour  is  well 
spent  and  will  repay  itself  many  times ;  or  he 
may  rig  up  a  regular  water-wheel. 

Mr.  Robertson,  of  Madras,  has  the  following 
observations  regarding  working  and  the  construc- 
tion of  an  admirable  new  "  mhote,"  or  water-lift. 
He  says : — 

"  The  water  is  raised  by  two  leather  buckets,  similar  to 
those  in  ordinary  use  in  some  parts  of  this  Presidency ; 
to  each  of  these  buckets  is  attached  a  rope  which  is  fastened 
to  a  drum :  one  of  these  is  coiled  and  the  other  uncoiled,  as 
one  bucket  ascends  the  other  descends ;  the  drum  is  fixed 
on  a  rotating  spindle,  to  which  is  fixed  at  right  angles  the 
draught  bar  to  which  the  bullock  is  attached ;  the  diameter 


6O  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

and  thickness  of  the  drum  varies,  with  the  depth  of  the 
well;  as  a  general  rule,  for  all  ordinary  lifts,  the  diameter 
of  the  drum  may  be  equal  to  about  one-fifth  the  number  of 
feet  that  the  water  must  be  raised  ;  the  drum  is  placed 
about  six  feet  above  the  ground,  in  order  to  allow  the  rope 
to  pass  over  the  head  of  the  draught  bullock  ;  the  spindle 
upon  which  the  drum  is  placed  is  kept  in  its  upright  position 
by  means  of  two  beams,  into  which  it  is  fixed,  which  cross 
each  other  at  the  middle,  and  are  supported  at  the  ends 
or  posts  placed  opposite  each  other  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
bullock  patch.  The  bullock  walks  under  the  draught  bar 
attached  to  a  curved  yoke,  which  turns  on  a  swivel.  In 
raising  water  the  bullock  travels  round  the  upright  spindle, 
thus  turning  the  drum  and  winding  one  rope  and  unwinding 
the  other.  If  the  diameter  of  the  drum  is  as  suggested, 
i£  circuits  around  the  path  will  raise  each  bucket  to  the 
requisite  height  ;  the  bullock  is  turned  round,  facing  the 
opposite  direction,  while  each  bucket  is  being  discharged  ; 
no  longer  time  is  required  to  do  this  than  is  needed  for  the 
bucket  to  discharge  its  contents."  "  The  following  may 
be  accepted  as  a  fair  estimate  of  the  capabilities  of  the 
machine  as  now  ascertained  :  — 

COST    PER    DAY. 

Rs.  A.  P. 

Hire  for  one  bullock  and  driver  for  one  day     ...     o     8    o 

Interest  and  wear  and  tear  at  10  per  cent,  per 
annum  on  the  capital  invested,  say  Rs;  100, 
charged  over  300  working  days  ......  o  o  6 

Cost  of  replacing  buckets  and  ropes  three  times 
a  year,  say  Rs.  90,  charged  over  300  working 
days  ..................  049 

Oil,  &c.          ...........  ..        ......     oio 


"The  cost  per  day  is  therefore  annas  14,  pies  3.  When 
working  at  the  ordinary  speed,  90  buckets  are  raised  per 
hour;  each  bucket  contains  30  gallons  when  brought  to  the 
delivery  spout  ;  the  height  to  which  the  water  is  raised 


THE    NURSERY.  6l 

varies  from  20  to  24  feet ;  thus,  2,700  gallons  of  water  are 
brought  to  the  surface  and  discharged  in  one  hour,  or  24,300 
gallons  during  an  ordinary  working  day  of  nine  hours, 
rather  more  over  an  acre  of  land  than  a  rainfall  of  one  inch. 
Taking  22  feet  as  the  average  height  of  the  lift,  it  would 
appear  that  the  machine  raises  about  27,000  gallons  to  this 
height  for  i  rupee." 

After  securing  an  efficient  water  supply,  the 
question  of  soil  arises.  This  should  be  of  the  same 
nature  as  that  of  the  rest  of  the  estate,  and  no 
richer  in  quality.  It  must  be  of  the  same  nature 
in  order  that  the  young  plants  when  moved  may 
take  kindly  to  it,  as  though  the  new  situation  were 
a  portion  of  their  old  seed-bed,  and  no  better,  in 
order  that  they  may  not  receive  a  check  by  going 
into  inferior  ground  at  an  important  period  of  their 
growth.  A  slight  knowledge  of  geology — and  every 
planter  would  benefit  by  such,  especially  in  regions 
where  there  is  a  chance  of  gold  appearing — will  teach 
him  how  greatly  soils  on  the  outcrop  of  different 
formations  can  differ ;  so  he  must  keep  his  eyes 
open  for  a  good  piece  of  land  of  same  origin  as  the 
rest  of  his  estate. 

The  nursery  should  be  central  if  possible,  or  at 
all  events  at  a  point  accessible  to  the  main  roads 
of  the  garden  when  they  are  made,  as  while  it  is 
in  use  much  traffic  will  be  going  to  and  fro,  and 
accessibility,  or  the  otherwise,  makes  a  great  deal 
of  difference  in  the  account  books  when  the  cost 
of  planting  an  enclosure  is  reckoned  up. 

If  the  planter  is  precise  and  methodical  he  may, 


62  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

before  falling  to  work  upon  the  clearing  of  his 
nursery  plot,  calculate  out  to  a  fraction  how  much 
seed  he  will  have  to  plant  to  cover  so  many  acres  of 
open  land.  But  since  there  will  be  many  failures, 
both  in  the  germinating  of  the  seed  and  by  dying 
off  of  young  plants  when  set  out,  some  thousands 
over  should  be  allowed  for  this.  If  of  a  rough-and- 
ready  turn  of  mind,  he  may  well  rely  upon  intuitive 
perception  in  the  matter. 

Then  commence  active  operations.  The  under- 
wood all  over  the  land  to  be  cleared  is  carefully 
grubbed  up  and  put  back  into  the  jungle,  where, 
with  a  little  assistance  from  stakes,  it  forms  a  rough 
fence  useful  for  keeping  wild  beasts  out,  as  they 
often  do  considerable  damage,  deer  especially  tread- 
ing down  the  young  plants.  Then  some  of  the 
trees  must  fall,  if  they  be  at  all  thickly  set,  to  let  in 
light  and  air  to  the  ground  beneath,  and  the  logs 
cut  up  if  possible  and  rolled  off  the  ground.  The 
fall  of  a  tree  can  generally  be  regulated  by  cutting  a 
deep  notch  half  through  it  on  one  side,  and  another 
higher  up  on  the  opposite  side.  It  descends  on  the 
side  of  the  lower  cut.  A  hundred  yards  by  fifty  yards 
is  a  good  size  for  a  first  nursery.  Logs,  roots,  big 
stones,  and  branches  of  all  kinds  moved  away,  and 
the  ground  cleared  nicely,  the  beds  are  then  marked 
out  in  preparation  for  digging.  The  only  thing  to 
be  said  here  is  that  the  deeper  the  soil  is  stirred 
the  better.  A  broad  6-feet  central  path  should  run 
down  the  centre.  On  either  side  of  this  the  beds 


THE    NURSERY.  63 

strike  off  at  right  angles  of  any  length  that  may 
be  most  convenient,  but  not  more  than  2  feet,  or  at 
the  most  3  feet  wide.  "  A  bed  3J  feet  wide  by  28  in 
length,  with  plants  at  4  inches  apart,  would  contain 
about  1,200,  or  sufficient  to  cover  an  acre  planted 
at  6  feet  by  6  feet,"  says  Hall.  Their  limited 
breadth  is  in  order  that  in  planting  and  a  good  deal 
of  subsequent  necessary  handling  the  coolies  may 
have  easy  and  ready  access  to  the  plants  without 
disturbing  the  surface. 

The  ground  having  lain  fallow  a  day  or  two,  the 
seed  is  put  into  it.  For  this  purpose  cords  attached 
to  pegs  are  used,  the  cord  being  stretched  up  and 
down  the  bed,  and  a  furrow  made  with  a  stick  by 
the  side  of  it.  This  should  be  done  by  one  of  the 
more  intelligent  natives.  It  is  astonishing  what  a 
distortion  of  straight  lines  a  coolie  will  get  into  even 
a  limited  area.  In  this  trench  the  Coffee  bean  is 
placed. 

A  regular  trade  is  made  in  seed  now,  and  there 
is  none  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in  obtaining 
a  suitable  supply  which  was  once  the  case.  Very 
often  a  neighbouring  planter  is  in  a  position  to 
supply  the  necessary  amount ;  or,  if  not,  there 
will  probably  be  natives  at  hand  who  can  obtain 
as  much  as  is  required. 

The  time  of  planting  is  usually  about  October, 
and  a  few  bushels  can  then  always  be  had  from  the 
new  crop  just  ripening.  A  bushel  is  said  to  con- 
tain 40,000  berries  of  cherry  Coffee,  and  as  most 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


berries  contain  two  beans,  each  of  which  germinates 
separately  and  throws  up  an  individual  plant,  the 
number  of  seeds  in  one  bushel  will  be  not  far  from 
80,000,  from  which  10  per  cent,  must  be  deducted 
in  view  of  shrivelled  and  pea  berries,  leaving  an 
effective  of  70,000.*  It  is  inevitable  that  some 
lots  of  seed  should  be  less  fertile  than  others,  and 
it  is  far  preferable  to  thin  out  overcrowded  beds 
than  to  run  short  of  young  "  stock"  in  a  favourable 
planting  season. 

The  following  table  may  serve  as  a  guide  : — 


Of  Bushes  permanently 
planted  at 

6  feet  X  6  feet 

There  will    be,   Plants 
in  one  Acre, 

1,210 

And  Square  Feet  of  Soil 
to  each  Plant, 

36 

6    „     X  4    „ 

1*675 

26 

5    ,.     X  4    „ 

2,178 

20 

5    »     X  3     „ 

2,904 

15 

4    »i     X  3     „ 

3»630 

12 

3i  »     X  3i  „ 

3,555 

I2i 

When  the  planter  has  made  up  his  mind  as 
to  the  distances  apart  he  intends  to  plant  out  his 
bushes,  and  knowing  the  number  of  beans  in  a 
measure  of  seed,  he  may  very  nicely  allot  his 
nursery  space. 

Though  desirable,  it  is  not  often  possible  to 
make  much  choice  of  where  one's  berry  comes  from. 
It  should,  however,  be  from  trees  as  healthy  as 

*  Sabonadiere   calculates   only   30,000    plants   from   a    bushel  of 
seed  Coffee! 


THE    NURSERY.  65 

possible,  gathered  when  fully  ripe,  pulped  lightly, 
and  then  planted  in  its  silver  skin  or  parchment. 
Down  the  length  of  each  bed,  from  end  to  end, 
furrows  are  made  with  the  help  of  the  cord  and 
line.  These  furrows  are,  perhaps,  two  inches  deep, 
and  six  inches  of  space  intervene  between  each.  In 
them  the  berries  are  dropped  one  at  a  time,  and 
about  three  inches  apart  if  the  planter  feels  con- 
fident of  their  fertility — a  little  closer  if  he  doubts  it 
— and  then  the  rows  are  carefully  covered  over  and 
patted  down  by  the  women  and  children.  Some 
planters  recommend  a  layer  of  dried  leaves  to  be 
scattered  over  the  beds  and  left  there  until  the 
plants  are  five  or  six  inches  high.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  such  a  natural  coverlet  keeps  the  soil  moist 
and  cool,  but  the  leaves  harbour  many  harmful 
insects  and  grubs,  besides  a  large  assortment  of 
snakes,  of  which  the  natives  have  an  indiscriminate 
dread,  confounding  them  all  under  one  category. 

If  showery  weather  follows,  the  young  plants  will 
soon  show  above  the  surface — and  very  pretty  they 
look  as  the  glossy  green  leaves  are  unfolded,  and 
thousands  of  slender  green  spikes  carpet  the  ground 
under  the  chequered  shadows  of  the  tall  trees  that 
have  been  left  standing  for  shade.  When  the  rains 
that  have  brought  them  above  the  soil  cease,  it  is 
time  to  commence  watering.  This  is  often  over- 
done, we  fancy,  some  planters  flooding  the  beds  as 
though  they  were  so  much  rice  land.  A  reasonable 
and  moderate  wetting  is  all  that  is  required,  espe- 


66  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

cially  if  leaves  are  spread  (as  just  mentioned)  an 
inch  or  two  thick  on  the  soil ;  they  will  preserve  it 
of  an  equal  temperature  and  moist  in  a  manner 
which  any  English  gardener  will  readily  understand. 
Much  or  little,  the  waterings  must  take  place  in 
the  cool  of  the  day,  morning  or  evening ;  were  it 
done  under  a  midday  sun  the  plants  would  be  in 
danger  of  steaming  to  death,  as  a  person  would  who 
enjoyed  the  luxury  of  the  vapour- room  of  a  Turkish 
bath  for  three  or  four  hours !  A  couple  of  trust- 
worthy men  ought  to  be  able  to  cope  with  this 
operation  day  by  day  if  water  is  handy  and  the 
nursery  not  too  large. 

Another  device  for  protecting  young  plants  at 
this  season  of  growth  is  the  "  pandall,"  or  artificial 
cover,  accepted  by  nearly  every  planter  as  necessary 
in  some  form  or  other.  It  is  made  thus  : — At  each 
corner  of  the  beds  forked  sticks  are  put  in,  the  forks 
about  three  feet  above  the  ground,  and  from  post 
to  post  are  lain  cross  branches.  Upon  these  in 
turn  small  boughs  with  the  leaves  still  on  are  put, 
fairly  thickly,  and  thus  a  shade  is  made  for  the 
tender  plants  below  which  can  be  regulated  in  its 
density  at  will.  If  branches  should  be  scarce,  then 
dried  grass  may  be  substituted ;  but  it  must  be 
always  remembered  that  "  pandalls  "  are  very  liable 
to  take  fire,  either  accidentally  or  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  spiteful  natives,  and  it  is  as  well  to 
have  them  as  non-inflammable  as  possible.  This 
artificial  shading  is  only  resorted  to  on  the  approach 


THE    NURSERY.  67 

of  the  hot  weather,  being  gradually  put  on  as  the 
sun  dries  up  the  moisture  of  the  soil,  keeping  its 
place  "  while  the  sky  is  brass  and  the  earth  iron," 
and  giving  the  tender  green  saplings  a  cool  region 
to  thrive  in.  When  a  new  monsoon  breaks  it  is 
gradually  removed  piecemeal,  as  now  our  future 
Coffee  bushes  require  all  the  sun  and  sunshine  that 
can  be  had  through  the  clouds  and  rain  to  harden 
them  off,  and  fit  them  for  taking  their  proper  place 
in  the  clearings. 

In  South  Australia,  where  Coffee  planting  has 
been  tried  with  some  success,  it  is  found  that  young 
plants  thrive  best  under  shade.  "  Those  seeds 
planted  in  the  open,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the 
South  Australian  Register,  "  proved  utter  failures, 
scarcely  a  seed  being  able  to  stand  the  exposure. 
Others  planted  under  a  very  light  shade  coming  up 
thinly,  whilst  those  under  very  thick  shade,  four  feet  in 
width  by  two  in  height,  succeeded  admirably,  as  did 
also  that  sown  in  long  sheds  with  vertical  roofs  about 
five  feet  high,  open  at  both  ends  to  admit  a  current  of 
air.  These  latter  sheds  the  manager  has  decided  to 
use  in  future,  as  the  grass  which  composes  the  roof  is 
easy  of  removal  as  the  plants  increase  in  hardihood." 

A  danger  of  the  monsoon  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked is  the  likelihood  of  floods.  The  nursery 
being  on  a  slope,  it  is  especially  liable  to  these 
catastrophes,  and  a  strong  and  deep  ditch  should 
be  cut  sloping  across  the  top  of  the  cleared  spaces 
to  catch  and  run  off  any  unusual  downpour,  while 


68         COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PRO:I:\ 

the  borders  of  the  beds  should  not  be  so  deep  as 
to  keep  a  head  of  water  standing  about. 

There  is  not  much  more  to  be  added  on  this 
subject.  The  trespassing  of  animals  must  be  guarded 
against,  as  well  as  may  be,  by  putting  strings  with 
feathers  attached  from  bush  to  bush  along  the  out- 
skirts, and  by  any  other  means  that  may  suggest 
themselves ;  for  it  is  astonishing  what  an  amount 
of  damage  an  elephant  or  sambour  will  do  in  a  night, 
and  most  of  it  apparently  wilful  damage,  if  he 
chances  to  get  into  the  nursery  during  his  rambles. 
There  is  also  a  sharp  look-out  to  be  kept  for  rotten 
branches,  or,  worse  still,  whole  trees  coming  down 
with  a  run  and  destroying  several  beds  at  a  time. 
This,  however,  is  a  matter  that  should  always  be  care- 
fully borne  in  mind  when  commencing  operations. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  weeding  must  be 
always  going  on  in  the  nursery  if  there  is  anything 
to  pull  up.  Women  and  children,  under  a  respon- 
sible maistry,  do  this  work  sufficiently  well,  and 
leave  the  men  free  for  harder  jobs  ;  they  are  lighter 
and  neater  fingered,  but  want  much  watching  and 
"  driving."  As  time  goes  on,  if  the  same  ground  is 
still  used,  as  it  may  well  be,  for  rearing  young  plants, 
it  will  require  manuring  with  leaf  mould  from  the 
adjacent  jungle,  and  perhaps  some  litter  from  the 
cattle-sheds,  but  in  any  case  not  much  of  the  latter. 

The  cost  of  a  first  nursery — clearing,  bedding, 
draining,  and  planting — should  not  be  more  than 
Rs.  150,  to  which  must  be  added  the  cost  of  seed. 


6g 


CHAPTER     VI. 

FOREST    CLEARINGS. 

His  nursery  well  under  weigh,  the  planter — whose 
life  is  a  busy  one  for  the  three  first  years  of  his 
estate's  existence — turns  his  attention  to  the  felling 
and  clearing  of  forest  land  intended  to  receive  Coffee 
plants.  It  will  be  understood  that  the  land  is  every- 
where uneven  in  Coffee  districts,  and  overshadowed 
for  the  most  part  by  luxuriant  forests  in  which 
giant  trees  shoot  up  to  the  sky,  and  interlock  their 
branches  in  impenetrable  canopies,  while  every 
glade  and  watercourse  is  filled  with  waving  reeds, 
wild  arrowroot,  or  ginger;  and  vast  tangles  of 
creepers — many  of  them  beautifully  flowered  after 
the  rainy  season — twine  serpent-like  over  the  bare 
rocks  forming  almost  hopeless  tangles. 

The  first  business  is  to  decide  upon  the  size  of 
the  intended  clearings,  and  the  next  to  mark  them 
out  roughly,  in  order  that  the  fellers  may  get  to 
work.  With  regard  to  the  best  size  for  clearings, 
there  are  many  different  opinions — fifty  acres  is  a 
fair  plot.  One  set  of  planters  hold  that  larger  fields 
are  much  superior  for  many  reasons.  They  main- 
tain that  if  you  have  nothing  less  than  a  hundred 
acres  in  extent  you  enjoy  freedom  from  the  hosts 


JO  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

of  weeds  which  grow  in  the  jungle,  you  are  less 
troubled  by  harmful  insects  which  love  the  shade 
and  shelter  of  trees  and  undergrowth,  and  they 
think  such  clearings  are  more  convenient  and 
better  managed.  But  the  other  side  say  that  by 
making  small  plantations  and  leaving  plenty  of 
timber  you  gain  great  shelter  from  high  winds — a 
thing  of  considerable  importance  to  Coffee,  espe- 
cially in  its  young  state — you  have  great  stores  of 
leaf  mould  within  easy  distance  for  using  as  manure, 
and  they  argue  that,  notwithstanding  insects  and 
weeds,  the  Coffee  thrives  better  than  in  the  open. 
Probably  the  best  size  of  clearing  will  vary  with 
the  conditions  and  aspect  of  the  estate.  On  windy 
ridges,  where  the  young  plants  are  liable  to  feel 
the  full  force  of  either  monsoon,  protection  of  some 
sort  seems  imperative,  and  none  is  so  convenient 
and  lasting  as  leaving  "  belts  "  or  strips  of  jungle 
unfelled  when  the  clearings  are  first  made.  These 
wind-shields  should  not  be  less  than  two  chains 
through,  or  they  will  not  answer  their  purpose ; 
nor  more,  unless  under  exceptional  circumstances, 
or  they  will  take  up  too  much  valuable  ground. 
Unless  they  are  of  fair  breadth,  the  trees  are  apt 
to  die  out  after  a  time  ;  an  eye  should  be  kept  on 
them,  therefore,  and  if  they  show  signs  of  getting 
thin,  young  saplings  must  be  planted  to  take  the 
place  of  the  natural-sown  trees. 

Then   comes  the  marking  out.      This   is    done 
with  a  compass  and  theodolite.    A  base  line  is  taken 


FOREST    CLEARINGS.  Jl 

wherever  most  convenient  (along  the  bank  of  a 
stream,  &c.),  and  starting  from  one  corner  of  this, 
so  many  chains  are  measured  off  at  right  angles  as 
may  be  required  for  the  first  side — due  north  per- 
haps, according  to  the  lay  of  the  land,  and  bearing 
in  mind  that  it  is  always  preferable  to  have  the 
clearings  full  face  to  the  wind  rather  than  turned 
partially  from  it,  so  as  to  prevent  the  monsoons 
enfilading  them.  When  a  sufficient  distance  has 
been  done  for  one  side  the  line  is  continued  at  right 
angles  so  many  chains  for  a  further  boundary,  and 
then  once  again  to  the  original  base.  For  this 
operation,  which  requires  only  slight  proficiency 
in  the  surveyor's  craft,  the  planter  needs  two  coolies 
(intelligent  ones  should  be  selected)  to  handle  the 
measuring  chain,  another  for  the  compass,  and 
half-a-dozen,  perhaps,  of  strong  men  with  billhooks 
well  sharpened  who  go  on  ahead  and  lop  down  the 
underwood,  making  a  rough  path  for  the  English- 
man, and  " blazing"  the  trees — i.e.,  cutting  outstrips 
of  bark  when  he  has  been  along  with  his  instru- 
ments and  authenticated  the  direction.  Many  a 
long  day  has  the  writer  spent  in  this  manner,  and 
enjoyed  the  broaching  of  quiet  valleys  that  no  foot 
but  the  silent  sambour's  had  ever  trodden  before, 
and  the  pioneering  of  shady  hollows  that  had  kept 
their  repose  unbroken  since  the  beginning.  Such 
a  wealth  of  tree  fern  and  pendant  creeper  swings 
overhead,  and  the  silent  birds  of  the  forest — we 
have  noticed  most  forms  of  animal  life  are  silent 


72  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

in  the  deep  woods — surround  him  on  every  hand ; 
but,  alas !  his  errand  is  one  of  destruction,  he 
comes  not  to  admire  and  withdraw,  but  to  wage 
war  with  fire  and  steel. 

A  belt  having  been  drawn  around  the  doomed 
jungle,  the  trees  are  felled  either  wholly  or  partially. 
In  the  first  case,  the  operation  is  simply  one  of 
universal  destruction.  It  is  usual  to  employ  contract 
coolies  for  the  work  of  demolishing.  They  bring  up 
with  them  such  cooking  pots  and  pans  and  tools  as 
they  require,  camping  out  in  lean-to  huts  run  up 
alongside  the  clearings,  and  remaining  by  their  work 
until  it  is  finished.  Their  axes  are  small  and  light 
by  comparison  to  English  or  American  weapons, 
but  very  effective  in  native  hands.  The  first  trees 
cut  are  along  the  line  of  the  lowest  ground,  and 
then  another  tier  above  them  is  deeply  notched, 
but  none  of  these  are  cut  through  completely. 
Thus,  perhaps,  half  a  clearing  will  be  treated  if  the 
day  is  still  and  windless,  and  then  the  headman 
goes  to  the  highest  rank  of  forest  giants  and,  with 
a  few  vigorous  blows,  topples  over  a  medium-sized 
sapling.  In  its  fall  it  brings  two  others  with  it. 
These  are  matted  together  by  rattens  with  more 
which  give  way,  and  so  tier  after  tier  rocks  and 
swings,  the  strain  spreading,  when  suddenly,  with  a 
mighty  roar,  the  hill-side  is  unlaced,  and  a  thousand 
years  of  timber  go  to  perdition  with  one  huge  far- 
sounding  crash.  There  can  be  no  special  advantage 
in  this  scene  ;  probably  it  is  chiefly  liked  as  repre- 


FOREST    CLEARINGS.  73 

senting   the    highest    art    of  woodmanship    by   the 
natives,  who   enjoy  their  work. 

Necessary  as  this  clearing  is,  it  can  be  carried 
too  far,  even  from  the  planter's  point  of  view. 
Magnificent  evergreen  forests  protecting  ghat 
slopes  have  thus  been  ruthlessly  destroyed,  tre- 
mendous floods  and  corresponding  droughts  being 
the  outcome. 

The  forests  on  the  Nilgiri,  Wynad,  and  Coorg 
have  been  rapidly  disappearing  during  the  last  ten 
or  twenty  years.  If  this  destruction  is  allowed  to 
go  on  the  Cauvery  river,  for  instance,  must  in  time 
be  seriously  affected.  There  are  still  vast  tracts 
of  forest,  and  many  splendid  forest-clad  ravines 
protecting  numerous  streams,  but  what  if  they  all 
go  ?  And  if  there  is  no  legislation  on  the  subject, 
and  no  official  reservation  to  be  guarded  by  a 
responsible  department,  what  is  to  prevent  it  ?  At 
the  present  rate  of  destruction  there  would  be 
probably  nothing  left  in  another  century  or  less. 

If  the  felling  is  begun  in  October,  then  about 
the  middle  of  March  the  forest  will  be  ready  to 
burn.  It  should  not  be  delayed  later,  for  about 
that  time  showers  begin  to  fall.  For  months  of 
the  hottest  'season,  the  forest  lies  prone  and 
withered  under  the  fierce  rays  of  an  Indian  sun. 
At  the  end  of  the  time  it  is,  or  should  be,  as 
dry  as  timber  can  get,  and  not  a  green  blade  or 
leaf  anywhere  visible.  The  planter  then  selects 
a  day  with  a  gentle  and  steady  breeze  blowing, 


74  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

and  going  round  to  the  windward  and  lowermost 
corner,  he  puts  a  match  to  a  handful  of  dried 
leaves.  The  result  is  instantaneous ;  the  fire 
springs  up  in  forked  tongues  that  enfold  everything 
within  their  reach,  driving  back  the  originator  of 
the  conflagration,  and  then  seething  out  into  the 
open  in  a  sea  of  crimson  flame,  that  burns  as 
though  it  would  never  have  done  for  several  days 
(if  the  jungle  was  heavy) — a  column  of  smoke  by 
day,  and  more  than  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night ;  the 
destroying  element  curling  up  any  tall,  mastlike 
stems  that  may  not  have  fallen,  making  them  into 
huge  torches,  and  finally  bringing  each  to  the 
ground. 

If  the  "burn"  is  all  that  the  planter  could 
desire,  it  consumes  everything  but  the  very  heaviest 
logs,  and  renders  the  clearing  accessible  again. 
He  has  previously  taken  the  precaution  of  throwing 
back  the  light  rubbish  from  under  the  "belts" 
of  trees  left  as  walls  to  the  clearing,  and  thus  pre- 
vented the  fire  from  lapping  against  and  destroying 
them.  For  overlooking  this  slight  but  essential  safe- 
guard we  have  seen  many  a  man  punished  by  the 
loss  of  shelter  and  the  land  spoilt  for  the  time. 

The  hot  white  ash  of  the  noble  sal  and  cedar 
trees,  worth  princely  sums  as  timber  a  few  weeks 
ago,  could  they  have  been  got  down  to  the  coast, 
now  cumbers  the  soil,  and  the  thick  shade  of  the 
woods  is  turned  to  an  open  plain  of  desolation. 
If  the  flames  have  not  done  their  work  to  the  last 


FOREST    CLEARINGS.  75 

twig,  the  clearing  will  need  a  little  hand  burning — 
i.e.,  parties  of  men  go  and  lop  up  with  axes  and 
billhook  all  the  small  wood  that  remain,  destroying 
it  piecemeal  on  bonfires,  though  this  is  sometimes 
included  in  the  felling  contract.  When  this  has 
been  done  the  land  is  practically  ready  for  planting, 
a  few  heavy  showers  washing  the  ground  into  a 
more  natural  tint  and  condition. 

No  one  can  witness  this  reckless  stripping  of 
mountain  regions  without  regret  and  some  fears 
for  the  ultimate  consequences.  Lieut.  Colonel 
Beddowe,  in  an  admirable  Report  of  the  Famine 
Commissioners,  published  in  their  Blue-book  (1884), 
says : — 

"  The  denudation  of  forests  for  actual  cultivation — paying 
.assessment — has  been  very  great  during  the  last  twenty  years. 
In  Wynad  it  is  said  to  be  22,526  acres,  and  it  has  been 
very  extensive  on  the  Nilgiri.  In  the  face  of  railways  and 
an  ever-increasing  population,  it  must  of  course  go  on  ex- 
tending, and  there  is  still  ample  room  for  much  extension, 
though  of  course  there  must  be  a  limit.  Revenue  officers 
will  be  too  anxious  to  open  out  the  hill  tracts  of  their 
•district  and  realize  a  revenue  from  the  land,  and  can  scarcely 
be  trusted  as  to  what  tracts  are  to  be  reserved.  These 
should  in  future  be  under  the  Forest  Department,  who 
should  be  responsible  to  Government  that  the  water  supply 
•of  the  country  is  not  affected.  Coffee  and  Tea  bushes  will 
never  protect  the  soil  and  water  supply  in  the  way  that  forest 
does  ;  the  soil  being  constantly  broken  up  is  washed  away, 
and  there  is  no  accumulation  of  humus.  Mr.  Ferguson,  the 
forest  officer  of  Nilambur,  explains  the  process  of  forest 
.gradually  turning  into  the  poorest,  most  worthless  scrub.  He 
states  that  4,000  to  5,000  acres  are  thus  destroyed  annually  in 
Malabar." 


76  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Probably  even  the  professional  planter,  absorbed 
as  he  is  with  his  own  immediate  gains,  must  feel 
some  sympathy  with  these  sensible  regrets. 

The  more  complete  the  burn  the  easier  and 
pleasanter  is  the  subsequent  operation  of  planting. 
A  good  burn  is  obtained  by  obtaining  a  compact 
mass  of  timber  and  branches,  and  firing  on  a 
suitable  day  before  the  first  showers  have  sodden 
the  dead  leaves  and  damped  the  heavier  growths. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  it  is  a  trying  ordeal  to 
the  land  at  best,  but  in  woodland  districts  hand 
clearing,  as  it  will  be  readily  understood,  on  such 
a  scale  is  out  of  the  question.  By  "  pitting"  the 
clearings  before  the  burn  we  pocket  the  good  soil, 
and  save  at  least  a  large  proportion  of  it. 

Planting  under  shade — i.e.,  suffering  a  majority 
of  the  best  trees  to  remain  standing,  and  not  firing 
a  clearing  at  all,  almost  always  practised  now  in 
hot,  dry  climates,  such  as  that  of  Southern  India — 
is  incomparably  the  most  natural  and  rational  pro- 
cess, though  it  has  its  drawbacks  ;  and  one  of  the 
chief  is  that  Coffee  under  such  circumstances  does 
not  bear  so  heavily  as  in  the  open.  Grassland, 
though  rarely  used  for  our  purpose,  and  "chenajr 
scrub,  so  called  in  Ceylon,  or  land  once  cleared 
and  reverting  to  a  primitive  state,  of  course  gives 
less  trouble  in  preparation. 

Cingalese  contractors  used  to  undertake  work 
at  the  rate  of  from  Rs.  20  to  25  per  acre,  and  had 
to  be  provided  with  tools.  The  rates  have  been 


FOREST    CLEARINGS.  77 

reduced,  and  for  heavy  forest  in  the  higher  districts 
from  Rs.  18  to  20  is  now  given,  and  in  the  low 
country  from  Rs.  12  to  15,  while  at  the  same  time 
the  men  provide  their  own  axes.  Those  figures 
will  be  a  fair  average  for  other  Coffee  countries, 
and  include  felling,  lopping,  burning  and  clearing-up, 
so  as  to  leave  the  land  ready  for  planting.  Some- 
times the  planter's  own  men  undertake  the  latter 
tasks,  and  then  of  course  the  estimate  is  reduced. 

The  Englishman  should  be  careful  to  have  a 
clear  agreement  on  all  contract  work,  and  not  to 
over-advance  the  men. 


78  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


CHAPTER     VII. 

PITS    AND    PEGS. 

BEFORE  the  actual  destruction  of  the  forest  the 
ground  has  to  be  "  pegged  "  and  "  pitted  " — i.e., 
the  future  position  of  each  plant  marked,  and  a 
hole  dug  at  the  spot,  into  which  the  fertile  top 
soil  is  put  and  covered  over,  to  save  it  from  the 
scorching  that  follows.  To  delay  these  opera- 
tions until  the  forest  is  brought  down  would  be  to 
render  the  first  practically  impossible,  owing  to  the 
cumbered  state  of  the  ground,  and  the  second 
purposeless.  The  first  operation  here  is  to  provide 
an  ample  supply  of  pegs  for  marking  the  sites  of 
the  future  pits.  A  man  will  find  pretty  constant 
employment  cutting  down  young  saplings  of  three 
or  four  years'  growth.  These  are  lopped  into  two- 
foot  lengths  and  split  lengthways  into  four  or  more 
pegs.  A  good  workman  is  able  to  prepare  300  or 
400  such  sticks  every  day,  piling  them  out  of  harms- 
way  in  the  jungle.  He  will  probably  know  the 
best  woods  to  choose,  but  we  may  recommend 
keena,  malaboddy,  doong,  or  any  other  tree  having 
long  straight  fibres. 

/'Pegging"   is    an    extremely   tedious  operation, 
and  one  which  the  new  hand  will  find  very  difficult 


PITS    AND    PEGS.  79 

in  thick  jungle.  It  consists  in  marking  out  the 
exact  spots  where  every  Coffee  bush  is  to  stand  on 
a  plot  of  woodland  which  has  been  only  slightly 
cleared,  and  has  been  traced  out  by  the  trees,  on 
what  will  eventually  be  the  margin,  having  been 
slightly  notched,  or  the  leaves  and  rubbish  scraped 
away.  Supposing  the  space  thus  enclosed  is  fifty 
acres  in  extent  and  the  bushes  are  going  to  stand 
four  and  a-half  by  five  feet  apart,  then  there  will  be 
1,936  per  acre,  and  some  96,800  in  the  clearing! 
The  labour  of  marking  each  peg  off  separately  can 
be  understood. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  strike  a  base 
line  right  across  the  ground.  To  do  this,  a  theo- 
dolite as  previously  mentioned,  and  two  men  with 
tall  staffs  painted  red  and  white,  are  needed, 
besides  trustworthy  coolies,  who  have  hold  of  the 
opposite  ends  of  a  long  fifty-foot  rope,  divided  into 
six-foot  lengths  .by  tags  of  tape  or  coloured  rag,  as 
well  as  numerous  attendants  with  armfuls  of  pegs 
to  mark  the  site  of  the  holes  to  be  dug.  The 
Englishman  then,  starting  from  the  edge  of  the 
future  belt,  directs  the  two  line  coolies  to  hold  the 
rope  taut  in  the  direction  which  the  instrument 
tells  him  is  straight  for  the  opposite  side  of  the 
marked-out  space,  and  as  soon  as  this  is  satis- 
factorily accomplished  the  coolies  stick  in  pegs 
directly  under  each  six-foot  mark.  Then  the  line 
is  taken  forward  again  to  the  last  peg,  and  another 
set  measured  off.  This  is  all  very  well  when  the 


8O  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

ground  is  clear  and  there  are  nothing  but  big  trees 
to  obstruct  the  view — usually  a  sign  that  the  soil 
is  good  for  Coffee — but  occasionally  there  are  clumps 
of  tree  fern,  thickets  of  thorny  bushes,  or,  worst 
of  all,  dense  bamboos  ;  and  these  offer  immense 
obstacles,  not  so  much  to  the  base  line  as  to  those 
following.  It  may  perhaps  be  suggested  that  it 
were  useless  to  peg  out  such  places  as  they  could 
never  be  planted  ;  but  the  truth  is  every  bit  of  a 
clearing  must  be  measured  off  in  order  that  the 
proportion  between  the  succeeding  lines  shall  be 
ascertained. 

Another  sort  of  obstruction  which  makes  ''lining" 
difficult  in  unfelled  jungle  are  the  deep  and  rocky 
watercourses  or  nullahs.  It  does  not  do  to  stretch 
the  measuring  line  straight  from  bank  to  bank,  as 
that  would  distort  the  position  of  subsequent  lines, 
but  it  has  to  accurately  follow  the  fall  of  the  ground, 
which  would  be  an  easy  matter  with  trained  English 
labourers,  but  with  thick-headed  natives  proves  a 
matter  of  great  difficulty,  and  takes  up  much  time. 
For  my  part,  I  never  could  see  the  necessity  of 
having  the  lines  of  Coffee  plants  so  exactly  even 
that  from  any  point  in  the  clearing  one  can  look 
up  four  neat  roads,  only  terminated  by  the  belts  of 
forest ;  but  it  is  the  custom,  and  rigorously  insisted 
upon  in  most  estates.  As  this  work  however  is 
difficult  until  it  is  properly  understood,  and  a 
source  of  constant  mortification  to  the  exact 
when  it  has  been  mismanaged,  I  think  I  shall  be 


PITS    AND    PEGS.  8 1 

justified  in  quoting  here  a  very  careful  description 
of  the  work  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Cross,  the  writer  of  an 
excellent  little  essay  on  "  Ceylon  Coffee." 

"When  a  few  thousand  pegs  have  been  cut  in  advance,"  he 
says,  "  the  work  of  lining  can  then  be  commenced.  The  rope 
used  in  lining  is  generally  a  good  stout  one  of  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  in  thickness,  and  it  should  be  well  tarred  to  resist  wet. 
Pieces  of  white  cord,  or  strips  of  red  cloth,  should  be  inserted 
at  the  lining  distance,  every  few  feet  along  the  rope,  to  mark 
where  the  peg  is  to  be  put  in  the  ground.  This  is  usually  at 
intervals  of  five  feet  for  the  length,  between  each  tree,  and 
six  feet  for  the  breadth  ;  in  short,  five  by  six,  though  other 
distances  may  be  preferred  and  used  with  advantage.  In 
very  high  and  wind-blown  districts  five  by  five  is  a  good 
distance.  The  rope  having  been  thus  prepared  should  be 
attached  to  a  stout  straight  stick  at  each  end  of  the  line, 
generally  a  stick  six  feet  in  length,  or  whatever  the  breadth  of 
the  Coffee  line  is  to  be.  A  good  working  kangani  and  two 
men,  one  for  each  end  of  the  rope,  to  hold  it  taut,  and  ten  or 
twelve  boys  should  then  be  selected,  and  each  boy  furnished 
with  a  stick  corresponding  to  the  breadth  it  is  intended  to 
leave  between  the  Coffee  lines.  The  first  process  is  to  run  a 
base  line  across  the  clearing,  generally  starting  from  the  lowest 
part,  and  as  near  the  middle  of  the  clearing  as  possible,  and 
when  that  is  finished  and  pegged  out,  another  at  right  angles  to 
it.  For  example,  if  the  clearing  is  nearly  square,  thus  : — 


the  dotted  lines  indicate  the  base  lines  laid  down,  each  dot 
representing  a  peg.  Of  course  when  the  lining  is  by  unequal 
distances,  say  five  by  six,  the  pieces  of  cord  or  cloth,  commonly 
called  by  the  coolies  the  *  pu '  (flower),  will  require  to  be 

G 


82  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

shifted  to  the  required  distance  before  running  the  second  base 
line  at  right  angles  to  the  first.  After  the  base  lines  have  been 
laid  down,  the  coolie  at  one  of  the  ends  of  the  rope  should 
place  his  staff  immediately  alongside  the  first  base  line  peg, 
either  to  right  or  left  of  the  centre  peg,  the  man  at  the  other  end 
of  the  line  measuring  with  his  staff,  and  the  boys  with  theirs 
likewise,  the  same  distance,  to  right  or  left  of  the  base  line 
as  the  case  may  be.  When  the  measuring  sticks  are  then  in 
line,  from  top  to  bottom,  the  boys  insert  a  peg  into  the  ground 
below  each  '  pu '  on  the  rope.  This  process  is  repeated  till 
the  whole  of  the  clearing  is  finished.  By  the  above  method  of 
laying  down  the  base  lines,  four  parties  of  liners  can  be 
employed  at  the  same  time,  and  the  work  done  quickly.  The 
usual  mode  of  inserting  the  peg  is  for  the  boys  to  drop  the 
peg  from  the  '  pu,'  marking  the  spot  where  the  point  touched 
the  ground,  and  then  insert  it ;  but  the  best  plan  is  to  place  the 
stick  the  boys  use  for  measuring  perpendicularly  from  the  *  pu ' 
to  the  ground,  and  insert  the  peg  at  its  base.  The  line  will  be 
straighter.  To  insure  this  work  being  well  done — and  nothing 
is  so  pleasing  to  the  planter's  eye  as  to  see  straight  lines  of 
Coffee — it  should  be  well  looked  after. 

"  Some  planters  now  employ  a  lining  instrument  and  staff, 
and  these,  if  properly  worked,  ought  to  give  very  straight  base 
lines.  A  row  of  long  straight  white  sticks,  or  rather  poles, 
placed  one  behind  the  other,  and  run  the  whole  length  of  the 
clearing,  will  probably  answer  the  purpose  quite  as  well  for  all 
practical  purposes.  If  one  is  acquainted  with  surveying,  the 
best  base  lines  will  of  course  be  run  with  the  aid  of  the 
theodolite  tracer.  The  system  of  using  double  ropes  of  equal 
length,  so  as  to  get  the  Coffee  into  squares,  is  quite  unnecessary, 
and  can  seldom  be  properly  carried  out  on  very  rough  and 
broken  land.  The  ropes  used  in  lining  should  be  about  160 
feet  in  length.  If  the  ropes  are  of  greater  length  the  lines  are 
apt  to  get  crooked.  On  sheltered  flats  lining  might  be  done 
with  advantage  at  such  distances  as  seven  by  eight  feet,  thereby 
leaving  plenty  of  room  for  manuring  and  digging  round  the 
trees,  and  in  such  situations  they  might  be  allowed  to  grow  to 
the  height  of  five  feet,  but  so  little  land  in  the  high  districts  is 


PITS    AND    PEGS.  83 

of  this  description  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  making  a 
difference  in  the  lining  in  so  small  a  space." 

The  next  task  calls  for  less   personal  exertion, 
but   demands    a   good   deal    of    supervision.      The 
planter  starts  out  each  morning  at  daybreak,  with 
perhaps  two  hundred  men  following  in   Indian  file 
at  his  heels,  and  proceeds  to  the  jungles   already 
pegged    and   marked  out.     Each  coolie  takes  with 
him  a  mammoty,   an   axe  for  cutting  roots,  and   a 
long  iron  bar  pointed  at  one  end  and  flattened  out 
into  a  spud  at  the  other,  chiefly  used  for  removing 
heavy  stones   and  loosening  the   soil.     All  then  go 
to  work  in  a  long  straight  line  if  possible,  but  to  get 
the  hands  into  any  sort  of  order  in  heavy  jungle 
is  much  more  easy  to  talk  of  than  to  effect,  as  it  is 
not  possible  to  see  ten  men   at  a  time,  and  each 
man  wants  to  work  where  the  ground  is  softest  and 
there  are  fewest  roots.     The  daily  task  of  each  is 
forty  or  fifty  pits  of  regulation  size,  and  the  super- 
intendent has  to  see  this  properly  done.     Perhaps 
he  places  a  mark  where  each  man  begins,  at  the 
last   pit   of    yesterday's    work,    and   then     goes    to 
the  other  end  of  the  line,  half-a-mile  away.     When 
he  returns,  he  is  surprised  and  pleased  to  find  the 
first   men    have    already    finished   half  their   tasks, 
but  on  investigating  he  sees  the  "  mild  Hindoos" 
have  moved  his  pegs  back  so  as  to  include  ten  or 
twelve  of  yesterday's  pits,  and  this  naturally  makes 
him  wrathful.     Besides  the  coolies  who  thus  scamp 
their   allotted   task,    or   are   too   sick   and  weak  to 


84  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

perform  it,  there  are  many  others  who  give  a  vast 
amount  of  trouble  by  making  pits  out  of  the  straight 
line,  or  just  too  small  to  pass  muster — the  regulation 
size  being  two  feet  deep  by  eighteen  inches  square, 
measured  across  from  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  The  holes  should  have  right-angled  corners, 
as  if  a  tree  be  set  in  a  circular  hole,  the  roots  follow 
the  limits  of  the  soil  which  has  been  disturbed,  and 
become  as  much  "  pot-bound  "  as  though  they  grew 
in  stone  jars  ;  but  when  the  pit  is  square  the  roots 
grow  into  the  angles,  and,  finding  themselves  faced 
by  walls  of  earth,  are  obliged  to  penetrate  them 
and  spread  into  the  surrounding  soil.  By  the  time 
the  pits  begin  to  be  numbered  by  thousands,  the 
ground  also  presents  a  curious  aspect — something 
as  if  the  jungle  had  been  overrun  by  monstrous 
land-crabs,  which  had  dug  out  their  underground 
houses  in  every  direction  ;  but  the  walking  is  better 
than  usual,  owing  to  the  pits  being  in  straight  lines 
and  the  timber  still  standing. 

After  all  this  careful  labour,  the  novice  will  look 
with  something  akin  to  consternation  on  the  suc- 
ceeding operation  necessary  in  "  pitting  before  the 
burn."  Extravagant  as  it  may  appear,  the  next 
thing  to  be  done,  after  having  carefully  dug  these 
twenty- two  thousand  pits,  is  to  fill  them  up  again  ! 
The  truth  is,  the  forest  under  which  we  have  so 
industriously  scratched  these  holes  has  now  to  be 
felled  and  burnt,  and  the  sufficient  reason  for  re- 
filling the  pits  is  that  the  valuable  top  soil,  which 


PITS    AND    PEGS.  85 

contains  the  best  nourishment,  might  be  saved  from 
the  flames,  which  would  bake  it  to  a  brick — a  result 
to  be  avoided,  if  possible,  yet  which  would  assuredly 
happen  if  the  "  pitting"  were  delayed  until  after 
burning.  So  we  fill  up  the  holes  far  and  wide,  our 
chief  care  being  to  see  that  the  top  soil  really  goes 
to  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  as  the  coolies  are  apt  to 
scrape  soil  in  just  as  it  lies.  After  the  burn,  we 
should  be  able  to  tell  the  position  of  each  pit  by 
the  earth  being  a  little  higher  over  it  than  else- 
where. The  bigger  the  pits,  as  a  rule,  the  better, 
since  the  plants  have  a  larger  amount  of  readily 
"available  capital"  to  draw  upon  when  first 
established. 

Occasionally,  when  pressed  for  time,  we  have 
known  the  soil  in  the  spots  to  be  planted  just 
levered  up  and  loosened  by  crowbars,  but  this  is  a 
slovenly  and  unsuccessful  arrangement.  Again, 
another  planter  has  been  known  to  declare  against 
pits  of  any  size,  maintaining  that  it  inevitably  makes 
the  plants  "  pot  bound,"  and  discourages  them  from 
seeking  food  and  moisture  naturally.  But  ninety- 
nine  out  of  a  hundred  planters  make  pits  as  large 
as  their  money  and  patience  will  allow. 

Regarding  the  finances  of  these  undertakings, 
pegs  are  cut  at  the  rate  of,  say,  five  hundred  pegs 
a-day  by  a  workman  whose  wages  are  probably 
5  annas.  The  cost  per  acre  will  depend  upon 
the  distances  apart  you  grow  your  Coffee,  but  with 
the  help  of  the  table  given  under  "  Planting,"  you 


86  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

will  be  readily  able  to  reckon  the  number  of  your 
pegs  and  their  outlay,  not  forgetting  to  have  a  few 
hundred  over  for  breakages,  &c.  Lining  usually 
comes  to  a  little  over  Rs.  2  per  acre,  but  every- 
thing depends  on  the  sort  of  jungle.  In  holeing, 
reckoning  1,500  holes  to  the  acre,  fifty  holes  per 
coolie  per  day,  say  3,750  coolies  at  6  annas,  will 
make  the  expense  per  acre  close  upon  Rs.  16. 
"Filling  in" — if  one  man  does  125  holes  per  day 
(and  he  cannot  do  more  properly),  then  this  will 
give  an  expenditure  of  Rs.  6  per  acre. 

The  figures  are  rough,  but  approximate. 


87 


CHAPTER      VIII. 


IF  it  is  decided  to  grow  Coffee  under  natural  shade, 
such  as  it  is  accustomed  to  in  a  wild  state,  then  the 
preparation  of  the  land  is  a  somewhat  simpler  work 
than  that  described  in  Chapter  VI.  There  being  no 
fire  to  dread,  it  is  unnecessary  to  hide  away  a  supply 
of  fertilizing  top  soil.  The  borders  of  the  clearing 
are  therefore  marked  out  as  in  the  previous  case, 
and  a  majority  of  trees  felled,  with  all  the  under- 
wood and  tangle,  which  is  grubbed  up.  Timber 
and  rubbish  has  then  to  be  cut  into  negociable  sizes 
and  moved  by  hand  into  the  surrounding  jungle, 
or  rolled  (a  slovenly  plan)  into  one  of  the  water- 
courses which  are  sure  to  lie  temptingly  near. 

When  this  has  been  well  done,  the  result  is  a 
pretty  bit  of  woodland  dotted  over  with  nice  straight 
timber  trees  free  from  dead  branches,  the  soil  moist 
and  cool  in  its  natural  deep  chocolate  hue,  and  the 
sunlight,  maybe,  patching  it  with  a  pavement  of 
light  and  shadow  as  the  rays  come  down  from 
above — all  together  a  prettier  picture  than  that 
presented  where  the  previously-described  method 
is  practised. 

Of  course,  on   these  estates,  the  clearings  being 


88  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

never  burnt,  as  the  fire  would  have  destroyed  the 
shade  trees,  but  the  lighter  material  carried  away  to 
the  borders  to  the  last  twig  by  hand  labour,  the 
valuable  top  soil  of  vegetable  debris  is  left  uninjured. 
That  that  same  debris  harbours  a  world  of  insects 
hurtful  to  the  Coffee  plants,  which  a  good  "  burn  " 
would  kill,  and  also  promotes  the  dreaded  leaf 
disease  so  fatal  in  Ceylon,  are  two  of  the  strongest 
arguments  arrayed  against  the  plan.  Personally  we 
have  a  decided  leaning  towards  shade,  "  natural"  or 
"  artificial."  In  many  countries  shade  is  made  a 
source  of  profit,  and  valuable  fruit  trees  are  planted 
between  the  rows  of  Coffee  ;  in  India  neglecting  to 
provide  a  shelter  against  the  sun's  rays,  and  some 
protection  for  the  soil  against  the  denuding  effect  of 
tropical  rains,  led  to  widespread  deterioration  of 
Coffee  districts.  An  authority  says  : — 

"  When  a  planter  takes  up  virgin  forest  he  finds  a  splendid 
soil,  covered  with  humus ;  he  fells  his  forest  and  puts  down  his 
Coffee.  One  has  only  to  read  the  numerous  letters  that 
appear  in  the  public  prints,  especially  those  of  Ceylon,  which 
are  almost  entirely  kept  up  by  planter  subscribers,  to  see  how 
a  planter's  mind  is  exercised  to  keep  his  soil  from  being 
washed  away.  Look  at  the  abandoned  estates  between 
Virajpett  and  Wotakuli  in  Coorg.  Years  ago  the  hills  carried 
high  timber  forests  on  a  rich  though  shallow  soil  on  rock. 
But  the  forests  attracted  rain,  regulated  its  distribution,  and 
prevented  scouring.  The  planter's  axe  levelled  the  trees  with 
the  ground,  and  now  almost  every  planter  who  can  get  away 
from  the  place  is  glad  to  go.  I  do  not  think  the  rainfall  is 
less,  but  the  soil  has  gone  from  the  hill  sides.  A  tangled  mass 
of  weeds  and  jungle  is  springing  up,  and  years  must  pass 
before  the  soil  can  be  renewed.  In  Mysore  I  could  point  to 


SHADE.  89 

an  instance  where  the  felling  of  300  acres  or  so  of  a  forest  for 
Coffee  resulted  in  the  same  way." 

Therefore  we  say,  shade  your  Coffee  well  —  with 
natural  shade  if  it  is  ready  made  to  your  hand,  if 
not,  grow  some  for  yourself  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Needless  to  say,  much  will  depend  on  position, 
elevation,  and  aspect.  Coffee  grows  well  in  Ceylon 
in  the  open  on  account  of  the  natural  humidity  of 
the  climate.  In  the  hotter  seasons  of  India  um- 
brageous protection  of  some  kind  is  a  matter  of 
necessity,  notwithstanding  the  drawback  of  shorter 
crops.  The  amount  of  shade  to  be  left  where 
wholesale  burning  is  not  to  be  practised  must  of 
course  be  regulated  according  to  the  exposure.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  a  great  deal  will  be  required 
on  southern  slopes,  very  little  on  northern  ones, 
and  that  eastern  and  western  slopes  will  require 
a  moderate  degree. 

In  the  early  years  of  planting  in  Southern  India 
most  of  the  managers  came  from  an  island  where 
the  climate  was  damp  and  comparatively  mild,  and 
"  shade "  trees  consequently  not  essential  to  the 
culture  of  Coffee,  as  we  have  said.  They  broke  up 
Indian  forests,  and,  acting  on  their  previous  expe- 
rience, planted  their  gardens  all  in  the  open,  with 
the  result  that  the  first  succession  of  extra  dry 
seasons  worked  sad  havoc  amongst  them.  This  is 
the  explanation  of  those  gaunt,  sun-scorched  gardens 
too  common  in  Travancore  and  Mysore.  Now  they 
are  wiser,  and  even  if  they  do  not  preserve  their 


go  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT, 

natural  protection  against  the  sun,  they  make  all 
reasonable  haste  to  supply  its  place  by  the  artificial- 
grown  foliage  of  quick-growing  Australian  or  other 
trees. 

"  I  find  it  impossible  to  quit  this  subject  of 
shade,"  remarks  Elliot,  in  his  "  Experiences  of  a 
Coffee  Planter  in  the  Jungles  of  Mysore, "  "  without 
saying  a  word  for  the  numerous  advantages  planta- 
tions of  Coffee  have  that  can  be  grown  under  shelter 
of  the  original  forest.  In  the  first  place,  from  the 
greater  part  of  the  land  being  only  cleared  at  first  of 
the  underwood,  and  from  the  fact  of  that  being 
burned  in  separate  heaps,  a  large  proportion  of  the 
soil  is  entirely  uninjured  by  fire,  and  the  valuable 
surface  mould  entirely  preserved.  In  the  next  place, 
from  the  preservation  of  such  a  portion  of  this 
vegetable  matter,  and  from  the  land  being  annually 
recruited  by  the  fallen  leaves,  the  rain  water,  instead 
of  running  off,  washing  the  land,  and  so  depriving  it 
of  a  great  deal  of  its  most  valuable  constituents, 
soaks  gradually  into  and  lodges  in  the  soil  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  drop.  Thirdly,  the  forest  trees 
afford  shelter  to  innumerable  birds,  which  are  not 
only  pleasant  to  see,  and  many  of  them  to  hear,  but 
which  are  of  incalculable  service  as  insect-eaters. 
Then  the  planter  with  his  shade,  if  he  does  not 
altogether  laugh  at  dry  seasons,  in  a  great  measure 
neutralizes  their  influence  by  preventing  the  sun  and 
wind  from  drying  up  the  soil  and  parching  the  plant. 
And,  finally,  both  the  planter  and  his  people  can 


SHADE.  QI 

work  all  day  and  seldom  feel  the  fierce  rays  of  the 
tropical  sun ;  and  this  consideration  alone  is  of 
immense  money  value  to  an  estate.  And  yet,  in 
spite  of  all  these  considerations,  we  have  seen  shade 
and  shelter  ruthlessly  cut  down  all  over  the  country, 
and  often  in  parts  so  hot  and  arid  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  conceive  circumstances  that  could  be 
more  fatal  to  the  existence  of  Coffee." 

In  what  planters  term  the  charcoal-tree — a  poor, 
watery,  large-leafed,  light-barked  shrub,  so  called 
from  its  rising  out  of  charcoal-littered  ground — we 
are  told  we  have  Nature's  natural  shelter  for  more 
valuable  timber  whilst  young,  and  all  those  seedlings 
wherewith  barren  spots  are  recovered  in  time.  But 
the  charcoal-tree  is  not  quite  up  to  the  modern 
planter's  needs.  Sometimes  it  is  suffered  to  grow 
in  clumps  amongst  Coffee,  making  a  better  shelter 
perhaps  than  the  tall  grass  Dutch  planters  leave 
between  their  rows.  Usually  it  shares  the  fate  of 
other  lesser  weeds  in  clearings,  only  growing  on  the 
margin  of  "belts"  and  untouched  forest — a  vivid 
green  band  of  leaves  between  the  soil  of  the  plan- 
tation and  the  superincumbent  masses  of  tree 
foliage.  The  older  this  bush  gets  the  poorer  its 
shade  is  ;  and  though  it  may  be  of  temporary  ser- 
vice, there  are  other  and  better  trees  which  should 
be  growing  whilst  the  Coffee  is  young.  Several 
species  answer  this  purpose.  The  most  popular  of 
them,  and  that  with  which  I  protected  my  own 
garden,  is  the  Jack-tree  (Artocarpus  integrifolius), 


Q2  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

called  by  Tamils  "  Kattu  Pilavoo,"  and  in  Telugu 
"  Panasa  Rurra."  This  tree  has  many  good  points 
to  recommend  it.  First  of  all,  Jack  stands  in  the 
first  class  as  a  timber  tree.  The  wood  is  a  bright, 
clear  yellow,  polishing  well.  My  first  set  of  furniture 
as  a  "chick  doree "  in  the  jungle  was  after  this 
kind,  and  light  and  handsome  it  looked  i  It  stands 
changes  of  climate  remarkably. 

I  noticed  when  watching  native  building  opera- 
tions that  Jack- wood  was  used  invariably  for  doors 
and  their  framings,  and  for  window  casings — every- 
where, in  fact,  where  it  was  important  to  have  a 
wood  which  would  not  expand  or  contract  with  the 
varying  seasons.  Both  for  rough  work  or  for  fine 
"cabinet"  uses  this  tree  is  of  value,  and  if  we  can 
grow  a  tree  of  value  in  itself  as  well  as  suitable  to  the 
purpose  of  its  planting,  we  may  as  well  have  it.  In 
growth  Jack  equals  the  largest  English  elms,  in  thick 
jungle  often  running  up  a  beautifully  straight  stem  to 
the  first  branches.  As  a  deep  subsoil  feeder,  again, 
it  acts  like  a  powerful  "  pump  "  (if  the  last  words  of 
the  savants  are  to  be  accepted),  raising  stores  of 
moisture  from  deep  natural  reservoirs  far  below 
ground,  and  holding  them  suspended  amongst  its 
leaves  for  its  own  benefit  and  that  of  all  low-growing 
shrubs.  Demanding  little  or  no  nourishment  from 
surface  soil — a  point  of  much  importance,  we  need 
not  say,  as  we  must  not  import  a  rival  in  this  matter 
to  our  Coffee — the  numberless  leaves  of  this  tree, 
on  the  contrary,  supply  a  perpetual  top-dressing  of 


SHADE.  Q3 

manure  ;  its  foliage  is  sufficiently  thick  to  keep  out 
much  of  the  sunlight,  but  not  dense  enough  to  pre- 
vent a  pleasant  circulation  of  air ;  its  presence  is . 
wholesome ;  and,  lastly  but  not  leastly,  the  Jack  fruit 
is  a  substantial  pumpkin-shaped  mass,  weighing 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  pounds,  and  full  of 
nutritious  seeds,  which,  roasted  or  boiled,  are  a 
favourite  dish  with  the  frugal  natives.  Thus  the 
Jack  is  a  good  tree  to  grow  for  all  these  reasons. 
One  drawback  there  is :  it  is  said  not  to  stand 
transplanting  well.  Our  own  method  of  propagation 
was  to  grow  young  bushes  in  prepared  beds,  remove 
them  when  twelve  inches  high  into  baskets,  and 
plant  out  along  sides  of  roads,  or  here  and  there 
amongst  lines  of  Coffee  in  the  same  manner  and  at 
the  same  time  as  those  plants.  If  the  seedlings 
are  put  at  distances  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet 
or  so,  a  few  "  failures "  will  not  matter.  Of  slow 
growth,  some  planters  supplement  them  for  the  first 
few  years  by  castor-oil  plants  or  bananas,  both  of 
which  spring  up  in  a  few  months,  the  former  pro- 
ducing the  first  year  a  crop  of  some  value,  while  the 
broad  leaves  of  the  latter  are  greatly  valued  by 
coolies,  who  prepare  from  them  platters,  dishes  for 
rice  and  curry,  and  even  drinking  cups. 

Dr.  Shortt  remarks  in  a  lengthy  report  on  the 
castor-oil  tree : — 

"Of  several  varieties  the  two  first  known  as  the  small 
and  large  seeded  are  in  general  cultivation  all  over  the  warm 
countries  of  the  world,  in  South  of  Europe  and  the  East  and 


94  COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

West  Indies.  In  Southern  India  the  castor  oil  is  generally 
cultivated  as  an  annual,  with  dry  crops  either  of  grain  or  pulse, 
and  rarely  alone,  in  almost  every  district,  requiring  no  particular 
attention  as  a  field  crop.  It  thrives  in  the  plains  as  well  as  on 
the  hills  to  about  5,000  feet  above  sea  level.  It  grows  rapidly 
into  a  tall  lanky  plant  from  8  to  15  feet  in  height,  generally 
forming  a  large  terminal  spike  about  a  foot  in  length,  springing 
from  the  terminating  branches  at  the  summit,  and  sometimes 
two  or  more  small  side  branches  form,  carrying  smaller  spikes 
of  about  6  to  8  inches  in  length;  each  spike  carries  from 
100  to  150  capsules  which  are  armed  with  long  flexible  prickles 
and  are  trilocular  or  3-celled,  and  about  the  size  of  a  large 
marble  when  matured ;  the  capsule  bursts  elastically  expelling 
'its  seed,  usually  3  in  number,  to  a  little  distance  from  the  plant. 
"  The  small-seeded  variety  grows  into  a  large  umbrageous 
tree  33  to  40  feet  in  height,  with  a  sturdy  looking  stout  stem. 
Trees  on  my  estate  now  measure  4  feet  in  girth,  one  foot  above 
the  soil,  and  3  feet,  5  feet  above  the  soil.  It  is  a  handsome 
tree,  and  seeds  freely  yielding  15  Ib.  of  seeds  per  tree  per 
annum." 

The  loquat  tree  has  a  fruit  somewhat  resembling 
a  yellow  plum.  Its  wood  is  of  no  value  as  timber, 
but  it  is  a  favourite  as  shade  for  Coffee  in  the 
Wynaad.  I  once  planted  a  couple  of  hundred  acres 
with  Pepul  (Ficus  religiosa).  A  tree  of  that  species 
was  felled,  and  six  foot  length  cut  from  the  lesser 
branches.  These,  four  inches  in  diameter,  were 
planted  firmly  into  the  ground  amongst  the  Coffee, 
and  soon  formed  roots  and  burst  into  abundant 
heads  of  foliage.  Then  there  is  the  dark  green- 
leaved  "cub-bussaree "  tree,  and  the  "goni"  tree. 
Elliot  warns  us  against  the  "  taree,"  the  "  cheppul," 
and  the  "  muttee."  All  good,  suitable  trees,  of 
the  many  species  which  planters  have  tried,  must 


SHADE.  95 

be  grown  strictly  in  regard  to  the  climate  and  needs 
of  the  soil.  They  may  be  invaluable  assistants  to 
the  securing  of  healthy  plants  on  the  dry  side  of 
a  range,  and  yet  blight-encouraging  encumbrances 
on  the  opposite  or  wet  side,  where  the  rain-laden 
clouds  land  and  discharge  their  freights  of  moisture 
and  mist. 


96         COFFEE  :    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

PLANTING. 

PLANTING  Coffee  seed  directly  into  the  clearings  was 
at  one  time  practised,  and  in  such  circumstances 
as  those  of  small  native  gardens  under  shade,  and 
irrigated,  did  well  enough,  but  is  not  suited  for 
general  European  usage.  Then  there  was  the  im- 
portation of  "  stumps,"  and  the  collection  of  natural 
sown  seedlings  from  the  jungle,  native  gardens,  or 
deserted  plantations.  All  these  have  given  way  to 
the  more  regular  and  workmanly  plan  of  cultivating 
one's  own  plants,  as  previously  shown,  in  prepared 
nurseries. 

When  land  under  shade  has  been  cleared,  it  is 
"pegged"  and  planted  at  once,  damp,  showery 
weather  of  course  being  chosen.  There  are  several 
modes  of  performing  the  important  operation  of 
removing  young  plants  from  nursery  to  clearings.- 
One  is  to  scoop  each  seedling  up  with  a  complicated 
form  of  trowel  which  removes  the  seedling  and  the 
earth  round  its  roots,  the  plants  being  retained  in 
this  contrivance  until  they  are  bedded  out  and  the 
soil  filled  in  round  them.  Another  way,  which 
seems  the  most  certain,  though  also  the  most  ex- 
pensive, is  to  use  light  wicker  baskets,  made  at 


PLANTING. 


97 


Palghat,  and  of  the  size  and  shape  of  a  flower-pot. 
These  are  made  of  split  rattan  cane,  and  though 
they 'should  be  tough  and  elastic,  it  is  essential 
they  should  not  be  so  closely  woven  as  to  prevent 
roots  of  plants  piercing  them  and  penetrating  the 
surrounding  soil.  It  is  better  to  have  them  too 
loosely  than  too  well  made.  Into  each  of  these  a 
couple  of  handfuls  of  the  best  jungle  leaf  mould 
is  placed,  and  then  the  young  Coffee  plants  are 
carefully  taken  up  with  a  trowel,  a  small  piece  is 
cut  off  the  tap  root  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  its 
being  bent,  and  one  is  placed  in  every  basket, 
where  they  may  be  safely  left  until  it  is  convenient 
to  plant  them  in  the  clearings.  They  are  not  moved 
again,  but  basket  and  all  slipped  into  the  pit,  and 
the  basket  allowed  to  decay  as  it  likes.  This,  it 
will  be  understood,  is  an  expensive  method — with 
this  advantage,  of  very  few  subsequent  "  failures  " 
occurring  in  the  open. 

If  neither  trowels  nor  baskets  are  used,  then  the 
plants  must  be  taken  up  carefully,  with  as  much 
earth  on  their  roots  as  possible,  transferred  to  their 
new  location  in  shallow  weeding  baskets,  and  planted 
out  with  as  little  delay  as  is  practicable.  Though 
we  have  said  the  young  plants  in  their  bamboo 
transplanting  baskets  may  be  safely  left  about,  that 
only  applies  to  the  wet  season,  when  rain  or  overcast 
skies  are  certain  ;  at  any  other  time  it  stands  to 
reason  they  would  be  scorched  up  in  an  hour  or  so 
if  exposed  to  the  full  sunshine.  Some  planters 


COFFEE  I  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 


adopt  the  plan  of  building  rough  sheds  to  harbour 
the  plants  when  first  moved  into  the  baskets. 

The  number  of  trees  that  the  nursery  must 
supply  depends  on  the  distances  to  be  between  each 
bush.  The  following  table  will  make  this  clear : — 

DISTANCES,  &c.,  OF  PLANTS. 


Feet  apart. 

Square  Feet 
each. 

Number 
per   Acre. 

Feet  apart. 

Square  Feet 
each. 

Number 
per    Acre.    I 

I    X    I 

I 

43>56o 

5iX   6 

33 

1,320 

2    X    I 

2 

21,780 

6X6 

36 

1,210 

2X2 

4 

10,890 

6x7 

42 

1,037 

2X3 

6 

7,260 

7X7 

49 

889 

3X3 

9 

4,840 

7X8 

56 

778 

3X4 

12 

3,630 

8X8 

64 

681 

4X4 

16 

2,722 

9X9 

81 

538 

4  X   5 

20 

2,178 

10   Xio 

IOO 

435 

4iX  4i 

20£ 

2,151 

12    XI2 

144 

302 

4iX   5 

22i 

I.936 

15  xis 

225 

193 

5   X   5 

25 

1,742 

17   Xiy 

289 

151 

5   X   si 

27i 

I.584 

20    X20 

400 

109 

5   X  6 

30 

M52 

25   X25 

625 

69 

5*X    Si- 

3oi 

1,440 

Thus  if  we  plant  41  by  4^  we  shall  want  2,151 
seedlings  per  acre,  and  say  a  couple  of  hundred 
over  for  failures;  if  5  by  5,  then  1,742  will  do;  if 
7  by  8,  only  778,  and  so  on.  5  by  5  may  be  taken 
as  a  good  average  distance,  varying  as  suggested  in 
a  previous  chapter. 

"Stumps"  are  those  plants  that  have  thrown 
out  their  first  "  primary"  branches.  When  taken 


PLANTING.  99 

out  of  the  nursery  beds  their  side  roots  are  lightly 
trimmed  and  their  tap  roots  cut  off  about  ten  inches 
below  the  green  bark  with  a  sharp  knife.  They 
grow  somewhat  slowly  after  their  transplanting  for 
twelve  months,  but  then  put  on  a  spurt  and  generally 
outdistance  seedlings  that  have  come  earlier  into 
the  clearings.  Hot  weather  and  drought  affects 
them  less  than  the  smaller  plants.  Probably  most 
managers  would  prefer  to  plant  with  stumps,  only 
it  will  be  understood  they  represent  on  high  estates 
an  extra  season's  growth,  and  it  is  not  everyone 
whose  nurseries  are  started  sufficiently  early  to 
render  this  waiting  possible. 

"  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,"  Mr.  A.  L.  Cross 
observes,  "  by  planters  in  high  districts,  that 
nurseries  sown  with  seed,  though  put  in  in  March, 
would  be  of  little  use  for  a  clearing  till  they  were 
eighteen  months  or  two  years  old,  so  that  a  nursery 
of  seed  put  in,  say,  in  March,  1886,  would  be  unfit 
for  use  till  August,  1887,  and  by  that  time  the 
planting  season,  for  plants,  in  districts  getting  the 
south-west  monsoon  would  be  nearly  over.  For 
the  second  year,  if  the  nursery  has  been  thinned 
out,  the  plants  will  be  in  excellent  condition.  I 
have  found  it  best  to  make  two  nurseries  the  first 
year,  one  of  seed,  and  the  other  of  seedlings,  brought 
from  some  other  estate." 

"  Planting  baskets"  should  be  used  whenever 
possible.  Their  initial  expenses  are  often  covered 
by  the  absence  of  "  failures."  The  plants  may  be 


IOO    COFFEE  I  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

put  out  in  the  field  when  they  have  three  pairs  of 
leaves,  but  of  course  at  the  proper  season,  during 
the  first  rains  of  the  monsoon.  The  advantages  of 
the  baskets  are  that  they  present  little  obstruction 
to  the  spread  of  the  roots,  and  will  be  rotten 
thoroughly  in  a  few  months ;  the  plants  never  feel 
that  they  have  been  removed,  or  have  their  growth 
stopped  for  a  day,  saving  thereby  a  greater  or 
less  percentage  of  loss,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  season. 

Regarding  the  actual  planting,  when  the  plants 
have  been  gently  lifted  from  the  seed  beds  they 
are,  as  we  have  said,  transported  to  the  field  in 
baskets,  forty  or  fifty  at  a  time.  The  work  of 
removal  and  inserting  in  the  ready  holes  should  go 
on  on  the  same  day,  so  that  the  seedlings  may  be 
as  short  a  period  as  possible  out  of  the  ground. 
Arrived  at  the  rows,  the  planting  coolies  fill  a  corner 
of  their  cumblies  with  the  young  Coffee,  which  they 
then  proceed  to  establish  in  its  new  home.  In  doing 
this  the  great  things  to  be  remembered  are,  that 
the  tap  root  must  not  be  bent  or  bruised  in  any 
way,  though  a  few  inches  may  be  cut  off  if  it  is  too 
long ;  and,  secondly,  side  roots  should  be  spread  out 
as  they  have  been  growing,  and  not  squeezed  in 
round  the  stem.  Sometimes  this  planting  is  done 
with  an  alavanga,  a  light  crowbar,  a  blunt  stick,  the 
two  halves  of  a  split  bamboo,  the  hands,  or  small 
mamotie.  Probably  the  latter  is  the  best  and  most 
expeditious  way,  but  watchful  supervision  must  be 


PLANTING.  IOI 

exercised   in    any  case,  for  planting   is    one   of  the 
most  important  operations  we  have  to  perform. 

When  plants  are  well  set  in  they  should  feel 
firm  to  a  gentle  upward  pull,  should  be  buried  to 
about  the  same  height  they  were  in  their  seed  beds, 
and  should  not  be  in  the  centre  of  hollow  depressions 
likely  to  hold  water  in  monsoons,  and  so  drown  the 
shrubs. 

"  Dibbling  "  is  an  indifferent  method  of  planting 
wherein  the  soil  is  only  loosened  by  the  pointed 
end  of  an  alavanga  being  worked  round  and  round. 

As  soon  after  clearings  are  planted  as  possible, 
and  particularly  in  the  case  of  those  deficient  in 
shelter,  it  will  be  time  to  fix  supports  to  the  young 
transplanted  Coffee  trees  of  two  years  old,  quickly 
growing  into  considerable  bushes  with  thick  heads  of 
glossy  dark  green  leaves.  In  spite  of  belts  of  jungle 
left  between  the  clearings,  the  plant  feels  the  wind 
more  or  less,  and  when  the  ground  is  wet  it  swings  it 
round  and  round,  so  that  the  stem  works  an  open- 
ing in  the  soil  just  where  it  comes  above  ground. 
Then,  if  there  should  be  any  breeze  on  the  next  hot 
day,  when  the  ground  is  baked  hard  by  the  sun,  the 
plant  chafes  against  this  rim,  cuts  through  its  tender 
young  bark,  and  very  speedily  dies.  So  we  have  to 
provide  a  support  by  driving  in  a  three-foot  stick, 
sloping  towards  the  plant  from  the  direction  of  the 
south-west  monsoon,  and  firmly  but  gently  tying 
them  together  with  a  thin  rattan  fibre  or  any  stringey 
bark  which  grows  wild  in  the  jungles,  the  fibre  being 


IO2    COFFEE  I  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

crossed  between  stake  and  plant  to  make  a  manner 
of  cushion.  "  Supplying"  or  filling  up  of  failures 
should  be  more  carefully  attended  to,  from  time  to 
time,  than  it  is  on  many  estates.  Opening  new  land 
while  the  ground  already  brought  "under  cultiva- 
tion" does  not  carry  anything  like  the  number  of 
plants  it  might  and  was  intended  to  is,  we  need  not 
say,  foolish  in  the  extreme.  Managers  occasionally 
push  forward  and  take  up  fresh  forest  when  as  much 
as  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  Coffee  behind  them  is 
dead  or  useless.  This  is  profitable  to  no  one,  and 
least  of  ail  to  those  over-eager  shareholders  at  home 
who  are  usually  at  the  bottom  of  the  unwarranted 
"extension."  Failures  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes — the  inevitable  and  the  accidental.  The 
first  occur  because  the  young  seedling  has  been  put 
out  over  slab  rock  through  which  its  roots  cannot 
penetrate.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but  submit  in 
such  cases.  The  next  class  is  open  to  remedy,  the 
young  plants  having  died  because  their  tap  roots 
have  been  doubled  up,  because  rats,  or  grub,  or 
grasshoppers  have  been  at  their  tender  shoots,  or 
from  rough  handling  by  the  transplanting  coolies. 
Perhaps  there  is  a  boulder  as  big  as  a  plate  at  the 
bottom  of  their  "pit."  A  little  enquiry  is  nearly 
sure  to  explain  the  reason  of  gaps  in  rows  of  Coffee  ; 
and  unless  it  is  rock  underneath,  or  something  of 
the  kind,  a  new  plant  nicely  installed  will  well  repay 
the  trouble  of  investigation  and  repair.  Nothing  has 
been  said  about  roads,  as  they  will  be  noticed  pre- 


PLANTING.  IO3 

sently;  but  a  good  path  properly  kept  along  the 
edge  of  jungle  is  an  invaluable  barrier  against  weeds, 
an  important  aid  to  locomotion,  and  hence  tends  to 
keep  down  expenses. 

These  expenses  may  be  indicated  thus :  If  on  a 
hundred  acres  we  have  187,500  plants,  and  these 
are  planted  at  the  rate  of  250  per  coolie  per  diem, 
then  750  coolies  at  5  annas  will  be  Rs.  234,  6  annas. 
Then,  carriage  from  the  nursery  and  on  the  field, 
pruning  roots,  &c.,  at  the  rate  of  one  coolie  to  every 
10  planting,  say  70  coolies  at  5  annas=Rs.  21,  14  a. 

Suppose  out  of  the  above  number  we  have  to 
"  supply"  20,000  plants,  80  coolies  per  acre  at 
5  annas  per  day=Rs.  25,  will  get  in  the  new  stock. 
If  plants  or  "  stumps"  are  bought  from  neighbour- 
ing estates,  they  may  generally  be  obtained  at  about 
Rs.  4  to  5  per  1,000  fit  for  putting  out. 

Bamboo  baskets,  9  inches  deep  and  6  inches  wide 
at  the  top,  can  generally  be  made  for  Rs.  10  per 
1,000  in  lowlands,  but  up-country  planters  have  to 
pay  as  much  as  Rs.  15  per  1,000  for  these  planting 
baskets. 

The  distance  from  nursery  to  clearing,  the  nature 
of  soil,  whether  men  or  women  are  employed  as 
carriers,  the  method  of  planting,  the  size  of  the 
bushes,  and  condition  of  the  ground  in  regard  to 
roads,  will  all  affect  such  estimates. 


1O4         COFFEE  *.     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


CHAPTER      X. 

WEEDS. 

WEEDS  are  almost  universally  recognised  as  amongst 
the  worst  of  planters'  foes.  We  have  no  ambition 
to  join  the  standard  of  revolt  against  this  orthodox 
opinion  which  one  gentleman  at  least  of  Ceylon 
experience  has  raised,  yet  we  have  never  felt  quite 
satisfied  with  the  bare  sun-scorched  surface  of 
earth  the  energetic  weeder  leaves  behind  him.  We 
have  often  been  tempted  to  ask,  is  there  any  single 
instance  in  Nature  (and  we  have  a  great  respect  for 
Nature!)  where  bush  or  tree  in  a  tropical  climate 
springs  from  a  bare  and  naked  soil  ?  Even  if  a  few 
such  instances  could  be  pointed  out,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  a  natural  manner  of  growth  is  first  a 
carpet  of  low  grass  or  herbage,  through  which  these 
better  and  bigger  bushes  and  trees  force  a  way. 
Even  in  dense,  dark  woods  and  jungles,  where  there 
are  practically  no  weeds,  a  thick  blanket  of  twig 
and  fallen  leaf  supplies  the  place  and  answers  the 
same  purpose.  Scrape  a  little  of  this  aside  and  we 
shall  notice  fine  fibrous  roots  of  big  plants,  close 
under  the  skin  of  matter,  lying  in  every  direction ; 
place  the  hand  upon  this  newly  exposed  surface 
and  it  will  strike  cool,  and  more  or  less  damp,  in 


WEEDS.  IO5 

the  hottest  weather.  If  we  turn  up  a  mat  of  weeds, 
even  though  their  surface  is  fully  exposed  to  the 
sun,  yet  the  soil  beneath  them  will  be  wonderfully 
fresh  and  pleasant. 

Coffee  has  proved  itself  to  be  an  exhausting 
growth  ;  all  trees  or  plants  which  are  kept  without 
undergrowth  and  weeds  must  be  so,  as  whatever 
they  yield  in  fruit  or  leaves  is  removed.  Jungle 
fertilizes  itself  by  the  leaves  and  rotten  debris  of 
ages.  "  Keep  the  jungle  quite  clean  below,  and  you 
would  soon  see  how  even  scrub  would,  in  ten  or 
twenty  years,  grow  feebly  where  Nature  sows  her 
seeds  and  reaps  her  fruits  for  consumption  on  the 
premises — nothing  is  lost.  No  doubt  heavy  manur- 
ing will  give  you  crops  of  anything  for  a  time,  perhaps 
occasionally  for  ever,  but  people  will  not  make  fortunes 
out  of  land  that  requires  it"  Still!  we  weeded  our 
own  estates  according  to  the  prevalent  fashion,  and 
can  only  advise  that  if  we  must  destroy  the  natural 
protection  of  the  soil  we  should  encourage  good 
and  substantial  shade  for  it,  with  careful  draining 
across  the  slopes.  When  land  has  been  burnt, 
for  the  first  two  or  three  months  there  are 
practically  no  weeds  to  contend  with ;  but  after 
the  first  rains  they  appear,  straggling  out  from 
the  surrounding  jungles,  creeping  up  from  water- 
courses, and  stealing  along  under  shelter  of  the 
great  fallen  logs.  Then  is  the  time  to  keep  the 
upper  hand  of  them.  Once  let  skirmishers  of 
the  advancing  army  enter  into  undisputed  posses- 


IO6          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

sion  of  the  ground  and  practically  they  will  make 
it  all  their  own. 

At  such  times  hand-weeding  is  generally  suffi- 
cient ;  and  if  the  head  man  or  maistry  can  be  relied 
upon,  women  and  boys  will  do  the  work  very  well, 
while  more  cheaply  than  men,  whom  they  excel  also 
in  the  necessary  art  of  pulling  up  the  weeds  root 
and  branch,  so  that  there  shall  be  nothing  left  to 
germinate.  If,  however,  labour  has  been  scarce,  as 
it  will  be  at  times,  and  the  surface  of  the  'estate 
begins  to  show  visibly  green  with  uninvited  vegeta- 
tion, then  resource  must  be  had  to  "  mamoties," 
implements  something  between  a  Dutch  hoe  and  a 
light  spade,  with  the  blade  set  at  right  angles  to  the 
short  and  straight  handle.  Men  are  required  to 
wield  these,  of  course,  and  the  day  chosen  should 
be  one  of  sunshine,  so  all  weeds  may  wither  directly 
they  are  hoed  up.  Not  more  soil  than  necessary 
should  be  drawn  away  from  the  stems  of  the  bushes, 
nor  indeed  should  the  land  be  deeply  disturbed  at 
any  time  under  this  system  of  "  no  weeds,"  for  rains 
then  carry  away  the  fine  fertile  tilth  much  more 
readily.  Fear  of  loosening  and  so  losing  the  mould 
should  always  make  us  weed  by  hand  when  it  can 
possibly  be  managed. 

Whatever  our  mode  of  weeding  is,  the  workers 
keep  between  their  own  rows  of  Coffee,  and  thus 
maistries,  who  walk  to  and  fro  upon  the  land  passed 
over,  can  see  how  work  has  been  done,  and  promptly 
discover  and  send  back  any  delinquent  found  guilty 


WEEDS.  IO7 

of    leaving    growing    anything    but    Coffee    behind 
him. 

The  plants  that  steal  out  from  the  jungle  and 
spring  into  life  amongst  the  trim  rows  of  Coffee,  with 
the  wonderful  spontaneousness  of  tropical  vegetation, 
are  many  and  various.  "  White  weed,"  "Spanish 
needle,"  and  common  bracken  fern  are  amongst 
those  most  troublesome  and  widespread,  though 
every  district  usually  has  its  own  special  kinds. 
Should  any  of  these  be  rampant  (and  I  have  seen 
them  matted  into  an  almost  impenetrable  breast- 
high  cover ! )  then  it  will  be  difficult  to  remove 
them  off  the  ground.  They  must  be  buried  in 
long  trenches  between  the  rows  of  plants — a  long, 
troublesome,  and  costly  work — or  burnt  in  heaps 
on  the  roadways.  The  bracken  is  one  of  the 
worst  of  weeds,  and  is  identical  with  the  English 
form.  The  new  hand  is  surprised  to  find  him- 
self, though  under  the  tropics,  knee-deep  in  fern, 
and  surrounded  by  mountains  and  torrents,  all 
exact  counterparts  of  far-away  Scottish  or  Welsh 
scenery. 

For  disposing  of  small  weeds,  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
have  square  holes  of  say  5  ft.  by  5  ft.  at  distances  of 
250  yards  along  the  lower  sides  of  the  roads.  Into 
these  all  weeds  are  tumbled  from  the  gathering. sacks 
and  trodden  down.  Finally,  the  whole  art  of  weed- 
ing may  be  said  to  lie  in  the  simple  formula — to 
begin  early  and  keep  on  at  it. 

In  general  this  operation  has  to  be  done  twice 


IO8         COFFEE  *.     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

a-month — less  often  in  the  hot  weather  and  more 
frequently  in  the  monsoon.  The  cost  will  vary 
exactly  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  work,  but  if  an 
estate  is  in  good  order  in  this  respect,  two  monthly 
weedings,  costing  from  fourteen  annas  to  one  rupee 
per  acre,  should  keep  it  free  and  nicely  clean. 


iog 


CHAPTER     XI. 

PRUNING. 

THIS  operation,  entirely  an  artificial  one,  has  for  its 
purpose,  firstly,  the  keeping  of  Coffee  trees  at  such  a 
height  that  the  crop  may  be  readily  gathered ; 
secondly,  cutting  them  down  for  protection  against 
wind  on  exposed  slopes ;  thirdly,  to  let  light  and  air 
into  the  bushes  ;  and,  fourthly,  to  select  such  wood 
as  is  best  fitted  to  produce  crop,  and  for  the  dis- 
carding of  most  of  that  which  would  run  to  leaf  only, 
or  is  past  bearing. 

"  Handling"  is  an  intermediary  form  of  pruning 
— pruning,  in  fact  (for  the  most  part),  without  a 
knife — when  fingers  and  nails  are  used  for  the 
selection  of  young  buds  likely  to  make  well-placed 
and  fruitful  stems  and  the  removal  of  surplus 
shoots. 

There  are  none  of  those  essential  works  that  have 
not  given  rise  to  contentions  amongst  planters,  with 
whom  all  sorts  of  theories  are  rife  upon  the  subject. 
Under  the  first  section  comes  the  question  of  what 
height  we  are  to  allow  bushes  to  grow,  in  order  that 
they  may  cover  our  ground  nicely  with  spreading 
branches,  and  we  yet  be  able  to  gather  their  ripe 
crop  cheaply  and  expeditiously.  The  largest-bearing 


no       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

extent  of  plant  is  also  required  which  can  be  safely 
carried  in  view  of  the  prevailing  winds. 

In  American  States,  as  a  rule,  Coffee  bushes  are 
allowed  to  grow  far  taller  than  in  India  or  Ceylon. 
They  overtop  the  stature  of  a  man  at  maturity,  and 
thus  their  crop  has  to  be  gathered  from  stageings, 
a  plan  that  does  not  recommend  itself  to  English 
planters.  Grown,  as  they  generally  are,  in  sheltered 
hollows,  they  may  be  allowed  to  reach  any  height 
with  safety  as  far  as  wind  is  concerned,  but  in  our 
own  possessions  plantations  usually  occupy  slopes  of 
wind-swept  hills;  hence  "  toping"  at  a  moderate 
distance  from  the  ground  is  essential.  Perhaps, 
where  wind  is  likely  to  be  strong  and  soil  is  not  very 
rich,  2  ft.  to  3  ft.  may  be  regarded  as  a  judicious 
height  to  arrest  further  upward  growth  by  removal 
of  the  topmost  bud  of  the  main  shoot.  "  In  a 
sheltered  situation,  where  the  soil  is  good  and  the 
climate  moderately  warm  and  humid,"  says  Hall ; 
"  in  other  words,  under  conditions  the  most  favour- 
able to  the  growth  of  the  Coffee  tree,  a  maximum 
height  of  5  ft.  may  be  adopted.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  very  rarely  is  such  a  combination 
of  favourable  circumstances  to  be  met  with,  and  that, 
consequently,  this  will  not  be  found  a  suitable 
height."  The  opposite  extreme  is  when  planters 
cut  their  bushes  on  monsoon-swept  ridges  down  to 
1 8  inches,  with  very  satisfactory  results,  it  is  said ; 
though  for  our  own  part  we  should  hardly  care  to 
plant  such  land,  or,  if  it  were  planted,  should  try  at 


PRUNING.  Ill 

once  to   cultivate  some  sort  of  shelter-belts  around 
the  unfortunate  garden. 

From  2  ft.  to  5  ft.,  then,  is  the  range  of  Arabian 
Coffee  on  the  hills  of  Ceylon  and  Southern  India  ; 
it  being  borne  in  mind  that  by  topping  we  induce  a 
tree  to  throw  out  lateral  branches  for  crop  bearing, 
and  keep  it  within  a  reasonable  "get-at-able"  size. 
Regarding  Liberian  Coffee,  one  manager  in  the  low 
country  of  Ceylon  says  he  holds  topping  these  trees 
at  all  to  be  a  very  objectionable  operation.  The 
common  Coffee  plant  can  be  forced  into  an  artificial 
form  without  sacrifice  of  any  crop,  because  there  is  a 
period,  longer  or  shorter,  between  crop  and  blossom, 
in  which  old  wood  can  be  eliminated  ;  but  he  does 
not  very  clearly  see  how  artificial  form  is  to  be 
advantageously  imposed  upon  a  tree  that  carries  its 
full  crop  all  the  year  round,  and  on  which  pruning 
can  only  be  carried  out  at  a  sacrifice  of  crop.  One 
object  of  forcing  Arabian  Coffee  into  artificial  shape 
is  to  get  the  whole  growth  under  hand,  whereby 
facilitating  and  cheapening  the  gathering  of  crop ; 
but  the  average  Liberian  tree  puts  out  its  first 
branches  at  a  height  of  stem  little  short  of  that  at 
which  the  Arabian  plant  is  usually  topped,  so  that 
this  end  cannot  be  answered  by  topping  at  6  or  7  ft. 
High  trees  planted  close  together  are  apt  to  be  thin 
and  unproductive  about  their  lower  branches.  These 
often  are  little  more  than  long  twigs,  tagged  with  a 
leaf  or  two,  thus  making  the  "umbrella  trees"  of 

deserted  nurseries  and  abandoned  plantations.  They 

^ 


ii2       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

have  to  be  reduced  within  reasonable  stature,  and 
very  carefully  handled  subsequently.  Bushes,  on  the 
other  hand,  unduly  dwarfed,  may,  if  necessary,  be 
allowed  to  fulfil  their  natural  propensity  to  rise,  one, 
the  strongest  of  the  many  green,  rapid-growing 
suckers  always  thrown  out,  being  selected  as  a  new 
ascending  axis  and  the  others  rigorously  suppressed. 
"  Plants  should  be  topped  as  soon  as  they  have 
reached  the  desired  height.  At  this  stage  of  their 
growth  this  can  easily  be  done  by  a  pinch  between 
the  finger  and  thumb  nails.  As,  however,  some 
plants  will  be  found  more  forward  than  others,  a 
knife  will  be  required  for  use  in  cases  where  the 
wood  is  more  matured.  Each  coolie  should  be  pro- 
vided with  a  measuring  stick  cut  to  the  proper 
length,  and  holding  this  against  the  stem  of  the 
plant,  be  instructed  to  snip  off  the  pair  of  young 
primary  branches  next  above  the  stick  at  about  an 
inch  from  the  stem,  the  latter  being  then  also  cut  off 
above  them.  By  this  means  the  joint  or  point  of 
union  of  the  amputated  branches  will  form  a  sort  of 
band,  and  prevent  the  stem  from  being  subsequently 
split  by  weight  of  the  next  branches  pendant  on 
either  side  when  laden  with  crop."  Checking  the 
upward  growth  is  only  a  first  business ;  the  next  is 
that  of  "  handling,"  or,  in  other  words,  removing 
while  still  young  and  tender  all  those  shoots  growing 
crossways  in  the  tree  or  growing  too  near  the  main 
stem.  The  Coffee  bush,  as  nature  meant  it  to  be, 
is  a  beautiful  sample  of  order  and  regularity.  From 


PRUNING.  113 

the  straight  central  trunk  shoot  out  at  regular  dis- 
tances pairs  of  branches  which  grow  from  opposite 
faces  of  the  stem,  each  pair  making  a  cross  with  the 
one  above  it ;  thus,  if  the  first  two  point  respectively 
east  and  west,  then  those  above  them  will  be  north 
and  south,  the  next  east  and  west  again.  These 
are  the  primaries,  and  botanically  their  arrangement 
is  described  as  alternate  and  opposite — a  method 
of  growth  ensuring  each  leaf  as  much  light,  air,  and 
room  as  possible. 

Three  or  four  inches  from  their  juncture  with 
the  trunk  they  in  turn  give  rise  to  opposite  pairs 
of  secondaries ;  but  these  lie  all  in  the  same  plane 
with  the  surface  of  their  leaves  to  the  sky,  and 
their  under  part  to  the,  ground.  This  may  tend 
to  make  some  of  our  sentences  better  understood. 

In  handling — an  operation  which  should  be  done 
at  regular  intervals,  and  may  well  precede  monthly 
weedings  in  the  clearing — we  remove  first  of  all 
all  suckers  arising  from  the  ground  or  stem,  all 
branches  tending  to  grow  out  of  their  true  direction, 
and  lastly,  all  those  buds  on  the  primaries  within 
six  inches  of  the  main  stem  about  to  produce 
secondaries  if  left  alone.  By  this  means  is  secured 
a  clear  space  of  a  foot  in  diameter  down  the  middle 
of  the  tree,  light  and  air  let  into  it,  and  our  pros- 
pects of  a  good,  abundant,  and  healthy  series  of 
crops  greatly  increased. 

So  far  the  work  of  the  pruner  is  simple  enough  : 
it  is  on  the  question  of  general  pruning,  before  or 


H4       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

after  crop,   and  the   lightness    or    heaviness    of  the 
operation,  that  opinions  vary. 

Mr.  W.  D.  Bosanquet,  a  well-known  Ceylon 
planter,  has  recently  made  some  sensible  remarks 
on  the  subject,  which  we  think  deserve  quotation  : — 

"  In  high  districts  Coffee  wood  takes  from  nine  months 
to  a  year,  sometimes  even  more,  to  arrive  at  maturity.  In 
the  days  before  leaf  disease,  the  difference  of  opinion  was 
one  between  pruning  before  or  after  the  blossoming  season, 
with  the  object  of  assisting  the  wood  either  to  increase  its 
blossom,  or  else  to  bring  its  crop  on  after  the  blossom  had  set. 
Now  our  main  endeavour  is  to  help  the  trees  to  set  their 
blossom,  and  if  this  is  attained  we  can  help  the  trees  by  the 
aid  of  manure.  The  effect  of  pruning  is  to  cause  the  tree  to 
throw  out  a  fresh  flush  of  wood,  and  from  this  wood  is  selected 
in  the  ordinary  course  that  which  is  to  bear  the  following  crop. 

"  Now  if  your  pruning  is  done  early — i.e.,  before  the  i5th 
say  of  April — and  your  wood  is  accustomed  to  mature  in  nine 
months,  you  are  really  just  at  the  right  time,  whereas  by 
pruning  after  the  blossoms  are  over  the  wood  subsequently 
formed  would  still  be  green  in  the  beginning  of  the  following 
year.  If  a  late  pruning  is  adopted  systematically  then  it  must 
be  necessary  at  the  time  of  pruning  to  leave  on  the  trees  such 
wood  as  has  formed  before  the  blossoming  season  commenced, 
as  in  an  ordinary  blossoming  season  the  formation  of  new 
wood  should  be  checked,  and  the  old  wood  be  hardening  : 
your  late  pruning  is  therefore  adopted  with  the  view  of  giving 
your  wood  at  least  twelve  months  in  which  to  mature.  In  the 
majority  of  cases  I  should  give  my  verdict  for  early  pruning, 
and  for  this  reason,  that  where  Coffee  is  intended  by  nature  to 
grow  there  it  will  in  ordinary  seasons  mature  its  wood  in  nine 
months  at  the  most ;  still  if  I  had  to  deal  with  an  estate  where 
the  longer  period  was  required  I  should  then  prune  late,  but, 
guided  by  the  balance  of  probability,  I  should  at  the  same 
time  hasten  to  substitute  for  the  Coffee  some  cultivation  better 
suited  to  the  climate. 


PRUNING.  115 

"  Whether  the  pruning  should  be  heavy  or  light  is  a  very 
important  question,  and  I  feel  here  that  I  am  treading  on 
delicate  ground.  It  is  certainly  necessary  that  the  pruning 
should  be  adjusted  according  to  the  power  of  the  tree  to  make 
root,  for  it  is  to  this  power  of  the  tree  to  make  root  below 
ground  that  it  will  owe  its  ability  to  form  wood  above,  and 
in  these  days  of  leaf  disease  and  wet  seasons  the  root 
development  is  only  too  much  checked  already.  The  amount 
of  leaf  on  the  tree  mainly  determines  the  development  of  root, 
for  the  evaporation  or  transpiration  from  the  leaves  is  the 
cause  of  the  suction  exercised  by  the  roots  on  the  soil.  If 
therefore  you  unduly  reduce  your  foliage  you  reduce  the  power 
of  the  tree  to  nourish  itself  from  the  fertilizing  matters  of  the 
soil.  In  a  strong  soil  this  is  not  so  much  the  case  and  may 
be  an  advantage,  as  the  upward  flow  is  not  immediately 
checked  by  the  reduction  of  the  foliage,  and  consequently 
there  may  be  a  concentration  of  food  material  in  the  roots 
which,  when  fresh  foliage  has  formed  itself,  will  afford  extra 
nourishment  to  the  tree  if  carefully  regulated  by  the  subse- 
quent handling.  Prune  therefore  according  to  the  strength  of 
your  soil  as  evidenced  by  the  vigour  of  the  tree,  and  pay  the 
utmost  attention  to  the  after  handling. 

"  Handling  I  look  upon  as  the  most  important  work  upon 
the  estate  as  being  the  real  regulator  of  the  crop.  Too  often 
I  notice  the  inferior  labour  of  the  estate  turned  on  to  do  this 
work.  By  the  handling  you  direct  the  strength  of  the  tree 
into  right  wood.  The  handling  after  the  pruning  is  the  time 
when  you  select  the  wood  which  is  to  bear  the  following  crop, 
and  no  more  wood  should  be  left  on  the  tree  than  it  has  the 
power  to  bring  the  crop  of  to  maturity.  At  this  time,  therefore, 
you  cannot  give  too  much  attention  to  the  work,  and  all  your 
subsequent  handlings  should  be  directed  towards  the  same 
object— viz.,  turning  the  strength  of  the  tree  into  the  wood  you 
have  reserved  for  crop.  In  conclusion,  what  we  require  is 
the  training  of  our  faculties  of  observation:  a  few  simple 
observations  such  as  marking  the  branches  at  the  time  of 
blossoming,  or  the  watching  of  the  wood  from  the  time  of  its 
formation  to  the  time  when  it  has  borne  its  crop,  and  the 


n6       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

noting  down  the  result  will  lead  on  to  making  further 
observations,  and  the  comparison  of  notes  among  ourselves 
will  add  to  the  mass  of  general  information.  But  above  all 
things  have  in  you  a  reason  for  what  you  do  founded  upon 
accurate  experiment." 

This  work,  in  fact,  requires  care  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  estate,  and  what  may  be  looked  for  from  it 
in  the  way  of  nourishment  for  the  trees.  Pruning 
in  gardens  where  the  handling  has  been  constant 
and  careful  will  be  a  much  lighter  and  pleasanter 
work  than  where  it  has  been  neglected. 

Should  the  planter  come  into  charge  of  bushes 
never  under  the  knife,  and  are  almost  hopeless 
tangles  of  twig  and  branch,  he  should  then  pro- 
ceed cautiously,  clearing  out  the  centre  of  the  tree 
one  year,  and  removing  all  suckers  from  above  or 
below,  while  the  next  year  he  may  select  his  crop- 
bearing  wood  and  take  out  all  cross-growing  and 
superfluous  material. 

In  all  pruning  operations  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  roots  and  leaves  are  intimately 
related,  and  anything  the  one  experiences  will  be 
inevitably  felt  by  the  other. 

"  Toping"  can  be  done  for  Rs.  2  per  acre, 
and  the  work  should  be  carried  out  just  as  the 
green  bark  is  turning  brown.  Pruning  and  handling 
will  probably  come  to  between  Rs.  10  and  Rs.  14 
per  acre. 


CHAPTER     XII. 

ENEMIES. 

THE  profits  derived  from  healthy  Coffee  are  so 
large,  that  were  it  not  for  many  enemies  which 
hamper  the  planter's  struggles  and  stultify  his  best 
efforts,  his  occupaion  would  be  one  of  the  most 
profitable  in  the  world.  As  it  is  he  has  to  con- 
tend with  numerous  foes,  and  the  more  lowly  and 
minute  forms  have  proved  themselves  the  most 
difficult  to  combat  in  those  long  struggles  which 
have  been  waged  since  Coffee  cultivation  rose  to 
its  present  importance  in  the  various  territories  of 
the  Crown. 

From  the  mammalian  kingdom  he  has  not 
much  to  fear,  or  is  generally  able  to  devise  efficient 
remedies  against  their  ravages.  Amongst 

ANIMALS, 

Elephants  and  hill  buffaloes,  as  well  as  domestic 
cattle  of  natives,  sometimes  do  considerable  damage. 
Deer  of  all  kinds,  and  particularly  sambour,  com- 
mon to  every  part  of  India  and  Ceylon,  roam  in 
wooded  districts,  often  coming  out  of  an  evening 
into  the  planter's  coffee  or  guinea  grass  clearings 
to  browze  upon  what  they  can  find.  This  is 


n8       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

chiefly  in  remote  and  newly  opened  forests,  where 
their  visits  afford  the  Englishman  a  chance  of  a 
little  sport  at  his  doors  after  the  day's  work  is 
done — a  successful  shot  stocking  his  larder  with 
very  good  venison,  and  its  echoes  effectually  scaring 
off,  for  a  long  time,  the  remainder  of  the  herd. 
Jackals  and  monkeys  take  a  few  of  the  sweet,  ripe 
Coffee  fruit,  but  so  small  a  quantity  as  to  be  insig- 
nificant. Not  so  the  coffee  rat  (Golunda  Ellioti). 
This  quaint  little  animal  is  sometimes  an  enemy  of 
importance.  Its  usual  habitat  is  in  the  jungle,  but 
when  pressed  by  hunger  it  comes  forth  and  fares, 
no  doubt  luxuriously,  on  the  buds,  blossoms,  and 
bark  of  the  planter's  bushes.  If  twigs  are  too 
slender  to  bear  its  weight,  it  nibbles  them  through 
and  enjoys  the  feast  upon  the  ground.  The  young 
green  bark  is  eaten,  the  leaves  dragged  into  the 
underwood  and  used  for  nests.  These  nests,  placed 
in  a  thick  bush,  are  about  6  or  9  inches  in  diameter. 
"  Round  and  round  the  bush,"  Sir  Walter  Elliot 
says,  "  are  sometimes  observed  small  beaten  path- 
ways, along  which  the  little  animal  seems  habitually 
to  pass.  Its  motion  is  slow,  and  it  does  not  seem 
to  have  the  power  of  leaping  and  springing  by 
which  the  rats  in  general  avoid  danger.  Its  habits 
are  solitary  and  diurnal,  feeding  in  the  mornings 
and  evenings." 

Dr.  Jerdon,  of  Nellore,  remarks: — "  Yanadees 
of  Nellore  catch  this  rat,  surrounding  the  nest  bush 
and  seizing  it  as  it  issues  forth,  which  its  com- 


ENEMIES.  IIQ 

paratively  slow  action  enables  them  to  do  easily." 
According  to  Sir  Emerson  Tennent,  "  The  Malabar 
coolies  are  so  fond  of  their  flesh  that  they  evince 
a  preference  for  those  districts  in  which  the  Coffee 
plantations  are  most  subject  to  their  incursions. 
They  fry  the  rats  in  cocoanut-oil,  and  convert  them 
into  curry."  Kellaart  says  that  on  one  estate  alone, 
and  on  one  day,  a  thousand  have  been  killed. 
Their  migrations  in  search  of  food  are  like  those 
of  the  Scandinavian  lemming.  Poison  and  traps 
thin  their  numbers,  and  trench-pitfalls,  broader 
at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top,  eighteen  inches 
deep,  destroy  many  at  times.  They  seldom  eat 
the  ripe  Coffee  berries.  Probably  there  is  no  way 
of  clearing  an  infested  plantation  so  good  as  once 
a-month  forming  a  long  line  of  coolies,  each  coolie 
armed  with  a  stout  two-foot  stick,  and  regularly 
beating  through  Coffee  and  belts.  The  natives 
will  thoroughly  enjoy  this,  and  it  is  not  expensive. 

Flying  foxes  are  sometimes  troublesome.  To 
guard  against  their  depredations  one  planter  sug- 
gests taking  a  light  wattle  stick  or  bamboo — "  Fix 
a  little  paint-brush  to  the  end  in  a  transverse 
direction;  then  have  a  pot  of  coal-tar  prepared. 
Dip  a  little  of  it,  and  touch  the  leaves  here  and 
there  about  the  trees  where  the  animals  are  likely 
to  settle.  The  tar  will  not  hurt  the  trees.  If  some 
pyroligneous  acid  be  added  to  the  tar  it  will  be 
all  the  more  effective,  on  account  of  the  stronger 
smell.  The  tar  and  acid  must  be  heated  con- 


I2O          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

siderably  in  order  to  make  them  combine."  The 
same  may  be  said  of  a  species  of  the  delightful 
little  palm  squirrel  (Gilehri,  in  Hindi ;  Beral,  Lakki, 
in  Bengali  ;  Alalu,  in  Canarese;  Vodata,  in  Telegu), 
which  comes  up  after  the  monsoon  and  takes  a 
small  per-centage  of  Coffee  cherries,  leaving  the 
undigestable  seeds  in  its  track  along  logs  and 
branches.  Few  birds  are  accused  of  doing  damage 
to  Coffee.  On  the  contrary,  most  species  should 
be  encouraged  by  every  possible  means  (a  view,  we 
are  glad  to  see,  that  has  just  been  accepted  by  the 
Ceylon  Planters'  Association),  for  they  are  un- 
doubted destroyers  of  much  undesirable  insect  life. 
Amongst  the 

INSECTS 

Are  some  of  the  worst  foes  the  planter  has  to  reckon 
with.  One  of  these,  "  the  grub,"  is  the  fat  yellow 
larva  of  a  species  of  cockchafer,  a  creature  doing 
much  harm  even  in  England.  One  Superintendent 
writes  as  follows  : — 

"  The  instinct  and  voracity  of  these  creatures  are  mar- 
vellous, for  they  will  destroy  and  greedily  devour  almost  any 
vegetable  or  animal  substance  they  fall  in  with,  and  they 
have  a  wonderful  faculty  for  selecting  first,  as  food,  that  which 
is  most  palatable  to  them.  Coffee  rootlets  seem  to  be  their 
special  weakness  ;  but  even  the  bitter  rootlet  of  cinchona,  in 
the  absence  of  the  former,  is  not  despised  by  them,  nor  is  that 
of  grass  and  almost  every  description  of  weed.  I  am  told  that 
they  will  not  attack  the  roots  of  tea  bushes,  but  of  this  I 
am  very  sceptical,  and,  were  I  planting  it  where  I  knew  they 
existed,  I  should  adopt  ever}"  possible  means  of  reducing  their 


ENEMIES.  121 

numbers.  In  dealing  with  this  pest,  we  should  be  content 
with  a  patient  and  persistent  course  of  ameliorating  measures. 
The  well-known  applications  of  lime  and  salt  as  insect 
destroyers  might  be  tried  with  hope  of  success." 

To  destroy  them  utterly  he  says  : — 

"  This  can  be  accomplished  by  applications  of  fertilizers 
obnoxious  to  the  insect,  dug  broadcast  into  the  soil.  In 
spreading  the  manure  over  a  larger  area  we  not  only  induce  a 
larger  root  surface,  but  we  reduce  the  chances  of  every  rootlet 
being  reached,  and  make  grub  life  harder. 

"From  constant  communication  with  the  Entomologist 
for  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England,  and  through 
experiments  carefully  conducted  here,  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  rape  cake,  in  which  mustard  seed  forms  a 
considerable  proportion,  is  a  remedy  as  well  as  a  valuable 
manure,  for  I  have  found  it  is  the  only  substance  of  the  kind 
that  they  cannot  exist  on.  Castor  and  cocoanut  cake  they 
seem  thoroughly  to  enjoy." 

Recent  issues  of  the  Ceylon  Government  Gazette 
contain  a  correspondence  on  this  "  grub "  which 
ravages  the  Coffee  plantations  of  the  island.  The 
principal,  and  in  fact  only  important,  document  is 
a  lengthy  report  by  Mr.  R.  McLachlan  on  the 
subject.  Some  forty  species  of  beetles  were  sub- 
mitted to  him,  but  special  interest  centred  in  twenty 
of  these,  all  or  nearly  all  of  which  were  allied  to 
the  Melolontha  vulgaris,  or  common  European  cock- 
chafer. Mr.  McLachlan  assumes  that  no  under- 
growth of  grass  or  other  herbaceous  plants  is 
allowed  in  the  plantations,  for  the  grubs  of  the 
European  cockchafer  and  its  allies  feed  on  the 


122          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

roots  of  such  plants,  and  not  as  a  rule  on  those  of 
trees  and  shrubs.  But  the  larvae  would  make  their 
way  from  the  roots  of  the  weeds  to  those  of  the 
Coffee  plant.  Whether  hardening  the  surface  of 
the  ground  around  the  plant,  so  as  to  render  it 
difficult  for  the  female  to  deposit  her  eggs,  would 
be  of  any  efficacy  is  a  point  for  the  planters  to 
decide  for  themselves  in  view  of  the  welfare  of  the 
plant  at  the  time.  Mr.  McLachlan  professes  him- 
self unable  to  suggest  any  chemical  poison  for  the 
grub,  although  he  thinks  that  dilute  kerosene  oil 
might  be  tried.  He  advises,  "  above  all  things, " 
to  encourage  insectivorous  birds  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent,  and  adds  that  a  flock  of  crows 
probably  destroy  more  grubs  in  an  hour  than  would 
be  possible  by  any  artificial  means  in  a  week ;  the 
systematic  catching  of  the  perfect  insect  or  larva  is 
also  suggested  as  beneficial,  and  hand  -  picking 
should  be  resorted  to  where  labour  is  cheap. 

G.   F.   Halliky,    the    "  Champion    of    Weeds," 
says : — 

"  Weeds  are  a  perfect  cure  for  grub.  A  few  years  ago, 
the  upper  part  of  Maria  Estate  (Lindula)  was  very  bad  with 
grub ;  the  proprietor  allowed  it  to  get  rank,  so  that  the  grub 
should  have  something  to  feed  on,  and  not  eat  the  roots  of 
the  Coffee,  and  the  cure  was  perfect.  If  we  are  not  allowed 
to  cultivate  the  green  crop  for  Coffee  that  Nature  provides, 
then  Indian  corn  is  the  next  best  we  can  grow,  provided 
the  stalks  are 'buried  before  the  pods  form,  but  '  white  weed ' 
kept  in  bounds  is  undoubtedly  the  best.  In  former  years, 
if  one  looked  at  the  back  of  a  healthy  Coffee  leaf,  he  could 


ENEMIES.  123 

see  with  the  naked  eye  the  tiny  mouths  along  the  midrib, 
wide  open,  sucking  in  the  humus  arising  from  the  weeds. 
Look  at  a  leaf  now,  and  all  that  can  be  seen  are  a  few  knots. 
The  humus  was  kept  up  in  dry  weather  by  the  fall  of  dew 
at  night." 

Then  there  is  the  white  or  mealy  bug,  and 
the  brown  or  scaley  bug.  The  first  (Pseudococcus 
Adonidum)  is  of  a  light,  dirty  brownish  colour  and 
slightly  downy.  Both  larva  and  pupa  are  active, 
i.e.,  move  about.  Propagation  goes  on  amongst 
them  all  the  year  round.  They  affect  hot  dry 
localities,  and  are  found  not  only  on  the  branches 
of  the  trees,  but  also  on  the  roots  to  a  depth  of  one 
foot.  The  white  bug  of  the  Ceylon  Coffee  trees 
seems  to  be  identical  with  the  species  which  is 
neutralized  in  the  conservatories  of  Europe. 

The  brown,  black  or  scaley  bug  (Lecanium  Coffece), 
is  a  minute,  dark-coloured  insect,  attaching  itself 
to  the  tenderest  shoots  of  plants;  "  the  females 
have  the  appearance  of  small  scallop  shells  adhering 
to  a  leaf  or  twig  in  the  same  manner  as  a  scallop 
to  a  rock.  In  a  short  time  the  whole  of  the  green 
wood  of  the  tree  will  become  covered  with  these, 
and  coated  over  with  a  black,  soot-like  powder, 
which  is  an  excretion  of  the  insect."  These  bugs 
are  usually  most  troublesome  at  elevations  of 
3,000  feet  in  cold,  damp  localities.  They  have  a 
host  of  enemies  and  parasites  of  their  own  amongst 
the  Hymenoptera,  yet  contrive  to  thrive  amazingly 


124         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

when  once  they  get  a  footing  in  a  plantation.  1843 
is  said  to  have  been  the  date  of  their  first  appear- 
ance in  Ceylon.  All  that  the  planter  can  do  to 
check  their  ravages  is  to  dust  each  tree,  on  the 
first  appearance  of  the  blight,  with  a  mixture  of 
pounded  saltpetre  and  quicklime  in  equal  parts ; 
or  he  may  set  intelligent  coolies  to  brush  over  them 
with  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  soft-soap,  tar,  tobacco, 
and  spirits  of  turpentine.  This  may  do  some  good. 
Then  we  have  the  borer  (Xylotrechus  quadrupes), 
a  pretty  and  interesting  beetle  to  the  entomologist, 
but  a  thing  of  dread  to  Coffee  owners.  It  is  a 
longicorn  beetle  of  the  family  of  Clytidce  represented 
in  England  by  the  active  wasp-beetles  often  seen 
on  sandy  banks  and  warm  palings.  In  colour  the 
Indian  specimens  are  black  or  very  dark  brown, 
with  light  yellow  or  white  bands  running  trans- 
versely across  their  elytra,  making  when  the  wings 
are  closed  V-shaped  marks.  The  four  posterior 
femora  are  of  a  pink  colour.  This  beetle,  which 
destroyed  hundreds  of  acres  of  Coffee  in  Coorg 
during  1865  and  1866,  and  has  been  ever  since  more 
or  less  destructive,  lays  its  eggs  on  the  stem  of 
Coffee  shrubs  usually  in  weedy  and  neglected 
plantations  a  few  inches  above  the  ground.  When 
these  have  been  hatched  the  young  "  caterpillar " 
works  its  way  into  the  stem  of  the  plant  and 
drives  a  burrow  up  through  the  pith,  thereby 
effectually  killing  the  plant.  C.  P.  Hull's  statement 
that  the  beetle  eats  a  way  into  the  plant  and 


ENEMIES.  125 

deposits  Us  larva  there  is  entomologically  inaccurate. 
If  the  trees  attacked  are  pulled  down  sideways 
they  snap  off  at  the  point  where  the  grub  inside 
commenced  its  upward  progress,  and  the  only  thing 
to  do  is  to  burn  them  and  their  intruder,  replanting 
the  vacancy  or  suffering  the  stump  to  throw  up  a 
sucker,  which  it  will  often  do.  Dr.  Bidie  thinks 
"  shade "  is  amongst  the  best  remedies  we  have 
for  this  pest,  not  so  troublesome  now,  however,  as 
it  was  some  time  ago. 

Certain  weevils — members  of  a  very  world-wide 
and  everywhere  destructive  order — occasionally  do 
damage  on  the  estates,  especially  one  small  brilliant 
green  species  which  covers  acres  of  plants  and  eats 
up  every  leaf.  P.  L.  Simmonds'  statement,  again, 
that  it  is  "  two  and  a-half  inches  long  by  one 
broad,"  we  take  it,  is  a  slip  of  a  generally  cautious 
pen. 

Besides  these  beetles  there  is  the  white  ant, 
which  plasters  our  bushes  up  to  their  crowns  with 
hard  mortar,  effectually  smothering  them.  In  some 
districts  it  is  unknown,  in  others  it  is  a  dreaded  foe. 
Although  white  ants,  says  the  Friend  of  India,  are 
a  pest  as  much  to  certain  crops  as  to  anything 
else,  they  are  said  to  perform  a  service  to  agri- 
culture on  unoccupied  ground  similar  to  that  per- 
formed by  the  earthworm  in  England.  They  are 
specially  destructive  to  sugar-cane,  and  have  actually 
been  the  cause  of  stopping  the  cultivation  of  the 
cane  in  several  pergunnahs  of  the  Cawnpore  and 


126       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

other  districts.  Mr.  Ridley,  of  the  Lucknow  Horti- 
cultural Gardens,  however,  has  found  a  remedy  for 
the  depredations  of  the  white  ant  in  the  field  which 
he  has  proved  invaluable.  Kerosine  oil  will  not  of 
itself  mix  with  water,  but  if  first  shaken  up  with 
milk  it  will  amalgamate  with  that,  and  can  be  then 
diluted  with  water  to  any  desired  extent.  A  little 
of  this  mixture,  we  are  told,  goes  a  long  way,  and 
proves  a  very  effective  insecticide.  A  mixture  of 
two  parts  of  oil  to  one  of  sour  milk,  "  churned  " 
together,  mixed  completely,  and  this  mixture  diluted 
to  the  extent  of  one  wineglassful  to  four  gallons 
of  water,  will  not  injuriously  affect  either  plants 
or  grass,  but  will  effectually  keep  off  white  ants. 
Carbolic  acid  and  also  coal  tar  have  been  tried  at 
different  times  with  very  partial  results.  Coal  tar 
poured  hot  into  their  holes,  and  mixed  with  the 
material  of  the  ant  hill,  is  more  effectual  and  lasting 
than  carbolic  acid,  and  is  less  costly.  But  to  destroy 
them  some  method  of  poisoning  must  be  resorted 
to.  M.  C.  Road,  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  says  ants  may 
be  destroyed  by  the  following  application  : — Mix 
thoroughly  one  part  of  Paris  green  in  four  parts  of 
flour,  and  stir  the  whole  into  such  a  quantity  of 
molasses  as  will  run  into  the  small  holes  in  the 
ground  in  the  ant  hills.  Most  of  them  will  be 
poisoned  by  the  first  application,  and  one  or  two 
more  in  a  few  days  will  finish  the  work. 

It  may  serve  the  experimenting  planter  to  know 
in  this   connection  that   the  three    most   important 


ENEMIES.  127 

and  valuable  materials  now  in  common  use  as 
insecticides  in  the  United  States  are — 

(1)  Arsenical  Compounds  ; 

(2)  Emulsions  of  Petroleum  ; 

(3)  Pyrethrum. 
• 

1.  Arsenical  Compounds. — Paris  green  and  London 

purple  may  be  used  in  suspension  in  water  in  the 
proportion  of  from  half-a-pound  to  one  pound  of 
the  powder  to  forty  gallons  of  water.  When  mixed 
with  flour  or  other  diluent  the  proportion  should 
be  one  part  of  the  poison  to  twenty-five  or  more 
of  the  diluent. 

2.  Petroleum  Emulsions. — A  satisfactory  emulsion 
may  be  made  in  the  following  proportions  :  Kerosine, 
i  quart ;  condensed  milk,  12  fluid  oz.  ;4.diluted  with 
water,  36  oz.    This  is  emulsified  by  violent  churning, 
and   before   use  it  may  be  diluted  with  water  from 
twelve  to  twenty  times.     Equal   parts   of  kerosine 
and  condensed  milk  may  also  be  thoroughly  mixed 
or    churned   together,  and  then    diluted   ad   libitum 
with  water. 

3.  Pyrethrum. — Pyrethrum  can  be  applied  (i)  as 
dry  powder ;     (2)   as  a  fume  ;    (3)  as    an    alcoholic 
extract,   diluted  ;   (4)  by  simply  stirring  the  powder 
in  water  ;   (5)   as  a  tea  or  decoction.     As  a  powder 
it  may  be  mixed  with  from  ten  to  twenty  times  its 
bulk  of  wood-ashes  or  flour,  but  before  use  should 


128         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

remain  for   twenty-four    hours  with    the    diluent  in 
an  air-tight  vessel. 

Again,  the  ant-tormented  Englishman  who  can 
procure  "  Little's  Chemical  Fluid"  might  be  told 
that  when  a  portion  of  one  of  the  yards  at  the 
sheep  quarantine,  Indooroopilly,  was  attacked  and 
partially  eaten  away  by  the  white  ant,  the  quaran-. 
tine  keeper  poured  a  bucketful  of  liquid  from  the 
sheep  dip  on  one  of  the  posts,  and,  noticing  that 
the  ants  drop  dead  immediately  on  coming  in 
contact  with  the  liquid,  he  applied  it  to  all  the 
posts  and  rails  that  had  been  attacked.  After 
a  considerable  number  of  weeks  had  elapsed, 
the  fencing  was  thoroughly  examined  and  found 
perfectly  free  from  the  ants.  The  liquid  used  in 
the  dip  was  Little's  Chemical  Fluid,  mixed  in 
water  in  the  proportion  of  one  of  the  fluid  to  100 
parts  of  water.  The  price  of  the  fluid,  wholesale, 
is  only  8s.  6d.  per  gallon,  so  that  if  it  is  found 
to  be  effective,  there  can  scarcely  be  found  a 
cheaper  remedy. 

Grasshoppers  amuse  themselves  by  shearing  off 
the  young  shoots  and  buds  ;  while  the  coffee  mite 
(A  cants  Coffece),  closely  allied  to  the  "  red  spider" 
of  Europe,  though  hardly  perceptible  to  the  naked 
eye,  yet  withers  the  foliage  of  whole  hill  sides  at  a 
time.  "  It  feeds  on  the  upper  side  of  the  leaves, 
where,  amogst  the  live  insects,  empty  skins  and 
minute  red  globules  are  found  in  plenty.  These 
globules  are  fixed  by  a  style  to  the  leaf,  and  are 


ENEMIES.  I2Q 

the  young  in  the  first  stage  of  existence  ;  the  style 
is  the  mouth,  but  the  rest  of  the  body  is  a  perfect 
globule  without  any  appendages  whatever.  These 
latter,  however,  gradually  break  forth,  and  when 
the  animalcule  is  furnished  with  all  it  requires,  it 
lets  go  its  hold." 

Larva  of  many  lepidopterous  insects  also  do 
much  harm,  especially  in  some  South  American 
and  West  Indian  districts. 

FUNGI. 

All  these  drags  on  the  planter's  prosperity,  how- 
ever, sink  into  insignificance  by  the  side  of  a  minute 
and  consequently  intangible  fungus.  The  leaf 
disease  (the  Hemileia  vastatrix)  made  its  appear- 
ance in  Ceylon  in  1870.  The  effect  was  felt  when 
the  very  next  crop  came  to  be  gathered.  But  for 
some  time  to  come  the  disease  only  appeared  every 
other  year,  and  there  were  alternate  seasons  of  good 
years  and  bad.  At  first  every  effort  was  made  to 
fight  it.  Quacks  and  professors  were  alike  con- 
sulted ;  but  the  experts  from  Kew  Gardens  were 
able  to  do  as  little  as  Mr.  Eugene  Schrottky  from 
Bombay.  In  1856,  when  the  Coffee  plants  in  Ceylon 
may  be  said  to  have  been  in  their  pristine  vigour, 
the  average  crop  of  berries  per  acre  was  5  cwts. ; 
latterly,  owing  to  the  ravages  of  the  disease,  it  is  only 
2i  cwts.  ;  that  is,  the  profitable  margin  of  the  crop 
has  disappeared.  There  is  now,  of  course,  much 
more  land  under  Coffee  than  there  was  in  1856.  If 


130       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

the  same  rate  of  productiveness  had  been  continued, 
Ceylon  should  now  have  yielded  something  over  a 
million  cwts.  of  plantation  Coffee.  The  present 
yield  is  not  half  that  amount.  A  recent  island  crop 
of  Coffee  was  only  436,991  cwts.,  being  less  than 
that  of  any  previous  year  since  the  disastrous  year 
1854,  which  is  talked  of  in  Ceylon  very  much  as 
the  year  after  the  Bombay  Share  mania  is  talked 
of  here.  The  export  of  beans  in  1881  was  219,674 
cwts.  less  than  1880,  and  361,344  cwts.  less  than  the 
average  export  of  the  previous  ten  years.  At  the 
customs'  rate  of  Rs.  50  per  cwt.  this  would  be  an 
annual  falling-off  of  Rs.  1,80,67,200. 

There  are  other  reasons,  unfortunately,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  leaf  disease  to  prevent  the  Ceylon 
planters  taking  a  cheerful  view  of  their  position. 
The  estates  best  suited  to  Coffee  have  been  worked 
out.  There  is  now  no  such  soil  left  as  when  the 
districts  of  Pussellawa,  Nilambe,  Dumbara,  Rangala, 
Hunasgiriya,  and  Kotmale  were  in  their  prime.  For 
many  years  the  planters  kept  up  the  quality  of  the 
soil  by  returning  to  it,  in  the  form  of  artificial 
manures,  some  of  the  essential  elements.  They  are 
too  poor  now  to  make  any  attempts  of  this  kind. 
In  1877  the  value  of  imported  manures  is  given  in 
the  Custom-house  returns  at  Rs.  26,14,019.  In  the 
returns  of  1881  the  value  is  only  Rs.  3,75,883.  Then, 
again,  the  area  over  which  Coffee  is  now  grown  has 
been  greatly  extended.  The  Brazils  alone  produce 
more  than  half  the  total  amount  of  Coffee  consumed 


ENEMIES.  131 

in  the  world,  while  Ceylon  scarcely  ranks  for  one- 
eighteenth  of  that  quantity  ;  and  in  the  Brazils,  as 
yet,  the  dreaded  leaf-disease  has  not  made  its 
appearance  much  felt.  New  fields  are  being  opened 
out  every  day.  Java  and  Sumatra  already  produce 
more  than  twice  the  outturn  of  Ceylon.  India  is 
running  it  very  close.  Coffee  planting  is  one  of  the 
attractions  in  the  new  English  venture  in  Borneo  ; 
and  the  Commissioner  of  British  Burmah  is  doing 
all  he  can  to  make  Tavoy  into  a  Coffee  district. 

Altogether  the  planters  have  had  a  very  hard 
time  of  late  years.  The  brightest  spot  on  their 
horizon  is  the  hopes  which  Tea  holds  out  to  them 
of  retrieving  their  fortunes.  A  correspondent  of 
an  Indian  paper  from  which  we  have  already 
quoted  some  facts  says,  speaking  of  the  Ceylon 
planters  : — 

"  The  success  of  their  Tea  enterprise  is  very  remarkable  : 
one  estate  between  Colombo  and  Kandy  is  said  to  have  given 
in  one  year  1,000  Ibs.  of  dry  leaf  to  the  acre.  It  may  help  your 
readers  to  appreciate  this  if  I  mention  that  it  is  found  worth 
while  to  cultivate  estates  in  the  Nilgiris  with  so  low  a  yield 
as  150  Ibs.,  and  that  400  Ibs.  is  considered  an  excellent  result 
in  the  north  of  India.  What  makes  this  outturn  the  more 
remarkable  is,  that  the  Mariawatti  Estate,  as  it  is  called, 
is  planted  on  land  formerly  occupied  by  Coffee,  but  which  had 
been  abandoned  and  allowed  to  grow  into  jungle.  We  could, 
unhappily,  find  plenty  of  that  kind  of  land  (hitherto  supposed 
to  be  utterly  valueless)  in  Wynaad,  and  as  this  district  has 
been  pronounced  most  suitable  for  Tea,  which  has  done  very 
well  in  one  or  two  small  plantations  already  existing,  there 
are  only  two  obstacles  in  our  way — the  want  of  a  steady 
supply  of  labour,  and  the  remarkable  tightness  of  the  local 


132          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT, 

money  market.  The  first  difficulty  has  never  been  really 
grappled  with,  for  on  a  Coffee  estate  it  is  usual  to  do  but  little 
work  from  March  to  the  end  of  May,  and  the  coolies  are  paid 
up  and  encouraged  to  go  home  during  those  months ;  but  the 
second  is  a  floorer.  It  is  at  once  our  admiration  and  despair 
to  see  how  the  Ceylon  planters — with  their  Coffee  gone,  and 
their  cinchona  bark  selling  for  twopence  a-pound — go  gaily 
on,  filling  new  land,  buying  expensive  machinery,  and  behaving 
generally  as  if  they  were  in  the  most  affluent  circumstances." 

To  return  to  Hemileia  vastatrix,  the  Coffee-leaf 
disease,  it  must  be  owned  at  once  that  no  practical 
remedy  has  yet  been  found  to  modify  its  ravages. 
It  is  a  minute  fungus  which  first  attacks  the 
under  sides  of  the  leaves,  causing  spots  or  blotches, 
at  first  yellow,  but  subsequently  turning  black. 
These  blotches  are,  on  examination,  found  to  be 
covered  with  a  pale  orange-coloured  dust  or  powder 
which  easily  rubs  off.  The  blotches  gradually  in- 
crease in  size  until  at  last  they  have  spread  over 
the  leaves,  which  then  drop  off,  leaving  the  tree 
in  a  short  time  perfectly  bare,  in  which  state  they 
are  unable  to  produce  crop  or  bring  to  perfection 
the  fruit  they  may  have  on  them. 

Carbolic  acid  and  fumigation  with  sulphur  and 
other  substances  have  been  tried,  and  an  infinite 
variety  of  theories  started  to  account  for  the  origin 
of  the  spores.  One  correspondent  writes  from 
Batavia : — 

"  Regarding  Coffee  planting,  a  great  deal  more  is  talked 
about  the  leaf  disease  than  is  sanctioned  by  facts  ;  the  truth  is 
that  the  disease  was  known  long  ago,  for  so  far  back  as  1840 


ENEMIES.  133 

I  was  told  that  it  was  nothing  new,  and  that  it  was  caused 
by  planting  dadap  between  the  Coffee  plants  for  shade ;  and 
my  experience  since  has  convinced  me  that  this  is  the  case,  for 
wherever  Coffee  is  planted  in  forest  land,  or  where  no  dadap 
trees  are  used  for  shade,  there  is  no  sign  of  leaf  disease  " — 

and  many  other  kindred  "  fads."  High  cultivation 
and  abundance  of  suitable  manure  are  all  that  can 
be  recommended,  with  plentiful  shade  in  the  hotter 
localities.  Very  possibly  a  succession  of  wet  seasons 
greatly  tends  to  encourage  the  disease,  for  it  should 
be  remembered  that  long-continued  rain  washes  the 
fertilizing  matter  of  the  soil  into  the  subsoil  and 
therefore  away  from  the  reach  of  feeding  rootlets; 
while  if  a  soil  becomes  water  -  logged,  as  it  did 
recently  on  many  estates,  the  effect  is  to  destroy 
the  nitrates  present  and  evolve  nitrogen  as  gas, 
thus  causing  a  very  considerable  loss  of  plant  food. 

The  rot  shows  itself — most  commonly  in  damp, 
cold,  upland  plantations — by  the  young  leaves  and 
shoots  of  the  trees  turning  black  as  though  covered 
with  soot.  Hull  recommends  draining  the  ground 
and  laying  down  mana  grass  two  or  three  inches 
thick  over  the  surface. 

In  Dominica  the  planters  have  suffered  very 
heavily  from  the  larva  of  a  small  moth,  Cemiostoma 
co/eellum,  upon  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
wage  effective  war. 

In  Fiji  they  have,  especially  on  flats  and  Coffee 
close  to  the  jungle,  a  disease  called  "  black  leaf," 
which  is  unknown  in  Ceylon  unless  "  black  rot" 


134       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

is  the  same.  It  generally  comes  on  after  several 
days  of  continuous  rain,  and  lasts  as  long  as  the 
weather  is  at  all  rainy  or  moist,  and  does  a 
great  deal  of  damage  to  the  foliage  and  crop 
while  it  lasts.  The  disease  goes  up  the  stem  of 
the  Coffee  and  along  every  branch  in  the  form  of 
a  thin  cobwebby  string,  which  as  soon  as  it  reaches 
the  leaves  covers  all  the  under  surface  with  stuff 
resembling  tissue  paper,  or  say  a  cobweb  with 
the  meshes  so  close  as  to  look  like  extremely 
fine  muslin.  This  layer  chokes  the  leaves  and 
kills  them  effectually.  The  disease  when  in  a 
bad  form,  after  killing  the  oldest  leaves,  goes  right 
into  the  top  pair  of  the  youngest  leaves,  and 
even  kills  them,  leaving  the  bough  entirely  denuded 
of  all  foliage.  Should  it  come  across  the  berries 
it  surrounds  them  with  the  cobweb,  and  dries 
them  up,  making  those  beans  light  and  worthless. 
Should  the  bean  happen  to  be  ripe  there  is  a 
difficulty  in  pulping  it,  and  the  pulper  generally 
takes  off  pulp  and  parchment  together.  After  the 
fine  weather  sets  in  the  disease  apparently  dis- 
appears and  sets  in  again  the  next  rains.  Fortu- 
nately Coffee  planted  on  slopes  does  not  suffer  so 
much  as  that  on  flats  and  close  to  jungle ;  Coffee 
also  at  lower  elevations  than  1,000  feet  escapes 
to  a  great  extent. 


135 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS. 

THE  beginner  who  breaks  land  for  himself  is 
theoretically  supposed  to  sleep  out  in  the  open 
under  an  umbrella  for  the  first  half-year  or  so, 
until  his  estate  is  commencing  to  take  form  and 
shape.  Really,  however,  there  is  no  need  for  such 
Spartan  devotion,  and  we  cannot  too  strongly  advise 
that  decent  and  weather-proof  habitations  for  him- 
self and  his  men  should  be  one  of  the  planter's 
earliest  cares.  He  will  understand  before  he  has 
been  under  its  influence  long  that  the  Indian  climate 
is  not  a  thing  to  be  played  with,  more  particularly 
in  districts  best  suited  to  Coffee  culture.  On 
the  mountain  sides,  where  the  plants  thrive,  the 
Englishman  feels  alternately  tropical  heat  and 
very  penetrating,  damp  cold.  Often  when  he  turns 
out  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  sips  his 
hot  Coffee,  while  the  coolies  are  mustering  for 
the  day's  work  on  the  drying  ground  below,  the 
forests  are  still  dark  and  chill,  the  dew  lying 
heavily  on  the  low  herbage;  the  Englishman  then 
feeling  as  much  affection  for  his  log  fire  as  he 
might  on  a  November  morning  at  home.  Between 
eight  and  nine  the  estate  and  woods  are  pleasant 


136       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

enough;  at  ten  they  are  often  "roasting"  hot,  and 
so  they  continue  until  the  sun  goes  down  once 
more,  and  Nature  refreshes  itself  in  the  cool  of 
the  evening. 

When  a  wet  monsoon  is  raging  in  Ceylon  or 
India,  the  rain  descends  in  blinding  torrents,  none 
but  the  stoutest  and  best-made  roofs  withstanding 
it.  The  estate  bungalow  should  be  just  under 
the  crest  of  a  commanding  hillock,  as  near  the 
centre  of  the  estate  as  possible.  The  main  road 
should  run  close  by  if  possible,  while  the  coolie 
lines  should  lie  within  sight,  but  not  too  close, 
and  the  stores  and  pulping  houses  also  handy. 
If  the  bungalow  hill  is  two  hundred  feet  or  so 
above  the  surrounding  country,  it  will  probably 
get  whatever  breezes  there  are  blowing  in  the  hot 
weather,  and  will  be  healthier.  The  view  also 
should  be  good — no  mean  consideration  after  a 
hard  day's  work  to  a  lonely  man. 

To  right  and  left,  perhaps,  the  high  mountains 
shut  off  the  quarter  of  each  monsoon,  and  looking 
southward  down  the  winding  valley,  the  eye  ranges 
over  long  expanses  of  unclaimed  jungle  stretching 
right  away  to  the  grey  distance — a  wilderness,  the 
home  of  the  bison  and  elephant,  all  "  impenetrable 
jungle."  To  the  north  we  look  along  the  course 
of  the  road,  which  leads  over  half-a-dozen  estates, 
buried  in  deep  frames  of  jungle,  each  with  its  little 
white  bungalow  and  dusky  coolie  "  lines ;"  and 
amid  most  one  catches  here  and  there  the  flashing 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  137 

of  a  pool  or  streamlet,  the  all-important  water 
for  turning  the  pulping  machinery  and  supplying  the 
coolies.  Farther  away  the  ghaut  road  begins,  and, 
the  hills  sloping  down,  nothing  more  is  seen  of  the 
forest  until  the  lowlands  unrol  themselves,  stretching 
far  away  like  a  wonderful  fabric  of  green  and  grey 
cloth.  At  this  distance  towns  and  villages  cannot 
be  made  out,  but  just  where  the  great  fertile  plain 
melts  away  into  indistinguishable  distance,  again 
towering  mountains  rise  up,  ascending  tier  above  tier 
into  the  sky.  Such  a  view,  we  cannot  but  think,  may 
do  much  to  keep  a  man  healthful  and  contented. 

This  house,  however,  is  not  put  up  directly.  The 
planter,  when  he  has  purchased  land  and  has  to 
open  it,  generally  manages  to  get  a  "  shake  down  " 
for  the  first  month  or  so  at  the  bungalow  of  some 
neighbour,  paying  him,  of  course,  for  board  and 
lodging,  and  walking  to  and  fro  between  the  new 
and  old  estate  every  day ;  the  coolies  doing  the 
same  and  billeting  themselves  as  they  best  may, 
unless  there  are  villages  at  hand,  upon  the  natives 
of  the  established  estate.  After  a  little  while  of 
this,  an  Englishman  will  probably  be  glad  enough 
to  set  up  housekeeping  for  himself.  The  first  rough 
bungalow  should  be  built  close  by  the  site  of  the 
future  substantial  erection,  so  that  advantages  of 
pure  air,  water,  &c.,  may  be  obtained  at  once,  a 
vegetable  garden  formed  on  the  hill  top,  and  so  on. 
The  first  hut  often  comes  in  afterwards  as  a  kitchen. 
Its  construction  is  primitive,  and  not  above  the 


138    COFFEE  I  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

capacities  of  intelligent  carpenter  coolies,  of  whom 
there  are  generally  some  at  hand  ready  to  turn  to 
this  work  for  wages  a  trifle  higher  than  those  of  the 
ordinary  labourer.  Four  posts  at  the  corners  of  a 
space,  say,  14  feet  by  20  feet  are  sunk  firmly  into 
the  ground  and  connected  along  the  tops  by  long, 
light  poles.  Strong  pillars  at  either  end  serve  to 
take  the  sapling  which  forms  the  ridge  of  the  roof. 
Stakes  are  driven  in  all  round  the  sides  and  lashed 
along  the  roof  framework  until  the  half-finished  hut 
bears  a  close  resemblance  to  a  gigantic  birdcage. 
"  Palghaut  mats,"  made  of  closely  woven  split  rattan 
cane,  are  then  laced  along  the  outside  and  inside 
as  walls,  and  a  thick  thatch  of  palm  leaves  or  jungle 
grass  makes  a  good  roof. 

Every  planter  remembers  his  first  hut  in  the 
jungle,  even  cherishing  an  affection  for  it  long  after 
wind  and  rain  have  reduced  it  to  its  original  ele- 
ments. In  my  own  primitive  hut  the  roof,  extra 
thick,  with  the  eaves  brought  to  within  four  feet  of 
the  ground  to  protect  the  sides,  was  made  of  the 
long  sweet-scented  lemon-grass,  and  there  were 
three  little  glass  windows,  a  door  with  a  rough 
porch,  and  a  wall  of  matting  across  the  interior  to 
divide  the  sleeping  compartment  from  the  day- room. 
Altogether  it  was  a  strange  little  place,  pretty  to 
look  at  while  the  materials  were  fresh  and  clean, 
but  not  good  for  hard  use — the  daylight  streaming 
through  the  two  thicknesses  of  matting  in  many 
places,  and  the  wind  coming  in  at  every  corner ; 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  139 

while  after  a  shower  every  part  got  damp,  and,  being 
entirely  built  of  vegetable  produce,  there  was  a  very 
strong  odour  of  decaying  matter — something  between 
wet  hay  and  bilge-water  on  a  steamer.  When  dry, 
the  lemon-grass  had  it  all  its  own  way,  and  the  scent 
then  was  very  pleasant. 

A  little  "  roughing  it "  must  be  expected  and  put 
up  with  at  this  time,  the  most  important  matters 
being  to  secure  a  healthy  spot  with  command  of 
good  water,  protection  from  the  night  dews  and 
chills — to  keep  out  the  damp  of  an  Indian  monsoon 
is  more  than  any  house  built  by  human  hands  can 
be  expected  to  achieve. 

A  boarded  floor,  however,  a  foot  clear  above 
the  ground,  is  an  important  sanitary  feature  which 
should  never  be  overlooked.  If  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  permanent  bungalow  are  got  up 
from  the  agents  about  this  time  they  will  do  duty 
for  a  period  in  the  humbler  structure. 

The  natives  house  themselves  temporarily  in 
"lines" — i.e.,  long,  low  sheds  with  matting  sides, 
thatch  roofs,  and  beaten  mud  floors.  There  must 
be  running  water  near,  but  not  close  enough  to 
receive  the  refuse  of  the  huts  which  heavy  rains 
will  wash  down.  With  proper  guidance,  and  when 
they  feel  the  authority  of  a  strong  hand,  the  coolies 
may  be  trained  to  any  point  of  order  and  discipline. 
Left  to  themselves,  the  lower  classes,  who  are  swept 
together  by  the  maistries  in  the  lowlands  and 
brought  up  on  the  advance  system,  are  unquestion- 


I4O          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

ably  careless  and  objectionable  in  domestic  arrange- 
ments. Their  huts  and  the  surrounding  paths  and 
Coffee  will  get  into  a  hopelessly  filthy  condition 
unless  sanitary  measures  are  introduced  early.  It  is 
a  good  plan  to  employ  a  couple  of  low-caste  coolies 
on  special  wages  to  go  round  daily  with  mammoties 
and  attend  to  these  matters. 

When  the  Coffee  is  planted,  and  before  the 
trees  come  into  bearing,  it  is  time  to  prepare  and 
consider  the  plans  of  permanent  and  substantial 
buildings.  These  may  be  either  of 

(1)  Stone  and  mortar, 

(2)  Bricks  and  mortar, 

(3)  Bricks  or  stone  with  mud, 

(4)  Wattle  and  daub, 

(5)  Laterite  and  mortar, 

(6)  Wooden  boards  or  logs. 

Iron-roofed  houses  might,  perhaps,  be  included, 
but  they  have  many  and  manifold  objections,  and 
cannot  be  recommended  except  for  stores  and 
pulping  sheds.  One  planter  declares  in  favour  of 
sun-dried  bricks  with  good  mortar.  "  They  give 
sufficient  strength,  are  easily  transported  and  used, 
and  above  all  are  cheap,  being  made  almost  any- 
where. A  common  mason  will  lay  from  400  to  500 
large-sized  (say  7  Ib.)  bricks  per  day ;  eight  of  these 
will  just  make  up  an  ordinary  coolie  load,  and  their 
dimensions  will  probably  be  about  loj  by  5J  by  3^ 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  14! 

inches.  The  earth  best  suited  for  the  manufacture 
of  bricks  should  contain  a  mixture  of  about  five 
parts  of  pure  clay  to  one  of  sand.  Almost  any  kind 
of  earth  will  do  more  or  less  well,  provided  it  is 
free  from  pebbles  and  not  too  sandy." 

To  make  good  bricks,  however,  is  a  science  in 
itself  which  cannot  be  taught  in  a  paragraph.  The 
top  strata  of  vegetable  earth  is  removed  from  the 
ground  intended  to  be  used  as  material,  and  the 
subsoil  is  then  flooded  with  water  and  worked  up 
by  the  feet  of  cattle  or  elephants  into  the  con- 
sistency of  dough.  It  is  next  pressed  into  damped 
wooden  moulds,  and  slipped  out  of  them  to  dry  on 
a  previously  levelled  space,  where  the  bricks  must 
be  protected  from  sun  and  wind.  They  are  built 
up  with  abundance  of  firewood  to  be  fired  into 
clumps  six  or  seven  feet  high,  a  week  being  devoted 
to  burning,  and  another  allowed  during  which  they 
are  cooling. 

A  brick-built  house  is  comfortable  and  sub- 
stantial, but  it  is  not  a  practical  possibility  in  every 
district,  owing  to  the  care  and  skilled  labour  re- 
quired. Bungalows  built  of  weather-boarding  are 
the  commonest  for  a  variety  of  reasons.  Not  the 
least  important  of  these  lies  in  the  fact  that  every 
native  village  has  a  professional  carpenter  and  his 
"  hands,"  who  are  quite  capable  of  satisfying  the 
planter's  first  needs  in  this  direction  ;  and  a  word 
from  the  estate's  local  native  agent  in  the  plains 
will  send  them  trooping  up  to  the  jungle,  on  pay 


142          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

or  on  contract,  with  all  their  curious  but  effective 
tools,  and  ready  to  undertake  any  amount  of  simple 
house-building  operations  they  may  be  set  to. 
Then,  again,  there  often  seems  but  little  inducement 
to  manufacture  bricks  or  prepare  wattle  and  daub 
when  abundance  of  noble  timber  lies  seasoning  in 
the  clearings — suggesting  planks  enough  to  build 
an  Armada  ! 

If  the  risk  of  fire — the  chief  objection  to  be  urged 
against  wood — is  accepted,  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
is  to  send  for  a  gang  of  professional  sawyers.  These 
men  live  by  this  work ;  they  are  honest  and  trust- 
worthy, since  it  will  readily  be  understood  that 
double-dealings  regarding  pay,  &c.,  would  lead  to 
the  gang  obtaining  a  bad  name,  and  consequent 
loss  of  patronage. 

Hall  says  the  professional  sawyers  of  Southern 
India  have  caste  objections  to  any  work  other  than 
actual  sawing.  He  found  they  would  not  even  move 
logs  into  place  for  their  own  use,  requiring  this  to 
be  done  by  the  estate  coolies.  Those  who  worked 
for  me  never  raised  any  objections  of  this  kind. 
They  heard  the  manner  and  quantity  of  timber 
required — so  much  planking,  so  many  posts,  rafters, 
&c. — and  then,  selecting  a  suitable  trunk  in  one  of 
the  clearings,  built  an  open  platform  of  strong 
uprights  and  reliable  baulks  on  the  lower  side, 
afterwards  rolling  the  log  lengthways  on  to  it. 

While  this  work  is  going  on  and  the  piles  of 
red  cedar  planks,  or  orange-yellow  jack  "  framings  " 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS. 


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144          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

and  door  posts  are  growing,  plans  of  the  future 
house,  as  also  the  spot  for  it,  have  to  be  prepared. 
The  accompanying  ground  plan  of  an  Assistant 
Superintendent's  bungalow,  or  one  quite  sufficient 
for  the  needs  of  a  private  estate  until  it  has 
grown  prosperous  and  extensive,  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  kind  of  lodge  usually  built. 

The   two    main   rooms    are    used    as   a  sleeping 
room    and    as    a    living  room.     Out    of  the    former 
is  a  bath  room,  with  its  big  wooden  tub  occupying 
the  centre,  while  adjoining  the  latter  is  an  "  office  " 
where    estate    books    are    kept,    and    the    medicine 
chest   is    situated.      A    good    verandah    front    and 
back    adds   greatly  to    comfort    and   appearance  of 
the    house — a   verandahless    bungalow  in  the  long 
and    stormy   rainy   season   is    a    misery.      A    guest 
room  can  be  added  on  to  the  above  little  domicile 
with    little    extra    expense.      The    "  boys'  '      house 
and  kitchen  will    be    behind,    and   a    covered  path 
should   lead   into   the  back    verandah    from    them. 
Halfway   down    the    hill    are    stables,    and   beyond 
the  coolie    lines,  and  on  the  side  of  the  bungalow 
facing    these,    hangs   the    gong    or    bell   wherewith 
the   "  chick   doree "    rouses   the    coolies   at   five    in 
the   morning,    and   calls   them    back   from  work  at 
six   p.m. 

Wattle  and  daub  are  favourite  materials,  almost 
as  good  as  brick  and  mortar.  The  corner  pieces, 
doorposts,  and  main  uprights  forming  sides  of  a 
house  of  this  kind  should  be  of  squared  timber,  and 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  145 

of  some  species  such  as  "  kino  "  or  black  wood,  teak 
or  Pterocarpus  marsupium,  not  liable  to  shrink,  warp, 
or  be  destroyed  by  the  ever-present  white  ants.  As 
far  as  the  latter  go,  however,  no  wood  is  absolutely 
safe  against  their  persistent  efforts.  Something  may 
be  done  by  charring  ends  of  beams,  steeping  them 
in  creosote,  tar,  or  kerosene,  the  latter  strongly 
recommended ;  but  after  all  these  precautions,  ants 
will  still  find  their  way  into  the  wood,  and  increase 
and  multiply.  It  does  not  follow  that,  when  they 
have  entered,  a  house  is  henceforth  unsafe  or  unin- 
habitable by  human  tenants.  Neither  termites  nor 
rats  will  willingly  endanger  the  place  of  their  resi- 
dence. Though  rats  have  swarmed  on  board  ships 
probably  since  commerce  began,  no  case  is  known 
in  which  they  have  sunk  a  vessel  by  deliberately 
letting  the  sea  through  her  sides.  In  the  same  way 
white  ants,  though  they  fill  beams  with  passages, 
instinctively  leave  enough  wood  to  ensure  the  sup- 
port doing  its  duty.  The  kneaded  clay  of  a  "  wattle 
and  daub"  house  is  in  itself  very  strong  after  the 
sun-scorching  of  a  hot  season.  In  constructing  it, 
the  squared  corner  pieces,  having  been  gone  over 
with  preservative  liquid,  are  sunk  a  couple  of  feet  or 
more  in  the  ground.  Other  posts,  similar  to  these, 
embedded  equally  deep,  should  come  at  four  or  five 
feet  apart,  and  between  each  pair,  again,  a  couple  of 
other  uprights,  that  need  not,  perhaps,  be  sawn  or 
buried  deeply  in  the  soil.  There  will  thus  be  spaces 
of  about  a  foot  between  the  supports.  Across  these, 


146         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

laths  or  split  bamboo  are  nailed  horizontally,  and 
into  the  hollow  wall  thus  built  up,  worked  clay,  the 
same  as  that  used  for  preparing  bricks,  is  firmly 
trodden  in,  stones  being  occasionally  added  and 
rammed  down  to  send  the  "  daub  "  into  all  cracks 
and  corners. 

When  our  walls  are  dry,  they  may  have  another 
coating  of  clay  inside  and  out,  covering  all  the  wood- 
work, and  bringing  their  thickness  up  to  ten  inches 
or  a  foot ;  and  finally  an  inside  service  of  "  chunam," 
i.e.,  plaster,  and  a  harling  of  whitewash  will  make 
them  neat  and  inhabitable.  Buildings  of  this  sort 
will  last  for  forty  or  fifty  years — that  is  to  say,  as 
long  as  the  Coffee  itself. 

"  Cabook  "  or  "laterite  "  is  a  kind  of  decomposed 
rock  which  has  the  convenient  faculty  of  becoming 
hard  by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere.  It  is  cut  out 
some  six  to  ten  feet  below  the  surface  in  blocks  or 
bricks  about  15  in.  in  length  by  9  in.  by  6  in.,  with 
an  axe  or  spade ;  these  bricks  becoming  hard  in  a 
few  days  make  neat  as  well  as  substantial  walls. 

Perhaps  wattle  and  mud  is  as  good  as  anything 
for  coolie  lines.  It  is  much  the  same  as  they  have 
always  been  accustomed  to  ;  it  is  fireproof,  and 
not  expensive.  Both  inside  and  outside  should  be 
kept  perfectly  smooth  with  plaster,  and  gone  over 
occasionally  with  chunam  to  keep  down  insects. 

Eight  or  ten  rooms  side  by  side  and  under  one 
roof  is  as  many  as  it  is  advisable  to  put  together. 
Each  family  owns  a  room,  and  the  castes  are  less 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  147 

likely  to  interfere  with  one  another's  comfort  when 
the  dwelling  spaces  are  in  limited  blocks. 

As  many  sets  of  lines  must  be  built  as  there  are 
coolies  to  be  housed.  The  position  of  these  huts 
must  be  selected  with  forethought  (taking  care  to 
remember  fever  mists  collect  in  hollows,  where  very 
likely  natives  would  prefer  to  lodge  themselves); 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  cannot  appreciate  or 
stand  the  bracing  air  of  the  elevated  hillside  which 
Englishmen  naturally  select. 

Their  "lines"  should  abut  on  some  waste  grass 
land,  if  possible,  in  order  that  live  stock  may  be  kept 
without  danger  to  the  Coffee,  and  gardens  started 
by  the  coolies  so  inclined. 

Water  should  be  abundant  and  pure.  This  is  a 
consideration  of  the  first  importance.  Good  fresh 
air  and  plenty  of  it  is  desirable.  Never  put  "  lines" 
close  up  to  a  bank  or  rock  ;  let  there  be  space  for 
air  and  cleaning  all  round.  And,  lastly,  there  is 
the  item  of  dryness  of  the  houses  themselves  to  be 
secured  by  making  the  walls  substantial — the  eaves 
coming  down  rather  low,  thus  forming  a  good  broad 
verandah  along  the  front,  and  by  raising  the  floor 
one  or  two  feet  above  the  ground  level.  There 
are  neither  windows  nor  chimneys  in  these  rooms, 
but  each  should  have  a  substantial  well-hinged  door 
(2  feet  6  inches  will  be  wide  enough)  of  its  own. 
Fires  are  lit  in  one  corner,  and  smoke  finds  its 
own  way  out  through  roof  or  doorway  as  it  likes. 
Strong  wooden  benches  should  run  half  round  the 


148          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

room  for  the  inmates  to  sleep  on — never  let  them 
lie  on  the  ground.  In  some  Coffee  districts  the 
housing  of  the  labourers  is  a  matter  for  Government 
inspection  ;  and  it  is  always  good,  sound  policy  to 
make  the  workers  contented  and  comfortable. 

Pulping  and  drying  sheds  are  alluded  to  in  the 
succeeding  chapters,  here  it  is  not  necessary  to  go 
very  fully  into  their  construction,  since  they  are 
amongst  the  last  requirements  of  the  estate.  Before 
they  have  to  be  put  up,  the  planter  will  probably 
have  been  round  his  district  and  learnt  by  personal 
inspection  the  peculiar  designs  of  the  country,  the 
forms  best  suited  to  its  needs,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  to  what  style  the  length  of  his  purse  justifies 
him  in  going. 

Cattle  sheds,  tool  sheds,  stables,  and  storehouses 
will  have  to  be  erected  from  time  to  time.  Their 
cost  and  build  will  vary  considerably  according  to 
the  material  selected  for  their  construction,  and 
whether  the  locality  is  advanced  in  civilization  or 
only  partially  opened  jungle. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  item  in  all  buildings 
is  the  roof,  and  special  care  should  be  given  to 
it.  Iron  roofing  is  only  suitable  to  pulping  sheds 
and  stores.  The  sheets  are  not  nailed  down,  as 
they  might  be  in  England,  but  buckled  together 
with  iron  Z  's.  Palm  leaf  roofs  are  picturesque  and 
well  enough,  but  dangerous  and  not  permanent ; 
lemon  -  grass  thatching  always  leaks  like  a  sieve 
under  its  first  "drencher,"  but  improves  as  it  felts 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  149 

down  to  a  compact  mass.  Shingles,  or  "  slates  " 
split  from  a  straight-fibred  tree,  are  very  widely 
used.  But  "not  one-half  the  persons  who  lay 
shingles  have  a  correct  idea  of  making  a  roof  that 
will  be  absolutely  rain-tight  during  a  driving  storm," 
says  the  Canadian  Mechanic.  The  correct  rule  for 
laying  shingles  of  any  length,  in  order  to  form  a  roof 
leak-tight,  is  to  lay  the  courses  less  than  one-third 
the  length  of  the  shortest  shingles.  For  example, 
when  shingles  are  18  inches  long,  many  of  them 
will  not  be  more  than  17  inches  in  length ;  there- 
fore 5  inches  is  all  that  the  course  will  bear  to  be 
laid  to  the  weather  with  surety  of  forming  a  good 
roof.  The  shingles  must  be  three  thicknesses  over 
the  entire  roof.  If  they  are  not  three  thicknesses 
— if  now  and  then  a  shingle  lacks  a  quarter  or  half 
an  inch  of  being  long  enough  to  make  three  thick- 
nesses— there  will  in  all  probability  be  a  leaky  place 
in  the  roof  at  such  a  point.  Moreover,  when  the 
lower  courses  lack  half-an-inch  of  extending  up  far 
enough  to  receive  the  rain  from  the  outermost 
course,  in  case  the  middle  course  were  removed, 
it  would  be  just  as  well  to  lay  them  7  inches 
or  8  inches  to  the  weather  as  to  lay  them  only 
5  inches  or  5J  inches.  Many  shingles  are  only 
1 6  inches  long,  and  many  that  are  sold  for  16  inches 
long  will  hardly  measure  15  inches.  In  this  case — 
if  the  roof  be  rather  flat,  say  about  one  quarter 
pitch — 4J  inches  is  as  far  as  they  should  be  laid  to 
the  weather.  In  case  a  roof  were  quite  steep,  it 


150       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

might  answer  to  lay  the  courses  4!  inches  to  the 
weather.  When  buildings  are  erected  by  the  job, 
proprietors  should  give  their  personal  attention  to 
this  subject,  and  see  that  jobbers  do  not  lay  the 
courses  a  half-inch  too  far  to  the  weather. 

Shingles  boiled  for  half-an-hour  in  a  solution 
of  lime  and  salt,  which  penetrates  every  particle 
of  the  wood,  are  rendered,  in  a  large  measure, 
fireproof  and  their  durability  greatly  increased. 
Tiles  are  admirable  but  expensive. 

Estate  buildings  give  infinite  scope  to  the 
vanity  or  the  carelessness  of  responsible  authorities. 
While  a  reckless  outlay  is  ruinous  to  a  young  estate, 
we  strongly  hold  the  opinion  that  every  foot  of 
covered  space  (when  once  the  temporary  shelters 
are  put  aside)  should  be  substantial  and  serviceable. 
Between  £1,500  and  £2,000  is  usually  considered 
to  be  the  amount  for  which  an  estate  of  200  acres 
can  be  thoroughly  established  in  every  necessary 
permanent  building.  For  from  Rs.  700  to  1,000, 
according  to  locality,  &c.,  a  small  bungalow  of 
wattle  and  daub,  or  weather  boarded,  with  shingle 
roof  and  galvanized  iron  spouting,  can  be  put 
up,  consisting  of  dining  room,  two  bedrooms,  office, 
bath-house,"  &c.,  and  the  whole  raised  on  stone 
pillars  a  few  feet  above  the  ground. 

A  first-class  bungalow  for  a  married  Englishman 
and  family  would  cost  something  like  Rs.  5,000. 
Elliot,  who  wrote  at  a  time  when  everything  was 
cheaper  than  it  is  now,  thinks  something  might 


BUILDINGS    AND    BUNGALOWS.  15! 

be  done  in  the  way  of  a  temporary  habitation 
for  Rs.  350,  and  suggests  it  is  better  to  spend 
that  sum  only  until  the  success  of  the  estate  is 
assured  than  to  sink  as  many  pounds  at  the 
beginning.  On  a  new  estate,  where  timber  was 
plentiful,  we  could  build  for  Rs.  3,500  a  very 
superior  house,  with  two  living  rooms,  five  bed- 
rooms, office  and  bath-rooms,  kitchen  and  servants' 
rooms,  stables  for  two  horses,  &c.,  &c.,  all  on  a 
raised  stone  foundation. 

Furniture  and  furnishing  are  items  that  must  not 
be  overlooked. 

Lines. — Twenty  rooms,  roof  and  walls  of  cadjans 
or  talipots,  can  be  erected  at  a  cost  of  Rs.  10  a 
room  (site  included),  which  will  be  watertight  and 
comfortable,  and  last  for  all  the  time  they  are 
wanted  ;  they  can  be  run  up  in  a  few  days — a  great 
consideration — and  there  is  no  risk  of  the  coolies 
catching  illness  from  wet  mud  walls  and  damp 
floors.  A  line  of  this  sort  should  accommodate  100 
labourers.  A  shallow  drain  should  be  cut  all  round 
the  line  to  keep  the  floors  dry.  A  permanent  set  of 
rooms  can  be  built  at  leisure.  For  a  2OO-acre 
estate  we  might  thus  say  temporary  lines  would 
cost  Rs.  200,  and  permanent  lines  Rs.  300.  More 
lines  would  be  needed  afterwards  perhaps. 

Under  the  head  of  bungalows  and  lines,  Mr. 
Sabonadiere  argues  strongly  for  permanent  buildings 
of  stone  with  shingled  roofs. 

Store.— Stone   pillars,   roof  of  galvanised  More- 


152       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

wood's   tiles,    sawn   timber,    coir-matting    floors    in 
three  storeys,  £485. 

Pulping  House. — Solid  masonry,  pillars,  and 
cisterns  ;  a  double  floor  for  curing  purposes,  cor- 
rugated iron  roof,  but  not  including  cost  of  ma- 
chinery, £483. 

Bungalow. — Outside  walls  of  stone,  inner  walls, 
sawn  timber,  mudded  between  sawn  reapers,  planked 
floors,  and  shingle  roof,  and  including  £jo  as  cost  of 
godowns,  ^356. 

These  are  his  estimates,  and  they  represent  the 
very  best  class  of  buildings.  For  ^200  (Rs.  2,000) 
it  would  be  possible  to  build  a  very  decent  pulping 
shed  and  store-house,  20  ft.  by  10  ft.  and  40  ft.  by 
20  ft.,  of  sawn  timber  and  iron  roofed,  with  cherry 
lofts  sufficient  for  all  the  requirements  of  a  first  and 
second  crop. 

All  these  erections  are  so  expensive  and  im- 
portant that  the  young  planter  should  not  be  in  a 
hurry  to  build,  but  should  rather  make  a  study  of 
those  successfully  working  in  his  district,  and  care- 
fully watch  the  wants  and  peculiarities  of  his  own 
estate  before  beginning. 


153 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

ROADING     AND     DRAINING. 

THE  presiding  government  is  bound  to  make  and 
keep  in  repair  the  main  thoroughfares  of  every 
territory,  usually  levying  a  tax  for  the  purpose  ;  but 
the  planter  has  to  make  his  own  local  roadways. 
The  cheapest  is  what  we  call  a  dug-out  road  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  hillside  being  very  steep,  soil  is  shovelled 
away  from  the  upper  part  and  placed  on  the  lower 
side  till  the  road  comes  level.  Thus  there  is  a 
perpendicular  wall  on  one  hand  and  a  steep  scarp 
on  the  other,  and  being  smoothed,  the  fresh  black 
earth  looks  neat  and  nice,  but  requires  some  time 
to  settle  down.  At  first,  owing  to  half  the  breadth 
being  cut  out  of  the  solid,  and  half  composed  of 
loose  soil,  it  is  apt  to  sink  on  the  outer  side,  and 
has  to  be  repaired.  Cutting  through  fallen  logs  and 
rolling  them  away  is  a  source  of  chief  expense.  On 
the  hillside  the  great  stems  will  usually  lie  as  they 
have  fallen,  up  and  down  the  slope,  sometimes  two 
or  three  deep  ;  and  as  the  road  runs  along  parallel 
with  the  valley,  it  meets  them  all  at  right  angles. 
Since  they  are  far  beyond  the  planter's  power  to 
move,  even  after  the  best  of  burns  as  they  lie,  he  has 
to  cut  through  them  at  all  costs.  Charred  stumps 


154         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND   PROFIT. 

are  almost  worse  than  the  fallen  stems.  Elsewhere 
I  have  mentioned  amongst  my  earliest  road-making 
experiences  how  now  and  again  it  was  the  stump  of 
one  of  these  forest  giants,  that  had  been  cut  off  five 
feet  above  the  ground,  which  we  had  to  draw,  like  a 
mighty  tooth.  One  or  two  of  these  stumps  took 
us  perhaps  four  or  five  days'  toil.  The  first  day's 
would  go  in  scratching  away  soil  and  undermining 
roots,  and  when  those  were  laid  bare  we  had  the 
task  of  cutting  through  them,  many  being  under- 
ground branches  as  thick  as  the  stem  of  a  small 
tree.  When  at  last  they  were  severed,  all  available 
hands  mustered,  and,  with  crowbars  and  long  levers, 
the  stump  was  slowly  hoisted  out  amongst  frantic 
cries  of  maistries  and  shouts  of  perspiring  coolies,  to 
be  rolled  down  the  hillside,  there  to  stay  for  twenty 
or  thirty  years,  until  sun  and  rain  have  resolved  it 
into  dust.  The  greater  proportion  of  the  trees  were 
cut  through  in  two  places,  and  the  intermediate 
portion  was  rolled  away  easily  enough  ;  but  some- 
times, in  spite  of  my  utmost  engineering  skill,  the 
upper  portion  of  the  trunk  would  come  rolling  down 
the  hill-slope,  sending  everyone  flying  for  life,  and 
blocking  up  the  track  again. 

Gradients  should  be  as  slight  as  possible,  and 
all  roads  well  planned  and  thought  of  beforehand. 
They  should  centre  at  the  superintendent's  bungalow 
or  at  the  stores.  It  is  better  to  have  them  on  ridges 
than  in  valleys,  but  halfway  between  crest  and 
bottom  is  the  proper  line  for  them  to  take. 


ROADING    AND    DRAINING.  155 

Though  "  dug-outs"  are,  as  we  have  said,  the 
cheapest,  yet  it  is  better  and  more  "  pucka  "  to  dig 
a  road  from  the  solid,  going,  say,  one  foot  deep  on 
the  level.  On  both  sides  there  should  then  be  good 
1 8  in.  by  18  in.  drains,  with  occasional  culverts 
across  the  road  covered  in  by  logs  or  stones. 

Metalling  is  rarely  attempted  on  these  private 
thoroughfares,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  bridges. 
If  a  bridge  must  be  made  it  is  usually  constructed 
of  logs  placed  side  by  side,  resting  on  broad  stone 
buttresses.  We  have  traced  a  good  many  miles  of 
road  with  a  surveyor's  level  and  compass,  but  with 
a  little  training  the  eye  becomes  sufficiently  accu- 
rate, and  stumps  can  be  "dodged,"  and  fords  much 
more  conveniently  approached  by  the  latter  means 
than  when  instruments  are  used.  "  He  who  traces, 
clears,  and  partially  cuts  his  roads  at  the  earliest 
possible  time  will  save  five  per  cent,  on  all  the 
work  he  has  to  do  in  the  field."  A  mile  of  road 
to  every  twenty  or  thirty  acres  is  little  too  much. 
These  roads  may  be  made  narrow  at  first,  and 
afterwards  (when  the  estate  needs  cart  traffic) 
widened  out  to  ten  or  twelve  feet.  But  if  they  are 
left  untraced  and  not  begun  until  after  planting  is 
over,  there  will  be  a  reluctance  to  destroy  flourish- 
ing bushes,  and  roads  will  hardly  be  so  wide  or  so 
numerous  as  they  should;  i  in  15,  i  in  20,  i  in  25 
are  fair  gradients  for  an  estate  not  very  full  of 
rocks  and  nullahs.  Care  should  he  taken  that  the 
road  is  not  liable  to  be  flooded  by  a  sudden  rise 


156       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

in  a  stream  or  torrent — i.e.,  when  the  track  has 
crossed  a  ravine  do  not  let  it  slope  uniformly  down- 
wards, thus  tempting  the  next  spate  to  take  a  new 
course  along  your  dug-out,  but  let  there  be  a  gentle 
rise  of  five  or  six  feet,  and  then  you  can  go  on  with 
your  descending  gradient  again. 

Two  men  will  cut  one  average  chain  of  road  per 
day,  one  foot  into  the  solid  sloping  inwards  to  the 
drain,  and  clear  everything  off  excepting  heavier 
stuff.  In  light,  standing  jungle  the  path  will  move 
forward  with  wonderful  rapidity :  in  clearings  as 
pointed  out  it  is  a  very  different  matter.  Rs.  150 
per  mile  may,  however,  be  taken  as  an  average  cost, 
mounting  to  Rs.  250  and  300  in  heavy  prostrate 
timber  or  rocky  land.  Dynamite  and  gunpowder 
sometimes  expedite  the  removal  of  troublesome 
stumps,  &c. 

Draining  is  a  kindred  occupation,  which  should 
be  done  if  possible  before  the  first  wet  season, 
and  at  the  same  time  with  the  roads.  Drains 
are  usually  half  a  chain  apart,  and  falling  to  the 
nearest  nullah  by  a  gradient  of  i  in  18  or  i  in  15. 
According  to  the  steepness  of  the  land  so  must 
the  size  and  frequency  of  channels  be  (taking 
a  drain  of  2  feet  wide,  and  18  inches  deep, 
as  an  average),  and  the  further  the  water  has 
to  run  to  an  outflow  the  broader  the  drain  should 
be  made.  The  purpose  of  this  work  is  that 
when  a  deluge  of  tropical  rain  descends  it  '  shall 
be  intercepted,  and  led  off  the  land  before  a  head 


ROADING    AND    DRAINING.  157 

is  gathered,  and  a  muddy  yellow  sheet  of  water 
scours  down  the  hillside,  taking  tons  of  soil  with 
it.  "  Water  holes"  and  terracing  have  been  tried, 
but  "  no  one  has  ever  made  holes  big  enough,  or 
embankments  strong  enough,  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  case.  All  precautions  may  be  taken, 
with  satisfactory  results  for  a  long  time  ;  yet  the 
day  comes  when  all  is  of  no  avail :  embankments 
give  way,  holes  overflow,  the  water  gathers  body 
and  force,  and  rushes  down  the  hill  sweeping  away 
every  obstacle,  leaving  a  deep  trench  behind  it 
down  to  the  subsoil,  and  often  far  into  it,  all 
which  may  be  the  work  of  a  few  minutes,  and  thus 
the  labour  and  watching  of  years  is  neutralized 
in  an  hour." 

Good  drains  of  average  size  and  half  a  chain 
apart  are  cut  at  the  rate  of  about  Rs.  10  per  acre. 
The  upkeep  of  roads  and  drains — that  is  to  say, 
the  regular  clearing  of  them  out  and  repairing — 
amounts  to  between  Rs.  2  and  3,  according  to 
the  care  and  skill  with  which  they  were  originally 
constructed. 


158         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


CHAPTER     XV. 

THE    CROP. 


IT  is   not  until   the.  thir^ 

compense  comes  for  the  long  and  tedious  labour 
bestowed  upon  the  preparation  of  the  estate,  but  at 
the  end  of  that  time  a  reward  is  at  hand.  About 
the  beginning  jrf  the  new  year,  early_in_Xanuary, 
the  plante^jwilLjiotice  _  his__hushes  ^covered  with 
clusters  of  small,  hard,  green  buds,  springing,  seven 
or  eight  together,  from  the  junction  of  the  leaves 
and  branches.  These  are  the  future  flowers  which 
have  to  repay  all  the  trouble  and  expense  incurred. 
As  time  goes  on  they  ripen  and  swell  rapidly, 
turning  from  opaque  green  to  cream  and  yellow- 
white,  until  one  morning  in  March,  or  perhaps 
April  if  the  situation  is  wet  and  cold,  the  first 
"  flush"  is  out.  Far  and  near,  as  we  described  in 
a  first  chapter,  the  undulations  of  garden  are  bathed 
in  a  fascinating  sea  of  white  blossoms  ;  near  at  hand 
the  starlike  flowers  glisten  amongst  glossy  masses 
of  leafage,  clear  in  every  detail,  while  further  away 
the  long  rows  of  bushes  are  crested  with  a  con- 
fused streak  of  white  like  many  rows  of  breakers 
on  a  shallow  shore.  Every  individual  blossom  some- 
what resembles  that  of  an  orange,  and  from  great 


THE    CROP.  159 

masses  of  them  grown  together  a  very  powerful 
odour  is  given  forth,  which,  if  not  quite  so  pleasant 
as  that  of  the  golden  fruit,  is  powerful  and  sweet. 
This  scent  is  said  to  bring  on  feverish  symptoms, 
but  we  should  rather  be  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  blossoming  season — always  a  feverish  time — 
more  than  the  flowers  themselves,  was  to  blame. 
A  hot  morning  after  rain  brings  out  bloom  upon 
the  bushes,  and  (though  it  must  be  said  with 
regret)  brings  out  that  miasma  from  the  decayed 
vegetation  so  much  dreaded  by  the  planter. 
Rain  at  this  time  is  hurtful  to  the  prospects  of  a 
large  crop.  When  it  falls_jupon  the  flowers  the 
pistils  in  the  centre  subsequently  show  a  black 


speck;    anothe    cherry   that    should   follow   never 
comes" to  ajiythrngT^ 

T^br  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  system  of 
rainfall  of  Southern  India,  the  year  may  be  con- 
veniently divided  into  two  equal  periods — viz.,  from 
the  ist  October  to  the  3ist  March,  and  from  the 
ist  April  to  the  3Oth  September — the  bulk  of 
the  rainfall  in  these  periods  being  due  to  the 
south-west  and  north-east  monsoon  respectively. 
The  south-west  monsoon  commences  to  blow  in 
the  end  of  May  or  beginning  of  June,  and  a  great 
portion  of  the  vapour  brought  with  it  from  the 
Indian  Ocean  is  intercepted  and  condensed  by 
the  Western  Ghats,  and  precipitated  in  torrents  of 
rain  on  the  strip  of  land  between  these  mountains 
and  the  sea,  which  forms  the  district  of  Malabar 


l6o          COFFEE  !     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

and  Canara,  and  the  kingdoms  of  Travancore  and 
Cochin.  A  portion,  however,  passes  over  the  range, 
or  through  the  gaps  which  here  and  there  occur,  and 
finds  its  way  in  more  or  less  abundance  to  every 
district  in  the  Presidency.  The  minor  showers 
of  April  are  not  due  to  the  influence  of  either 
monsoon,  yet  it  is  just  the  light  "  sprinklings  " 
which  make  all  the  difference,  to  Travancore  Coffee 
at  any  rate.  Coming  before  their  time  they  do 
immense  mischief,  but  in  season  when  fruit  has 
"  set,"  i.e.,  fructification  been  accomplished,  they 
knock  off  the  withered  brown  petals  and  afford 
the  plants  much  service  by  watering  them  at  a 
period  when  all  possible  encouragement  is  needed. 
Coffee  for  this  reason  is  a  very  precarious  invest- 
ment in  Travancore.  The  crop  is  entirely  depen- 
dent upon  rain  after  the  blossoming  season,  a 
few  showers  just  at  the  right  time  making  a 
difference  of  thousands  of  rupees  to  the  planter. 
As  soon  as  the  flowers  are  off,  the  little  green 
nobs  at  the  bottom  begin  to  swell,  filling  out 
rapidly  all  the  hot  weather,  changing  colour  early 
in  the  autumn  from  green  to  yellow,  and  about 
October  assuming  the  red  tinge  which  marks 
approaching  ripeness. 

According  to  the  season  this  will  be  earlier  or 
later,  while  different  corners  of  the  estate  will 
ripen  at  various  times  according  as  the  land  has 
a  warm  or  cold  aspect — even  opposite  sides  of  a 
bush  often  vary  considerably  in  this  respect.  A 


THE    CROP.  l6l 

good  watch  must  be  kept  for  the  first  berries 
ready,  and  it  is  as  well  to  turn  pickers — a  few  at 
first — into  the  clearings  directly  there  is  anything 
worth  their  picking,  since,  if  the  crop  is  a  good 
one,  and  allowed  to  ripen  throughout  on  the  bushes, 
very  few  estates  are  so  well  supplied  with  labour  as 
to  be  ready  to  properly  strip  the  bushes  before 
much  cherry  has  followed  its  natural  destination 
and  fallen  overripe  to  the  ground,  or  vanished 
tinder  attacks  of  birds  and  animals.  So  we  begin 
at  once,  in  order  to  keep  pace__with  the  ripening 
berries,  and  usually  three,  or  at  the  most  four, 
gleanings — the  middle  pick  being  always  the  most 
considerable — lasting  from  November  to  January, 
will  be  sufficient  to  store  all  there  is  to  be  had 
that  season. 

Men,  women,  and  children  are  employed  at 
the  picking  season,  and  it  is  a  sight  lively  enough 
to  see  them  marshalled  along  the  head  of  a  clear- 
ing in  the  early  morning  waiting  for  the  signal 
to  begin,  while  white-clad  maistries  run  hither 
and  thither  brandishing  their  sticks  and  seeing 
each  row  of  Coffee  has  its  picker,  so  that  every 
tree  may  be  fairly  searched.  As  we  noticed  under 
"Weeding,"  the  active  and  delicate  fingers  of 
women  or  children  rival  at  this  task  those  of  the 
men.  All  being  paid  pro  rata,  it  is  a  good  time 
for  the  coolies,  who,  on  an  estate  which  they  like, 
are  unusually  industrious  and  jovial  at  "cherry 
ripe "  season. 

M 


l62          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Each  worker  carries  a  bag  slung  from  his  or  her 
shoulder,  into  which  they  stuff  the  coloured  berries 
with  both  hands  as  fast  as  picked.  When  the 
wallet  is  full  it  is  taken  to  the  nearest  roadway, 
where  stand  the  coolies'  rows  of  receiving  sacks, 
each  capable  of  holding  a  bushel  or  two  bushels 
of  fruit.  By  the  number  of  these  journies  the 
workers  estimate  the  quantity  they  have  picked, 
and  mentally  feel  the  pay  in  rupees  growing  heavy 
in  their  cummerbunds.  If  there  is  plenty  of  crop, 
each  picker  should  collect  three  or  perhaps  three- 
and-a-half  bushels  a-day,  for  which  the  pay  is  the 
equivalent  of  fourpence  per  bushel. 

As  the  big  sacks  are  filled,  they  are  taken  off  to 
the  pulping  sheds,  and  should  be,  if  it  can  possibly 
be  managed,  operated  upon  within  a  few  hours,  or 
certainly  the  same  day,  as  any  delay  may  cause  the 
heaps  of  soft  ripe  fruit  to  ferment,  discolouring  the 
inside  parchment  and  depreciating  the  value  of  the 
sample  in  Mincing  Lane.  It  is,  however,  not  in- 
variably the  rule  to  pulp  at  once.  In  Brazil,  much 
of  the  Coffee  is  purposely  allowed  to  stand  in  sheds 
for  forty-eight  hours,  thereby-  attaining  a  peculiar 
odour  that  recommends  it  to  South  American 
connoisseurs.  Again,  native  and  Dutch  Coffee 
is  not  pulped  but  hulled;  instead  of  the  soft 
outside  covering  of  flesh  being  removed  by  pulping 
machinery,  it  is  suffered  to  dry  upon  the  beans, 
and  is  subsequently  operated  upon  by  special 
machinery  which  cracks  off  this  dried  husk. 


THE    CROP.  163 

The  riper  the  fruit  is  upon  the  trees  before  it  is 
gathered,  the  better  will  be  the  resulting  sample  of 
prepared  Coffee.  The  observant  Arabs  spread 
mats  under  their  world-famous  Mocha  bushes,  and 
collect  only  those  cherries  falling  into  them  when 
the  tree  is  shaken.  But  the  European  planter  can 
hardly  follow  this  process,  because,  as  we  have  said, 
his  command  of  labour  is  hardly  sufficient  even  to 
gather  in  the  heavy  crops  his  system  of  planting 
brings  about  in  the  quickest  and  most  expeditious 
\of  ways. 

Anything  tending  to  economise  labour  at  this 
season  is  of  high  value.  There  is  a  method  by 
which  "cherries"  are  sent  down  from  the  most 
remote  clearings  by  means  of  water  power.  This 
is  done  by  iron  piping,  about  the  same  diameter 
and  strength  as  the  familiar  cast-iron  conducts 
"adorning"  the  outside  of  English  houses.  Six 
or  eight  foot  lengths  of  this  tubing  are  put 
together  after  starting  from  some  convenient  and 
central  spot  on  the  estate  where  a  fair  flow  of 
water  can  always  be  obtained,  though  it  need 
not  be  more  than  a  rivulet,  and  length  after  length 
it  is  wound  down  the  estate  to  the  pulping  house. 
Some  care  and  skill  is  required  in  erecting  them. 
Where  streams  and  ravines  are  crossed  the  pipes 
must  be  supported  on  trestles,  and  where  they  He 
along  the  ground,  firmly  pegged  down.  At  the 
receiving  stations  are  coolies  who  receive  the  cherry 
and  flood  it  down  the  tube  with  sufficient  water, 


164         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

so  much  at  a  time,  and  thus  it  goes  by  steady 
gradient  and  regular  curves  into  the  cisterns  of  the 
curing  room.  Large  as  the  prime  cost  of  this 
spouting  undoubtedly  is  (^300  should  furnish  a 
2OO-acre  plantation),  on  extensive  estates  it  cannot 
fail  to  pay.  "  The  coolies  are  able  to  gather  a 
larger  quantity,  and  they  are  saved  bodily  wear 
and  tear.  With  a  force  of  200  coolies  in  the 
field,  an  increase  of  at  least  100  bushels,  or 
10  cwts.  a-day,  may  be  safely  reckoned  upon, 
amouting  say  to  300  cwts.  for  the  five  heavy  weeks 
of  picking,  and  representing  a  money  value  of 
fully  £1,002  in  the  London  market,"  calculates 
Mr.  Sabonadiere ! 

We  have  said  real  returns  for  labour  and  capital 
invested   in  a  Coffee  estate  only  begin  in  the  third 


year.  This  statement  must  be  modified  to  the 
extent  of  acknowledging  thereJsZsometimes  ajnajden^ 
crop,'T~slight^o^2gejierally,  though  in  very  good 
soil  and  in  a  dry  climate  as  much  as  from  seven 
to  nine  cwt.  per  acre  has  been  got  as  first  fruits 
in  a  second  year.  This,  needless  to  say,  must  be 
picked  as  it  comes  ripe  ;  and  if  pulping  machinery 
is  not  yet  up  on  the  estate,  it  may  be  sold  in  bulk 
to  some  neighbouring,  better  established  planter. 
I  Ib.  per.  tree  is  a  very  paying  quantity  of 
Coffee  all  over  an  estate  ;  but  as  much  as  2  Ibs. 
or  even  3  Ibs.  are  sometimes  got,  and  5  cwt. 
per  acre  is  a  satisfactory  average,  though  those 
estates  making  their  happy  possessor's  fortunes 


THE    CROP.  165 

give  far  more.  The  Rothschild  estate  of  Ceylon, 
for  instance,  from  1865  to  1871  returned  gj  cwt. 
per  acre.  One-third  of  this  estate  was  on  Patna 
soil. 

When  coolies  do  not  receive  tallies,  to  be 
redeemed  on  the  following  pay  day,  or  cash — 
kai  kasi  they  call  it — for  the  weight  of  cherry 
brought  in  and  weighed  in  the  cherry  loft  of 
the  pulping  shed,  the  planter  sets  them  a  daily 
task — one  and  a-half  bushels,  one  bushel,  three- 
quarters,  or  even  one-third  of  a  bushel,  accord- 
ing to  the  state  of  the  crop.  Hands  at  this 
season  should  never  be  paid  by  this  ordinary 
daily  wage,  which  holds  out  no  encouragement  to 
extra  exertions. 

Always,  when  possible,  let  work  begin  on  the 
highest  ground,  or  amongst  those  bushes  furthest 
from  the  roads ;  and  thus,  as  day  declines  and  the 
men  are  tired,  journeys  will  be  shorter  and  there 
will  be  but  few  wearisome  climbs  with  an  empty 
cooty  sack  to  finish  off  a  half-dozen  bushes  perhaps. 
Fallen  berries,  of  course,  are  picked  up,  and, 
to  tell  the  truth,  make  by  far  the  best-flavoured 
Coffee. 

There  is  some  danger  in  paying  coolies  in  full  as 
they  earn  their  money  ;  the  danger  is  that  they  will 
go  away  to  the  nearest  bazaar  in  the  middle  of  this 
busiest  season  and  waste  their  substance  in  riotous 
living,  regardless  of  their  master's  pressing  needs. 
It  is  better  to  make  it  a  rule  to  advance  only  an 


l66          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

anna  or  two  each  evening — sufficient  to  be  cheerful 
but  not  uproarious  upon. 

The  only  other  thing  to  be  said  is,  that  four  or 
six  annas  per  bushel,  according  to  the  scarcity  of 
labour,  &c.,  is  the  usual  price  paid ;  other  expenses 
come  more  regularly  under  the  next  heading. 


i67 


CHAPTER     XVI. 

PULPING      AND      PREPARING. 

THE  final  curing  of  the  Coffee  bean,  the  freeing 
from  all  outside  pulp  and  coverings,  in  order 
that  it  may  go  to  market  in  the  form  which  an 
English  public  is  familiar  with,  is  a  matter  of 
importance.  Briefly  summarised,  the  processes  are 
these : — 

The  cherry  is  passed  through  Jt^ejr2ulrje_r,_and  the 
pulp,  or  skin,  is  pulled  off,  leaving  the  parchment 
bean  all  covered  with  saccharine  matter,  so  much  so 
that  it  is  impossible  to  grasp  a  handful  of  it  and 
retain  it  all.  It  is  to  remove  this  that  fermenta- 
tion is  allowed.  After  fermentation, jthe  Coffee  is 
washed ;  it  then  presents  the  appearance  of  a  bean 
covered  with  a  strong  white  sjdr^j^husk,_called 
parchment.  This  is  exposed  for  several  days  to  a 
strong  sun,  and,  when  dry__enough,  is  packed  off, 
say  to  Colombo.  Here  it  is  again  dried  for  two  to 
three  days,  and  then  husked  by  being  put  into  a 
circular  trough,  over  which  roll  four  or  two  enormous 
wheels,  weighing  generally  a  ton  each.  These  re- 
move the  husk  without  injuringjthe  bean,  and  now 
the  bean  presenTjTlHcKanged  appearance;  it  is 
closely  fitted  with  a  thin  skin  of  silver,  called  the 


1 68       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

silver  skin.  This  is  winnowed  off,  and  the  Coffee 
packed  for  sale.  Should  the  Coffee  be  allowed 
to  ferment  too  long,  it  will  give  the  husk  a  black 
appearance  instead  of  the  snowy  white  one  it 
should  have ;  and,  although  this  does  not  injure 
the  inner  contents,  the  brokers  will  depreciate 
its  value.  Besides  all  this,  the  beans  are  very 
carefully  graded  and  sifted  into  sizes,  as  a  regular 
sample  makes  a  considerable  difference  in  price 
obtained. 

Some  Coffee  is  not  pulped  but  "  hulled,"  and 
chieftyTrTat  grown  in  ^EHe  Dutch :  Islands ~ancl  some 
States  of  South  America.  The  hulling  process 
consists  of  drying  the  cherries  just  as  they  come 
in  from  the  fields — withering  them,  perhaps,  would 
better  express  it  —  and  afterwards  cracking  off 
the  husk  by  submitting  it  to  pressure  under 
two  heavy  wheels  running  round  in  a  circular 
trough. 

If  the  planter  has  erected  no  buildings  of  his 
own  when  his  early  crops  come  to  hand,  this  hulling 
is  the  only  plan  for  him  to  follow.  He  spreads  out 
the  stores  of  red  cherries  on  a  previously  prepared 
drying^ground  covered  with  mats,  and,  keeping 
them  moved  with  rajces  or  by  the  feet  of  coolies r 
extracts  all  moisture.  Subsequently  the  withered 
fruitTs  doneup  in  strong  bags  and  sent  down  to 
the  "  Agents"  on  the  coast,  who  "  hull  "  it  in 
their  own  machinery,  or  at  least  know  where  to 
get  it  done. 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  l6g 

The  annexed  illustration  represents  /one  of 
Messrs.  Gordon's  "  Improved  Peeling  or  Hulling 
Mills,"  and  will  give  a  novice  an  idea  of  the  sort 
of  machinery  used.  A  "  circular"  of  that  firm, 


IMPROVED   PEELING   OR   HULLING    MILL. 


(which  holds  the  first  place  in  the  manufacture 
of  all  mechanical  contrivances  demanded  by  the 
modern  Coffee  planter)  says  : — 

"  From  repeated  experiments  and  trials,  we  are  convinced 
that  for  effectually  and  quickly  peeling  and  polishing  the 
Coffee  bean  without  breakage,  nothing  excels  this  machine. 
It  will  clean  Coffee  dried  either  in  the  cherry  or  in  the  parch- 
ment. The  machine  is  simple  both  in  construction  and  in 
working,  durable,  and  not  liable  to  break  down.  With  the 
same  power  it  will  clean  a  larger  quantity  than  most  other 
machines.  J.  Gordon  and  Co.  have  themselves  frequently  seen 
2,400  Ibs.  peeled  per  hour  with  one  of  these  mills,  and  with 
little  or  no  breakage,  while  a  badly  constructed  mill  will  break 
as  much  as  it  will  clean." 


170 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING. 


171 


172 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


It  may  be   as  well,  perhaps,  to  add  the  prices, 
which  are  : — 


Diameter-centre  of 
Wheel. 

Quantity  Cleaned  per 
Hour. 

Price. 

14  feet. 

2,400  Ibs. 

£l40 

12        „ 

1,  800      „ 

£no 

10        ,. 

1,400      „ 

£96 

9      „ 

I,2OO      ,, 

£88 

7      .. 

8OO       ,, 

£70 

If,  however,  the  estate  is  large  and  forward  enough 
—a  "  company  estate,"  for  instance,  of  a  thousand 
or  two  of  acres — to  demand  its  own  private  build- 
ings, and  mills  for  pulping,  drying,  sorting,  &c., 
then  elaborate  machinery  has  to  be  established. 
It  is  not  possible  here  to  go  into  technical  archi- 
tectural details  of  the  buildings  required,  but 
Messrs.  Gordon  having  kindly  supplied  us  with 
particulars  of  the  latest  and  most  approved  forms 
of  pulping  sheds,  we  give  the  accompanying  out- 
lines, feeling  sure  that  a  diagram  will  convey  a 
much  clearer  impression  than  many  pages  of  print. 
Here  it  will  be  seen,  to  begin  with,  that  cherry 
arrives  on  the  head  of  a  coolie  entering  the  loft  by 
a  level  gangway  instead  of  having  to  toil  up  a 
ladder  or  steps,  who  puts  down  his  load  where  it 
can  conveniently  be  sent  below  to  the  pulper, 
taking  his  brass  cheque  for  quantity  delivered  in 
return.  Towards  this  end  these  buildings  are 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  173 

usually  placed  against  a  rock  face  or  dug-away 
embankment,  which  brings  their  roof  nearly  flush 
with  the  upper  surface  of  the  ground,  and  mate- 
rially lightens  the  labour  of  bringing  in  crop. 

Of  course,  with  a  complete  service  of  iron 
delivery  spouting,  the  top  floor  entry  is  not  so 
essential ;  but  even  then  it  is  as  well  to  have  it 


"DISC  ''   PULPER. 


in  case  anything  goes  wrong  with  your  alternate 
method,  and  you  have  to  fall  back  upon  coolie 
carriage.  From  the  cherry  floor  the  ripe  berries 
just  picked  go  down  into  the  "  pulper,"  where  a 
man  is  stationed  to  regulate  the  quantity  admitted. 
The  pulper  is  just  a  gigantic  revolving  nutmeg 
grater.  The  principle  of  the  machine  is  that  the 
pulp  of  the  Coffee  is  partly  torn  and  partly  pressed 


174 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


from  the  beans  inside  by  rollers  and  the  jagged 
punctures  of  copper  sheating  on  a  revolving  barrel. 
In  Messrs.  Gordon  and  Co.'s  "  Single  and  Double 
Disc  Pulpers "  all  the  parts  are  strong  but  light, 
and  may  be  carried  on  the  backs  of  mules  with 
ease.  They  are  carefully  made  and  marked,  being 


THE  COMBINED  CRUSHER  AND  PULPER. 


easily  put  together,  and  not  liable  to  break  down. 
Worked  by  hand,  the  Single  Disc  Pulper  will  pulp 
30  bushels  of  ripe  Coffee  per  hour ;  the  Double 
Disc  Pulper  will  pulp  by  hand  60  bushels  of  ripe 
Coffee  per  hour.  If  worked  by  steam,  water,  or 
cattle  power,  a  much  larger  result  would  be 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  175 

obtained.  The  "  Double "  Pulper  of  the  same 
firm  is  more  complicated,  and  being,  consequently, 
liable  to  breakdowns,  can  only  be  recommended 
where  an  engineer  is  at  hand  in  case  of  a  mishap ; 
but  their  "  Combined  Coffee  Crusher  and  Pulper" 
is  of  excellent  design.  The  cylinder  is  stoutly 
cased  with  copper,  and  the  machine  is  provided 
with  water  hopper  and  sieve.  By  addition  of  the 
crushing  roll,  the  pulper  is  rendered  more  expe- 
ditious in  operation,  and  will  deliver  without 
damage  to  the  beans  from  100  to  120  bushels  of 
cleanly-pulped  Coffee  per  hour.  This  pulper  is 
adapted  for  mill  work  only,  and  is  unsuited  for 
manual  labour,  being  driven  by  leather  belt  from 
shafting  connected  with  water  or  other  power. 

But  though  with  good  machinery,  such  as  the 
above,  even  a  new  hand  can  generally  save  a 
crop  in  marketable  guise,  yet  pulping  is  not  always 
the  simple  work  it  may  seem.  "  Successful  pulp- 
ing," we  are  told,  "  depends  greatly  on  the  dryness 

of  lfhlTseasoir"or  otherwise. One  seasonj]ae--CQffee 

may  all  be  plump  and  ripe,_  when jpulpers  will 
easily  work  through  90  to  100  bushels  per  hour, 
having  plenty  of  water  to  run  into  the  machines 
with  the  Coffee ;  the  next  season  may  be  a  dry 
one,  and  the  trees  bearing  heavily,  very  few  of  the 
berries  become  fully  ripe.  Now  the  difficulty  of 
pulping  commences,  the  pulp  adhering  to  the 
parchment  owing  to  the  absence  of  saccharine 
matter.  Should  the  pulper  be  'set  close/  it  will 


176       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 


LONGITUDINAL  SECTION  OF  COFFEE  MILL. 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING. 


I77 


LONGITUDINAL   SECTION    OF   COFFEE    MILL. 


178       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

probably  take  off  the  parchment  as  well  as  the 
pulp.  The  greatest  patience  will  be  required,  as 
the  same  machinery  as  was  used  the  preceding 
year  will  now  be  unable  to  pulp  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  quantity." 

From  the  pulper  the  Coffee  beans  are  delivered 
into  soaking  cisterns,  the  pulp  itself  passing  away 
into  the  mill  race,  or  into  a  pit  for  manure. 
This  removes  with^fermentat'ion  any  remains  of 
pulp  still  adhering,  and  also  partly^  clears  the  beans 
of  all  matter  which  hangs  about  the  second  skin 
or  parchment.  Thence  it  goes  into  "  washers," 
where  a  further  cleansing  process  is  thoroughly 
effected  by  means  of  stirrers  or  agitators,  which 
reject  npj  _pj^y_thej_jrru^ilage,  but  any  remaining 
pieces  of  pulp,  and  clear  away  the__light  unsound 
Coffe^~^triouTTamage_tg_the  .beans^  The  use  of 
the  ordinary  rake  in  the  cisterns  not  unfrequently 
causes  breakage  of  the  parchment  skin,  which  is 
to  be  avoided  before  exposing  the  beans  to  dry. 
The  Coffee  bean,  if  thus  damaged,-  becomes,  white, 
and  hajsjx^_bei_picked  out  by  hand.  When  the 
washing  is  completed,  on  raising  a  small  sluice, 
the  seed  is  discharged  on  to  the  draining  slope 
or  platform,  and  is  thence  passed  to  the  drying 
ground.  It  should  not  dry  too  quickly,  but  on  a 
fairly  hot  day  it  is  spread  some  two  or  three 
inches  deep  on  the  hard  mat-covered  surface  of 
the^  barbecues,"  or  drying  plots,  and  constantly 
turned  b^Baf^fobted  coolies,  who  "  scuffle "  it 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  179 

into  rows  and  trenches.  The  time  occupied  in 
drying  will  naturally  depend  much  on  the  weather. 
The  beans  should  be  dried  hard  and  crisp,  so  that 
they  will  crack  like  a  piece  of  glass  between  the 
teeth. 

The  process  of  peeling  coming  next  requires 
great  care,  its  object  being  the  removal  of  the 
fine  parchment  and  silver  skin  which  adheres  to 
the  bean,  without  crushing  or  damaging  the  bean 
itself.  Perhaps  for  effectually  and  quickly  peeling 
Coffee  with  least  amount  of  breakage,  nothing 
excels  a  pair  of  edge-runners,  suitably  arranged, 
and  with  a  pan  of  proper  construction.  Sixty 
bushels  (equal  to  12  cwt.  of  market  Coffee)  may  be 
peeled  per  hour,  with  scarcely  any  breakage,  with 
a  good  machine,  while  a  badly-constructed  mill 
and  pan  will  cause  breakage  of  as  much  Coffee 
as  it  will  pass  through  uninjured.  Here  a  nice 
adjustment  is  of  the  first  importance :  the  dry, 
delicate  and  now  brittle  parchment  being  cracked 
from  the  bean,  a  final  strong  winnowing^removing 

the  silver  skiir. 

"TTTIsTatter  work,  however,  as  well  as  packing 
in  "jail"  bags,  or  inside  charred  barrels,  is  usually 
done  by  seaport  agents,  who  have  more  labour 
at  command  than  the  upland  planters ;  amongst 
them  the  period  following  crop  time  is  always  fully 
occupied  in  getting  the  estate  into  order,  pruning, 
weeding,  &c. 

Lately   the    question   of  whether   or    not    it   is 


l8o          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

advisable  to  send  Coffee  to  the  European  markets 
in  the  parchment  has  been  much  mooted,  and 
arguing  theoretically  we  should  say  the  weight  of 
reason  was  all  in  favour  of  so  sending  it. 

From  a  circular  of  the  firm  Chabot  and  Andres 
at   Rotterdam  we  extract  the  following : — 

According  to  statistics,  the  importation  of  Coffee  in  the 
parchment  for  nine  months  has  been — 

For  Rotterdam         101,752  bags 

For  Amsterdam        86,253  bags 


188,095  bags 
against  about  150,000  bags  in  the  previous  year. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  conviction  is  gaining  ground 
more  and  more,  that  sending  in  the  parchment  is  in  the 
interest  of  the  proprietors.  The  results  obtained  this  season 
leave  no  more  doubt  about  it,  and  we  are  persuaded  this 
manner  of  supply  will  increase  from  year  to  year. 

Artificial  drying  houses  are  another  develop- 
ment of  modern  scientific  planting.  They  are 
intended  to  do  away  with  the  dilemma  which 
stares  superintendents  in  the  face  when  they 
have  plucked  and  pulped  their  crop,  but  cannot 
get  a  gleam  of  sunshine  (as  is  often  the  case 
in  upland  regions)  for  the  essential  subsequent 
drying  of  it. 

Most  Indian  houses,  as  they  are  at  present,  are 
of  no  use  for  drying  Coffee  and  other  tropical  pro- 
ductions, the  temperature  in  them  not  being  suffi- 
ciently equable.  To  meet  all  requisites,  a  drying 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  l8l 

house  must  answer  to  the  following  conditions  : — 
i.  Cheapness  and  simplicity  of  arrangement,  so  that 
it  can  be  fitted  up  without  difficulty  by  native  work- 
people. 2.  Avoidance  of  all  machinery  whatever, 
which  cannot  undergo  repairs  in  those  mountainous 
districts,  and  would  require  technical  supervision. 
3.  The  arrangement  must  be  destined  and  calcu- 
lated to  dry  any  required  quantity  of  Coffee.  4.  The 
beans  must  be  all  of  an  equal  dryness  and  hard- 
ness, without  injuring  the  colour  or  the  aroma. 
5.  The  use  of  all  kinds  of  wood  and  refuse  must 
be  practicable  for  drying  purposes,  and  the  least 
possible  quantity  of  fuel  in  proportion  to  the 
volume  to  be  dried.  6.  The  escaping  air,  on  leav- 
ing the  apparatus,  must  have  absorbed  the  greatest 
possible  quantity  of  water.  7.  The  operation 
should  not  require  any  great  number  of  workpeople 
or  close  supervision,  and  must  be  able  to  be  left 
to  any  intelligent  coolie. 

Mr.  Van  Maanen  is  said  to  have  succeeded  in 
compassing  all  this,  and  in  setting  up  establish- 
ments with  which  everyone  is  highly  gratified. 
As  to  the  establishments  themselves,  they  consist 
in  a  building  which  is  warmed  by  flues  serving 
also  as  smoke  conduits.  The  building  is  square 
or  oblong,  according  as  the  local  situation  or  the 
quantity  of  Coffee  to  be  dried  may  require;  and 
the  drying  is  effected  by  a  supply  of  outer  air, 
heated  by  contact  with  the  flues,  and  which  escapes 
after  absorbing  the  moisture  of  the  Coffee,  under 


l82          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

and  through  which  the  heated  air  passes  as  it 
lies  spread  out  on  coarse  matting  resting  upon 
open  rafters. 

All  this  may  seem  very  complicated,  or  even 
unintelligible,  to  those  who  have  not  witnessed  the 
work,  but  a  short  familiarity  with  the  routine  soon 
renders  it  intelligible.  The  gist  of  the  matter  is 
just  this :  Pick  your  crop  promptly  as  it  ripens, 
taking  the  cherries  when  they  are  just  at  their 
plumpest ;  allow  as  little  delay  as  possible  to  inter- 
vene between  plucking  and  pulping  (if  there  must 
be  a  delay  let  the  Coffee  lie  in  water  tanks) ;  do  not 
overdrive  your  pulper,  whether  a  time-honoured 
11  rattletrap"  or  the  latest  thing  out  from  London; 
wash  clean  in  the  tanks,  and  dry  thoroughly  on 
the  barbecues  or  drying  tables. 

Coffee  stands  two  days  in  the  fermenting  cistern 
in  high  districts,  but  one  is  sufficient  lower  down 
to  loosen  and  soften  the  sticky  remains  of  pulp. 

Under  the  head  of  Buildings,  the  cost  of  store 
and  pulping  house  erection  is  indicated,  but  no 
two  estate  managers  follow  the  same  style  of 
architecture.  Wattle  and  daub  buildings  are  half 
the  price  of  stone  and  timber  ones,  while  those 
vary  again  infinitely  according  to  the  supply  of 
crude  material.  Picking,  pulping,  and  drying  say 
400  cwt.  of  Coffee  off  100  acres — viz.,  4  cwt.  at 
Rs.  3 — ought  to  come  under  Rs.  1,200.  To  this 
must  be  added  rail,  water,  or  cart  carriage  to  the 
coast,  and  low  country  charges,  curing,  packing, 


PULPING    AND    PREPARING.  183 

freight,  brokerage,  &c.  It  has  been  calculated  our 
crop  loses  in  the  process  to  clean  Coffee  61.75 
per  cent,  of  bulk  and  81.8  per  cent,  of  weight — 
that  is,  100  Ib.  of  "  cherry  Coffee"  yields  not 
quite  19  Ib.  of  marketable  beans.  The  average 
product  of  a  ton  of  parchment  Coffee  as  it  comes 
down  by  railway,  is  12  cwt.,  so  that  the  reduction 
at  this  stage  is  40  per  cent.  Considering  the 
amount  of  moisture  in  cherry  Coffee,  at  least  40 
per  cent,  may  be  lost  in  pulping.  "  It  is  a  curious 
result,"  someone  says,  "the  weight  of  the  parchment 
skin  should  be  1.8  per  cent,  more  than  that  of 
the  pulp,  the  loss  by  pulping  being  40  per  cent., 
and  again  by  clearing  away  the  parchment  41.8." 
Such  loss  in  weight  must  be  remembered  when 
estimating  the  value  of  a  crop  after  a  first  drying. 
There  is  also  a  slight  loss  in  weight  again  on 
shipboard.  -  * 

We  have  asked  the  firm  before  mentioned 
what  would  be  the  approximate  cost  of  a  first- 
class  supply  of  machinery  for  an  estate  of  500  to 
1,000  acres  in  full  bearing,  and  annexed  is  their 
instructive  reply : — 

"  DASHWOOD  HOUSE,  9,  NEW  BROAD  STREET, 
"  LONDON,    1885. 

"  DEAR  SIR,— In  answer  to  your  favour  to  hand,  we  beg 
to  say  that  the  price  for  a  plant  of  machinery  to  treat  the 
Coffee  from  500  to  1,000  acres  would  be  as  follows,  and 
consisting  of — 


184          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

4  Pulpers,  B  size, 

i  Horizontal  Washer, 

i  Double  Peeling  Mill,  9  ft.  and  io-|  ft.  diameter, 

i  Fan, 

i  Combined  Separator, 

3  Elevators,  and  Shafting,  Gearing  and  Belting  to  connect 

to  motive  power, 
i  Overshot  Water  Wheel  capable  of  giving  motion  to  the 

above  machinery,  say  18  ft.  diameter. 

The  whole  packed  and  delivered  to  ship  in  London,  say 
£610.  If  a  steam  engine  and  boiler  were  substituted  for  the 
water  wheel  the  cost  would  be  some  £6go. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  GORDON  &  Co." 

It  need  hardly  be  said  good  work  can  be  done 
with  a  much  more  moderate  outfit. 


CHAPTER     XVII. 

CATTLE     AND     FODDER. 

A  HERD  of  some  sort  is  amongst  essential 
requisites  on  every  estate.  Good,  strong  buffaloes 
are  one  of  the  most  valuable  forms  of  "  power" 
at  command,  and  if  not  quite  so  cheap  and 
effective  as  water,  are  always  to  hand,  which  is 
more  than  can  be  said  of  the  other  motive  power. 

For  turning  pulping  machinery,  and  all  the 
varied  work  of  the  curing  sheds,  for  stamping 
clay  for  bricks,  for  drawing  water,  for  dragging 
light  carts  over  estate  roads,  or  fetching  stores 
and  materials  from  the  head  of  the  ghaut,  the 
common  Indian  beast  of  burden  is  unrivalled. 

But  cattle  have  another  almost  more  important 
class  of  duty,  and  this  is  manufacturing  manure 
for  the  clearings — cattle  shed  litter,  when  properly 
saved  and  judiciously  applied,  being  as  good  a 
manure  under  the  Equator  for  all  kinds  of  plant 
life  as  it  is  recognised  to  be  in  Europe.  It  is  a 
pity,  then,  that  these  invaluable  auxiliaries  of  the 
planter  are  not  more  carefully  bred  and  looked 
after  than  is  usually  the  case.  In  Travancore 
at  least  the  cattle  on  the  estates  seemed  to  me  of 
poor  breeds.  The  monsoon  is  too  severe  for  them 


1 86       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

to  thrive,  and  only  West  coast  cattle  or  cross- 
breeds stand  the  heavy  rains;  indeed,  cattle  there 
did  not  increase,  the  births  not  even  keeping  up 
with  deaths,  and  only  by  frequent  purchases  could 
herds  be  kept  up  to  their  full  strength.  Some 
estates  were  trying  pigs  and  various  live  stock. 
For  manure  there  is  little  doubt  these  animals 
are  almost  as  good  as  cattle. 

One  authority  of  weight  (Mr.  Robertson,  Com- 
missioner, Central  Division)  says  on  this  subject : — 

"  As  regards  cattle  and  horses,  nothing  whatever  has  been 
done  to  improve  the  breed  of  cattle,  and  but  little  to  improve 
the  breed  of  horses  by  two  or  three  Government  stallions  being 
kept  in  each  Collectorate.  The  fact  is,  the  people  have  no 
good  bulls,  no  good  rams,  no  good  horse  or  donkey  stallions. 
Whenever  an  animal  is  ready  for  the  male  it  finds  a  mate 
anywhere  in  the  fields — perhaps  the  bull  or  stallion  thus 
used  may  be  a  perfectly  useless  brute ;  the  result  is  that 
both  horses  and  cattle  are  everywhere  very  poor  indeed. 
It  would  be  well  if  in  each  taluka  of  a  Collectorate  three 
or  four  good  bulls  were  kept,  a  very  small  fee  being  charged 
for  their  services.  I  hold  that  there  never  can  be  any  real 
and  permanent  improvement  in  cattle  or  horses  till  we  go 
to  the  root  of  the  evil,  and  take  steps  to  stop  the  keeping 
of  useless  bulls  and  stallions." 

But  Mr.  Toynbee  takes  another  view  in  his 
Report  to  the  Famine  Commissioners  (1884), 
remarking  :— 

"  Ordinary  cattle  of  the  country  are  admirably  adapted 
by  nature  to  its  wants,  and  a  sufficient "  supply  of  food  is  all 
that  is  required  to  enable  them  to  do  the  work  required  of 
them  and  to  prevent  their  deterioration.  If  larger  cattle 


CATTLE    AND    FODDER.  1 87 

were  successfully  bred  they  would  die  of  starvation,  and 
would  be  no  more  useful,  even  if  they  lived,  than  the  cattle 
of  the  country." 

In  some  districts,  of  course,  there  are  good 
herds,  and  sufficient,  but  I  cannot  believe  that, 
taking  India  as  a  whole,  there  is  not  room  for 
improvement  in  the  gaunt,  mongrel,  and  very 
"  lean  kine "  who  drag  the  ryots'  wooden  plough, 
and  meander  down  the  dusty  white  roads  alongside 
the  shaft  of  his  bandy.  A  little  "  breeding"  would 
seem  to  be  usually  as  satisfactory  in  cattle  as  in 
higher  ranks  of  animal  life. 

For  the  accommodation  of  estate  herds  sheds 
are  requisite.  Two  great  essentials  should  be 
observed  in  the  construction  of  these.  Firstly, 
the  securing  of  the  animals'  health  by  cleanliness, 
warmth,  and  ventilation  ;  and,  secondly,  the  saving 
of  the  litter  and  droppings,  which  are  removed 
not  less  often  than  once  in  twenty-four  hours. 

As  a  rule  bullocks  in  India  are  housed  without 
litter,  although  in  some  villages  it  is  the  practice 
to  litter  them  in  the  cold  weather  with  grass  or 
refuse  straw,  which  collects  liquid  as  well  as  all 
their  solid  excrements.  The  native  objection  to 
the  practice  in  the  rains  is  that,  even  where  litter 
is  available,  it  brings  in  snakes  and  insects,  and  is, 
on  account  of  the  fermentation  and  heat  induced 
by  the  climate,  injurious  to  the  feet  as  well  as  to 
the  general  health  of  cattle.  But  the  greatest 
objection  of  all  is  the  absence  of  available  straw 


1 88         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

or  grass,  the  whole  of  which  is  used  either  as 
fodder  or  as  fuel.  This  latter  does  not  apply  to 
many  districts. 

The  plan  of  letting  straw  and  cow -dung 
accumulate  under  foot  for  days  or  weeks,  and 
then  liberating  vast  bodies  of  gases  by  its 
removal,  though  it  may  secure  reasonably  good 
manure,  cannot  but  be  hurtful  to  the  unfortunate 
cattle,  and  is  not  to  be  recommended  in  a  tropical 
climate. 

The  opinion  of  Mr.  Robertson,  of  the  Sydapet 
Farm,  Madras,  whom  we  have  quoted  before, 
differs  from  ours  here ;  he  says : — 

"Our  manure  is  made  in  cattle-boxes  under  cover, 
protected  alike  from  sun  and  rain.  It  consists  of  straw 
used  in  bedding,  and  the  excrementitious  matters  of  the 
cattle,  which  being  allowed  to  accumulate  in  the  boxes 
during  two  or  three  months,  layer  by  layer,  and  being  con- 
stantly subjected  to  the  pressure  of  the  animals'  feet, 
becomes  a  rich  homogeneous  mass  of  a  dark  brown  colour, 
fitted  at  once  for  use,  without  undergoing  any  preparatory 
process. 

"  We  find  that  in  an  average  year  we  obtain  twenty 
cartloads  of  this  manure  for  each  working  bullock  housed 
in  these  boxes  ;  and  this  is  only  the  manure  made  at  night 
and  during  the  day  when  the  cattle  are  not  engaged  in 
field  labour.  Thus,  for  every  pair  of  working  cattle  we  employ 
we  can  calculate  on  obtaining  forty  cartloads  per  annum  of  farm- 
yard manure,  or,  as  it  should  more  strictly  be  called,  box 
manure. 

"  We  now  use  this  manure  direct  from  the  cattle-boxes  ; 
formerly  I  had  it  carefully  stacked  in  pits  in  the  different 
places  in  which  it  would  be  needed,  but  I  was  obliged  to 
give  this  up,  as  the  manure  in  a  dry  season  suffered  so 


CATTLE    AND    FODDER.  1 89 

much,  not  perhaps  by  any  diminution  in  its  fertilizing 
ingredients  but  in  its  physical  properties,  for  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  beneficial  results  attending  the  use 
of  farmyard  manure  are  due  to  no  inconsiderable  extent 
to  its  physical  action  on  the  soil,  as  well  as  to  its  power 
of  yielding  to  the  soil  the  exact  chemical  food  needed  for 
the  production  of  crops." 

A  plan  very  popular  in  Ceylon,  where  the  art  of 
keeping  and  utilizing  is  better  understood  than  else- 
where, is  as  follows :  The  byres — much  the  same 
as  the  cattle  sheds  of  an  ordinary  English  home- 
stead, but  constructed  of  wattle  and  daub,  or  better 
still,  all  chunum — faced  stone,  placed  on  somewhat 
elevated  ground,  away  from  dwelling  places  of 
natives  and  Englishmen,  but  centrally  situated  in 
order  to  facilitate  the  distribution  of  manure,  are 
built  in  parallelograms,  each  shed  being  sufficiently 
broad  to  contain  a  double  row  of  animals  against 
the  walls,  the  floors  being  slightly  sloped  towards 
the  centre  of  the  building,  where  a  channel  of 
tiles  or  iron  spouting  runs  its  whole  length.  At 
the  far  end  is  the  muck  yard,  into  which  the  waste 
material  is  raked  through  folding  doors  every 
day,  the  moisture  from  the  sheds  coming  to  the 
same  place,  and  pigs  being  kept  within  the  en- 
closure, whose  sharp  feet  assist  the  process  of 
decomposition,  and  reduce  the  mass  to  a  close, 
dark-coloured  and  friable  condition.  Occasionally 
this  cattle-shed  manure,  second  to  none  in  value 
and  usefulness,  is  stored  in  pits  filled  in  succes- 
sion, those  that  have  stood  longest  being  the  first 


i go       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

carted  away  to  the  clearings  or  central  depot 
heap.  This  is  a  very  good  arrangement,  and  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  its  more  liquid 
part  lies  the  best  fertilizing  portions  of  cattle 
shed  litter.  These  should  be  saved  from  drain- 
ing away,  and  the  muck  generally  kept  as  close 
and  compact  as  possible. 

Sometimes  native  cows  are  shedded  at  night 
with  the  estate  herd,  the  villagers,  if  there  are 
any  in  the  neighbourhood,  being  very  ready  thus 
to  house  their  animals  upon  receiving  a  small  pay- 
ment, and  two  purposes  are  accomplished  thereby. 
In  the  first  place,  a  great  addition  is  made  to 
the  nightly  outturn  of  manure  ;  and  in  the  second, 
the  overseer  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
the  coolies'  kine  are  under  lock  and  key,  not 
straying  amongst  his  Coffee  or  nurseries — a  thing 
that  is  only  too  likely  to  happen  otherwise.  These 
stallers  will  want  feeding.  In  the  daytime,  those 
that  are  not  employed  upon  useful  work  go  to 
open  hillsides  under  charge  of  a  cow-boy,  or  even 
cow- woman,  there  enjoying  themselves  amongst  the 
lemon  grass  and  short  brushwood.  But  artificially- 
cultivated  fodder  has  to  be  provided  in  every  case 
for  stall  feeding,  and  according  to  the  number  of 
head  kept. 

Guinea  grass  is  one  of  the  best  green  food 
plants.  When  the  grass  is  established,  it  needs 
no  more  attention,  but  in  a  good  situation  affords  a 
continual  cut  of  hay  for  cattle,  without  any  trouble 


CATTLE    AND    FODDER.  IQI 

expended  in  return.  In  forming  a  field,  the  only 
thing  necessary  is  to  secure  a  wet  week  or  ten 
days  for  the  operation,  which  is  briefly  as  follows : 
— The  roots  of  the  grass  from  some  old-established 
estate  having  been  brought  into  the  clearing,  pre- 
viously freed  from  weeds,  stones,  and  branches,  so 
far  as  may  be,  are  torn  into  bunches,  each  of 
which  should  have  about  twelve  stems.  Coolies, 
armed  with  mamoties,  then  dig  or  scrape  little 
holes  in  the  ground,  as  much  as  possible  in  lines, 
and  about  eighteen  inches  apart.  In  these  the 
second  line  of  coolies,  usually  women  or  boys, 
place  the  roots,  but  instead  of  planting  them 
upright,  divide  each  bunch,  and,  when  inserting 
them  in  the  holes,  bend  half  the  stems  one  way 
and  half  the  other — an  arrangement  which  is  sup- 
posed to  make  the  plant  spread  more  and  cover 
the  ground.  In  this  way,  when  the  field  is  com- 
pletely covered,  all  care  is  over,  for  if  the  rain 
continues  for  a  few  days  after  the  planting,  the 
roots  will  strike,  and  the  young  shoots,  coming  up 
strong  and  thick,  will  cloak  the  rugged  "  clearing" 
with  a  deep  green  carpet,  which  in  a  wet  season 
will  in  three  or  four  months  be  tall  enough  to 
hide  a  man.  It  is  not,  however,  allowed  to  reach 
that  height,  but  is  cut  with  a  sickle  when  about 
eighteen  inches  high. 

In  a  recent  report  Mr.  Robertson  said  the  area 
of  land  under  this  valuable  fodder  plant  has  been 
considerably  extended,  and  the  better  he  became 


IQ2          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

acquainted  with  the  grass  the  more  he  valued  it. 
He  had  very  fine  crops  which  had  never  been  irri- 
gated, and  some  of  the  best  results  he  obtained  in 
fattening  stock  were  obtained  with  guinea  grass. 
The  fodder  can  be  used  for  all  kinds  of  beasts;  it 
seems  to  disturb  the  digestive  organs  of  some 
animals,  but  this  is  only  temporary.  I  have  fed 
cattle  and  sheep  on  it  exclusively  for  months,  not  only 
without  ill  effects,  but  with  the  most  satisfactory 
results.  I  have  found  our  guinea-grass  field  a  capital 
place  in  which  to  graze  our  working  cattle  during 
the  hot  season,  and  for  the  ewes  with  young  lambs 
I  could  scarcely  desire  a  better  pasture.  It  pro- 
duces such  an  abundant  flow  of  milk  in  the  ewes 
without  (what  is  common  in  such  cases)  disturbing 
the  health  of  either  mother  or  lamb. 

"Prickly  Comfrey"  is  another  wonderfully 
prolific  green  crop.  The  Russian  variety,  on 
favourable  soil,  will  give  as  much  as  150  tons 
per  acre,  and  it  is  much  liked  by  cattle.  It 
requires,  however,  a  good,  deep  earth,  and  a 
rather  damp  location. 

With  regard  to  yellow  cholum  (sorghum  vulgare), 
this  valuable  fodder  crop  is  yet  but  little  appreciated 
by  those  who  might  benefit  most  largely  by  cultivat- 
ing it.  Most  of  the  live  stock  on  the  Sydapet  farms 
are  fed  on  cholum  fodder  throughout  a  greater  part 
of  the  year.  It  is  chiefly  a  lowland  cultivation, 
but  as  it  produces,  under  favourable  circumstances, 
as  much  as  nineteen  tons  per  acre,  it  is  worth  a  trial 


CATTLE    AND    FODDER.  1 93 

wherever   there   is   spare   land    of  moderate    depth 
and  goodness. 

Chinese  sugar-cane,  which  was  introduced  from 
Sydney  in  the  early  part  of  1870,  had  established 
itself  as  one  of  the  regular  cold-weather  crops. 

"  Cumbo  '  is  a  plant  chiefly  serviceable  for 
supplying  good  fodder  during  the  hot  months  of 
May,  June,  and  July.  Horse  grain  and  "  paddy" 
are  also  grown  for  the  estate  live  stock. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  according  to 
a  principle  well  understood  among  British  farmers, 
since  the  value  of  bullock-dung  as  a  manure 
depends  on  the  quality  of  the  food  given  to  the 
cattle,  and  the  latter  is  in  India  usually  of  poor 
character,  consisting  as  it  does  merely  of  chopped 
straw,  it  follows  that  the  value  of  the  muck-heap 
manure  is  very  much  less  than  that  of  the  same 
weight  of  farmyard  muck  in  Europe.  The  chief 
exception  to  the  rule  is  in  cotton-growing  tracts 
where  much  cotton  seed  is  utilised  as  cattle  food, 
and  cotton  seed  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
manure  producers  which  exists. 

All  estate  herds,  then,  should  be  well  fed  not 
only  with  nutritious  green  crops,  but  with  good 
oil  cake,  grain,  &c.  Fat  cattle  on  an  estate  speak 
well  for  its  future  crops. 


IQ4         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

MANURES     AND      MANURING. 

FOR  new  estates  neither  manure  nor  manurings 
ought  to  be  necessary  for  some  time,  since  the 
soil  should  be  so  deep  and  rich  in  virgin  fertility 
that  the,  plants  will  grow  and  thrive  without 
artificial  stimulation.  It  is  when  estates  are  being 
drawn  upon  heavily,  or  past  their  prime,  say  from 
ten  to  twenty  years  old,  according  to  soil,  their 
resources  begin  to  fail,  and  have  to  be  made  good 
by  imported  materials.  Besides  this  exhaustion 
from  simple  usage,  there  is  the  other  one  wherein 
a  condition  of  practical  barrenness  is  produced  by 
removal  of  fine  top  soil,  following  upon  "wash" 
caused  by  the  exterminating  of  trees  and  under- 
growth over  hill  ranges,  as  previously  mentioned. 
To  prevent  "wash"  (the  most  rudimentary 
process  in  preserving  a  garden  in  a  state  of 
productiveness),  we  have  one  system  of  drainage 
with  frequent  channels,  run — slightly  downwards — 
across  the  face  of  the  slopes  and  into  the  nearest 
watercourse.  These  preserve  our  top  soil,  and 
save  any  manure  we  may  put  on  from  being 
swept  away.  There  is  another  kind  of  drain 
sometimes  useful  in  drawing  water  from  hollow 


MANURES     AND     MANURING.  IQ5 

and  swamps.  If  land  would  need  draining  for 
any  ordinary  cereal  crop,  it  must  undoubtedly  be 
drained  for  Coffee.  "  Wet  feet "  is  an  ailment 
the  latter  plant  is  especially  sensitive  to.  All 
"sour"  land  must  be  thoroughly  reclaimed,  and 
if  that  is  not  possible  except  at  great  expense, 
then  the  next  best  thing  is  to  abandon  it. 

This,  however,  is  not  a  matter  that  need  cause 
much  uneasiness,  as  very  little  Coffee  soil  in 
India  or  Ceylon  suffers  from  stagnant  water.  Such 
spots  of  course  there  are  upon  every  garden,  but 
they  are  usually  abandoned  to  nature,  who  rears 
crops  of  her  own  sowing  upon  them. 

Serving  the  same  purpose  of  conserving  soil 
is  the  system  by  which  water  holes,  previously 
mentioned,  are  dotted  over  the  clearings.  "  These," 
we  are  told,  "were  first  introduced  as  holes  intended 
to  be  filled  with  manure.  The  article,  however, 
running  short  the  holes  remained  open,  and  it 
was  found  after,  some  time  that  the  tree  took  a 
fresh  start  of  growth,  partly,  perhaps,  caused  by 
the  temporary  exposure  of  the  roots  to  the  sun 
and  air,  and  partly  by  the  loose  earth  that 
gradually  dribbled  into  the  hole  again,  together 
with  whatever  accumulations  of  leaves,  timber  and 
other  decayed  vegetable  matter  lay  about  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground  near.  It  has  since  become 
a  system  to  make  water  holes  between  every  four 
trees,  or  between  every  eight  or  twelve  trees. 
These  are  generally  made  about  2  feet  square 


196       COFFEE  :    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

by  i  foot  deep,  or  20  inches  square  by  18, 
according  to  taste  and  space.  If  the  object  be 
to  collect  water  and  save  wash,  the  more  holes 
the  better ;  while  if  it  be  in  a  dry  district,  and 
intended  to  catch  the  accumulated  surface  debris, 
fewer  will  do,  and  the  earth  taken  from  them 
may  with  advantage  be  thrown  back  on  to  the 
exposed  stems  of  the  bushes,  where  it  will  do 
good  service." 

Having  thus  noted  how  the  water  must  be  got 
rid  of  and  soil  protected  where  the  land  is  steep 
and  exposed  to  wear  and  tear  of  wind  and  rain 
by  trenches,  water  holes,  or  such  like  contrivances, 
we  may  turn  to  the  question  of  manuring  proper. 
This  subject  has  a  full  and  learned  literature  of  its 
own.  Nothing  but  the  popular  and  generally- 
received  results  of  much  experiment  and  expenditure 
can  be  brought  within  the  limits  of  a  few  pages. 
The  action  of  various  manures  upon  the  compli- 
cated structure  of  our  plants,  and  their  fine  chemical 
properties,  cannot  be  gone  into  in  so  practical  a 
manual  as  this.  A  mere  enumeration  of  those 
which  have  been  found  the  most  serviceable  is  all 
our  limits  will  allow.  Such  a  list  includes — 

Cattle  manure. 
Other  animal  manures. 

Poonac  and  bones  (in  proportion  of  two  to  one 
in  weight). 

Bones  and  guano. 


MANURES    AND    MANURING-  IQ7 

Coffee  pulp. 

Pulp  and  lime. 

Cattle  manure  and  pulp.  ' 

Bones  and  pulp. 

Bones,  pulp,  and  guano. 

Sombreorum  (a  concentrated  artificial  manure). 

Fish. 

Ashes. 

Animal  charcoal. 

Phosphoric  potash. 

Sal-ammoniac  and  poonac. 

Sulphate  of  ammonia. 

Dissolved  bones  and  swamp  soil. 

Compost  of  cattle  manure,  bones,  pulp,  Coffee 
husk,  and  mana  grass. 

Compost  of  vegetable  matter  saturated  with 
diluted  sulphate  of  ammonia. 

Compost  of  poonac  (i  cwt.),  bone  dust  (J  cwt), 
Bolivian  guano  (J  cwt.) 

Compost  of  pulp,  lime,  and  mud  and  manure 
from  drains. 

Compost  of  poonac  (five-eighths),  bones  (two- 
eighths),  guano  (one-eighth). 

These  are  some,  but  by  no  means  all,  of  the 
manures  that  have  been  tried  and  have  found 
patrons  amongst  managers,  the  planters  of  Ceylon 


198      COFFEE  :    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

being  especially  energetic  in  their  researches  for 
new  fertilizing  compounds  and  composts,  a  result 
no  doubt  due  to  the  demand  which  their  somewhat 
overworked  soil  has  made,  since  1867,  upon  their 
ingenuity. 

A  report  by  a  Committee  of  the  Ceylon  Planters' 
Association  (though  the  report  is  by  this  time  far 
down  on  the  Association's  file  of  memorandum) 
gives  some  sensible  advice  on  general  application 
of  all  such  manures,  and  so  tersely  it  is  difficult 
to  put  it  in  better  language  than  the  originals. 

"  The  best  mode  of  application,"  we  read, 
"  seems  to  be  to  place  the  bulky  manures  in  holes 
from,  say,  ij  feet  square,  and  in  depth  from  6  inches 
to  1 8  inches,  and  6  to  18  inches  from  the  stem  of 
the  tree ;  the  artificial  manures  being  placed  in 
smaller  holes  of  less  depth.  On  some  estates  the 
plan  seems  to  have  succeeded  of  placing  a  large 
quantity  of  pulp  (five  baskets)  in  holes  cut  in  a 
space  between  every  four  trees,  at  a  cost  of  £g  per 
acre."  The  quantities  of  the  several  manures  used 
are  as  follows  : — 

"  Phosphoric  potash,  |-  Ib.  to  tree  ;  bonedust  and  poonac, 
|  Ib.  to  i£  Ib.  per  tree ;  cattle  dung,  i  basketful  to  3  baskets 
(30  Ib.);  sombreorum,  4  to  7  oz. ;  bones,  f  Ib.  to  i  Ib. 

Composts: — Pulp,  lime,    and   ravine    soil,   i.    ^    Ib.  lime, 

i  bushel  pulp. 

Do.  i  bushel  ravine  soil. 

Do.  Dissolved  bones  i  Ib.,  and  swamp  soil  i  basket. 

Do.  Bolivian  guano,  £  Ib.  ;  Peruvian,  £  Ib. ;  and 

bones,  ^  Ib. 
Do.  Cattle  manure,  i  basket ;  guano,  3  oz." 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  IQQ 

Of  other  manures  the  cost,  as  can  be  gathered 
from  the  reports,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Artificial  manures,  £6  2s.  per  acre ;  bones  and  poonac, 
£5  105.  to  £8  per  acre ;  sombreorum,  £3  to  £6  los.  per  acre  ; 
bonedust  and  ashes,  £10  to  £12  per  acre;  poonac,  bonedust, 
and  Bolivian  guano,  £7  2s.  per  acre  ;  poonac,  bonedust,  and 
good  guano,  £6  155.  3^.  per  acre ;  pulp,  £i  i6s.  6d.  to 
£2  i  os.  per  acre." 

Of  the  relative  effects  of  the  manures,  the  fol- 
lowing seems  to  be  the  result  deducible  from  the 
majority  of  these  enquiries  : — 

"  That  cattle  manure  is  par  excellence  the  best  and  most 
lasting,  the  effects  remaining  over  two  to  three  years.  Next 
in  order  come  bones  and  poonac,  which  are  held  to  be  good 
from  one  to  two  years.  Guano  alone  is  considered  too  stimu- 
lating and  not  lasting,  but  in  mixtures  (in  small  quantities) 
with  bones  and  poonac  seems  to  have  a  very  beneficial  effect. 
Several  of  the  writers  speak  very  favourably  of  the  application 
of  pulp." 

The  Sub-Committee  make  the  following  sugges- 
tions with  regard  to  mode  and  time  of  application 
of  manure : — 

"  First,  that  all  lands  except  such  as  have  little  or  no  slope 
should,  in  the  first  instance,  be  carefully  drained  ;  that  bulky 
manures  should  be  placed  in  holes  of  not  less  size  than  2  feet 
by  i  foot,  and  not  exceeding  i  foot  in  depth,  and  at  a  distance 
of  from  9  to  1 8  inches  from  the  stem  of  the  tree.  That  artificial 
manures  should  be  in  semicircular  holes  above  the  tree,  and  of 
smaller  size." 

The  Committee's  advice  is  excellent,  but  it 
may  be  noted  the  price  of  artificial  manures  has 
cheapened  somewhat  of  late,  as  the  means  of  getting 


200 


COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


them  up  country  have  been  greatly  improved  by 
new  lines  of  railway,  new  roads,  bridges,  &c. 

Planters  also  at  the  present  time  make  (with 
good  reason)  their  pits  for  bulky  manures  between 
the  Coffee  trees  larger  than  formerly,  and  artificial 
manures  are  not  put  into  small  holes  in  their 
natural  strength  to  scorch  all  rootlets  they  come 
in  contact  with,  but  are  mixed  largely  with  jungle 
soil  and  spread  round  the  stems  in  shallow  "pans  " 
— i.e.,  light  depressions  in  the  ground — afterwards 
covered  over  with  a  little  earth. 

In  applying  farmyard  manure,  care  should  be 
taken  to  see  it  is  covered  up  completely  in  the  holes 
about  the  trees.  The  liquid  portion  is  rather  more 
valuable  than  the  bulky,  as  the  following  analysis 
shows. 

The  approximate  composition  of  urine  and 
dung  of  well-fed  cattle  is  as  follows : — 


Water 

(a)  Organic  matter,  urea,  uric  acid,  &c. 

(b)  Inorganic  matter,   salts  of   potash, 

soda,  &c 

Total          

(a)  Containing  nitrogen  capable  of  yield- 

ing ammonia          

(b)  Containing  phosphoric  acid 


Urine. 


920 
60 

20 


I,OOO 


Q.OO 
.70 


Dung. 


840 
135 

25 


1,000 


3.60 
2.25 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  2OI 

It  will  be  seen,  as  noted  before,  which  is  the 
most  valuable  fertilizing  agent,  and  that  cattle 
yard  "  muck "  suffers  a  serious  loss  from  urine 
being  allowed  to  run  to  waste.  Much  loss  there 
is  also  caused  in  India  by  the  solid  excrements 
being  used  as  a  fuel  for  the  whole  of  the  organic 
matter,  which  constitutes  at  least  85  per  cent,  of 
dry  dung,  and  which  contains,  amongst  other 
valuable  plant  food,  a  large  per-centage  of  nitrogen, 
the  most  costly  and  most  difficult  to  replace  of  all 
these  foods,  is  then  dissipated  into  air  and  lost. 
Nor  is  any  economy  secured  by  using  cow-dung  for 
fuel,  since  the  selling  price  of  a  ton  of  dry  dung 
is,  in  most  instances,  in  excess  of  the  selling  price 
of  firewood,  and,  at  the  least,  double  the  price  at 
which  firewood  could  be  produced  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  towns,  and  on  the  holdings  of  ryots 
for  their  household  use. 

"  In  Hindoostan  the  dung-heap  is  never  under  cover,  and  is 
exposed  to  heat,  wind,  and  rain.  The  consequence  is  that 
all  gaseous  ammonia  is  expelled  by  the  solar  heat,  and  dis- 
persed by  the  wind  ;  the  rain  washes  out  all  soluble  fertilizing 
matters  from  the  dung-heap,  and  that  which  remains  is  the 
solid  and  least  valuable  part  of  the  manure,  being  composed 
of  the  undigested  fibres  of  the  hay  and  grass  consumed  by  the 
animal  as  food.  This  shows  how  necessary  it  is  to  make  and 
preserve  manure  under  cover." — J.  F.  Pogson. 

As  litter  for  cattle,  perhaps,  the  common  bracken 
would  be  better  in  some  cases  than  hill  grasses,  or 
general  vegetable  refuse. 


202 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


This  fern  (Pteris  Aguilina),  generally  known  as 
the  bracken,  is  found  abundantly  in  many  parts  of 
the  higher  hill  ranges  of  the  Madras  Presidency. 
It  is  used  as  a  litter  for  cattle  stalls  very  largely 
by  Coffee  planters  resident  on  the  Neilgherries, 
in  Wynaad  and  in  Coorg.  For  this  purpose  it  is 
well  suited  when  the  straw  of  cereals  is  costly  and 
difficult  to  obtain.  Used  in  cattle  boxes,  the  fern 


•  Bracken. 

Wheat  Straw. 

Per  cent,  of  ash 

7.01 

4-95 

COMPOSITION   OF  THE  ASH. 

Potash  

42.8 

tt-5 

Soda     

4-5 

2.9 

Magnesia         

7-7 

2.6 

Lime     

14.0 

6.2 

Phosphoric  acid 

9-7 

5-4 

Sulphuric  acid 

5-1 

2.9 

Silica    

6.0 

68.3 

Chlorine 

10.2 

— 

Total  

IOO. 

99.8 

rots  more  readily  than  in  ordinary  byres  ;  it  is  used 
chiefly  in  the  large  open  u crawls"  in  which  buf- 
faloes and  hill  cattle  are  confined  at  night.  These 
"  crawls  "  are  kept  liberally  bedded  with  ferns, 
grass,  &c.,  which,  under  the  treading  of  the  cattle 
at  night,  aided  by  rain,  become  broken  up  and 
worked  into  a  black-coloured  mass.  This  is  a 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  2O3 

convenient  and  expeditious  way  of  converting  ferns 
into  a  form  convenient  for  manuring. 

The  preceding  table  gives  an  analysis  of  the 
composition  of  the  ash  of  the  bracken,  compared 
with  an  average  analysis  of  wheat  straw. 

It  will  be  observed,  in  comparing  these  analyses, 
that  not  only  does  the  fern  yield  a  much  larger 
quantity  of  ash  than  wheat  straw,  but  that  more 
than  one-half  of  this  ash  consists  of  the  highly- 
valuable  fertilizing  substances  phosphoric  acid  and 
potash — both  so  essential  in  a  soil  on  which  Coffee 
trees  are  growing. 

Cattle  manure  we  look  upon  as  one  of 
the  best  manures  known,  even  in  this  day  of 
scientific  research.  There  is  no  question  but  that 
it  is  bulky,  and  consequently  expensive  to  use ;  on 
some  estates,  indeed,  it  is  never  collected  for  this 
reason.  But  by  placing  your  cattle-sheds  with  fore- 
thought on  your  roads,  centrally,  and  moderately 
high  up,  so  that  the  manure  is,  if  possible,  taken 
down  to  the  Coffee,  the  fertilizer  should  be  made 
and  spread,  we  think,  at  about  Rs.  50  per  acre, 
according  to  facilities  of  grazing,  transport  of 
bedding,  carriage,  &c.,  &c.  Manuring  with  cattle- 
dung,  aided  by  bone-dust  or  artificial  manure, 
Mr.  Sabonadiere  believes,  could  be  so  managed 
that,  with  an  average  expenditure  of  £3  (Rs.  30) 
per  acre  per  annum,  "  properties  of  even  medium 
soil  might  be  kept  to  an  average  bearing  rate  of 
8  to  10  cwts.  an  acre,  which  would  fully  repay  the 


2O4         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

cost,  and  leave  a  large  profit  besides."  Sweepings 
from  stables,  roads,  bazaars,  sheepfolds,  chicken- 
runs,  should  all  find  their  way  to  the  heap  where 
"  line "  sweepings  and  night  soil  are  collected. 
This  poudrette  consists  of  village  ashes  and  the 
excrementitious  matters  collected  daily  from  the 
village  latrines.  Care  was  taken  to  have  ashes- 
thrown  over  the  mounds.  After  remaining  in 
heaps  thus  formed  for  six  or  eight  months,  the 
manure  became  thoroughly  deodorized  and  fit  for 
use.  In  this  state  coolies  make  no  objection  what- 
ever to  work  with  it ;  and  the  character  of  the 
manure  is  so  thoroughly  changed  that  few  persons 
could,  from  its  appearance,  determine  the  nature 
of  its  original  ingredient.  It  will  be  more  avail- 
able under  some  circumstances  than  others,  but 
should  never  be  neglected. 

Though  not  a  usual  source  of  manure,  bat 
guano  is  sometimes  to  be  had,  and  nothing  could 
be  better  in  its  way.  The  great  Indian  fruit  bats, 
who  sally  forth  at  sunset  in  regiments  and  bat- 
talions, spend  the  hours  of  daylight  in  clefts  in 
rocks  and  hanging  to  the  roofs  of  caverns.  The 
droppings,  accumulated  for  centuries,  below  them 
are  sometimes  two  or  three  feet  thick,  and  then  well 
worth  removing  and  using  as  an  artificial  stimulant. 

Among  other  substances  there  is  castor  oil  cake, 
especially  rich  in  nitrogen  ;  it  is,  therefore,  a 
powerful  fertilizer.  Its  action  is  slow,  but  when 
mixed  with  cattle  manure  it  becomes  a  great  deal 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  2O5 

more  active  and  more  fitted  to  meet  the  wants  of 
quick  growing  crops.  For  Coffee  and  Tea  planta- 
tions a  more  useful  auxiliary  manure  can  scarcely 
be  obtained.  This  costs  about  Rs.  15 J  per  ton, 
delivered  in  Madras  or  Colombo,  and  perhaps 
200  Ibs.  per  acre  would  be  an  average  allowance. 

Cotton  seed,  which  had  been  steeped  in  urine 
or  water  to  destroy  its  vitality,  is  again  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  best  manures  we  possess,  and  is  suited 
for  any  crop  that  will  grow.  In  cotton  seed  we 
have  a  large  quantity  of  fertilizing  matter  con- 
centrated in  a  very  little  bulk.  It  is  thus  well 
suited  for  planters,  and  where,  in  order  to  reduce 
the  cost  of  transit,  it  is  necessary  to  get  a  portable 
concentrated  mamire. 

All  the  different  preparations  of  bones  are 
valuable,  whether  as  boiled  bones,  crushed  bones, 
bone  dust,  bone  black,  or  in  the  form  of  super- 
phosphate, chiefly  in  yielding  phosphate  of  lime. 
Though  in  the  raw  state  bones  yield  a  large  per- 
centage of  ammonia,  still  it  is  as  a  means  of 
adding  phosphate  of  lime  to  the  soil  they  are 
chiefly  employed,  as  it  is  phosphoric  acid  and 
phosphate  of  lime  that  all  cultivated  crops  appro- 
priate so  largely.  Bones  are  costly  in  India,  but 
there  seems  little  probability  of  their  becoming 
cheaper,  as  their  use  is  becoming  much  more 
general,  especially  amongst  Tea  and  Coffee  planters 
on  the  hills.  "  Our  only  hope  of  obtaining  phos- 
phatic  materials  at  a  fair  price,"  observe  the 


2O6         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Famine  Commissioners,  u  is  in  the  discovery  of 
phosphatic  rocks,  or  coprolites,  in  accessible  parts 
of  each  agricultural  district." 

Sawdust  is  said  to  have  a  wonderful  effect  on 
garden  crops,  and  experiments  might  be  made  on 
a  few  bushes  with  some  from  the  nearest  sawpit. 
Wood  ashes  are  rich  in  potash  and  phosphoric 
acid.  The  prunings  of  the  bushes  with  the  lighter 
weeds  buried  in  trenches  between  the  rows  tend 
also  to  keep  up  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  as  do 
the  leaves  falling  from  shade  trees,  and  the  annual 
clearings  out  of  drains,  water  holes,  &c. 

Lime,  though  not  strictly  speaking  a  manure, 
is  of  the  utmost  value  in  many  soils.  We  obtain 
this  in  the  form  of  burnt  shells,  marine  and  fresh 
water,  such  as  are  used  for  preparing  shell  chunam. 
They  yield  an  almost  pure  carbonate  of  lime,  con- 
taining an  exceedingly  small  quantity  of  impurities. 
After  being  slacked  it  forms  a  light  powder,  which 
can  with  great  facility  be  used  on  the  land  ;  or  if 
an  estate  is  deficient  in  this  generally  abundant 
element,  it  is  replaced  in  the  form  of  gypsum,  or 
native  lime  stone. 

Professor  E.  W.  Hilgard,  in  discussing  the 
"  Objects  and  Interpretation  of  Soil  Analyses," 
rives,  among  other  things,  the  following  advantages 
resulting  from  an  adequate  supply  of  this  mineral 
in  soils  : — i.  A  more  rapid  transformation  of  vege- 
table matter  into  active  humus,  which  manifests 
itself  by  a  dark  or  deep  black  tint  of  the  soil. 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  2O/ 

•2.  The  retention  of  such  humus,  against  the  oxidiz- 
ing influences  of  hot  climates.  3.  Whether  through 
the  medium  of  this  humus,  or  in  a  more  direct 
manner,  it  renders  adequate  for  profitable  culture 
per-centages  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  so  small 
that  in  the  case  of  deficiency  or  absence  of  lime  the 
soil  is  practically  sterile.  4.  It  tends  to  secure  the 
proper  maintenance  of  the  conditions  of  nitrification, 
whereby  the  inert  nitrogen  of  the  soil  is  rendered 
available.  5.  It  exerts  a  most  important  physical 
action  on  the  flocculation,  and  therefore  on  the 
"  freeness  "  and  permeability  of  soils.  Or  if  put 
more  simply,  a  free  application  of  lime,  at  the 
rate  of  perhaps  i  Ib.  to  a  tree,  enables  plants  to 
draw  upon  all  the  resources  of  a  soil  which  other- 
wise might  be  locked  up  from  them. 

Of  Coffee  pulp  as  a  manure  we  do  not  ourselves 
think  much,  though  we  know  it  has  been  highly 
spoken  of.  No  doubt  it  should  not  be  altogether 
wasted,  but  may  well  go  to  form  the  basis  of  some 
useful  compost. 

There  is  yet  another  manure  indigenous  to 
estates  which  must  not  be  overlooked.  This  is 
inana  grass,  a  tall  species  of  its  family  growing 
luxuriantly  upon  most  hillsides  just  beyond  the 
forest  line.  It  is  cut,  brought  down,  and  the  ground 
between  the  rows  thickly  thatched  at  the  rate  of 
perhaps  a  coolie-load  to  a  bush — undoubtedly  a 
costly  work,  but  one  paying  well  on  heavy,  cold, 
clay  lands.  It  keeps  down  weeds,  is  practically  a 


208          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

cure  for  the  black  bug  blight,  and  has  a  very  favour- 
able effect  upon  some  earths,  though,  according  to 
Liebig,  in  analysis  this  grass  shows  only  in  its  ash 
3  per  cent,  of  potash  and  2  of  chloride  of  potassa 
against  8ii  of  silica.  The  effect  of  the  grass  is 
important  enough  to  justify  us  in  letting  one  of  its 
most  enthusiastic  users  speak  in  its  behalf: — 

"  Mana  grass  is  most  useful,  both  as  bedding  for  cattle  and 
a  litter  to  be  applied  on  the  surface  of  the  soil.  When  used 
for  the  former  purpose  its  chief  advantages  are  its  abundance, 
and  the  facility  with  which  it  may  be  cut  and  carried.  When 
applied  to  free  soils  that  abound  in  vegetable  matter  it  is 
scarcely  of  any  use  except  to  keep  down  weeds  or  to  kill 
running  grass ;  but  on  cold,  wet  soils  its  effect  is  almost 
magical,  exceeding  that  of  a  heavy  dose  of  cattle  manure.  I 
have  applied  it  to  a  cold,  heavy,  yellow  soil,  in  which  Coffee 
bushes  could  scarcely  exist,  and  where  their  scraggy  branches 
had  only  a  few  small  yellow  leaves  on  them,  and  the  effect  was 
most  surprising.  Not  only  were  the  trees  soon  clothed  with 
fine  dark  green  foliage,  but  even  the  soil  appeared  to  be 
changed,  and,  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  inches,  became 
friable  and  dry.  How  this  change  was  accomplished,  whether 
by  the  acids  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  the  grass,  or 
by  the  protection  afforded  to  the  soil,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say, 
but  I  can  speak  confidently  to  the  fact. 

"  Effect. — The  increase  of  crop  obtained  through  the  agency 
of  this  manure,  in  the  instance  above  alluded  to,  was  at  least 
5  cwt.  per  acre. 

"  Cost. — The  cost  of  this  method  of  manuring  is  much  less 
felt  on  a  weedy  estate  than  on  a  clean  one,  because  on  the 
former  it  almost  supersedes  the  necessity  for  weeding.  The 
principal  item  of  cost  is  the  carriage  of  the  grass.  I  have, 
therefore,  restricted  the  use  of  mana  grass  to  places  within  one 
hundred  trees  of  the  spot  where  the  grass  is  grown.  Under 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  2OQ 

this  system  the  cost  of  a  heavy  littering,  in  which  each  tree 
has  a  very  heavy  coolie-load  of  grass,  is  355.  per  acre.  One 
such  heavy  littering,  and  two  light  ones  of  about  2os.  per  acre 
each,  are  sufficient  for  a  year,  that  is,  about  755.  per  acre  per 
annum  for  weeding  and  manuring.  I  am  of  opinion  that, 
after  two  or  three  years  of  this  treatment,  the  land  would  be 
able  to  bear  several  successive  crops  without  requiring  the 
assistance  of  litter." 

A  danger  of  this  litter-manuring  is  that  of  fire. 
Burying  the  stuff  in  trenching  might  be  a  remedy, 
or  leaving  every  2Oth  to  24th  row  unlittered  would 
confine  a  chance  fire  to  a  limited  area. 

When  we  come  to  the  subject  of  artificial 
manures,  intended  to  replace  those  substances  of 
which  the  land  shall  stand  in  need,  we  come  indeed 
to  an  extensive  subject — one  upon  which  discussion 
has  raged  for  twenty  years  and  is  still  raging.  The 
chief  elements  required  by  all  crops  are  phosphoric 
acid,  potash,  magnesia,  and  nitrogen  :  the  latter 
either  in  the  form  of  nitric  acid,  as  it  exists  in 
nitrates  of  soda  and  potash,  or  ammonia,  as  in 
sulphates  and  muriates  of  ammonia,  or  in  the  form 
of  organic  nitrogen,  as  in  bones,  blood,  and  other 
animal  refuse. 

"  What,"  we  recently  asked  of  an  Ipswich  firm 
which  supplies  concentrated  fertilizers  to  estates 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  "  is  the  form  of  fertilizer 
most  generally  appreciated  and  demanded  by  your 
clients  ?  "  Replying,  they  say  : — 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  answer  to  your  enquiries,  we  invariably 
advise  our  friends  to  purchase  superphosphate,  and  have  added 
to  it,  at  the  estate  in  India  or  elsewhere,  Bengal  saltpetre, 


2io       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

which  should  be  obtained  there  on  the  most  advantageous 
terms.  There  is  no  better  manure  for  Coffee  than  one-third  Bengal 
saltpetre  and  two-thirds  patent  superphosphate.  As,  however,  sul- 
phate of  ammonia  is  at  the  present  moment  remarkably  cheap,, 
it  might  answer  to  have  a  mixture  made  of  superphosphate, 
sulphate  of  potash,  and  sulphate  of  ammonia  in  equal  proportions. 
This  would  make  a  very  concentrated  manure,  and  would 
give  satisfactory  results.  The  prices  of  these  ingredients  are 
as  follows : — 

PER  TON. 

Patent  superphosphate,  containing  45  per  cent. 

of  phosporic  acid  at  6s.  6d.  per  unit...         ...    ^14  12     6 

Sulphate  of  potash,  90  per  cent.  ...         =    £10  10     o 

Sulphate  of  ammonia,  containing  24  per  cent. 

ammonia  ...         ...         ...         ...         =£111$     o 

"  All  manures  for  Coffee  contain,  or  should  contain,  the 
above  suggested  ingredients ;  and  the  proportion  we  recom- 
mend is  based  upon  the  constituents  of  the  plant,  and  which 
would  probably  give  the  best  result  upon  the  land." 

Artificially-prepared  manures,  it  may  be  gene- 
rally said,  are  more  stimulating  in  their  action 
than  likely  to  do  permanent  good.  They  require 
for  their  economical  application  considerable  study 
of  the  character  of  the  soil  and  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  previous  manurings  that  may  have 
been  carried  out,  "  For  pulling  a  crop  through,, 
or  putting  wood  on  trees  deficient  in  leaf,  such 
manures  as  sulphate  of  ammonia  in  small  quanti- 
ties may  sometimes  be  used  with  success,"  remarks 
Mr.  W.  D.  Bosanquet ;  and  Mr.  Henry  Tolputt, 
the  observant  manager  and  courteous  directorr 
holds  that  "  ammonia,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash 
in  some  form  or  other,  and  in  due  proportions, 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  211 

are  what  we  have  to    combine   to  form    a   perfect 


manure." 


All  patent  commercial  specialities  with  high- 
sounding  names  are  but  more  or  less  practical 
realizations  of  this.  Their  great  advantage  is  their 
compactness,  allowing  the  planter  to  order  exactly 
what  his  land  wants.  When  the  "artificial"  is 
on  the  estate  it  can  be  mixed  with  jungle  soil 
and  applied  according  to  needs. 

Of  the  manner  of  this  application  we  have 
already  said  something.  It  may  either  be  in  holes 
directly  under  the  trees,  or  in  holes  equal  distance 
between  every  four.  Ourselves  we  prefer  the  former 
plan,  though  by  the  latter  the  roots  are  less  likely 
to  be  disturbed  or  injured. 

Then  there  is  the  question  of  the  best  period 
for  putting  down  manure.  Usually  it  is  done 
before  crop  time  to  bring  on  the  fruit,  but  manure 
for  the  blossoming  season  as  well  as  for  crop  is 
really  as  much  required.  Flowering  is  an  ex- 
haustive process,  requiring  a  large  amount  of 
nourishment,  and  the  sugar  planter  is  so  well 
aware  of  this  that  he  cuts  his  canes  before  they 
blossom,  lest  the  process  should  exhaust  the  juice 
and  therefore  rob  him  of  his  labour  and  profits. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  rains  is  probably  as  good 
a  time  as  any  for  forking  or  holing  in  heavy 
stuff. 

To  sum  up.  The  planters  of  Ceylon  have  been 
thus  catechised  on  the  subject,  and  it  should  be 


212    COFFEE  I  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT, 

pointed  out,  every  answer  is  the  result  of  separate 
and  individual  experience  and  observation. 

Question    ist. — What    manure   gives   the   best    and  what  the 
worst  results  ? 

Answers: — 

1.  Cattle   manure   or  sombreorum   the    best,  cocoanut 
poonac  the  worst. 

2.  Best,    plain     bones     or     bones     and     sulphate     of 
ammonia ;    worst,  cocoanut    poonac. 

3.  Cattle  manure  and  bone  dust  or  steamed  bones  the 
best ;  blood  and  guano  the  worst. 

4.  Bone  dust    and    steamed  bones    the    best ;    castor- 
poonac  the  worst. 

5.  Bones  and  cattle  manure  the  best. 

6.  Cattle  manure,  bones  and  poonac  and  Cross'  manure. 

7.  Cattle  manure,   bones   and   wood   ashes    the    best  ; 
Peruvian  guano  the  worst. 

8.  Cattle  manure  and  bones  as  bulk  the  best. 

g.  Cattle  manure  and  bones  the  best ;  bone  meal  and 
cocoanut  poonac  next  best. 

10.  Cattle  manure  best ;  lime  worst. 

11.  Cattle  manure  the  best  ;     vegetable  stuff  and  lime 
the  worst. 

Question  2nd. — What   mode   of  application   have   you   found 
to  answer  best  ? 

Answers: — 

1.  For  artificial,  semi-circular  holes  above  tree;  bulk, 
square  holes  between  every  four  trees. 

2.  Saucer-shaped   holes   dug  with  a  fork  and  scraped 
out  with  hand. 

3.  Soluble  manure  scratched  in  on  surface ;  and  regular 
manuring  semicircular  hole  one  foot  from  tree. 

4.  Circular  holes  for  artificial,  and  square  for  bulk. 

5.  Generally  holing,  but  occasionally  digging. 

6.  Circular  holes. 


MANURES    AND    MANURING.  213 

7.  Forking. 

8.  Close  to  the  tree,  must  be  varied  in  its  application. 

9.  Holing  the  best.     Digging  gives  the  quickest  results. 
10.  Cutting  large  holes  between  four  trees. 

Question  $rd. — What  months  have  you  found  to  be  the 
best  for  the  application  of  (a)  bulky  manure,  (b)  artificial  ? 
In  answering  the  above  questions,  kindly  give  the  approximate 
cost  of  cultivation,  including  manure,  also  the  elevation  and 
exposure  of  the  fields  in  question,  as  well  as  the  age  of  the 
Coffee,  with  any  other  information,  such  as  the  weather  report 
of  the  blossom  seasons,  that  you  think  may  be  useful. 

Answers  : — 

1.  Cost  of  manure  and  application,  Rs.  45  per  acre. 

2.  August  and  September  the  best  for  artificial;  cost, 
Rs.  45  to  Rs.  50  per  acre.     Cattle  manure  applied  August 
and  September,  and  cost  Rs.  90  to  Rs.  100. 

3.  Bulky  manure,  January;  artificial,  April,  May.     Cost 
of  bulky,  Rs.  50  to  Rs.  60 ;  artificial,  Rs.  40  to  Rs.  50. 

4.  Regular  manuring  immediately  after  crop. 

5.  Cattle  manure,  January ;  artificial  manure,  April  and 
May.     Cost :  cattle  manure,   Rs.  80   per  acre ;    artificial, 
Rs.  45.      The  oldest    Coffee  is    the  best,  and  fields   with 
eastern  exposure  give   nearly  all  the  crops. 

6.  Bulk,  January  and  February,  and  prunings  buried. 
Artificial,   June    and    July.     Cost    of    cultivation,  includ- 
ing   manure    but     not     superintendence,    crop    expenses, 
Rs.  47  per  acre ;    artificial  manure,  cost    Rs.    50 ;    bulk, 
Rs.  55. 

7.  Cattle  manure,  June  to  August ;  cost  of  application, 
Rs.  25. 

8.  Early  in  season  before  end  of  April ;  cost  of  manure, 
Rs.  60  to  Rs.  70;  applied,   Rs.  12  to  Rs.  15. 

9.  Bulky  manure  as  soon  as  possible  after  blossoming 
season  ;  artificial,  April  to  August.     Cattle  manure,  cost 
applied,   Rs.   70 ;  artificial,  Rs.  48  to  50.      Total  expen- 
diture, Rs.  120  per  acre. 


214       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

10.  Early  manuring,  January  to  June  ;  cost   of  cultiva- 
tion with  cattle  manure,  Rs.  150;  artificial,  Rs.  125  ;   and 
average  cost  of  estate,   Rs.  no. 

11.  Bulky  manure,  January;  artificial,  April  and  May; 
cost  cultivation  of  fields,   Rs.  90  to  Rs.  100. 

Cattle  manure,  costing  Rs.  120  per  acre,  has 
given  4  cwt.  increase  for  3  years  ;  bone  dust, 
costing  less,  has  given  4^  cwt.  per  acre  first 
year,  and  2  cwt.  the  second  year ;  bones  and 
poonac,  at  Rs.  85  per  acre,  have  improved  crop 
to  the  extent  of  4  cwt.  for  two  years  ;  sombreorum, 
at  Rs.  50,  should  effect  an  improvement  of  3  to 
4  cwt. ;  and  animal  refuse,  line  sweepings,  &c.,  at 
Rs.  80  per  acre,  should  represent  an  increase  of 
2  to  4  cwt.  But  the  nature  of  the  original  soil 
will  always  influence  such  results.  Personally  I 
believe  in  carefully  saved  cattle-shed  stuff  twice  in 
three  years,  with  perhaps  a  little  concentrated 
artificial  manure  for  emergencies.  A  yearly  ex- 
penditure of  Rs.  30  to  Rs.  40  should  cover  this. 


215 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

COST    AND    PROFIT. 

WERE  we  to  say  at  once  that  it  is  rash  to  think 
of  embarking  in  the  Coffee-planting  enterprise 
without  at  least  ^5,000  at  command,  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  we  should  dispel  a  good  many 
pleasant  fancies,  and  cause,  perhaps,  a  consider- 
able fall  in  the  .hopes  of  the  inexperienced.  Yet 
we  doubt  if  a  smaller  figure  than  that  mentioned 
above  can  be  taken  as  safely  covering  cost  of 
land,  initial  expenses,  and  the  multitude  of  con- 
tingencies arising  during  the  long  period  of  waiting 
before  any  crop  is  realised. 

Under  separate  chapters  we  have  suggested 
these  various  costs  arising  from  different  works  ;  it 
may  be  as  well  to  bring  these  together,  in  yearly 
headings,  and  thus  see  how  much  we  shall  be 
out  of  pocket  before  we  receive  from  our  lowland 
brokers  that  delightful  and  ever-memorable  "first 
cheque  "  for  a  maiden  crop. 

To  begin  with,  however,  we  must  say  that  the 
price  of  land  varies  so  much  and  so  recklessly, 
according  to  fancy  or  fashion,  not  only  in  Ceylon, 
but  in  other  countries  where  speculation  should  be 
less  rife,  that  it  is  best  not  to  include  it  in  the 


216       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

estimates.  From  £2  to  £3  (Rs.  20  to  30,  how- 
ever) may  be  taken  as  a  reasonable  equivalent  of 
good  forest  land.  This  price  will  rise  to  Rs.  50, 
100,  or  even  200,  if  the  plot  is  very  conveniently 
situated  for  water,  carriage,  &c.,  or  if  there  are 
rich  and  prosperous  gardens  near  by.  From  native 
states,  again,  sometimes  it  can  be  had  at  a  sum 
which  is  merely  the  recognition  of  the  transfer  of 
rights ;  and  the  public  auctions  held  under  British 
rule  will  vary  greatly  in  their  result  according  to 
competition. 

APPROXIMATE    ESTIMATES    FOR    BRINGING    INTO     BEARING 
200  ACRES  OF  FOREST  LAND. 

First  Year. 

(100     ACRES     OPENED.)  Total    Rg 

The  land  having  been  acquired,  there  will  be, 
to  begin  with,  surveyor's  fees,  cutting 
out,  and  clearing  the  first  hundred  acres, 
@  Rs.  3  per  acre  300 

Felling  and  clearing  100  acres  by  contract  or 

otherwise,  @  Rs.  25  per  acre         ...  ..        2,500 

Cutting  pegs  for  lining  will  depend  on  number 
of  pegs  required  according  to  distance 
the  bushes  are  to  be  apart.  Say  we  need 
187,500,  this  should  be  about  14  an.  per  acre  80 

Lining,  very  variable  work  may  be  taken  at 
Rs.  3.  The  better  the  burn,  the  closer  the 
land  is  cleared,  the  lighter  this  and  all 
subsequent  works  become  ...  ...  300 


Carried  forward  Rs.  3,180 


COST    AND     PROFIT.  2IJ 

Total   Rs. 

Brought  forward 3,180 

Holing  should  be  done  well,  and  not  hurried 
or  scamped,  as  we  have  pointed  out.  In 
round  numbers,  with  1,500  holes  to  the 
acre,  the  cost  will  be  at  least  Rs.  16  per 
acre  1,600 

"  Filling  in,"  &c.,  at  Rs.  16  per  acre      600 

Planting  and  supplying  are  works  second  to 
none  in  importance  of  those  dealing  directly 
with  the  bushes.  Both  require  constant 
supervision  and  the  best  labour  on  the 
estate.  Planting  may  be  taken  at  Rs.  24  per 
acre,  and  supply,  if  the  previous  work  was 
done  well,  Rs.  3;  together  Rs.  27  per  acre  2,700 

Tools  must  not  be  overlooked.  They  should 
all  be  the  best  of  their  kind  and  English 
make.  Mamoties,  alavangas,  axes,  bill- 
hooks, pruning  knives,  water  cans,  buckets, 
spades,  &c.,  &c.,  are  amongst  the  chief 
required.  A  careful  record  should  be 
kept  of  all  issued  from  the  stores  every 
day,  or  they  will  be  hidden  and  lost  with 
inconceivable  rapidity.  There  is  constant 
work  for  one  coolie  (Sundries)  rehandling 
axes,  mamoties,  and  perhaps  for  another 
sharpening  and  grinding  . . .  300 

A  nursery  plot  of  about  an  acre  may  cost  to 
level,  clear,  plant,  and  drain  Rs.  150.  To 
this  should  be  added  the  cost  of  4  bushels 
of  seed  Coffee,  Rs.  10  per  bushel 190 

Lines  must  be  built,  and  though  any  sort  of 
miserable  shedding  is  considered  good 
enough  for  the  first  year  or  two,  we  can 


Carried  forward  Rs.  8,570 


2l8          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Total    Rs. 
Brought  forward  8,570 

see  no  valid  reason  why  these  buildings 
should  not  be  decent  and  efficient  from 
the  first.  Ten-roomed  lines — stone  pillar 
and  shingle — each  room  12  by  10,  and 
well  made,  as  previously  pointed  out,  can 
be  put  up  for  about  Rs.  550  to  700,  say...  600 

A  bungalow  for  the  Englishman  is  often  not 
built  until  the  third  year,  the  estate  in 
the  meantime  being  managed  through  a 
neighbouring  planter,  who  rides  over  to 
superintend.  But  suppose  the  owner  lives 
on  the  land  from  the  first,  then  a  very 
convenient,  if  unpretentious,  house  on 
stone  foundations  with  shingle  roof  can 
be  built  for  Rs.  1,000.  Ourselves  we 
should  be  inclined  to  add  another  thousand 
rupees,  and  make  it  very  complete,  but  we 
accept  the  lower  estimate  ...  ...  ...  1,000 

Roads  deserve  the  earliest  consideration  we  can 
give  them.  When  made  at  once,  although 
it  may  be  not  to  their  full  width,  they 
will  save  5  per  cent,  on  all  subsequent 
operations.  They  are  necessary  but  ex- 
pensive luxuries,  costing  little  under  Rs.  140 
per  mile,  and  if  miles  per  hundred  acres 
opened  is  not  too  much  210 

Draining  has  to  be  seen  to,  and  the  sooner 
the  better.  Forty  acres  of  the  steepest 
land — i.e.t  that  in  most  danger  of  loosing 
its  soil — at  Rs.  7  per  acre,  will  be 280 

Carried  forward  Rs.  10,660 


COST    AND     PROFIT. 


219 


Brought   forward 

Weeding  as  we  have  seen  is  light  for  the  first 
year.  Ten  runs  over  the  clearings  in  that 
period  will  be  sufficient,  and  these  at  R.  i 
per  acre  monthly  will  be 

Finally  there  will  be  the  salary  of  superintendent, 
Rs.  1,000  (at  least),  to  set  against  the 
estate  . ... 

And  contingencies.  These  are  apt  to  increase 
unduly.  They  may  be  said  to  include  a 
host  of  items,  such  as  Government  medical 
assessment,  taxes,  "  writer,"  if  there  is 
one,  general  transport,  loss  on  rice,  sub- 
scriptions, absenting  coolies,  &c.,  &c.  \  ... 


Total    Rs. 
10,660 


IOO 


1,000 


500 


Probable  expenditure  to  end  of  first  year      Rs.  12,260 


Second  Year. 

If  we  now  bring  under  cultivation  the  other 
"  hundred  acres,  felling  and  clearing,  pegs, 
lining,  holing,  filling  in,  planting  and  sup- 
plying, &c.,  as  previously,  if  done  in  the 
best  style,  will  be  not  much  under 

More  lines  for  coolies  will  be  required,  say 
60  x  20  

Another  i-|  miles  of  roads 

Planting  grass  for  cattle 

Drains   again   as  last   year 

Tools  to  replace  those  lost  and  broken 

Weeding  :  ist  clearing  for  12  months,  2nd  clear- 
ing for  6  months,  at  Rs.  i  per  month 

Superintendence 

Contingencies 


Total  Rs. 


7,780 

700 
210 
3OO 
280 
TOO 

1, 8OO 

1,000 

5OO 


Probable  expenditure  to  end  of  second  year  Rs.    12,670 


22O          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Third  Year.  Total   Rs. 

Much  of  the  work  is  the  same  as  previously. 

Weeding  200  acres  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...        2,400 

Upkeep  of  roads  and  drains,  at  Rs.  2       ...         ...  400 

Pruning  has  now  to  be  attended  to.  Sucker- 
ing  was  probably  commenced  with  the 
monthly  weeding  about  the  middle  of  the 
last  twelve  months,  but  was  not  heavy 
enough  to  need  special  mention.  Topping 
took  place  at  the  same  time,  and  cost  Rs.  i 
=  Rs.  200.  Pruning  and  handling,  at  Rs.  4 
per  acre  (including  the  burying  of  the 
rubbish  between  the  rows),  with  this  will 
be  1,000 

This  year  a  resident  manager  will  be  needed  on 
the  estate.  £200  (Rs.  2,000)  is  the  usual 
commencing  salary  ...  ,.»;.  '.  ...  «.  2,000 

Pulping  machinery,  pulping  house  and  stores, 
may,  as  has  been  shown,  cost  anything, 
from  Rs.  1,800  for  very  temporary  ar- 
rangements, to  Rs.  10,000,  or  even  more. 
Rs.  5,000  ought  to  set  small  estates  up 
well,  avoiding  on  the  one  hand  useless 
display  in  buildings,  and  on  the  other 
"  cutcha "  arrangements,  sure  to  end  in 
loss  and  disappointment  5>ooo 

Picking,  pulping,  and  drying,  say  400  cwt.  off 
100  acres,  viz.,  4  cwt.  at  Rs.  3,  will 
come  to  ...  1,200 


Carried  forward     Rs.    12,000 


COST    AND     PROFIT.  221 

Total    Rs. 

Brought  forward          ...         ...         ...  12,000 

Transport  to  lowlands  very  likely  8  annas  per 
bushel  on   1,900  bushels  of  "parchment" 

would  equal     ...          ...          ...          ...          ...  950 

Contingencies          ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  500 

General  transport  of  stores,  material,  &c.      ...  500 


Third  year Rs.  13,950 


Expenditure — First  year 

,,  Second  year 

,,  Third  year 

Total  expenditure  to  first  crop...         ...         ...          38,880 

Less  value  of  400  cwt.  at  703.  per  cwt.        ...          14,000 


Estate  Dr Rs.  24, 


There  are  several  items  that  have  not  been 
taken  into  consideration  here,  but  they  are  all  such 
as  can  be  reserved  for  consideration  of  a  third  and 
fourth  year.  Nothing  has  been  said  about  cattle 
sheds  or  manure  pits.  Sheds  may  be  taken  as 
costing  about  the  same  price  as  substantial  coolie 
lines  of  the  same  dimensions  if  built  as  they  ought 
to  be.  Coffee  spouting,  again,  has  not  been  men- 
tioned, as  it  is  an  " improvement"  rarely  to  be  found 
on  a  garden  during  the  first  few  years  of  its  exist- 
ence. Loss  by  exchange  (due  to  the  fact  that  the 
English  standard  is  gold,  while  that  of  India  is 
fluctuating  silver)  is  a  serious  matter,  a  loss  in  fact 


222          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

of  some  six  per  cent,  or  more  ;  and  though  the 
rupee  is  nominally  worth  2S.  sterling,  it  has  for  a 
long  time  only  represented  is.  yd.  to  is.  iod.,  is.  8d. 
being  about  the  actual  value  it  can  be  relied  upon 
as  indicating.  Nor  has  anything  been  allowed 
for  the  interest  of  the  money  invested,  while  of 
course  there  are  the  personal  expenses  to  be  added 
of  living,  clothing,  &c.  ;  and  lastly,  but  not  least, 
we  have  the  initial  cost  of  land. 

It  should  be  noted  that  in  "  the  jungles  " 
there  are  rarely  concise  and  definite  boundaries, 
consequently  more  land  is  taken  up  than  is  ever 
cultivated,  or  even  cultivatable.  Rupees  50  and 
100  are  by  no  means  rare  prices  for  land  as  we 
have  seen.  In  the  Wynaad,  little  can  be  got 
under  Rs.  30  per  acre.  But  if  we  give  as  little 
as  Rs.  5,  this  will  be  on,  perhaps,  400  acres — 
Rs.  2,000.  Very  cheap  land — and  very  incon- 
venient— with  poor  transport  facilities  and  a  scanty 
labour  market,  is  always  dear  at  any  price,  unless 
the  soil  is  so  genuinely  good  that  it  must  be  well 
and  quickly  patronized,  and  thus  civilization  over- 
take the  pioneer  in  the  midst  of  his  struggles. 
It  is  wiser  for  a  young  man  to  purchase  a  small 
holding,  one  well  covered  by  the  limits  of  his 
capital,  say  allotting  ^20  to  every  acre  he  is 
going  to  open  in  three  years,  than  to  burden 
himself  with  wide,  barren  domains,  where  his 
money  will  be  absorbed  like  water  on  the  desert 
sands,  and  with  as  little  result.  The  same  thing 


COST    AND     PROFIT.  223 

applies  to  companies,  who  are  likely  to  get  a  good 
dividend  much  sooner  and  much  more  regularly 
by  the  thorough  and  skilful  cultivation  of  a 
moderate  extent  of  well -planted  land  than  by 
rushing  recklessly  forward  presumably  with  the 
idea  that  profits  depend  on  the  "  paper "  acreage 
under  Coffee  in  their  names. 

"  Forty  times  out  of  fifty,"  an  old  planter 
says,  "the  true  reason  of  failure  and  disappointment 
in  this  branch  of  agriculture  is  due  to  more  land 
being  taken  in  hand  than  the  limits  of  available 
capital  warrant."  Borrowing  does  not  do  in  India 
or  elsewhere,  and  there  it  is  especially  ruinous 
since  money  cannot  be  got  under  9  or  10  per 
cent.  We  know  it  has  been  said  land  can  be 
brought  into  bearing  for  ^8  and  £10  an  acre. 
Undoubtedly  it  can,  in  a  manner,  but  in  a  style 
neither  cheap  nor  profitable,  and  which  means 
constant  patching  and  mending  with  means  which 
might  be  turned  to  much  better  account.  The 
Englishman  who  is  misled  by  such  statements, 
and  plunges  into  Coffee  planting  "with  <  Young 
Ceylon '  in  one  pocket  and  ^1,000  in  the  other" 
will  speedily  find  he  has  been  over-confident.  Still 
£1,000  is  a  handsome  "  nest  egg,"  and  to  the 
possessor  of  such  we  would  say,  by  advertising 
or  through  friends  get  a  berth  as  assistant  on  a 
garden  in  Southern  India,  Fiji,  or  anywhere  else, 
and  serve  three  years'  apprenticeship.  During 
those  three  years  learn  everything  you  can,  im- 


224         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

portant  or  trivial,  and  not  forgetting  the  local 
language.  By  the  end  of  that  time  you  will  be 
well  qualified  to  judge  of  whether  it  is  safe  to 
invest  your  capital  in  forest,  whether  it  would  not 
be  wiser  to  take  over  a  half-opened  garden  from 
a  discontented  neighbour,  or  to  throw  in  your  lot 
with  some  pleasant  and  clever  "  chum,"  and  make 
your  fortunes  over  a  joint  estate. 

"  The  first  year  a  learner  has  a  house  on  the  estate  but 
no  pay  ;  the  second  year  they  usually  get  Rs.  100  a-month  pay 
(profits  of  course,  too,  if  a  partner)  ;  and  after  that  Rs,  150, 
with  a  bonus  on  crop  over  a  certain  quantity.  As  far  as  my 
own  experience  goes,  it  is  easier  to  get  a  berth  whilst  still  in 
England  than  when  actually  on  the  spot.  Advertising,  as  we 
know  it  at  home,  is  unknown  abroad,  and  unless  he  has 
plenty  of  friends,  the  adventurer  who  goes  out  on  the  chance 
of  something  to  do  to  India  or  Ceylon  will  find  himself  hope- 
lessly stranded.  In  younger  countries  he  will  have  a  slightly 
better  lookout." 

Profits  are  a  vague  but  pleasant  subject,  the 
outcome  and  dependent  of  all  we  have  written. 
One  planter  appealed  to  on  this  subject  shakes 
his  head  gloomily  and  declares  there  are  none. 
Another,  with  whom  we  agree,  takes,  in  the  columns 
of  the  Field,  a  more  hopeful  view  :— 

"  People  say  Coffee  does  not  pay  to  cultivate,  and  upon 
the  face  of  it  there  is  much  in  support  of  this  contention  ; 
but  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  Coffee  has  been 
made  to  pay,  and  pay  well,  and  that  under  circumstances  as 
adverse,  or  even  more  adverse,  than  those  existing  at  the 
present  moment.  Twenty  years  ago  a  planter  considered 
himself  a  fortunate  man  if  he  got  thirty  rupees  per  cwt.  for 


COST    AND     PROFIT.  225 

his  Coffee  on  the  coast  ;  now  he  would  consider  himself  very 
unfortunate  in  having  to  accept  that  price.  Yet  to-day  the  cost 
of  labour  is  not  greater,  while  carriage  to  and  from  the  coast 
is  less.  Coffee  paid  then,  why  should  it  not  pay  now  ?  The 
answer  is  not  far  to  seek,  strange  though  at  first  sight  that 
answer  may  appear  to  be.  I  say  advisedly,  the  high  prices 
that  were  experienced  some  few  years  ago,  and  which  led  to  a 
large  area  of  land  being  planted  which  under  no  condition 
was  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of  Coffee.  Something  also 
must  be  put  down  to  reckless  expenditure — the  child  of  tem- 
porary prosperity.  But  what  about  leaf  disease  ?  I  do  not 
believe  that  to  Coffee  cultivated  under  conditions  not  inimical 
to  its  growth  it  will  do  any  material  injury,  however  fatal  it 
may  have  been  to  the  class  of  estates  referred  to  above,  and 
worn  out  properties,  of  which  there  are  many  such  in  every 
district.  As  is  the  case  in  all  epidemics,  the  aged  and  the 
infirm  are  the  sufferers.  Taking  the  most  adverse  view  of 
Coffee,  it  is  no  worse  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago,  when  it 
was  considered  a  good  investment,  while  its  prospects  in  the 
future  are  for  many  reasons  brighter.  The  low  price  of 
Coffee  in  1860  tended  to  restrict  production,  which,  reacting 
on  value,  led  to  the  high  rate  realised  in  1873.  This  stimu- 
lating production  has  brought  about  the  present  state  of  the 
Coffee  market.  As  it  has  been  in  the  past,  will  it  not  be  in 
the  future  ?  Have  we  not  evidence  of  this  already  in  Ceylon 
and  elsewhere?  Old  and  worthless  estates  are  being  aban- 
doned, while  new  plantations  are.  seldom  or  never  heard  of, 
and  this  leads  to  a  limitation  in  production,  to  be  followed 
hereafter  by  enhanced  value  of  the  article." 

Profits  depend  on  two  things  chiefly — the  selling 
price  of  clean  Coffee,  and  the  weight  yielded  per 
acre  ;  quality,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  has  not  much 
to  do  with  the  matter. 

Suppose  expenses  of  working  an  established 
garden,  including  manager  allowances,  overseers 

Q 


226          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

pay,  &c.,  are  put  at  Rs.  100  per  acre  per  annum  ; 
then  with  an  average  yield,  Coffee  at  ^94  per 
ton,  and  no  untoward  circumstances,  we  should 
be  making  something  like  15  per  cent,  on  money 
invested.  But  suppose  Coffee  went  down  to  ^64 
a  ton,  profits  would  give  way  in  proportion,  and 
if  we  had  spent  £60  per  ton,  including  all  charges, 
in  growing  the  crop  it  will  be  seen  the  margin 
would  be  decidedly  narrow.  The  planter,  like  any 
other  merchant,  desires  to  obtain  cheap  and  sell 
dear.  A  combination  of  evils  is  arrived  at  when 
there  is  over  much  clean  Coffee  in  the  markets, 
when  prices  drop  steadily,  and  added  to  this 
"  leaf  disease  '  and  other  ills  curtail  private 
production. 

1.  A   yield   under    3    cwt.    per   acre, 

2.  A    selling   price    under   £60   per   ton, 

3.  And  interest  to  pay  at  the  rate  of  10  per 

cent,  on  a  heavy  debt, 

are  the  black  clouds  of  the  planter's  sky ;  on  the 
other  side — 

1.  A  yield  over  the  average  5  cwt.  per  acre, 

2.  A  selling   price    nearer   -£80   than   ^60, 

3.  And  last,  but  not  least,  some  free  working 

capital   at   the   bankers, 

form  a  bright  look-out  on  the  horizon,  a  ready 
road  to  fortune,  and  thus  to  that  return  to  the 


COST    AND     PROFIT.  227 

native  country  which  is  the  goal  of  even  the 
most  contented  Anglo-Indian. 

Certain  estates  in  Ceylon  for  a  long  time  gave 
an  average  yield  of  gj  cwt.  a  year  at  times 
when  the  market  was  very  high.  No  wonder  the 
prosperity  of  the  island  increased  as  these  pro- 
perties and  others  like  them  drew  wealth  and 
commerce  to  her  shores. 

Very  many  estates  in  the  best  times  of  the 
enterprise  returned  regularly  30  and  46  per  cent,  on 
their  opening  costs,  and  fortunes  were  made  rapidly. 
Then  came  the  leaf  disease,  and  "  bug,"  and  now 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  planters  are 
discouraged.  It  by  no  means  follows  that  Coffee  in 
Ceylon  or  Southern  India  is  played  out.  Restricted 
planting  means  (even  in  face  of  other  producing 
countries)  a  smaller  supply  which  in  turn  leads  to 
an  enhanced  price.  Not  only  so,  but  byour  most 
recent  news  from  the  East,  the  leaf  disease  is 
showing  signs  of  decreasing  severity — passing  over 
estates  without  doing  a  fraction  of  the  damage  it 
once  did.  Everything  points  to  the  fact  that  Coffee 
will  flourish  again,  and  even  to-day,  if  we  keep  our- 
selves out  of  debt,  and  earn  by  careful  cultivation 
some  twelve  or  thirteen  per  cent,  on  the  capital 
embarked,  we  shall  have  little  cause  to  grumble, 
since  there  are  very  few  branches  of  agriculture 
which  yield  any  greater  per  centage  with  regularity. 
The  life,  too,  if  a  hard  one  at  first,  is  by  no  means 
without  its  pleasures  —  the  noble  scenery  of  the 


228          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

hills,  the  free  existence,  and  the  sense  of  honourable 
toil,  combined  with  occasional  holidays  into  the 
plains,  a  little  sport  now  and  then,  and  last  but  not 
least  (let  us  hope)  a  prospect  of  increasing  wealth, 
tend  to  elevate  it  into  the  region  of  a  very  pleasant 
labour. 


22Q 


CHAPTER    XX. 

COFFEE    COUNTRIES. 

BETWEEN  well-recognised  limits  north  and  south  of 
the  Equator  Coffee  is  found  growing,  and  bearing 
highly-profitable  crops,  in  a  wide  range  of  countries. 
To  attempt  anything  like  an  exhaustive  account 
of  these  would  be  manifestly  impossible  within  the 
range  of  a  single  chapter ;  but  a  few  facts  are 
given  which  will  at  least  give  a  good  general  idea 
of  the  individual  districts,  and  for  more  detailed 
information  the  planter  must  refer  to  local  sources 
of  information.  In 

BRITISH  INDIA, 

Coffee  is  grown  along  the  summits  and  slopes  of 
the  Western  Ghauts,  from  the  northern  limits  of 
Mysore  south  to  Cape  Comorin ;  in  Coorg,  Travan- 
core,  in  the  Wynaad,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Neil- 
gherry  Hills,  and  also  on  the  Shevaroy  Hills  and 
Pulney  Hills.  Major  Bevan  introduced  Coffee  into 
the  Wynaad  about  the  year  1822  as  a  curiosity; 
Mr.  Cannon,  somewhat  later,  formed  a  plantation 
in  Mysore ;  Mr.  Glasson,  in  1840,  started  a  planta- 
tion in  Manautoddy;  and  in  1842  it  was  growing 
well  at  Belgaum.  The  extension  since  has  been 


23O          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

great.  In  1880,  in  the  Cochin,  Travancore,  Mysore, 
and  Madras  districts,  and  at  Lohardugga  in  Bengal, 
412,947  acres  had  been  taken  up  for  Coffee,  of 
which  162,847  acres  had  mature  plants. 


JAVA   AND   SUMATRA 

Claim  our  attention  first.  Java  Coffee  sells  at  455, 
when  best  Ceylon  plantation  is  fetching  8os.,  but 
this  only  points  to  the  fact  that  much  Coffee  from 
thence  is  poorly  dried,  and  comes  over  "  country 
damaged,"  &c.  The  soil  of  the  island  is  good 
enough  to  produce  as  fine  a  sample  as  was  ever 
grown.  Land  does  not  seem  to  be  difficult  to  procure. 
Any  foreigner  residing  in  Java,  and  elsewhere  in 
Netherlands  India,  may  apply  for  and  obtain,  under 
the  same  rules  and  regulations  applicable  to  the 
Dutch  themselves,  Government  waste  lands.  They 
can  purchase  and  become  possessors  of  Government 
contracts  running  for  seventy-five  years  from  their 
original  holders.  The  size  of  most  of  these  con- 
tracts is  500  bouws — one  bouw=if  acre — and  quit 
rent  varies  from  6  dols.  to  20  dols.  per  bouw  per 
annum,  payable  on  the  sixth  year  from  time  of 
purchase,  the  average  amount  being  at  9  dols.  per 
bouw.  The  purchase  sum  for  such  contract  varies, 
but  if  the  site  and  soil  be  good,  50  dols.  per  bouw, 
roughly  speaking  ^7  per  acre,  is  not  considered  out 
of  the  way,  and  this  is  by  far  the  pleasanter  and 
more  practicable  way  of  acquiring  land  for  Coffee  or 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  23! 

Cinchona,  as  delays  in  the  instance  of  applying  to 
Government  for  waste  land  are  endless  and  very 
vexatious. 

Trees  are  planted  out  usually  7  by  8  feet  apart, 
i.e.,  780  to  the  acre.  The  "  dadap  "  is  the  favourite 
shade  tree,  while  the  planters  have  a  curious  plan  of 
letting  the  grass  grow  tall  and  strong  between  the 
rows  until  their  Coffee  is  established.  At  two  years 
old  bushes  flower  and  bear. 

The  "  voor  pluk "  begins  in  February,  the 
"  main  pluk"  in  Mayor  June.  This  is  the  "full 
pluk,"  when  the  heavy  portion  of  the  crop  is 
gathered.  The  "  after  pluk"  is  a  general  sweep  of 
fallen  seed.  Plucking  must  be  got  through  in  two 
months.  The  yield  is  an  average  of  from  three 
quarters  of  a  pound  to  one  and  a  quarter  pounds 
of  clean  Coffee  per  bush.  Much  of  the  seed  is 
"  hulled " — i.e.,  dried  as  a  cherry  on  the  drying 
grounds,  the  brittle  pulp  after  fifteen  days  or  a 
month's  exposure  being  knocked  off  in  a  special 
machine. 

The  cost  of  plucking  varies,  but  may  be  set 
down  at  2  rupees  (is.  3d.)  per  picul  of  136  Ibs.  of 
clean  Coffee.  Six  piculs  of  red  berry  equal  i  picul 
of  clean  Coffee. 

The  wages  for  cultivation  are  very  trifling.  There 
is  a  teeming  population  of  workers  in  Java,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  wages  are  almost  nominal.  The 
style  of  payment  in  vogue  in  Java  is  to  give  a  man 
a  bit  of  rice  ground,  on  which  he  grows  his  own 


232  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

food,  together  with  about  30  to  50  cents  more  or  less 
per  day.  The  plantation  hands  live  contentedly  on 
this — what  would  appear  to  us — miserable  pittance. 
Coffee,  like  every  other  product  which  is  dependent 
upon  atmospheric  phenomena  for  its  success,  varies 
in  different  seasons.  The  very  best  yield  ever 
known  in  Java  was  13  piculs  of  clean  Coffee  per 
bahoe,  or  i,7681bs.  English,  equal  to  about  867! Ibs. 
per  acre.  An  average  yield  is  from  3  to  9  piculs 
of  clean  Coffee  per  bahoe.  But  then  rises  the 
dread  form  of  the  leaf  disease,  and  by  the  latest 
accounts  this  is  showing  itself  strongly.  From  an 
authoritative  source  we  hear  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  fell  fungus  should  run  its  destructive  course, 
lava  soil  to  the  contrary,  and  now  it  seems  but  a 
question  of  time  for  Coffee  to  be  as  great  a  failure 
in  Java  as  it  has  turned  out  to  be  in  Ceylon.  The 
latest  accounts  are  most  serious,  thus  : — Batavia.— 
From  the  Director  of  Inland  Administration  infor- 
mation has  been  received  that  the  coffee-leaf  disease 
is  becoming  more  and  more  noticeable  in  East 
Java,  chiefly  in  the  provinces  of  Pasaruan,  Probo- 
linggo,  and  Bezukie,  which  hitherto  had  been 
exempt  from  this  infliction.  The  Coffee  trees  there 
abound  in  berries  everywhere,  but  owing  to  the 
disease  all  the  leaves  have  dropped  off.  In  many 
estates  the  trees  display  nothing  else  but  branches 
full  of  berries,  which  are  still  fresh-looking  and 
green,  but  have  become  partially  black  and  have 
dropped  off.  As  the  disease  shows  itself  everywhere, 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  233 

in  mid  Java  also,  where  it  is  widespread  in  the 
province  of  Bagelen,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
Coffee  yield  will  fall  off  in  consequence  more  than 
ever. 

Sumatra  is  under  the  same  rule  as  Java,  and 
shares  for  the  most  part  its  good  and  bad  charac- 
teristics, though  it  has  never  made  itself  quite 
such  a  home  of  the  shrub  as  the  delightful  and 
beautiful  sister  island.  No  other  Coffee  acquires, 
except  by  artificial  means,  the  dark  yellowish- 
brown  shade  that  marks  the  Java  and  Sumatra 
bean,  which  colour  governs,  in  a  great  measure, 
its  commercial  value.  Another  very  good  indi- 
cation of  genuineness  is  the  size  of  the  bean, 
which  is  considerably  larger  than  that  of  other 
kinds  of  Coffee,  excepting  Liberian.  There  is, 
however,  some  Coffee  produced  in  the  other 
islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  which  does 
not  differ  materially  in  size  of  bean  or  general 
appearance,  but  which,  as  a  rule,  is  inferior  in 
flavour. 

The  Java  and  Dutch  India  crops  of  1885 
are  calculated  to  be  8,000  tons  less  than  those 
produced  in  the  previous  year. 

FIJI 

"  Is  not  a  country  for  the  white  man,"  said  Sir 
Arthur  Gordon  ;  but,  as  usual,  the  white  man  is 
loath  to  admit  it,  and  the  island  is  being  slowly 


234          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

opened  by  enterprise  and  spirit  in  the  face  of 
many  difficulties. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  Fiji 
possesses  an  abundant  store — almost  limitless,  in 
fact — of  the  best  volcanic  land  for  Coffee  cultiva- 
tion, which  has  been  successfully  established,  and 
largely  increased  since  the  British  annexation  in 
1874.  The  labour  question  is  a  serious  one,  as 
it  often  is  in  new  colonies.  "  Fiji  was  taken  over 
to  try  and  preserve  the  native  races,  and  Govern- 
ment think  that  if  they  were  allowed  to  do  as 
they  liked  they  would  die  out.  Therefore  they 
are  induced  to  stay  at  home  as  much  as  possible 
and  keep  themselves  to  themselves,  to  cultivate 
Government  gardens  only  to  enable  them  to  pay 
taxes,"  says  A.  J.  S.,  writing  to  the  Ceylon  Observer. 
The  planters  in  the  new  colony  complain  of  the 
"  grandmotherly  "  care  exercised  by  the  authorities 
over  natives,  and  how  the  latter  make  planters'  lives 
a  burthen  to  them  by  continually  taking  cases  to 
court  which  in  other  countries  would  be  considered 
beneath  notice.  The  above  writer  declares  he  was 

summoned  for  calling  a  coolie  "  a  b fool,"  and, 

objectionable  as  the  language  may  have  been,  it 
illustrates  the  sort  of  "  complaints "  which  the 
natives  hatch  and  support  by  false  testimony. 

Nor  is  the  supply  of  Polynesian  labour  sufficient 
or  as  good  as  it  once  was. 

"  The  Government  in  1883  only  succeeded  in 
getting  one  vessel  to  recruit  Polynesians,  and  the 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  235 

estimated  cost  was  £16  per  head.  The  vessel 
was  unsuccessful,  the  men  have  been  given  out 
at  £30  Per  head  to  those  planters  who  cared 
about  giving  such  a  figure.  In  1878  and  1879 
men  used  to  be  £g,  including  depot  expenses. 
The  men  also  are  not  of  so  good  stamp  as  they 
once  were — mere  boys  and  old  men  are  allowed 
to  come."  This  drives  the  planters  back  upon 
Indian  labourers. 

It  seems  quite  certain  that,  as  yet,  Coffee  has 
not  been  an  assured  success  in  Fiji.  Hemeleia 
vastatrix  may  not  be  so  virulent  as  it  has  proved 
to  be  in  Ceylon,  but  the  wet  climate  has  developed 
another  bad  blight  in  the  shape  of  "  black  leaf." 
Such  Coffee  as  is  grown,  too,  is  not  well  cured, 
although  the  single  curing  mill  erected  is  but 
poorly  patronised.  Last  season  in  Fiji  seems  to 
have  been  worse  for  excessive  rainfall  than  even 
that  of  1882  in  Ceylon.  From  a  rainfall  of  no  in., 
the  quantity  went  up  to  183  in.,  an  increase  of 
73  in  one  year  ;  and  it  will  be  observed  from  the 
monthly  returns  that  as  nearly  as  possible  100  in. 
fell  in  the  four  months,  December  to  March. 
No  wonder,  although  the  Coffee  blossoms  were 
destroyed.  Of  course,  it  would  not  be  logical  to 
judge  the  Coffee  enterprise  by  the  results  of  one 
year  ;  but  we  have  now  the  experience  of  a  good 
many  years  before  us,  and  we  have  a  right  to 
say  that  the  prospects  of  Coffee  in  Fiji  are  not 
all  that  could  be  wished. 


236          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

From  Messrs.  Gordon  and  Gotch's  "  Australian 
Handbook  for  1885  "  we  glean  the  following 
information  : — 

Since  I5th  March,  1877  (the  date  the  "Real  Property" 
Ordinance  came  into  operation),  1,020  deeds  have  been  issued, 
conveying  312,400  acres  of  land,  consideration  given  for  the 
same  amounting  to  £"25,477. 

CLIMATE. — The  climate  of  Fiji  as  a  whole  is  most  agreeable 
and  healthy  ;  and,  considering  its  proximity  to  the  Equator,  is 
not  nearly  so  hot  as  might  be  expected,  the  fierceness  of  the 
sun's  heat  being  lessened  by  sea  breezes.  For  nine  months 
in  the  year  the  climate  is  delightful  and  free  from  diseases, 
though  during  the  hot  season  dysentery  is  prevalent.  The 
mean  temperature  of  the  colony  is  about  80°,  the  greatest 
extremes  being  experienced  inland.  60°  is  the  lowest  and 
122°  the  highest  hitherto  noted.  From  Christmas  to  March  is 
called  the  hurricane  season,  but  there  has  been  no  heavy  blow 
since  1879.  There  is  a  dry  and  a  wet  season;  the  former  is 
cool  and  lasts  from  May  to  October,  the  latter  is  hot  and  lasts 
from  October  to  May.  The  meteorological  observations  taken 
during  1880  at  Delanasau  Bay  (S.  lat.  16°  38',  E.  long. 
178°  37^  by  Mr.  Holmes  were  as  follows: — Barometer  29.893, 
thermometer,  highest  reading  93°,  lowest  59°,  mean  78°  9'. 
Rainfall  on  168  days,  amount  115.61  inches  ;  greatest  daily  fall 
7.79  inches.  On  the  Ra  Coast,  according  to  Mr.  Leefe,  rain 
fell  on  135  days,  the  total  rainfall  being  102.63  inches. 

NATIVES. — The  Fijian  aborigines  are  a  handsome,  powerful- 
looking  set  of  people  ;  a  dark  copper  is  their  principal  colour  ; 
they  are  said  to  be  a  cowardly,  unprincipled  race,  lazy  and 
tricky,  but  with  a  little  management  the  white  man  can  make 
them  subserviently  useful.  They  are  cleanly  in  their  persons, 
in  fact  so  fond  of  the  water  that  they  are  (both  male  and 
female)  semi-amphibious. 

LABOUR. — The  importation  of  foreign  labour  from  the  New 
Hebrides,  Solomon,  and  other  Polynesian  islands  has  of  late 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  237 

become  a  self-sustaining  institution  of  the  colony.  Eighteen 
vessels,  with  an  aggregate  of  about  3,000  tons,  are  engaged 
during  the  season  in  conveying  upwards  of  2,000  persons. 
Still  the  supply  is  not  equal  to  the  demand.  Government 
supervises  the  whole  matter  of  labour,  from  the  time  the  vessel 
goes  for  them,  during  the  term — three  years — of  engagement  in 
Fiji,  until  their  return  home. 

Of  the  cost  per  head  to  the  planter  of  these  labourers  no 
statistics  have  been  published,  but,  approximately,  it  is  £16 
per  annum — viz.,  one-third  of  indent  for  three  years,  ^3  ;  wages, 
/3  ;  food,  ^4  155  ;  return  home,  ^"4  ;  landing  at  plantation, 
2s.  6d.  ;  quarters,  los.  ;  mats,  53.  ;  blankets,  8s.  ;  sulus,  IDS.  ; 
medicine  and  proprietor  of  hospital  house,  los. 

The  cost  of  Fijian  labour  is  about  ^"17,  and  of  coolie  £ig. 
Size  of  house,  bedding,  clothing,  stock  of  medicines,  daily 
rations,  periodical  inspections  are  all  laid  down  by  ordinance. 
On  return  home  these  labourers  receive  presents  of  axes, 
tomahawks,  beads,  &c.,  but  not  muskets  as  formerly.  In 
1883  a  new  law  came  into  force,  which  will  have  the  effect 
of  increasing  the  cost  about  15  per  cent.,  as  well  as,  from 
its  stringency,  drive  small  capitalists  from  their  fields  of 
labour.  Just  as  the  labourer  is  becoming  most  useful  to 
his  employer  the  time  expires,  and  he  is  not  allowed,  even 
if  he  wishes  it,  to  enter  upon  a  new  agreement  for  more 
than  one  year.  Last  year  the  allotment  fee  was  £16,  depot 
fee  £i,  sundries  about  53.  Government  impedes  the  engage- 
ment of  the  natives  as  agricultural  labourers  for  more  than 
one  month  at  a  time,  even  though  they  desire  ;  and  foreign 
labour  is  scarce,  which  is  ever  the  case  upon  an  influx  of 
capital.  It  is  very  probable  that  before  long  coolie  labour 
will  exclude  Polynesian. 

COOLIES. — In  1879  the  authorities  arranged  with  the  Indian 
Government  for  the  introduction  of  coolie  labour.  The  second 
and  third  attempts  made  in  1883  and  1884  have  proved  very 
successful.  By  a  late  ordinance,  for  every  coolie  applied 
for  £6  per  caput  has  to  be  paid  in  advance  to  the  Government. 

CROWN  LANDS. — At  Suva  these  are  sold  by  auction  at  a  high 
upset  price  per  acre,  one  half  down,  the  other  moiety  in  three 


238 


COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


months.  Improvements  to  be  effected  to  twice  the  amount  of 
the  price  within  two  years  if  less  than  upset  price  ;  if  more, 
within  five  years.  On  default,  the  Government  resume  posses- 
sion and  return  two-thirds  of  the  purchase-money.  Crown 
surveyor  values  and  disputes  are  settled  by  arbitration. 

COFFEE  was  first  exported  from  Fiji  in  1877,  and  although 
the  amount  was  under  £200,  yet,  as  several  of  the  most 
wealthy  and  enterprising  planters  are  now  engaged  in  its 
cultivation,  Coffee  is  rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  chief  exports 
of  the  island.  Average  yield  4  to  5  cwt.  per  acre.  The  leaf 
disease  which  threatened  the  Coffee  in  1880  and  1881  is  said  to 
have  decreased,  at  least  for  the  time. 


Year. 

Total  Exports. 

Value. 

Ibs. 

£       s.      d. 

1881       

104,524 

4,666     5     o 

1882        

62,328 

2,782  10     o 

1883        

210,204 

9»383  J9     7 

The   quantity   of  Coffee  exported  will   no   doubt   increase 
in  future  years. 


A  good  overseer  or  sub-manager  gets  from 
to  ^250  now,  managers  from  ^300  to  ^400,  or 
perhaps  more  ;  but  billets  like  these  are  very 
scarce. 

BORNEO. 

This  island  can  grow  good  Coffee.  A  corres- 
pondent writes  :  — 

"  Sandakan,  itfh  Feb.,  1884. 

"  Since  the  country  was  first  started,  some  200,000  acres  of 
forest  lands  have  been  selected  by  Cantonese,  European  and 
Australian  planters.  Of  this  land,  some  40,000  acres  have 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  23Q 

now  been  surveyed  in  blocks  varying  in  sizes  of  %  acre  to 
12,000  acres.  In  all  about  1,000  acres  have  been  cleared,  and 
about  400  acres  planted  up.  The  gardens  at  Silam  are,  I 
hear,  looking  very  encouraging,  especially  as  regards  '  new 
product.'  A  trial  of  cacao  and  Liberian  Coffee  on  a  small 
scale  here,  and  planted  in  Ceylon  style,  is  looking  well,  as  also 
the  few  Liberian  trees  '  put  in '  by  the  Cantonese,  whose 
estates,  owing  to  having  'gone  in  for'  extravagant  cleaning-up 
(much  beyond  that  which  is  usually  done),  will  take  a  long 
time  to  pay.  The  place  requires  some  Ceylon  men  to  make  it 
a  success.  With  our  splendid  and  well-proportioned  rainfall, 
everything  grows  extremely  well,  especially  cacao  and  Liberian 
Coffee,  for  which  our  soil  and  climate  seem  to  be  well  suited. 
A  great  many  of  the  clearings  here  owned  by  both  Europeans 
and  natives  are  managed  by  men  who  have  scarcely  ever  seen 
jungle,  and  hold  extraordinary  ideas  as  to  *  clearing-up  '  and 
weeding,  and  think  as  the  Malays  do:  'Man  plants  ("sticks  in" 
it  is  appropriately  called),  and  Providence  looks  after  the 
seeds.'  It  is  hoped  that  some  of  these  people  will  soon  see 
the  error  of  their  ways  and  obtain  practical  assistance. 

"  We  are  fairly  well  supplied  with  labour  from  Brunei, 
Labuan,  Singapore  and  Hongkong  for  thirty  dollar  cents  per 
day  (which  we  hope  to  reduce) ;  the  coolies  from  the  latter 
place  are,  however,  '  at  sea  '  in  the  jungle  or  on  plantations, 
and  consequently  not  much  use,  but  may  perhaps,  like  their 
employers,  with  the  aid  of  practical  assistance  and  advice, 
become  better  in  time." 


NEW  GUINEA 

Must  fall  into  European  hands  sooner  or  later,  and 
no  hands  are  so  fit  for  it  to  fall  into  as  ours. 
Under  English  rule  it  might  become  the  garden  of 
the  Pacific  ;  under  a  German  flag  it  will  be  a  con- 
stant thorn  in  the  side  of  Anglo-Saxon  Australasia. 
The  Argus  special  correspondent,  Capt.  Armit, 


24O          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

in    his  latest    letter,    dated   Wabadam,    July 
1884,  has  the  following: — 

"  I  inspected  the  gardens,  and  was  astonished  at  the  luxu- 
riance of  the  crops,  1,550  feet  above  sea  level.  The  people 
of  this  country  have  no  conception  of  the  capabilities  of  the 
soil.  The  natives  grow  more  than  they  want,  and  this  suffices. 
Were  these  lands  in  the  hands  of  European  planters  we  should 
soon  be  astonished  at  their  productiveness.  Coffee,  cinchona, 
cocoa,  ginger,  vanilla,  rice  (mountain),  and  a  host  of  fruit 
trees  could  be  admirably  grown  here.  Ceylon  has  been 
almost  ruined  by  the  Coffee  leaf-disease  (Hemilia  vastatrix), 
and  many  planters  have  been  inquiring  in  Queensland  for  land 
suitable  for  Coffee  growing.  Here  they  will  find  not  only 
land  of  the  best  quality,  but  also  labour  at  their  very  doors. 
If  these  people  are  kindly  and  honestly  treated  they  will  workr 
and  work  willingly  and  well  for  the  Britaniata,  as  they  call  us. 
But  England  must  take  the  utmost  care  that,  in  purchasing 
the  land,  the  present  proprietors  receive  a  fair  value  for  it, 
If,  after  a  few  years,  they  find  out  that  they  have  been  swindled, 
there  will  be  serious  trouble.  They  will  soon  obtain  firearms 
and  learn  how  to  use  them.  Then  they  will  not  prove  con- 
temptible foes,  especially  as  they  have  quite  sense  enough  to 
join  together  and  make  common  cause.  I  do  not  desire  to 
dishearten  intending  settlers,  but  everyone  should  know  what 
the  people  are  like,  and  that  in  coming  to  New  Guinea  they 
will  find  an  agricultural  race  owning  the  soil,  and  perfectly 
aware  that  they  do  own  it — not  a  race  of  unfortunates  like 
the  Australians,  who,  after  being  robbed  of  their  land,  were 
left  to  perish  of  starvation,  or  ruthlessly  shot  down  for  daring 
to  hunt  over  their  own  soil. 

"Cane  16  ft.  high,  Bourbon  ribbon,  and,  I  believe,  Scott's 
cane  or  Otaheite,  a  small  yellow  sort ;  bananas  in  full  bearing, 
the  large  bunches  tied  up  in  leaves ;  bread-fruit  trees  (A  rtocarpus 
incisa)  50  ft.  high,  and  plantations  of  small  trees  of  all  sizes ; 
taro,  whappa,  a  very  large-leaved  species  of  arum,  yams, 
•sweet  potatoes,  tobacco,  pumpkin — all  were  growing  here  in 
profusion.  The  tillage  also  is  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  24! 

I  have  yet  seen  in  the  island.  The  weeds  are  ke"pt  down,  and 
the  soil  well  and  deeply  worked.  In  clearing  the  land,  the 
graceful  palms  have  been  spared,  and  add  an  element  of  beauty 
to  the  scene  as  they  raise  their  graceful  fronds  70  ft.  to  100  ft. 
above  the  plantations.  The  country  to  the  south  of  Wabadam 
is  open  forest  with  isolated  hills  and  ridges  strewn  over  its 
surface.  The  natives  do  not  cultivate  their  flats.  The  soil 
is  too  hard,  and  would  require  heavy  labour  before  it  could 
be  utilized.  The  scrub  soil,  on  the  contrary,  is  always  moist 
and  loose.  It  is  easily  worked  after  the  scrub  has  been  cleared, 
and  remains  light  and  friable." 

There  is  a  great  future  before  New  Guinea, 
and  the  earliest  settlers  will  reap  the  richest 
harvest ! 

BURMAH. 

A  very  large  portion  of  the  surface  of  British 
Burmah,  admirably  adapted  for  various  kinds  of 
cultivation,  still  remains  in  its  primeval  state  of 
unproductive  jungle.  This  is  due  to  the  entire 
absence  of  natural  energy  on  the  part  of  the 
Burmese,  who  have  been  described  as  the  idlest 
race  under  the  sun — presenting  in  this  respect  a 
singular  contrast  to  their  active  and  industrious 
brethren  of  the  Celestial  Empire.  The  total 
area  of  old  British  Burmah  is  87,220  square 
miles,  and  according  to  the  last  Administration 
Report,  only  5,498  square  miles  are  under  culti- 
vation, of  which  about  88  per  cent,  are  devoted 
to  the  production  of  rice.  Labour  has  been  as 
scarce  as  in  a  dozen  other  localities  o 


242  COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

nature.  The  immigration  question  is  one  which 
for  long  engaged  the  attention  of  the  local 
authorities,  and'  we  learn  that  a  definite  arrange- 
ment— proposed  some  time  back — has  at  length 
been  entered  into  with  the  British  India  and  the 
Asiatic  Steam  Navigation  Companies  regarding 
the  fares  of  deck  passengers  between  the  East 
Coast  of  India  and  Rangoon.  According  to 
agreement  these  companies  are  to  carry  deck 
passengers  to  Rangoon  from  Calcutta  for  Rs.  5 
a-head ;  from  any  of  the  ports  north  of  Madras  for 
Rs.  8 ;  and  from  Madras,  or  any  of  the  ports 
south  of  it,  for  Rs.  10  a-head.  The  Government 
undertakes  to  supplement  these  charges  by  a 
grant  of  Rs.  £  for  each  passenger  from  Calcutta, 
and  Rs.  f  for  each  passenger  from  other  ports. 
It  is  probable  that  the  reduction  of  fares  will 
have  the  effect  of  inducing  a  considerable  number 
of  stout-limbed  coolies  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
the  coolie-maistry,  and  try  their  fortune  on  the 
other  side  of  the  kala  pani.  The  coolie-maistry 
engages  labourers  at  one  of  the  coast  ports, 
pays  their  passage  over  to  Burmah,  keeps  them 
in  a  barrack  there,  and  hires  them  out  till 
they  have  repaid  all  expenses  incurred  in  their 
behalf,  with  a  handsome  douceur  to  the  enter- 
prising maistry  in  addition.  Labour  of  every 
description  is  very  dear  in  Burmah. 

A   bid    is   now   being   made    for    the    presence 
of  men  who  understand  the  art  of  planting  Tea, 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  243 

Coffee,  and  spices.  Such  men  are  offered  (by 
reiterated  advertisements)  free  grants  of  jungle 
land  in  the  Tavoy  district,  in  a  tract  lying 
between  the  13°  and  14°  parallel  of  north  latitude. 
The  lots  placed  at  altitudes  ranging  from  100 
to  6,800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
exposed  to  a  rainfall  of  about  200  inches,  vary 
in  size  from  100  to  1,200  acres.  The  only 
immediate  payment  required  is  8  annas  per 
acre  for  cost  of  survey  and  demarkation.  The 
grantee  will  not  be  called  upon  to  pay  any  land 
revenue  till  the  tenth  year  of  possession,  when 
he  will  be  taxed  at  the  rate  of  Rs.  i  4  annas 
an  acre.  He  is  welcome  to  every  stick  of 
timber  he  finds  on  his  lot,  but  the  Govern- 
ment reserve  to  themselves  all  possible  minerals 
which  may  exist  underground,  with  due  compen- 
sation for  any  damage  caused  to  the  grantee's 
land  by  search  or  mining  operations.  To 
encourage  pioneers  in  the  Coffee  and  Cinchona 
enterprise  in  Tavoy,  Government  promised  to 
"  pay  to  the  first  four  grantees  who  began  bond 
fide  planting  operations  Rs.  15  per  head  for  every 
Indian  or  Chinese  coolie,  male  or  female,  over 
sixteen  years  of  age,  who  may  be  settled  and  housed 
on  their  plantations  before  the  ist  of  March, 
1885."  One  of  the  advantages  of  the  district  is 
that  steamers  to  and  from  Rangoon  touch  weekly 
at  a  port  in  the  district.  The  Chief  Commis- 
sioner seems  to  be  very  anxious  to  establish 


244         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Cinchona  plantations  in  the  province,  for  a  reward 
of  Rs.  100  has  been  offered  to  any  Karen  who 
will  undertake  Cinchona  cultivation  ;  but  as  yet 
no  application  has  been  made  for  any  of  the 
plants.  Every  explanation  of  the  above  plan  of 
settlement  will  be  afforded  on  application  to  the 
Deputy  Commissioner  of  Tavoy,  the  Commissioner 
of  Tenasserim  at  Moulmein,  or  the  Secretariat, 
Rangoon.  The  subject  is  worth  the  attention  of 
young  planters  with  a  little  ready  cash  on  hand. 
How  the  district  will  prosper  remains  to  be 
seen,  but  those  on  the  spot  are  sending  home 
rosy  accounts  of  the  new  land.  It  is  one  in  which 
labour  should  become  abundant,  where  soil  should 
be  cheap  and  good,  "  leaf  disease  '  absent  or 
nearly  so,  and  in  a  country  presenting  exceptional 
chances  and  openings  to  a  young  man,  while  the 
climate  on  the  hills  is  said  to  be  very  healthy. 
"  People  seem  to  have  little  knowledge  of  where 
Tavoy  is ;  their  geographical  knowledge  regarding 
British  Burma  is  only  limited :  one  man  thinks 
it's  awfully  moist  and  unhealthy,  and  another 
wants  to  know  if  the  land  is  still  under  King 
Theebaw  !  The  climate  is  similar  to  Ceylon  and 
healthy  for  Europeans  in  the  extreme  ;  they  all 
get  fat.  The  rainfall  this  year,  190  inches.  The 
rain  commences  showery  in  April  and  May.  In 
June  the  monsoon  sets  in,  and  breaks  up  in  July, 
the  end  of;  then  from  July  to  middle  of  November 
nice  showers  ;  no  rain  from  middle  of  November 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  245 

to  middle  of  February ;  then  a  few  nice  showers 
only ;  also  a  few  showers  in  March,  a  heavy  dew 
at  night,  just  the  thing  for  the  young  planties. 
The  blossom  season  same  as  in  Ceylon  :  January, 
February  and  March,  blossom  in  all  the  jungle, 
and  also  Coffee  and  all  fruit-bearing  trees,  durian, 
mangosteen,  caju-nuts,  &c.,  &c. ;  and  as  for  *  King 
Theebaw,'  he  is  farther  away  than  the  old  home." 

SAMOA. 

Regarding  this  fertile  little  territory  the  Indian 
Mercury  says  : — 

"  An  interesting  official  report  has  been  published  concerning 
the  resources  of  Samoa  (Navigators'  Island),  and  we  note  that 
experts  both  for  sugar  and  Coffee  planting  have  favourably 
reported  upon  the  capabilities  of  the  islands  for  these 
industries.  The  Coffee  plant  has  been  in  existence  there  for 
some  years,  and,  growing  luxuriantly,  has  proved  the  suitability 
of  the  climate  and  soil,  but  it  has  never  been  scientifically 
treated,  and  in  consequence  is  not  as  yet  an  article  of 
commerce.  Some  Coffee  planters  and  speculators  visited 
Samoa  during  the  past  year  with  the  view  of  settling,  should 
they  find  the  country  suitable  for  their  several  purposes ;  but 
the  moral  impossibility,  under  the  present  circumstances,  of 
obtaining  an  indisputable  title  to  any  parcel  of  land  they  might 
buy  deterred  them  from  risking  their  capital.  The  native 
tenure  of  land  is  intricate  and  complicated,  and  the  inclination 
of  the  natives  to  effect  wrongful  sales,  with  a  view  of  reclaiming 
the  land  subsequently,  makes  speculators  very  chary  of  investing 
money  in  property  that  may  at  any  time  be  disputed,  perhaps 
at  one  time  on  account  of  neglect  of  some  native  custom  not 
noticed  at  time  of  sale,  and  not  provided  against  ;  and  perhaps 
at  another  time  by  some  relative  presenting  himself,  who  was 
absent  at  the  time  of  sale,  either  intentionally  or  accidentally, 
and  questioning  the  validity  of  sale  on  account  of  his  not 


246          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

having  given  his  consent,  and  having  received  no  part  of  the 
purchase-money.  The  total  absence  of  hurricanes,  or  indeed 
of  any  winds  strong  enough  to  cause  damage,  make  these 
islands  more  suitable  for  the  growth  of  sugar-cane  than  many 
other  parts  of  the  world,  where  the  whole  crop  is  liable  to  be 
destroyed  in  one  blow.  In  starting  a  plantation  in  Samoa, 
after  acquiring  the  land,  the  greatest  difficulty  would  be  in 
procuring  labour.  The  supply  of  Polynesian  labourers  is 
visibly  falling  off,  through  the  disinclination  of  natives  to  go 
to  Samoa  to  work,  and  the  greater  advantages  and  comfort 
offered  them  in  other  parts,  such  as  Queensland  and  Fiji." 

A  Ceylon  planter  who  has  made  a  personal  visit 
to  the  island  takes  a  rather  more  cheerful  view. 
Doubtless  here  as  elsewhere  some  men  will  succeed 
while  others  will  fail  from  the  very  first.  He 
writes : — 

"  Of  Coffee  there  were  a  few  trees  planted  at  an  elevation 
of  about  500  to  600  feet  above  sea-level  and  looked  remarkably 
well.  There  was  no  leaf  disease  or  other  pest  that  I  noticed. 
A  Coffee  planter  has  opened  a  nursery  of  some  600,000 
seedlings,  which  were  to  be  planted  out  and,  I  believe,  will 
do  very  well  indeed.  The  soil  is  a  chocolate  loam  of  great 
depth.  Labour,  however,  is  the  great  drawback.  They  have 
to  get  all  their  coolies  from  the  Hebrides  and  Solomon 
Islands,  which  are  a  long  way  off,  and  are  also  the  recruiting 
ground  for  the  Fiji  and  Queensland  planters,  so  that  Samoa 
is  pretty  well  handicapped  in  this  respect. 

"  The  land  is  all  mountainous,  but  does  not  rise  abruptly 
from  the  sea.  Towards  the  beach  it  is  planted  with  cocoanut 
groves,  throughout  which  are  innumerable  villages.  Coral 
reefs  circle  all  the  islands,  inside  which  the  water  is  smooth 
and  rarely  ruffled  by  anything  but  a  gentle  breeze.  To  say 
they  are  inviting,  enchanting  and  altogether  charming  does 
no  more  than  express  the  feelings  of  all  visitors.  I  was 
pleased  and  delighted  beyond  telling  with  my  stay. 

"  Darwin's    sentence    applies    with    truth    here  :    '  Every 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES. 


247 


form,  every  shade  of  Nature  so  completely  surpasses  in 
magnificence  all  that  the  European  has  ever  beheld  in  his 
own  country  that  he  knows  not  how  to  express  his  feelings.' ' 

"  SINGAPORE  JAVA. 

"  This  is  Coffee  shipped  from  the  English  free  port  of  that 
name.  Singapore  is  situated  on  a  small  island,  eight  or 
ten  miles  square,  and  not  of  itself  particularly  fertile ;  yet 
this  place  is  the  great  emporium  for  the  productions  of 
the  whole  Malayan  Peninsula  and  Archipelago,  comprising 
hundreds  of  islands,  many  of  them  of  large  size,  and  upon 
which  many  valuable  and  important  articles  are  produced. 

"The  exports  from  Singapore  were,  according  to  the 
Singapore  market  report,  as  follows  : — 


To  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

Year. 

Piculs. 

Pounds. 

1875        

16,827 

2,288,472 

1876        

20,292 

2,759,7I2 

1877        

l6,II5 

2,191,640 

1878        

8,379 

1,139,544 

1879        

16,462 

2,238,832 

1880        

19,948 

2,712,928 

To  UNITED  STATES. 

Year. 

Piculs. 

Pounds. 

1875        

16,588 

2,255,968 

1876        

13,947 

1,896,792 

1877        

5,452 

741,472 

1878        

9,248 

1,257,728 

1879        

22,324 

3,036,064 

1880        

6,277 

853,672 

248    COFFEE  :  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

"  The  Coffee  exported  from  Singapore  is  raised  in  the  small 
islands  of  Netherlands  India,  and  the  Philippine  Islands. 
It  does  not  possess  the  fine  flavour  and  intrinsic  value  of 
Padang  and  Batavia  Java,  and  some  years  it  is  of  decidedly 
inferior  quality.  All  Java  Coffee  received  here,  and  which 
was  produced  free  from  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the 
Government,  is  known  as  '  Free  Coffee.'  " — Coffee,  from  Planta- 
tion to  Cup,  F.  B.  THUR^ER. 

THE  PHILIPPINES 

Are  said  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
Coffee,  and  we  can  well  believe  it.  The  berry 
produced  is  equal  if  not  superior  in  aroma  and 
flavour  to  that  of  Java,  under  which  name  it  often 
finds  its  way  with  much  other  island-grown  Coffee  . 
to  Singapore  (as  above  stated),  and  so  to  Europe 
or  the  United  States. 

Most  of  the  small  annual  crop,  which  does  not 
exceed  3,300  tons  per  annum,  is  native  grown,  but 
there  are  a  few  lonely  European  planters  dotted 
about  the  Archipelago. 

AUSTRALIA. 

Here,  too,  they  have  tried  Coffee  culture,  but  we 
cannot  say  we  think  it  is  likely  to  be  profitable 
when  grown  on  a  large  scale,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Pink. 
From  Queensland  Mr.  Pink  writes : — 

"  I  think  there  is  no  advantage  in  growing  Coffea  Liberica 
here  at  present,  as  the  leaf  disease  is  unknown,  and  Coffea 
Arabica  does  well,  producing  at  the  rate  of  6  cwt.  per  acre. 
There  are  now  in  this  colony  a  number  of  Coffee  planters 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  249 

from  Ceylon  who  are  anxious  to  go  into  Coffee  growing  here, 
and  the  Minister  of  Lands  is  about  to  have  a  quantity  of 
suitable  land  reserved  for  that  purpose.  The  small  farmers 
are  likewise  just  discovering  that  Coffee  pays  better  than 
corn  and  potatoes  when  there  is  a  family  of  children  to  pick 
the  berries.  Several  farmers  have  brought  and  sold  to  the 
merchants  of  Brisbane  green  Coffee  berries  at  the  rate  of 
lod.  per  Ib.  this  season.  Consequently  the  demand  for  plants 
has  become  very  great,  but  fortunately  we  have  an  equally 
large  supply  on  hand  to  meet  it,  both  of  Liberica  and  Arabica. 
The  great  fear — we  may  say  the  absolute  certainty — is  that 
leaf-disease,  which  exists  in  Ceylon,  in  Mauritius  and  Fiji, 
will  sooner  or  later  affect  Coffee  grown  in  Queensland." 

This  does  not  exhaust  the  possible  spots  in 
the  Pacific  where  Coffee  may  be  tried  with  great 
advantage,  but  touches  upon  some  chief  centres 
of  the  planting  enterprise. 

SOUTH  AMERICA, 

From  hence  half  the  world  has  drawn  supplies  for 
a  long  time — indeed  u  Brazilian  Coffee "  is  an 
expression  bracketed  with  "  Mocha  Coffee "  and 
"  Ceylon  Coffee"  all  over  the  civilized  globe — 
chance  or  some  happy  common  virtue  of  soil  or 
climate  having  given  the  produce  of  these  favoured 
spots  especial  fame. 

BRAZIL. 

The  following  is  the  picture  which  the  author 
of  "  Wanderings  South  and  East"  gives  us  of 
Brazil : — 


25O         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

"  Coffee,  Coffee  everywhere :  whole  forests  cleared  away 
to  make  place  for  Coffee — whole  hills  close  shorn  for  Coffee  ; 
Coffee  above  on  the  right  and  again  below  on  the  left ;  Coffee 
along  the  valleys  and  along  the  hill-brows,  and  down  the 
slopes  and  up  the  rise ;  Coffee  drying  in  the  sun  on  flat 
open  floors  in  front  of  peasants'  houses ;  Coffee  in  piles  near 
the  cottage  doors,  or  in  sacks  ready  for  carting ;  waggon-loads 
of  Coffee  being  drawn  toilfully  along  towards  the  railway; 
Coffee,  too,  in  little  cups  on  the  counters  of  wayside  inns — 
in  fact,  everywhere  Coffee.  It  is  deplorable  to  see  the 
awful  destruction  of  vegetable  life  in  the  production  of  this 
berry.  The  virgin  forest  is  burnt,  and  the  hill-side  disfigured 
with  smouldering  logs  and  stumps.  The  lovely  valleys  are 
stripped  clean,  and  Coffee  reigns  supreme  over  hill  and  dale. 
Agassiz  convinced  himself  that  this  rich  country  had  been 
swept  by  glacial  action,  and  that  most  successful  Coffee 
plantations  were  found  exactly  where  the  movements  of  ice 
had  most  enriched  the  soil  by  transportation  and  mixture 
of  its  combined  elements.  Half  the  entire  supply  of  the 
world  comes  from  these  hills,  which  are  said  to  produce 
no  less  than  260,000  tons  per  annum!" 

The  Brazilian  climate  varies  greatly.  As  a  rule 
the  rainy  season  commences  in  June  and  lasts  until 
November.  The  limits  differ,  however,  according 
to  locality.  In  June  all  vegetation  ceases,  all  seeds 
ripen  ;  in  July  the  leaves  commence  to  turn  yellow 
and  to  fall ;  in  August  vast  tracts  of  land  present 
the  aspect  of  a  European  winter  without  snow,  with 
two  or  three  exceptions  the  trees  being  denuded  of 
leaves.  Where  the  old  mode  of  harvesting  is  in 
vogue,  this  is  the  most  favourable  season  for  the 
preparation  of  the  Coffee  cultivated  on  the  moun- 
tains. Being  gathered,  it  is  spread  on  the  ground, 
which  exhales  no  moisture,  but,  on  the  contrary, 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  25! 

absorbs  it.  Surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  in  the 
same  conditions,  the  Coffee  dries  rapidly  without 
fermenting. 

"  From  December  to  January  the  wet  season 
sets  in,  and  with  the  first  rainfalls  the  rivers,  which 
until  then  had  been  almost  dry,  with  only  here  and 
there  a  few  pools,  which  served  as  watering-places 
for  cattle  or  as  a  refuge  for  fish,  swell  immensely. 
Plants  in  a  few  days,  as  by  a  charm,  reacquire 
their  verdancy ;  the  soil  is  covered  with  parti- 
coloured flowers ;  alimentary  plants  grow  quickly 
and  produce  abundantly." 

"  The  Coffee  of  Brazil,"  says  Mr.  Thurber, 
whom  we  have  quoted  before,  "  varies  greatly  in 
colour  and  size.  Most  of  the  Rio  Coffee  received 
here  is  a  small-sized  bean,  varying  in  colour  from 
a  light  to  a  dark  green,  with  some  of  a  yellow  hue, 
often  denominated  Golden  Rio.  Large  quantities 
are  artificially  coloured,  in  order  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  certain  sections  where  a  prejudice 
exists  in  favour  of  some  peculiar  colour.  Various 
chemicals  are  used  in  the  process,  some  of  which 
are  rank  poison,  while  others  are  comparatively 
harmless.  By  simply  washing  in  clear  cold  water 
it  may  easily  be  determined  if  the  bean  has  been 
artificially  coloured.  The  flavour  of  most  of  the 
Rio  Coffee  imported  into  the  United  States  is, 
as  has  been  before  stated,  quite  marked  and 
entirely  different  from  that  of  any  other  sort. 
The  planters  generally  forward  their  Coffee  to 


252          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

a  commissario,  or  factor,  who  acts  as  their  agent. 
It  is  received  in  all  sorts  of  lots  and  conditions  from 
many  different  growers,  no  regularity  being  observed 
in  the  style  of  bag  or  the  amount  it  contains.  The 
factor  sells  his  stock  to  the  dealers  or  packers 
(ensaccadores),  men  that  control  large  warehouses. 
Coffee  culture  extends  from  the  Amazon  to  the 
province  of  San  Paulo,  and  from  the  coast  to  the 
western  limits  of  the  empire — a  surface  exceeding 
653,400  square  kilometres.  Within  this  territory  it 
is  estimated  that  there  are  about  530,000,000  Coffee 
trees,  which  cover  an  area  of  1,400,000  acres. 
The  Coffee  plantations  situated  on  the  high 
lands,  and  exposed  to  the  east,  are  the  most  pro- 
ductive, but  the  industry  prospers  even  in  the 
bottom  lands,  although  the  product  is  said  to  be 
inferior  in  flavour." 

On  the  high  lands  the  gathering  of  the  crop 
begins  in  April  or  May  and  continues  until  Novem- 
ber. The  "  West  India  process"  of  separating  the 
pulp,  and  then  washing  and  drying  the  seeds, 
prevails  on  most  of  the  large  estates. 

Labour  is  a  difficulty ;  many  planters  are  said 
to  have  lately  worked  their  estates  to  shreds,  feeling 
certain  that  with  the  extinction  of  slave  labour  their 
chance  of  profit  will  be  extinct.  In  fact,  the  general 
opinion  seems  to  be,  Coffee  in  Brazil  has  been 
overdone.  "  Recent  reports  estimate  the  stock  of 
Coffee  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Santos  at  no  less  than 
815,000  bags — an  enormous  quantity,  for  which,  of 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  253 

course,  markets  will  have  to  be  found.  At  the 
same  time,  many  articles  of  ordinary  food  required 
for  the  consumption  of  the  people,  and  which  could 
easily  be  grown  on  the  spot,  continued  to  be  largely 
imported,  notably  flour.  We  do  not  say  that  Brazil 
is  poorer  from  having  this  large  growth  of  Coffee — 
quite  the  contrary — but  she  would  be  both  richer 
and  more  independent  if  much  of  her  food  was 
grown  on  the  spot,  for  internal  consumption ;  and 
that  this  should  be  the  case  with  her  new  rail- 
ways there  can  be  no  question.  Brazil  is  suffering 
severely  for  having  overdone  Coffee  cultivation  and 
neglected  the  raising  of  food  products  needed  by 
her  people." 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  inducement  for 
young  Englishmen  to  establish  themselves  here 
while  so  much  good  soil  under  their  own  flag  can 
be  obtained.  Not  a  little  Brazilian  Coffee  is  sold 
under  the  specious  names  of  Laguara,  Guatemala, 
Costa  Rica,  Martinique,  &c. 

MEXICO. 

From  the  Official  English  "Commercial  Reports" 
we  gather  that  the  production  of  Coffee  as  an 
article  of  Mexican  export  may  be  said  to  have  com- 
menced within  the  past  ten  years.  Previous  to  1870 
the  imports  of  it  into  France  and  England  were  so 
insignificant  as  not  to  merit  separate  mention  in 


254         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

the  customs  returns,  and  even  in  the  United  States, 
which  has  always  taken  by  far  the  greater  pro- 
portion of  the  crop,  its  sale  at  that  time  was 
comparatively  small,  about  1,800  to  2,700  cwt. 
How  great  an  impetus  has  been  given  of  late  to 
this  industry  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
in  the  year  1881  the  imports  into  these  three 
countries  were:  into  England,  3,193  cwt.;  France, 
13,054  cwt.  ;  and  the  United  States,  124,213  cwt. ; 
besides  small  amounts  sent  to  Barcelona,  Ham- 
burg, Santander,  and  Antwerp. 

The  finest  qualities  of  Coffee  are  produced  on 
the  western  slopes  of  the  Mexican  plateau,  in  the 
States  of  Colima  and  Michoacan,  but  the  supply 
is  very  little  in  excess  of  the  home  demand,  and 
only  a  small  quantity  of  these  classes  is  exported. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  Coffee  that  finds  a  market 
abroad  is  grown  near  Cordova  and  Orizaba,  in  the 
State  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  also  in  the  southern  State 
ofOajaca.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  berry  used 
to  be  very  carelessly  prepared,  and  presented  a  bad 
appearance  when  offered  for  sale,  which,  added  to 
the  irregularity  of  the  supply  as  also  of  the  price, 
was  probably  the  reason  why  it  was  not  more 
extensively  exported  to  Europe  ;  but  these  defects 
are  now  being  remedied,  consequent  on  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  large  and  increasing  trade,  and  it  is 
probable  that  ere  long  Mexican  Coffee  will  become 
better  known  and  appreciated  in  the  European 
markets. 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  255 

New  York  price  lists  quote  Mexican  Coffee  as 
follows : — 

Cents. 
Cordova,  green  9  to  10  per  Ib. 

white                       ...       ii    „    13 
Oajaca,  white n    ,,    13        ,, 

Liverpool  prices  were — 

s.  s. 

Mexican  Coffee,  good  ...       52  to  62  per  cwt. 

middling    ...  '    44    „   49 

A  correspondent  of  the  Galveston  News  gives 
some  information  regarding  the  territory  of  Soco- 
nusco,  the  possession  of  which  is  now  a  subject 
of  dispute  between  Mexico  and  Guatemala : — 


"  It  is  a  strip  of  land  lying  on  the  Pacific  coast  south-east 
of  the  Gulf  of  Tehuantepec,  and  extending  from  the  Bay  of 
Tonela  to  the  Bay  de  Ocos,  on  the  present  line  of  Guatemala, 
a  distance  of  about  200  miles,  and  reaching  inland  to  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  range,  from  forty  to  fifty  miles,  con- 
taining about  8,000  square  miles.  It  was  celebrated  before 
the  Inquisition  for  its  heavy  yield  of  Coffee  and  fine  quality 
of  chocolate.  On  the  Guatemalan  side  of  the  boundary  these 
lands  are  held  at  very  high  prices.  The  valuable  product 
of  Coffee,  chocolate,  sugar,  rice,  cotton,  vanilla  and  indigo 
is  building  up  cities,  beautifying  the  country,  and  enriching 
its  commerce.  Grant's  Mexican  Southern  Railroad  will 
penetrate  this  fertile  region  within  two  years.  There  is 
a  perfect  stampede  for  its  possession.  The  invigorating 
temperature,  pure  water,  mahogany,  rosewood,  walnut,  Coffee, 
rice,  sugar,  &c.,  all  combine  to  make  it  attractive.  There 
are  said  to  be  single  Coffee  trees,  ten  or  twelve  years  old 


256    COFFEE  :  ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

yielding  from  twer^-five  to  fifty  pounds  of  Coffee  annually. 
Labour  is  cheap,  and  lands  are  sold  to  colonists  by  the 
Company  on  ten  years'  time,  without  interest." 


OTHER  AMERICAN  STATES. 

Venezuela  and  Colombia  (where  fine  Coffee 
is  grown  between  4,000  and  6,000  feet  above  sea 
level)  used  to  ship  7  to  12  per  cent,  of  all  Coffee 
consumed  in  the  United  States.  Paraguay  Coffee 
of  the  country  is  of  an  excellent  quality,  although 
its  flavour  is  somewhat  bitter.  At  present  it  is 
grown  on  a  very  limited  scale,  owing  to  the  scarcity 
of  capital,  and  to  the  length  of  time  which  is 
requisite  before  the  cultivator  is  able  to  reap  any 
benefit.  It  is  calculated  that  on  the  average  a 
period  of  five  years  or  so  must  elapse  before 
plantations  are  ripe  for  their  first  harvest.  "  In 
Costa  Rica,  they  are  grubbing  up  Coffee  trees  as 
being  no  longer  profitable,  and  planting  rubber 
instead,  so  Ceylon  is  not  the  only  sufferer  in 
Coffee." 

The  decadence  of  Coffee  crops,  generally,  every- 
where surely  must  eventually  bring  down  the  enor- 
mous stocks  of  Coffee,  both  in  London  and  Europe. 

Along  the  west  coast  of  South  America  planta- 
tions are  found,  but  only  from  the  latter  state  is 
any  quantity  of  beans  exported. 

Turning  northwards,  we   have,   in 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES. 


BRITISH  HONDURAS 


257 


A  country  with  all  the  advantages  of  English  rule. 
There  would  seem  to  be  at  present  only  one  small 
Coffee  estate  in  the  colony,  and  that  of  an  experi- 
mental character.  The  following  description  of 
this  attempt  will  be  read  with  interest,  and  it  will 
be  noticed  that  in  this,  as  in  all  the  more  important 
industries,  Mr.  Morris  (in  "  British  Honduras," 
E.  Stanford,  Charing  Cross)  speaks  of  a  regular 
supply  of  labour  from  external  sources  as  essential 
to  success : — 

"  About  ioo  acres  had  been  cleared  and  established  in 
Coffee  under  the  shade  of  bananas,  with  corn  as  an  inter- 
mediary crop.  The  Coffee  trees — about  30,000 — were  from 
one  to  two  years  old,  planted  out.  Seed  had  been  obtained 
from  Martinique,  Trinidad  and  Guatemala.  As  a  whole,  the 
plantation  was  in  a  promising  state ;  in  some  cases  the  trees 
were  overshadowed  by  bananas,  and  consequently,  the  plants 
were  weak  and  '  spindled.'  There  is  no  doubt  also  that  the 
ground  had  been  somewhat  impoverished  by  the  large  crop 
of  corn  (maize)  which  was  then  being  taken  off. 

"  Most  of  the  trees  about  two  years  old  were,  however, 
bearing  their  first  crop,  and  looked  as  if,  even  at  this  early 
age,  some  two  or  three  hundredweights  per  acre  would  be 
yielded  by  them.  The  plantation  was  well  laid  out,  with 
roads  and  intervals  of  18  feet  dividing  the  blocks.  Naturally, 
being  a  pioneering  effort,  the  best  mode  of  procedure  adapted 
to  the  district  could  not  be  obtained  at  once;  and,  again, 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  labour  had  hampered  the  under- 
taking and  increased  the  expenses. 

"  I  left  the  plantation,  however,  with  a  favourable  impres- 
sion respecting  the  possibility  of  growing  good  Coffee  in 


258          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

British  Honduras,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  coolie  labour 
could  be  obtained,  the  whole  of  this  western  district  would 
soon  be  dotted  over  with  prosperous  plantations.  The  cost 
of  clearing  and  cleaning  land  ready  for  planting  is  put  down 
at  £6  per  acre;  the  labourers,  at  present,  owing  to  the 
remoteness  of  the  district,  get  from  42  to  50  cents  per  day." 

It  is  just  this  question  of  labour  that  is  always 
arising.     The  Times  observes  : — 

"It  appears  the  high  rate  of  wages  which  prevails  on  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  is  attracting  labour,  and  making  the 
production  of  Coffee  unprofitable  in  Costa  Rica,  Columbia, 
Venezuela,  and  even  Brazil.  Only  in  Spanish  Honduras  and 
British  Guatemala  can  Coffee  now  be  said  to  be  profitable. 
The  planters  in  Nicaragua,  according  to  latest  reports,  have 
a  difficulty  in  clearing  their  expenses.  In  countries  farther 
south  an  annual  loss  is  incurred,  while  in  Brazil  the  shrinkage 
of  the  crop  has  attracted  the  serious  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Wages  have  gone  down  in  Honduras  and  Guatemala, 
and  if  the  present  depression  in  the  price  of  Coffee  continues, 
the  Coffee  planters  of  Brazil,  Columbia,  Venezuela,  Costa 
Rica,  and  Nicaragua  will  be  ruined,  while  the  more  fortunate 
planters  of  Mexico,  Guatemala,  and  Honduras  will  have  all 
they  can  do  to  hold  their  own.  Notwithstanding  this  gloomy 
outlook,  however,  Coffee  in  Mexico  is  still  believed  to  be  the 
coming  industry,  because  the  railways  running  from  the  United 
States  will  bring  the  plantations  into  direct  communication 
with  the  consumers.  This  advantage,  together  with  fairly 
cheap  labour,  should  prove  decisive  in  the  trade,  supposing 
Mexico  to  have  equal  facilities  with  other  Coffee-growing 
countries,  such  as  Costa  Rica,  Ceylon,  &c." 

This  brings  us  to  the 

WEST  INDIES. 

Of  the   lesser   islands  Dominica   and    Trinidad 
yield    about    3,000    tons    each,     the    rest    of    the 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  25Q 

group  in  the  West  Indies  not  producing  enough 
to  give  them  a  position  as  first-class  Coffee-growing 
countries.  The  total  production  of  all  the  West 
India  Islands  does  not  exceed  40,000  to  42,000 
tons.  In  regard  to  Dominica,  Dr.  Alford  Nicholls 
reports  on  the  rich-soiled,  well-watered  and  heavily- 
timbered  Layon  Flats  in  this  the  largest  of  the 
Leeward  Islands.  He  says  the  island  is  of  volcanic 
origin,  and  some  of  its  mountains  rise  to  5,000  feet. 
Dominica  was  once  a  scene  of  prosperous  cultiva- 
tion ;  but  first  the  Maroon  War  (waged  by  escaped 
Negroes),  then  the  effects  of  emancipation,  and, 
finally,  the  destruction  of  the  Coffee  trees  by  an 
insect  blight  (Cemeostoma  coffeellum)  brought  the 
island  down  to  depths  of  depression.  The  blight 
still  affects  the  Arabian  Coffee,  but,  according  to 
Dr.  Nicholls,  the  Liberian  'species  resists  Its 
attacks.  Cacao  (so  Dr.  Nicholls  spells  it)  flourishes 
even  when  neglected,  and  he  mentions  a  red  pottery 
clay  eminently  suitable  for  "claying"  the  beans. 
Were  a  road  or  a  tramway  run  through  the  rich 
central  flats,  there  would  be  a  mine  of  wealth  in 
the  fine  timbers  alone,  including  the  bullet  tree 
(Bumelia  retusa),  the  -trunk  of  which  sometimes 
attains  a  diameter  of  7  feet,  which  means  21  in 
circumference  !  Also  the  green-heart  (Nectandra 
rodicei),  which  is  placed  first-class  in  Lloyd's  list 
of  timbers  for  shipbuilding. 

During  1884  Coffee  in  Jamaica — the   most  im- 
portant Coffee  island  of  the  region — was  very  fairly 


260 


COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 


prosperous.  In  the  previous  year,  84,357  cwts.  was 
exported,  valued  at  ^160,617,  of  which  51,153  cwts, 
went  to  the  British  Isles. 

Of  Liberian  Coffee,  1,633  plants,  and  17  qrs. 
of  cherry  for  seed,  were  sent  of  the  Government 
gardens — a  very  small  amount. 

During  three  years  the  number  of  acres 
under  Coffee  cultivation  in  the  island  has  been 
-(1881)  19,885;  (1882)  22,842;  (1883)  21,132. 

Ground  provisions,  which  are  the  ordinary  food 
of  the  people,  occupy  the  largest  cultivated  acreage  ; 
next  come  the  lands  in  sugar  cane,  and  then  those 
under  Coffee. 

Last  year's  mean  rainfall  is  thus  summarized 
in  inches  and  fractions  : — 


Jan. 

Feb. 

March. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

YEAR. 

4-50 

2-35 

3-39 

3-35 

8-45 

4-92 

\ 
/ 

^   66.64 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

4-23 

6-75 

6.76 

9.65 

6.69 

5-70 

In  the  district  of  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains 
the  Coffee  is  grown  upon  the  red  ferruginous  earth 
overlaying  the  white  limestone  formation.  The 
climate  and  rainfall  there  is  said  to  be  very  similar 
to  those  of  Algiers. 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  26l 

In  1878-79  the  area  in  Jamaica  devoted  to 
Coffee-growing  was  22,853  acres.  The  following 
interesting  facts  respecting  Jamaica  Coffee  are 
taken  from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  D.  Morris  to 
the  Ceylon  Observer,  from  the  Botanical  Department, 
Jamaica,  in  June,  1880.  This  gentleman  says  : — 

"  The  crop  of  last  season  was  sold,-  in  some  instances,  at 
1305.  per  cwt.  I  had  the  pleasure,  the  other  day,  of  visiting 
Radnor  plantation.  I  found  it  a  good  type  of  Jamaica  estates, 
most  of  which  have  been  in  cultivation  for  more  than  a  century 
and  a-half.  In  some  places  the  trees  were  poor  and  '  sticky,' 
but  wherever  the  soil  has  been  preserved,  and  especially  in 
4  bosoms,'  the  trees  were  looking  healthy  and  strong.  In  spite 
of  '  no  manure,'  in  spite  of  '  mammoty '  weeding  for  genera- 
tions, these  trees  were  bearing  good  crops,  and,  moreover,  the 
producer  is  able  to  obtain  prices  which  Ceylon  planters  must 
envy. 

"  Owing  to  the  large  areas  nominally  included  under  one 
estate,  the  different  '  Coffee-fields '  are  sometimes  two  or  three 
miles  away  from  the  works,  lying  in  '  bosoms  '  of  the  hills,  and 
only  visited  for  the  occasional  '  hoeing '  and  picking  of  the 
crop.  Out  of  a  nominal  acreage  of  1,000  acres  often  there  are 
only  1 60  to  200  acres,  and  sometimes  only  about  60  or  80  acres, 
under  cultivation.  The  other  parts  are  in  'reccinate'  (jungle), 
or  so  steep  that  owing  to  '  breakaways '  and  rocks  it  is  impos- 
sible to  cultivate  them.  This  gives  a  Jamaica  Coffee  estate 
a  very  patchy  appearance,  and  as  cinchona  has  not  yet  been 
taken  up  generally  by  planters,  the  uncultivated  areas  greatly 
exceed  those  cultivated.  Much  more  might  be  done  with  the 
suitable  Coffee  lands  if  a  regular  system  of  nurseries  were 
established  and  plants  put  out  with  greater  care.  At  present 
new  lands  are  planted  up  with  '  suckers '  (or  rather  seedlings) 
found  under  the  trees.  These  .are  pulled  up  with  little  or  no 
care,  even  when  they  have  six  or  eight  primaries,  and  after 
being  carried  in  bundles  on  heads  exposed  to  the  full  rays  of 


262          COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

the  sun,  are  put  in  holes   and   allowed   to   take  their  chance 
without  shade  or  shelter, 

"  As  far  as  I  have  noticed,  there  is  little  disease  on  any 
of  the  cultivated  plants  of  Jamaica.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Cemiostoma  coffeeilum,  a  little  leaf  miner  similar  to  the  Gracilaria 
coffeefoliella  (Nietner)  of  Ceylon,  which  cause  the  silvery  tor- 
tuous markings  and  blotches  on  Coffee-leaves,  Jamaica  Coffee 
appears  to  be  very  free  from  disease.  Our  old  friend  the  black 
bug  is  here,  but  it  does  not  give  annoyance  except  sometimes 
to  badly  cultivated  and  young  Coffee." 


Yet  this  year  he  speaks  discouragingly  of  Jamaica 
prospects.  He  mentions  how,  owing  to  the  pre- 
valence of  comparative  drought  in  the  island  for 
the  last  four  years,  Coffee  in  Manchester  and  in 
the  lower  hills,  where  settlers  grow  it,  has  suffered 
very  severely.  There  is  consequently  a  serious 
falling-off  in  the  exports.  While  in  1883  there 
were  exported  84,358  cwts.  of  Coffee  of  the  value 
of  £160,618,  in  1884  the  exports  were  only  48,378 
cwts.  of  the  value  of  £98,842.  This  is  in  quantity 
less  than  in  any  year  since  1869.  The  Coffee 
industry  will  no  doubt  improve  its  position  with 
the  return  of  favourable  seasons ;  but  I  fear,  owing 
to  the  low  prices  which  have  been  ruling  for  some 
years  in  this  article,  the  settlers  are  gradually 
relinquishing  the  cultivation,  and  where  fields  are 
partially  worn  out,  as  in  many  districts  of  Man- 
chester, they  are  being  entirely  abandoned. 

Seventy-five  years  after  the  introduction  of  Coffee 
into  Hayti  the  island  exported  nearly  eighty  millions 
of  pounds  per  annum. 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  263 

"The  growers,  however,  exercised  no  care  in  handling  it,  and 
sent  it  to  market  ungraded  and  imcleaned,  and  demand  in 
consequence  gradually  fell  off.  Owing  to  the  enormously 
increasing  production  of  Rio,  its  place  was  easily  filled  by  this 
cheap  Coffee,  and  those  consumers  who  preferred  a  mild  Coffee 
could  obtain  Maracaibos,  Savanillas  and  Bogotas,  though  at 
higher  prices.  While  the  trade  with  the  United  States  in  this 
Coffee  fell  off,  that  with  Europe  increased,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
principal  Coffees  used  in  France  and  Germany,  people  there 
not  being  so  exacting  as  regards  grading  and  cleaning  as  are 
Americans.  These  shipments  are  made  direct  from  Hayti  to 
Europe,  and  also  by  way  of  New  York,  where  sometimes  a 
cargo  finds  a  purchaser,  the  Coffee  being  very  well  adapted  for 
mixing  with  Maracaibos  and  Javas.  This  was,  in  fact,  one  of 
its  principal  uses,  when  imported  extensively  into  this  country. 
The  Coffee  itself  has  a  mild,  pleasant  flavour,  which,  with  its 
cheapness,  would  commend  it  to  many  Coffee  drinkers  if  it 
were  properly  cleaned  and  graded.  A  firm  in  this  city, 
prominent  in  the  West  India  trade,  and  which  shipped  large 
quantities  of  the  Coffee  to  Europe,  resolved  to  try  the  experi- 
ment of  cleaning  and  grading  it  for  the  American  market.  The 
experiment  proved  a  success,  though  there  is  considerable 
waste  in  cleaning." — Rio  News. 


In  fact,  of  South  America  and  the  West  Indies 
it  may  be  said  broadly  that  Nature  does  every- 
thing she  can  for  Coffee,  and  man  does  as  little 
as  possible. 

Eastwards,  again,  over  the  broad  barrier  of  the 
Atlantic,  we  may  note  in  passing  that  on  St.  Helena 
Coffee  is  grown  in  small  patches  varying  from  one- 
fourth  of  an  acre  to  two  or  three  acres.  At  Planta- 
tion House,  Terrace  Knoll,  Bambu  Groove,  Elliotts, 


264          COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

Prospect,  and  Oaklands,  fine  patches  of  Coffee, 
somewhat  neglected  and  unpruned,  it  is  true,  indi- 
cate the  capabilities  of  the  island  to  grow,  in 
sheltered  hollows,  a  fair  quantity  of  very  good 
Coffee.  The  extent  of  land  actually  suitable  for 
Coffee  is,  however,  small. 

A  lady  traveller  has  spoken  enthusiastically  of 
the  appearance  of  some  shrubs  planted  in  the 
Canary  Islands,  and  a  plantation  has  been  estab- 
lished by  a  landowner  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Rome.  It  is  stated  that  he  realized  a  fair  profit 
with  this  year's  harvest,  which  consisted  of  two 
tons  of  Coffee  per  hectare  ;  but  such  facts  are 
hardly  more  than  curiosities,  we  fancy. 

AFRICA, 

However,  is  the  real  home  of  the  plant,  where  it 
has  always  been  indigenous,  and  Caffra,  the  district 
whence  it  takes  its  universal  name,  was  but  the 
place  whence  it  overflowed  into  Arabia  and  the 
outside  world. 

English  enterprise  has  never  yet  done  justice  by 
equatorial  Africa.  Small  quantities  of  Coffee  are 
grown  along  the  eastern  coast,  in  Abyssinia,  the 
Somali  country,  Mozambique,  Madagascar,  Natal, 
Reunion,  and  Mauritius ;  but  the  total  yield,  so 
far  as  its  influence  upon  the  supply  of  Europe  and 
the  United  States  is  concerned,  is  insignificant,  as 
the  export  capacity  of  all  the  places  named  did 


COFFEE    COUNTRIES.  265 

not  lately  exceed  from  600  to  800  tons  annually. 
The  product  of  the  eastern  provinces  of  Africa, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  small  crops  raised  on 
the  west  coast,  makes  Africa  contribute  between 
3,000  and  4,000  tons  to  the  world's  production,  the 
amount  including  Coffee  grown  in  Egypt  and  the 
interior  countries  of  the  continent ;  and  this  simply 
means  that  the  Coffee  growing  (except  perhaps  in 
the  extreme  south)  is  all  done  by  natives,  and 
Ceylon  planters  will  know  what  this  means. 

The  following  letter,  written  especially  for  this 
chapter  by  one  of  the  most  popular  of  those 
explorers  who  are  rapidly  opening  up  the  "  Dark 
Continent,"  will  be  read  with  interest: — 

COFFEE  IN  AFRICA. 

"  The  Coffee  plant  is  one  of  the  few  useful  economic 
products  that  the  African  flora  has  as  yet  given  to  the  world. 
The  genus  CofTcea  divided  into  many  species  is  practically 
indigenous  to  the  African  continent,  for  the  wild  Coffee  in 
Arabia  only  inhabits  the  mountain  slopes  of  the  western  shore 
of  that  peninsula  where  it  faces  the  African  mainland.  Whilst 
Coffee  grows  wild  over  most  parts  of  tropical  Africa,  its  cultiva- 
tion in  the  Dark  Continent  is  very  slight  and  partial  at  present, 
although  it  offers  a  future  of  boundless  development.  Almost 
the  only  part  of  Africa  that  I  know  of  wherein  Coffee  planting 
is  carried  on  by  the  natives  of  the  soil,  and  not  by  aliens  of 
European  or  Arabian  descent,  is  Northern  Angola.  It  is 
possible  that  here  the  idea  sprang  originally  from  Portuguese 
tuition,  but,  nevertheless,  in  many  districts  lying  between  the 
Lower  Congo  and  Angola,  wherein  no  white  man  has  yet 
penetrated,  Coffee  planting  and  gathering  is  carried  on  by  the 


266         COFFEE  I     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

natives,  who  bring  their  harvests  down  to  the  coast  at  Ambrig 
and  neighbouring  settlements  to  sell  to  the  white  (principally 
French)  traders. 

"The  Portuguese  colonists  of  Angola,  Suo  Thorne,  and 
Principe  plant  Coffee  largely,  and  their  products  are  high  in 
value.  At  the  Gaboon  the  French  missionaries  have  tried 
with  some  success  to  introduce  Coffee  planting.  The  Ameri- 
canized Negroes  of  Liberia  cultivate  lazily  and  half-heartedly 
some  of  the  fine  local  species,  such  as  C.  Liberiensis.  I  think 
a  little  desultory  planting  goes  on  in  Sierra  Leone  and  the 
Gambia  Colonies.  The  French  are  doing  a  great  deal  in 
Senegal.  The  Coffee  plant  grows  wild  in  the  Congo  region,  and 
the  districts  round  Glanlypool  are  eminently  suited  to  its 
cultivation,  but  as  yet  no  one  has  commenced  any  Coffee 
planting,  and  the  natives  of  these  countries,  unlike  the  Negroes 
farther  south  towards  Angola,  ignore  the  properties  of  the 
Coffee  berry. 

"  I  believe  something  is  done  in  Natal  and  a  good  deal  is 
going  to  be  done  on  the  Zambesi.  Usambara,  opposite 
Zanzibar,  is  a  glorious  field  for  Coffee  planting  —  admirable 
soil,  peaceable  inhabitants,  cheap  labour  (from  the  Zanzibar 
labour  market),  and  land  to  be  had  for  next  to  nothing.  The 
missionaries  of  the  Universities'  Mission  are  distributing  the 
Coffee  berry  among  the  inhabitants  to  induce  them  to  cultivate 
it.  Transport  is  easy,  and  the  distance  from  the  coast  and 
good  ports  a  matter  of  one  to  two  days'  journey.  Further  into 
the  interior  there  are  increasingly  fine  sites  and  suitable  soil  for 
Coffee  planting,  only  owned  as  yet  by  the  birds  of  the  air  and 
the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  writer  has  planted  Coffee  on  and 
at  the  base  of  Mount  Kilimanjaro,  and  from  six  months' 
experience  finds  the  young  plants  thrive  wonderfully. 

"  Farther  north,  in  Somaliland,  Coffee  is  everywhere  wild, 
but  apparently  remains  uncultivated  by  man.  This  rapid  survey 
of  Africa  brings  us  back  to  Southern  Abyssinia  and  the  country 
of  Kaffa,  where  Coffee  first  began  to  be  cultivated  and  intro- 
duced to  the  world. 

"  The  best  fields  for  Coffee  planting  in  Africa  known  to  the 
writer  are  the  Usambara,  Pare,  and  Kilimanjaro  districts  (where 


COFFEE     COUNTRIES.  267 

efficient  and  cheap  labour  may  be  procured  close  at  hand  in 
Zanzibar)  ;  the  Zambesi  and  the  Nyassa  district,  Angola,  Sao 
Thorne,  and  Principe — all  Portuguese  possessions,  where  land 
is  exceedingly  cheap  and  life  and  property  are  secure  ;  the 
Congo  districts,  the  Gold  Coast,  and  the  Gambia,  but  the  two 
latter  districts  are  well  populated  by  aborigines  and  are 
exceedingly  unhealthy  for  Europeans. 

11  The  writer  is  convinced  that  Kilimanjaro  and  the 
surrounding  country  offers  almost  the  finest  opening  for  Coffee 
planting  in  Africa.  It  is  sparsely  populated,  near  the  coast, 
endowed  with  a  perfect  climate  and  singularly  fertile  soil." 


Coffee  at  the  Cape  might  have  succeeded,  but 
"  the  Kaffirs  will  not  work  in  Natal,"  we  read  in 
"  A  South  African  Sketch  Book  "  (Sonnenschein) — 

"  Coolie  labour  is  too  expensive,  and  English  labour  cannot 
be  retained.  Thus  Coffee  cannot  be  said,  in  any  sense,  to  have 
flourished  well  in  the  colony.  In  the  sub-tropical  climate  of 
Natal,  the  plant  buds,  flowers,  and  develops  its  berries  in  the 
most  erratic  manner  all  the  year  round.  Double,  if  not  treble, 
labour  is  necessary  in  the  selection  of  the  fruit;  in  short,  it  has 
to  be  gathered  two  or  three  times  over.  Coffee  bears  its  berries 
in  this  most  inconvenient  fashion.  The  unhappy  grower  whose 
trees  are  budding,  flowering,  and  bearing  all  at  the  same  moment 
is  placed  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  Either  he  must  sacrifice 
much  of  his  crop,  or  else  he  must  submit  to  two  outlays  in  the 
way  of  labour.  This  is  a  very  awkward  position  to  be  in,  in  that 
labour  is  not  only  expensive,  but  often  absolutely  unprocurable. 
The  Kaffirs,  who  are  under  monthly  terms  of  engagement,  are  as 
likely  as  not  to  leave  one  at  a  most  critical  juncture,  when  fine 
crops  must  be  gathered  or  perish.  This  has  too  often  proved 
disastrous  to  the  prospects  of  the  Coffee  and  sugar  planters. 
What  kind  of  luck  would  our  hop  farmers  call  it  if,  in 
addition  to  all  the  other  risks  to  which  they  are  exposed, 
they  were  finally  checkmated  entirely,  by  having  to  whistle 
for  labour  when  the  burr  had  become  fully  ripe  and  ready  to 


268       COFFEE:    ITS  CULTIVATION  AND  PROFIT. 

be  gathered  in  ?  The  Natalians  have  imported  coolie  labour, 
which  is  far  more  reliable  than  the  so-called  aboriginal  labour, 
to  meet  the  difficulty.  But  coolie  labour  is  expensive,  in 
that  the  importer  has  to  pay  the  passage  money  of  his  servant 
from  India  to  Natal,  and  back  again.  The  coolie  is  bound 
for  three  years  only,  and  it  so  happens  that  the  unfortunate 
employer,  who  cannot  with  all  his  prescience  be  expected 
to  see  so  far  into  futurity,  is  often  compelled  to  dispense 
with  the  services  of  the  coolies,  and  let  them  return  home, 
when  he  most  imperatively  requires  their  services. 

"  There  is  plenty  of  soil  favourable  to  the  growth  of 
Coffee  in  Natal,  but  it  is  not  always  to  be  found  in  a  con- 
venient spot,  that  is  to  say,  near  the  coast." 

Liberia  is  the  home  of  a  famous  variety,  said 
to  be  fairly  proof  against  the  leaf  disease.  For 
foreigners  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  set  an  enter- 
prise on  foot.  The  Liberians  cede  no  land  in  fee- 
simple  to  whites,  they  at  most  lease  it  out  for  forty 
years.  Besides  this,  the  white  man  would  soon 
suffer  from  the  prevailing  agues,  and  so  have  to 
leave  a  great  deal  to  the  care  of  a  coloured  manager. 

Formerly  it  was  supposed  that  the  Liberia 
Coffee-tree,  which  exceeds  all  other  known  sorts  in 
size,  was  either  introduced  from  India,  or  centuries 
ago  by  the  Portuguese.  It  is  now  generally  held  to 
be  of  native  growth,  on  account  of  its  never  attain- 
ing its  original  size  when  transplanted  elsewhere,  and 
that  it  is  never  found  in  any  other  part  of  Africa. 
It  is  found  only  between  4°  to  7°  north  latitude,  and 
it  grows  spontaneously  from  the  seacoast  to  the 
luxurious  grassy  plains  of  Abandingo  Land. 

The   climate   of   Liberia   seems   unequalled   for 


COFFEE     COUNTRIES.  269 

the  culture  of  Coffee.  The  temperature  varies  in 
the  shade  from  74°  to  80°  Fahrenheit,  but  rises  in 
the  dry  season  from  90°  to  far  beyond  100° ;  the 
lowest  point,  62°  at  sunrise,  was  observed  at  Mon- 
ravia  in  January,  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
harmattan-winds.  The  difference  in  the  interior  is 
not  so  great,  because  the  ground  rises  so  rapidly ; 
25  miles  from  the  coast  the  land  is  already  500  feet, 
and  at  a  distance  of  198  miles  as  much  as  2,200 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Yet  the  Coffee  is 
everywhere  the  same.  Even  in  a  wild  state,  there 
are  splendid  trees  from  10  to  12  inches  in  diameter; 
the  cultivated  plants  are  not  much  smaller.  For 
laying  out  a  plantation,  the  best  land  would  be  a 
wooded,  rocky,  hilly  country,  a  few  miles  from  the 
seashore ;  there  are  found  those  loose  loamy  soils, 
with  a  rocky  ground  and  the  manure  of  decayed 
leaves,  which  are  the  most  appropriate.  The  water 
absorbed  by  the  porous  ground  keeps,  even  in  the 
dry  season,  the  Coffee  tree  fresh  and  verdant.  A 
sandy  soil  with  a  bottom  of  a  few  feet  of  loam  would 
also  do  very  well. 

Liberian  Coffee  has  also  been  cultivated  since 
1880  in  the  Seychelles;  the  first  plants  were  sent 
from  Kew  and  distributed  among  a  few  planters  by 
Mr.  C.  S.  Salmon,  then  Chief  Civil  Commissioner. 
They  grew  very  rapidly,  and  those  planted  in  proper 
soil,  and  entirely  exposed  to  the  sun,  began  to 
bear  before  two  years  old ;  while  others  in  rich 
ground,  and  at  a  short  distance  from  other  trees, 


27O         COFFEE  :     ITS    CULTIVATION    AND    PROFIT. 

grew  with  more  vigour,  but  only  began  to  bear  long 
after.  It  has  been  propagated  in  different  localities, 
and  everywhere  seems  to  prefer  an  open  situation, 
where  it  bears  abundantly.  The  quantity  lately 
planted  may  amount  to  about  100  acres. 


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