Gold, Sport, and Coffee Planting in Mysore Part 13

MANURE.

The question of shade is, as we have seen, a highly complicated one, and is also, as we shall see, a cause of complication in the subject we are now about to consider; for, were no shade required, the subject of manuring the land for coffee would, comparatively speaking, be a simple one. And it is very important to call attention to this point, because hitherto planters have not in any way allowed shade to disturb their manurial practices, but have applied their manures equally to land under the direct shade of the trees, and to the open s.p.a.ces between them, which are only under the influence of lateral shade, or, in other words, have manured their land as if there were no shade trees on it whatever. A little consideration, however, will show that the kinds and qualities of the manures applied should be quite different under the shade of trees, from what they ought to be in the open s.p.a.ces between them. For, close around the stems of the shade trees we have a large leaf deposit, which manures the soil and maintains its physical condition, and, at the same time, comparatively speaking, small crops of coffee, while in the open s.p.a.ces between the shade trees we have a small amount of leaf deposit, and much heavier crops of coffee. If, then, we further take into consideration the fact that the soil between the shade trees is liable to be deteriorated by a greater exposure to wash and to baking from the sun after the soil has been thoroughly soaked, it is evident that manuring should be largely varied both in quality and quant.i.ty, if we are at once to manure efficiently and economically. And I desire the more particularly to call attention to this matter, because no planter, as far as I am aware, has at all studied the subject. And it is princ.i.p.ally of very great importance because what we call bulk manures, i.e., farmyard manures, pulp, composts, and top soil, are difficult to procure in large quant.i.ties, and cost much to apply, as they have to be carried on coolies'

heads, and often for considerable distances, down the rows of coffee trees. The more, then, we can limit our applications of bulk manure to such lands as urgently require them, the better shall we be able to devote a full supply to the soil which most requires such manures. Now if we apply our bulk manures to the land directly under the shade trees, we shall certainly be injudiciously using our mammal resources, because the leaf deposit under the shade trees supplies exactly that kind of padding which gives its chief value to bulk manures, and, if these opinions are sound, it therefore follows that we should, as a rule, apply all our bulk manures to the s.p.a.ces between the shade trees, and only apply them to the land under the shade trees, when, from the soil being of a clayey character, an occasional application of bulk manure may be required to improve the texture of the soil, or, in other words, make it more easily workable. And it also follows that we should only apply bones, lime, and ashes, fish and oil-cake to the coffee under the direct influence of the shade trees.

But there is another question as regards manuring under the shade trees that requires careful consideration, and that is, whether we can, by heavy manuring, produce in such situations a larger crop than we could by a small application of manure, and from an experiment made by the late Mr.

Pringle, formerly chemist on Messrs. Matheson and Co.'s estates in Coorg, it would seem to be a waste of money to supply more than a very moderate amount to the coffee directly under the shade trees, for he found that a considerable increase in the quant.i.ty of manure gave no increase in the crop. But I do not, of course, accept this experiment as conclusive, as it was made with bones alone, and it is possible that a more favourable result might have been obtained had an application of foliage stimulating manure been used as well, for the growth of new wood under shade is extremely slow, and it is probable that this slow growth, by giving an insufficient supply of young wood, is really the main cause of the yield under the shade trees being so much less than that from the coffee in the s.p.a.ces between them. But the whole of this branch of my subject requires further careful experiment and observation before we can arrive at any definite conclusion. In the meanwhile, and till it can be shown that, with the aid of foliage stimulating manures, we can increase the yield under the direct shade of the trees, it is evident that as coffee under direct shade produces less than coffee in the s.p.a.ces between the shade trees, the coffee that produces more should have a larger supply of manure.

It is hardly necessary to add here that, in order to prevent confusion, the whole field of coffee to be operated on should first of all be manured evenly all over with the quant.i.ty and quality of manure which it is advisable to use under the shade trees. After that, additional manure should be applied to the s.p.a.ces between the shade trees. It is quite clear to me that a great economy of manure would be effected by this practice, and that from not applying bulk manures to the coffee under the shade trees, the physical condition of the land in the s.p.a.ces between them could be maintained in a much more satisfactory degree than it is at present.

Then there is another question which, I believe, has. .h.i.therto escaped notice, and that is, as to whether we should not make some alteration in the kinds of manure so as to suit them better to the various aspects we have to deal with, for even in land of the same quality, and treated in precisely the same way, there is a considerable difference in the appearance of the coffee when we pa.s.s from an eastern or southern aspect to a western one, and a very great and marked difference is at once perceptible when you enter the coffee on a northern aspect. In the last-named case the coffee is nearly always green, and steadily but slowly growing, while on the southern and eastern aspects the coffee in the hot weather is apt to present a dried-up and sickly appearance. Then on these two last-named aspects there is commonly an over supply of suddenly grown wood. We should therefore, I think, increase foliage-stimulating manures on northern aspects, and diminish them on the southern and eastern, while we should have a medium degree of such manure in the case of western aspects. It seems to me that the reasoning in favour of foliage-stimulating manures on northern aspects is the same as in the case of coffee trees under direct tree shade, which always prevents the rapid growth of new wood. But on this point, as well as on that in the previous section, experiments must be made before any definite conclusion can be arrived at.

The quant.i.ty of manure that should be annually supplied is evidently a matter of the greatest importance, and here the first thing to be borne in mind is that of the four manures we require, namely, lime, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, the first two are somewhat easily removed from the soil, while the last two are firmly retained by it. It is evident, then, that lime and nitrogen should be applied little and often, while phosphoric acid and potash may be applied either little and often, or in large quant.i.ties at longer intervals, whichever may be found most convenient. But in the opinion of an eminent agricultural chemist whom I have specially consulted on the subject, nitrogen, if applied in slowly decomposing form, as for instance, in the shape of oil-cake, would only be lost in an infinitesimal degree, but still he admits that there would be a loss, and as we cannot tell what that loss may amount to under the influence of our tropical climate and deluges of rain, it would be safe to a.s.sume that nitrogen, as well as lime, should be put down at short intervals and, in order to make up for the escape of these manures from the soil, in larger proportions than either phosphoric acid or potash.

I have pointed out that phosphoric acid is retained by the soil, and it is important to remember that it is only removed by the crops of coffee to the extent of from one-and-a-half to two pounds per acre per annum, and these are two facts that every planter should bear in mind when he contemplates following the common custom of manuring with bones. For if he remembers that about one-half of the bones consists of phosphate of lime, and that about one-half of the latter consists of phosphoric acid, he will at a glance see, when he estimates the amount of phosphoric acid removed by the crops, that if he puts down even 100 lbs. of bones per acre he will have put down enough phosphoric acid for about twelve crops of coffee. And yet for a planter to put down 3 cwt. of bones per annum regularly is quite a common thing, and a friend of mine, after having manured his land one year with bones to a moderate amount, put down each year, for the two following years, no less than three-quarters of a ton of bone-meal per acre. So that, making a large allowance for the phosphoric acid taken up by the shade trees, he had put down, in these last two years, enough phosphoric acid to last for the crops of 300 years. From the application of bones he had undoubtedly obtained a great benefit, but I feel sure that it was from the lime and the nitrogen of the bones, for the application of bones that preceded the two applications of three-quarters of a ton per annum must have left the soil amply supplied with phosphoric acid. Now a.s.suming that the soil required lime, and a moderate degree of nitrogen, these could have been supplied far more cheaply, and just as efficiently had my friend applied a small dressing of ordinary lime, and some oil-cake, and I am the more convinced of the accuracy of this view after visiting Mr. Reilly's Hillgrove estate near c.o.o.noor on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills, and hearing the result of his very long experience. Bones he had never used but once, and that on a small portion of the estate, but he had always applied lime once every three years at the rate of about 4 or 5 cwt. per acre; the other manures he had used were cattle manure, and town manure from c.o.o.noor, and these added to the small quant.i.ty originally in the soil, had supplied his coffee amply with the 2 lbs. of phosphoric acid annually removed by the crops. After much consideration, and hearing Mr. Reilly's views, it seems quite clear to me that as but a small quant.i.ty of phosphoric acid is removed by the crops, and as that manure is firmly retained by the soil, bones need only be used at long intervals provided lime is regularly applied in small quant.i.ties.

And next, before we can approach, or attempt to determine, the quant.i.ty of manure required, we have to take into account the loss by wash, either from the surface or by downward percolation, and the absorption of manure by the roots of the shade trees. We have also to take into consideration the manure returned by the shade trees in the shape of fallen leaves, and the ammonia derived from the rainfall, so that it is impossible to state with any approach to accuracy the amount of manure that should be applied. We can only say then that, whatever the required amount may be it must be very considerable, for in addition to the above-mentioned losses of manure, we require a considerable amount for the demands of the coffee trees, and that, further, it must vary with the amount of the rainfall, and the retentive or non-retentive character of the soil. The crop, it is true, takes comparatively little from the soil, and Mr. John Hughes, Agricultural Chemist, 79, Mark Lane,--points out in his "Reports on Ceylon Soils and Coffee Manures," that 5 cwt. of parchment coffee an acre, which is an average crop over a long series of years, only removes from the soil--

lbs.

Nitrogen 8-1/4 Potash 7-1/2 Phosphoric acid 1-1/2 Lime 1 ------ Total 18-1/4

a.s.suming then, he tells us, that the small quant.i.ty of potash required could be supplied by the soil, and that the pulp is returned to it, the loss by the crops could be fully supplied by 100 lbs. of castor cake and 10 lbs. of bones per acre. Then if we require much more from the plant than the production of crop (for we expect it, in addition, to grow wood for the succeeding crop, and during this process the plant grows much superfluous wood, besides suckers, which have to be removed), it must be remembered that all primings and superfluous wood are left on the land.

What there is actually carried off it is really very small in quant.i.ty.

Why, then, it will naturally be asked, is it necessary that so much manure should be present in the soil if we wish to grow good coffee and have continuously good crops, and why is it that if manuring is neglected you will soon find that it is only the rich hollows that are able to maintain the coffee in good condition and produce good crops continuously? To such questions no distinct answer can be given, and we can only conjecture that coffee, when it wants its food, must, for some unknown reason, have a considerable supply at hand. There is, however, one test which, I think, always shows conclusively whether this food is present in the quant.i.ty required to supply the needs of the plant. Just before the hot weather the coffee trees throw out a small flush of young wood. Now if the trees have given a fair average crop, and at the same time have a good show of bearing wood for the next season's crop, and are also throwing out a good supply of vigorous young shoots, then you may be sure that your land is well fed. But if the trees throw out no young shoots at that time, or very few, then you will know that your land is not as well fed as it ought to be.

It might naturally be supposed that I could furnish some guide to the planter, from our experience in Mysore, as to the quant.i.ty of manure that should be put down, but I regret to say that I am unable to do so, as I know of no estate where a regular and continuous system of manuring has been carried out. But in North Coorg, and very close to the Mysore Border, the continuous practice on Mr. Mangles's Coovercolley Estate of 500 acres gives a fairly approximate idea of what can keep an estate in a well-fed condition. There the practice has been to put down every third year from 7 to 10 cwt. of bone-meal an acre, and one-third of a bushel of cattle manure, and, besides this, composts of pulp, mixed with top soil and lime.

Now this is the finest estate I ever saw. The coffee was even and of a beautiful colour, and when I saw it towards the end of 1891 there was a fair crop of coffee on the trees, and an ample supply of young wood for the following crop, and the land was so well fed with nitrogen that an experimental application of nitrate of soda to a part of the land had produced no perceptible effect on the trees. From what I have previously said as to the application of bone-meal being overdone, I think it probable that the estate would have presented as good an appearance had the land, after once being well stored with phosphoric acid, been treated with small applications of lime instead of bones. Then another estate I saw in 1891 in Coorg, in the Bamboo district, furnished some guide as to the amount of manure required where cattle manure was not available, and on the estate in question, which had both a good crop on the trees and ample wood for the future, I was informed that, in the year previous, 6 cwt. of castor cake and 3 cwt. of bones had been applied per acre, and that for the four preceding years 4-1/3 cwt. of manure, containing 2 parts of castor to I of bones, had been applied, but that the last-named amount had been found to be too small. The reader will find in the chapter on Coorg some further information, which has since been supplied to me by Mr.

Meynell, on this point.

The quant.i.ty of manure that should be put down at a time is evidently a matter of great importance, as if you begin by putting down a large application you are certain to have an over-heavy crop, followed by exhaustion, and a very poor crop the following year, while the object of all intelligent fruit cultivators is to work for moderate even crops. It seems quite clear, then, that we should manure little and often, as you thereby not only avoid the risk of over-heavy crops, but economize your manure. For is it not obvious that if you put down at once a supply of nitrogen and lime to last for three years, you increase the risk of loss from wash and downward percolation? And it must also be considered that an over-heavy crop leaves the trees in an exhausted and dried-up state to go through the hot weather, when they will be liable to be attacked by the Borer insect, which, as we shall afterwards more particularly see, delights in dry wood. So that when we further take into consideration the injury to the const.i.tution of the trees which is caused by over-heavy crops, we need have no doubt that there is much reason to dread them. I would therefore strongly deprecate, for the preceding reasons, heavy manuring (even the mind may be over-manured in the eager desire to arrive at a cultured intellect), and would advise that a beginning be made with a moderate application, and, if this is found to be insufficient, that the amount be gradually increased till the trees show that they can with case give regular average crops. If cattle manure or jungle top soil is available, a quarter of a bushel a tree may be annually applied of either, accompanied by 3 cwt. of bone-meal. And, if neither of the two former sources are available, then 3 cwt. of bone-meal and 2 cwt. of white castor cakes would be a reasonable application. After applying 3 cwt. of bone-meal per acre for three consecutive years the land ought to be amply stocked with phosphoric acid, and the bone-meal should be discontinued, and its place supplied with small applications of lime, either annually or at intervals of two or three years, should the latter course be more convenient. And subsequently, when there is reason to suppose that the land requires a fresh supply of phosphoric acid, an application of bone-meal may again be used. I would particularly warn the planter against over-manuring light dry soil, or south and south-western aspects, or the upper and drier portions of eastern aspects, as an over-heavy crop on these aspects is very perilous even with good shade, for we may not have a drop of rain from November till April, and should such a drought occur, and be preceded by a dry season (and such seasons occurred in 1865 and 1866, and caused the great attack of the Borer insect, which was so fatal to all insufficiently-shaded coffee, and from which even well-shaded coffee suffered to some extent), or should even a single dry, hot season follow immediately after the crop is picked, there would be sure to be a serious drying up of the plant, with but small chance of its bearing anything worth having the season following, and very great risk of a severe attack of Borer. But on northern and north-western aspects the land is not exposed to parching east winds, and, as we have seen, has a temperature about one-half cooler than that on a southern aspect, and the planter may therefore on such aspects manure with greater freedom. But even in these aspects I am sure that over-heavy manuring will lead ultimately to injury to the trees, and, in a series of years, to the production of a smaller amount of coffee.

I have indicated the amount of manure which in my opinion ought to be put down when manure is applied for the first time on a plantation, and if the plantation is of a flat character, or only on very moderate slopes, the manure should be evenly applied all over it. But if, as often happens, there are hollows and ridges on the land, then the ridges should be, as a rule, much more heavily manured than the hollows, for which a very little manure will suffice, as so much is washed into them, and they are, besides, much richer to start with. It is very important to note at the outset all those spots which, in the original forest, are very rich, so that the manure may be applied accordingly, and though, as I have said, the ridges as a rule are poor, there are many instances where the top of a ridge, from being pretty wide, is rich, though the sides of it for a little way down are nearly always poor. I have lately been minutely examining old forest land, with the view of removing top soil from it, and have been much struck with the variation in the depth of the rich surface soil.

We have next to consider the time of year at which manure should be applied to the land, and here we shall find that the planter, like the farmer, often has to do things when he can, and not when he should, and though, from the risk of loss by wash alone, there can be no doubt that all manures should be put down after the heavy rains of the monsoon are over, it is difficult to see how this can be carried out in the case of bulk manures, on account of the difficulty of getting enough labour to at once cope with the ordinary estate work, and apply a cla.s.s of manure which absorbs so much hand labour. Then there is the difficulty of carting manure at that season when the roads, which are not macadamized, would be cut to pieces. But this difficulty could be overcome were a sufficient number of storage sheds provided to which the manure might be carted during the dry season. But the sheds would cost a good deal of money, and the cost of the manure would be increased by the cost of extra handling, or in other words putting the manure in the sheds and taking it out again.

So that I am inclined to think that it would be better to apply, by direct cartage from the cattle sheds, as much bulk manure as can be applied in the month of September, and the remainder at any convenient time after crop. Another great objection to applying manure after crop, and before the monsoon, is, that you stimulate the growth of the weeds which spring up with the early rains, and also much growth of suckers, and superfluous wood in the coffee, all of which have to be handled off at considerable expense, whereas, it is hardly necessary to say, that the weed growth is smaller at the end of the monsoon, and the force of the plant directed rather to the maturing of the berry than the growth of surplus wood. But in the case of light manures such as bones and castor cake, there is no difficulty in applying them in September, and an effort should certainly be made to put them down then. Another advantage of manuring at the end of the monsoon would be that the planter could then clearly perceive what trees would be certain to give a good crop, and give them an extra quant.i.ty of manure, and also diminish his application of manure in the case of such parts of the plantation as might be yielding a small crop. I may here mention that, from reliable information received from Coorg, results there have shown that it is best to apply a portion of the manure after crop to strengthen the blossom, and a portion after the heavy monsoon rains are over to strengthen the trees and a.s.sist in maturing the crop.

But the most important point, perhaps, as regards the best time for manuring is the bearing that the time of manurial application has on leaf disease, and Mr. Marshall Ward in his third report on leaf disease (p. 15) has some most valuable remarks on this question. "The object of the planter should be," he says "to produce mature leaves as soon as possible and keep them on the branches as long as possible." Now if leaves are produced in April and May they become attacked by the fungus while still young, and in August and September the ripening crop is left bare on the branches. But the leaves which were in bud in December are matured and well hardened, and have already, by living longer, done much service to the tree. He then points out that when certain districts in Ceylon suffered from a bad attack of leaf disease in July, "a large surface of young and succulent leaves were ready to receive the spores of the Hemelea." The germination of the spores was rapid, and the young leaves were soon destroyed. The planter then, he says, should manure and prune so as to grow matured leaves during those months when the least damp and wind may be expected. And the same remarks are evidently equally valuable as regards rot, and show us the necessity of modifying our manurial and pruning practices so as to enable the tree the better to contend against it as well as leaf disease. All manuring, then, which leads to the production of young succulent foliage just at the beginning of the rains should be avoided, and the same remark applies equally to pruning. But I shall again return to the subject when writing on pruning.

As to the best method of applying the manure, great differences of opinion and practice exist. At one time in Mysore it was customary to cut a shallow trench in the shape of a half moon around the upper sides of the trees about two feet from the stem, and deep enough to contain the manure, which was then covered in with the soil taken out. But this process was found to be expensive, and of course took much labour, which is sometimes extremely scarce, and on my property we have for some years past--excepting in the case of manuring with fish, which is liable to be carried off by birds, dogs, jackals, and village pigs--scattered all the manure on the surface, and close around the stem of the tree, with the idea that the manure would be less likely to be taken up by weeds, and by the roots of the shade trees. But in connection with this system there is a fact which I did not take into account, but which is well worthy of careful consideration, and that is, that the tendency of such a system of manuring is to keep the coffee roots close to the surface. Now it has been suggested by the late Mr. Pringle, whose opinion on another matter I have previously given, that this would have an unfavourable effect, if we had, as sometimes happens, deficient blossom showers; as in that case, and with many rootlets near the surface, a stimulus would be given to the plant which would induce it to throw out the blossom when there was not enough rain to bring it to perfection; whereas, if, by putting down the manure more deeply we attracted the roots downwards, the blossom buds could only be started after such an amount of rain as would give the soil such a soaking that a successful blossom would be insured. There certainly seems to me to be a great deal in this idea, but I am not aware that we have had any experiments made side by side as regards surface manuring, and manuring in pits, and therefore am not in a position to express a decided opinion on the subject, but theoretically there would seem to be much in favour of burying manure in pits, and it seems certain that the manure would be less likely to be taken up by weeds than in the case of surface manuring.

I need hardly add that in the case of all steep parts of a plantation all manure should be, if not buried deeply, at least covered with soil after the digging of a trench large enough to contain the manure. On the plantations on the Nilgiri Hills the manure is put into pits 2-1/2 feet long, 1 foot 6 inches wide, and 1 foot deep on the lower side of the pit, which of course would make the side of the pit on the upper side of them much more than one foot in depth. The trenches or pits are dug across the slope and in front of each coffee tree, and in the line (i.e., not in the centre of each set of four plants). These pits are not filled up to the brim, but the manure is placed in the bottom of them, and is then covered with soil, so that the pit is about one-half filled up. The soil taken out is heaped in a curve above the pit so as to prevent heavy rain washing down into the pit. When more manure is required to be added--say bone-meal--it is scattered on the soil in the pit, or the top soil in it is sc.r.a.ped off and the manure scattered and then covered up.

I now propose to consider our manurial resources in detail, and shall begin with the first stay of all agriculture, farmyard manure, as to the value of which for coffee I have never met with any difference of opinion.

But there are many objections to relying on farmyard manure, or, at least, to applying it on a large scale, as, if the planter keeps many cattle of his own, he runs great risk of his herd being invaded by disease, and the difficulty and expense of feeding a large number of cattle is very considerable. In some cases it is possible to hire cattle from the natives, and this is done occasionally, and at the rate of 15 rupees a month for 100 head, but here again risk from disease is often incurred, and if it broke out, the natives would withdraw their cattle. The question then naturally arises whether, considering the great cost and trouble attendant on manufacturing cattle manure on a large scale, we cannot find some subst.i.tute that would diminish the quant.i.ty now required. And here it is important to ask what farmyard manure consists of. It consists, then, of the excreta of animals, and the vegetable matter used as litter. From a chemical point of view it mainly provides, in addition to the organic matter, in a slowly-acting form, lime, nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid, and from a physical point of view it furnishes a padding to maintain the texture of the soil, or, in other words, to keep it in a loose and friable condition. And with reference to this last very important point, I may remind the reader that Sir John Lawes has well pointed out that "All our experiments tend to show that it is the physical condition of the soil, its capacity for absorbing and retaining moisture, its permeability to roots, and its capacity for absorbing and radiating heat, that is of more importance than its strictly-speaking chemical composition." Now as regards the chemical aspect of the manurial question, if we a.s.sume, as we have every reason to do from the small quant.i.ty of potash required, and its supply from decomposing stones in the land, that the potash does not require to be taken into account, we shall find that our nitrogen and phosphoric acid can be far more cheaply supplied by fish, or by a mixture of bone-meal and oil-cake than by farmyard manure, and should it be found that potash does require to be added, we could obtain it more cheaply from ashes or kainit. Then in order to provide the padding that farmyard manure supplies, and to furnish nitrogen in a slowly-acting form, we could collect dry leaves, twigs from jungle trees, ferns, and any other available vegetable matter, form them into a compost with some earth, or jungle top soil, and apply the mixture to the land. With such a compost as I have suggested, bone-meal or fish-manure in small quant.i.ty might be mixed, and we should then have a very good subst.i.tute for all the chemical and physical advantages to be derived from the very best kind of farmyard manure. But there is another way of arriving at the same end, which is open to many planters, and that is by collecting top soil from the fringe of jungle commonly left round the plantation, or from the uncultivated jungle of the estate, or from adjacent pieces of jungle land. And such pieces of land varying from ten to twenty acres can commonly be purchased, and can be used to supply top soil. This, of course, has in it much vegetable matter in various stages of decay, and a mixture of it with a small quant.i.ty of bone-meal would form a manure superior, as I shall afterwards show when I come to treat of top soil, to farmyard manure chemically, and superior to it from a physical point of view. To such local manurial resources I would call particular attention, as planters have hitherto relied far too exclusively on cattle manure, and imported manures, such as bones, fish, and oil-cake, and it is evident that we could dispense with much of all these manures if we made a full use of the resources I have recommended. In concluding my remarks on cattle manure I may observe that it is both costly to supply and to apply to the land. It is difficult, of course, to make exact calculations on the subject, as the facilities for supplying litter vary so much, but generally speaking it costs from 70 to 80 rupees an acre if we manure at about the rate of a third of a bushel per tree.

I now turn to a consideration of the value of jungle top soil, a manure to which I have only lately given particular attention, though I was, of course, well aware of its value in a general way, and may begin by stating that two samples of what we were using on my estates have been a.n.a.lyzed by Dr. Voelcker, the object being partly to ascertain the value of the soil and partly to compare its cost with the cost of cattle manure.

After estimating the cost of making cattle manure, and calculating as closely as possible the cost of obtaining and applying jungle top soil from land adjacent to the plantation, it was found that in the case of the best sample of top soil, obtained by removing only four or five inches of the soil, it paid nearly twice as well to use it as a manurial agent as it would to use cattle manure, and I may add that three tons of the soil contain the same manurial matter as two tons of ordinary well-made English farmyard manure. In the case of the second sample a.n.a.lyzed, and which I was sure from the character of the land must be of inferior quality, it was found that 2-1/4 tons of the soil would contain as much manurial value as one ton of farmyard manure, and that the cost of using the two materials would be about the same.

I had also a.n.a.lyzed at the same time a sample of a kind of decayed pink-coloured rock, as I had found that coffee had thriven well in the pink soil which had evidently been formed from the rock in question, but the manurial value was so small that Dr. Voelcker thought that it might merely be of use in improving the physical condition of the soil. I however applied it to some backward coffee, and also applied some of the best top soil to a contiguous piece of backward coffee, and was much surprised to find that the pink soil, to which little direct manurial value was attached by Dr. Voelcker, showed results superior to the best top soil applied alongside of it, and I am now applying it on a large scale. This soil, I may mention, is applied by the natives to the surface of their vegetable beds. They do not attach any manurial value to it, but apply it to keep the vegetables cool, as the soil has quite a remarkable effect in keeping itself cool while the adjacent soil is quite hot, and I have now applied it to the flower beds near my house, and also to the walks around the bungalow. This pink decayed rock is sometimes streaked with a white decayed rock, which the natives call jadi mannu, and sometimes the latter so much preponderates that it looks nearly white. I am told by the natives that if you mix the red and white earth together and apply the mixture to the surface of the land it will never get dry.[54]

In concluding my remarks on soil applications, I may observe that if top soil costs the same price as cattle manure, the former is to be preferred for four reasons. It is much more easily handled and applied; it is a better substance for mixing with other manures, such as bonedust or ashes, for instance; it has a better physical effect on the soil; and is nearly free from weed seeds which abound in cattle manure.

I may add that I have since made a calculation with the object of seeing how, by the addition of manures to the kemmannu soil, I could make a mixture which would have all the fertilizing ingredients of farmyard manure in addition to the advantages possessed by the soil, and which I have just enumerated. I find that if to 83 parts of the soil I added 1 part of bonedust, 12 parts of castor cake, 2 parts of potash salt, and 2 parts of lime, I should make up a compost equal to good English farmyard manure, and at but a slightly increased cost, which would be more than covered by the special physical and other advantages arising from the use of kemmannu.

The pulp of the coffee is very apt to be carelessly treated, and it is important to remember that Mr. Hughes, in his "Report on Ceylon Coffee, Soils, and Manures," estimates that, _if properly preserved_, two tons of pulp are equal to one ton of good farmyard manure. But it must not be washed, as it often is by being run into a pulp pit with water, or nearly all its valuable const.i.tuents would be lost. It should be mixed, he tells us, with cattle dung, or, if that is not procurable, with liberal supplies of lime, and he also suggests that it should be put under cover day by day. We have adopted on my property a plan which I think in these climates is the cheapest and best. A layer of top soil is placed in the road alongside of the coffee where we desire to use the manure; then each day's pulp is carted direct to the plantation and scattered over the top soil, and more top soil added, till we have a layer as thick as we find convenient, but of course not so thick as to prevent carts pa.s.sing over it to other parts of the plantation. On these layers of pulp and top soil lime or bonedust may be sprinkled.

Dry fallen leaves is another local resource which should by no means be neglected, and they are commonly used for littering the cattle sheds. Such leaves are about equal to cattle dung. A sample of those we use was a.n.a.lyzed by Dr. Voelcker, and the result gave 1 per cent. of phosphate of lime, 1 per cent. of ammonia, and 3/4 per cent. of potash.

Green twigs[55] cut from jungle trees are of considerable manurial value, and the natives seem well aware of the value of the different kinds. A sample of the following six kinds which are most approved of by the natives--namely, j.a.pel, Nairal, Ubble, Gowl, Mutty and Hunchotee, was a.n.a.lyzed by Dr. Voelcker, and the result gave 1/4 per cent. phosphate of lime, 3/4 per cent. of potash, 1 per cent. of lime, and 3/4 per cent. of nitrogen.

Ferns are of considerable manurial value, and are rich in potash, and they should be used to litter the cattle sheds.

Burnt earth has been formerly used in Ceylon, and has been recommended by Mr. Pringle for use in Coorg, but I have no experience of its use, but if it pays to use it in Coorg it would pay equally well to do so in Mysore.

Wood ashes are much valued in Ceylon, where they are applied at a cost of 1s. 3-1/2d. a bushel. We buy ashes at 2 annas (less than 3d.) a bushel delivered on the estate. Though costing as much as 1s. 3-1/2d. in Ceylon, Mr. Hughes says they are the cheapest form in which potash can be supplied there.

It should be remembered that the ashes of the stem wood and thick branches are not nearly so valuable as those of young branches and twigs. A good sample of the last-named contains 20-1/2 per cent. of potash and more than 30 per cent. of lime. In many places in the vicinity of the estates much good manure might often be made by cutting down weeds and jungle plants of any kind, burning them, mixed with earth, slowly, and applying the mixture to the coffee.

I have only heard of one planter who used night soil. He had planks pierced with the necessary apertures, underneath which buckets with some soil in each were placed; these were removed daily and emptied into renovation pits in the coffee. Anybody depositing elsewhere was fined, and the fine given to the Toty, who had thus an interest in looking out for defaulters. There can be no doubt that this is an excellent system, and obviously advantageous from a sanitary point of view, and that it could with, ease be carried out on an estate where all the coolies were of the lower castes, but it could not be carried out, and it would be very unwise to attempt it, in the case of an estate on which there are poor members of the better castes. It is even important on such a property to see that no pieces of ordinary paper find their way on to the farmyard manure heap, as, when such has been detected on my property, the women of the better castes refused to carry out the manure.

We have now examined what I may call the local manurial resources, and I propose to consider in detail those manures which have to be imported into the coffee districts from various quarters. Of these manures lime is one of the most important, and as three samples of soil from my property were all found to be very deficient in lime, it is probable that applications of lime are as desirable in Mysore generally as they are in the case of plantations on the Nilgiri slopes. Limestone can be procured from the interior of Mysore, and also from the port of Mangalore. It should always be burnt on the estate. It is a cheaper plan than having it burnt before importing it, and we got, besides, the ashes of the wood used for burning the lime. Lime is as valuable ground as burnt, and when it is ground is not so liable to suffer from rain as burnt lime is. It must not be mixed with bonedust, oil-cake, or potash salts, but should be put down some weeks before these manures. Lime should only be used in small quant.i.ties of half a ton or a ton an acre (it is usually used at the latter rate in Ceylon), as a free use of it would favour the escape of ammonia from the soil by too rapidly converting inert into active nitrogen, and, as a neighbour of mine once found, the result would probably be a heavy crop of coffee followed by exhaustion of the tree. Lime might be advantageously used more often where the land is liable to be soured, or where much vegetable matter has acc.u.mulated. It should be remembered that, as ashes contain about 30 per cent. of lime, we should diminish the quant.i.ty of lime when we have applied ashes. I have said that lime should be used at the rate of half a ton to a ton an acre, but I may remind the reader that Mr. Reilly had found that 4 or 5 cwt. regularly applied every three years was enough, and as to the quant.i.ty that should be used, the planter must be largely guided by the local experience. As lime is easily washed out of the soil, it seems to me that more should be applied in the case of a heavy, and less with a light rainfall.

Bonedust has been largely, and I think, as the reader will see from my previous remarks, very wastefully used in manuring coffee. It varies much in quality, and the purchaser would do well to obtain a guarantee as regards its genuineness. Bonedust should be mixed with fine top soil, and then applied to the land, or it may be mixed with cattle manure, or applied as a surface dressing, but either of the two first-named methods of application is to be preferred. In 500 lbs. of bones there are, in round numbers, about 250 lbs. of phosphate of lime, which consists of 125 lbs. of phosphoric acid and as many of lime. I may remind the reader that 5 cwt. of parchment takes from the soil 1 lb. of lime and 1-1/2 lb. of phosphoric acid.

Fish manure is of great value, especially in bringing rapidly on backward or sticky coffee. A sample I have had a.n.a.lyzed contained 7-1/3 per cent.

of ammonia and nearly 9-1/2 per cent. of phosphate of lime. The whole fish can be imported from the coast, and they should be broken up and mixed with top soil. This is not only advantageous for distributing the manure throughout the land when it is applied, but it is particularly necessary in the case of fish, as I have found by practical experience that, if applied whole and covered with soil, crows, kites, jackals and pigs dig them up and carry them off.

Oil-cakes of various kinds have always been a favourite manure, and it is a particularly desirable one, because the nitrogen in it is in a slowly convertible form. Of all the cakes castor is said to be of the highest manurial value (though an a.n.a.lysis I have had made of ground nut cakes gives a better result in nitrogen), and besides nitrogen it contains phosphate of lime, magnesia, and potash. In an a.n.a.lysis I had made of brown castor oil-cake, i.e., cake made after crushing the entire seeds, there was over 4 per cent. of phosphate of lime, or about equal to 5 per cent. had the cake been white castor, which is made after the seeds have been decorticated. But another sample of brown castor which was a.n.a.lyzed for me, only gave a little more than 2-3/4 per cent. of phosphate of lime.

From this difference, and from the general consideration of the differences of all seeds in particular seasons, and also in some degree from various soils, it seems to me there must often be, from natural causes, a considerable difference in the value of cakes. The attention of purchasers should be directed to these differences; they should obtain, if possible, a guarantee as to the composition of the cakes they buy, and occasionally test the manure.

From what I have said as to the composition of castor cake, it is probable that white castor contains from 4 to 5 per cent. of phosphate of lime, and I desire to call particular attention to this, because oil-cake is usually regarded purely as a nitrogenous source of manure, whereas one of the oil-cakes commonly used--i.e., castor cake--contains an appreciable quant.i.ty of that phosphate of lime of which bones are generally considered to be the sole suppliers by the planter. But it is evident that if we annually used 300 lbs. per acre of white castor, we should, even if it contained only 4 per cent. of phosphate of lime, be supplying six times the amount of lime and more than three times the amount of phosphoric acid removed by an average crop of coffee, and though the lime is liable to loss from waste, it must be remembered that the phosphoric acid is firmly retained by the soil. It is important to remember that castor cake should, like bones, be mixed with a considerable quant.i.ty of fine top soil, so that the manure may be widely distributed through the soil.

Nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, is an extremely expensive manure, and not a desirable one, because the nitrogen in it is in a too quickly a.s.similable form, and is very liable to be lost in drainage. But it might be used with effect, and in small quant.i.ties, for bringing forward supplies, and I am informed that for this purpose it has been used with advantage in Coorg. I have used the nitrate of potash on my property--an experimental amount only--and it caused the trees to throw out strong and numerous shoots. It should be bought in the form of pure nitre.

Nitrate of soda is also liable to the objection that the nitrogen in it is in a too quickly available form, and liable to be lost. I have never used it on my property, but from observing its effect on an estate in Coorg, and the effect it had in causing the trees to throw out a fine supply of young wood, can see that it might be used with great effect in rapidly forcing forward worn-out coffee growing on an exhausted soil. But if used for this purpose it should be backed up with a liberal supply of bones and castor cake, or of bones and farmyard manure, or bones and top soil, as, if not so backed up, the result would be unsatisfactory, if not disastrous, seeing that the nitrate of soda, if applied alone, would cause the plant to wring out everything that was available in the soil. The application of nitrate of soda on the estate alluded to was at the rate of 2 cwt. an acre, and cost 21 rupees an acre, inclusive of the cost of application. I saw the estate at the end of October, and the nitrate had been put down in March previous. The wood it had been the means of producing was very good and strong, dark green, and abundant, and the effect of the nitrate was by no means confined to one season, for the effect of the nitrate put down the year previous was still apparent. The land here evidently was short of nitrogen, and hence the good effect of the nitrate, but as I mentioned previously, an application of nitrate had produced no perceptible effect on another estate belonging to the same proprietor, which had been regularly well manured with bones and cattle manure and composts, and because, of course, the land was so well supplied with nitrogen that the coffee required no more. In concluding my remarks on the effects of nitrate of soda, I may observe that by using this manure, unremunerative coffee might be turned into a paying estate in less than two years, while without the aid of it, from three to four years would be required.

Potash is a manure as to which I can give no distinct information, or, at least, only information of a negative kind. I once sent out a small quant.i.ty of the muriate of potash, but my manager could perceive no effects from it whatever, and I have been informed of an instance of its having been applied to an estate in Coorg at the rate of one quarter of a pound a tree, or at the rate of between 3 and 4 cwt. an acre, without any perceptible effect having been produced from the application.

Then it must be remembered that the quant.i.ty of potash removed by an average crop of coffee is only 7-1/2 lbs. an acre, that potash is firmly held by the soil, and that it is constantly being supplied in small quant.i.ties by the fallen leaves (these contain 3/4 per cent. of potash) of the shade trees and the decomposition of stones in the soil, and in applications of farmyard manure. And with reference to the demands for potash by the tree, I may mention that I, in conjunction with a friend, endeavoured to estimate the consumption of potash by the crop, and we sent to Professor Anderson, of Glasgow, a carefully drawn sample of soil taken from between four coffee trees from which twelve crops of coffee had been removed without any manure being supplied, and also a sample of virgin soil adjacent to the coffee (soil similar in every respect except that it had not been cropped), and asked him to spare no expense in a.n.a.lysis. The result was remarkable, for the soil from which the twelve crops had been taken was found to be very little deteriorated in anything except the quant.i.ty of lime it held, which was less than in the virgin soil. The explanation evidently was that the leaves from the shade trees, and perhaps decomposing stones, had supplied all the potash removed by the crops. "Why, then," asked my friend, who had called on the Professor to hear the result of the investigation, "can young coffee easily be grown on the virgin soil, while it would come on very slowly and poorly in the soil from which the twelve crops of coffee had been taken?" "Simply," was the answer, "because the untouched virgin soil is in a beautiful physical condition, while the soil in the plantation has been rained upon and walked upon, and thus had its physical condition impaired." I need hardly add that what I have just written is highly instructive, as it corroborates what Sir John Lawes has said, and which I have previously quoted, as to the physical condition of the soil being of more importance than its, strictly speaking, chemical composition, and it shows us the importance of maintaining a perfect physical condition of the soil, partly by cultivation and partly by additions of bulk manure--farmyard manure--top soil, and composts.

To grow young plants in old soil requires great attention to manuring and preparing the soil, so as to supply the physical and chemical requirements necessary for the vigorous growth of the young plants. Now we know that the plants thrive well in virgin soil, and we cannot do better than fill the holes with it, if it can possibly be procured within any reasonable distance. If it cannot, then the soil should be mixed with some thoroughly decayed and dried cattle manure, mixed with bonedust, and if it is desired to rush the plant forward, a slight dressing of nitrate of potash might subsequently be applied.

Coprolites, the supposed fossilized remains of animals, which would probably contain about 40 to 50 per cent. of phosphate of lime, have been discovered in Mysore, and I am informed by an executive Engineer officer in the Mysore offices that they are to be found over an area of about two square miles, and at about a distance of seven miles from the Maddur Railway Station on the Bangalore Mysore line. This is a highly important discovery, and, when developed, ought to be the means of furnishing the planter with cheap supplies of the mineral phosphate of lime. I may mention that as one find of coprolites has been made in the province, it is highly probable that further discoveries of this valuable manure may be made. A discovery of phosphatic nodules has also been made near Trichinopoly, in the Madras Presidency, and though not of quality sufficiently good for export to England, has been reported on by Dr.

Voelcker as being good enough for use amongst the plantations of Southern India. A deposit has also been discovered in the Cuddapah district.

We have now glanced at all the local manurial resources at the command of the planters, and also the manures which may be purchased at a distance from the plantations, and as to the latter the question now naturally arises as to how the planter can best lay out his money when manuring his coffee. Now I know of no planter in India who has knowledge enough to decide as to how he should lay out his money. The planter knows in a general way that he wants nitrogen, phosphoric acid, lime, and perhaps some potash, but as to the most desirable and economical sources from which to obtain them he is unable to decide, and it is not a question, even if he called in an agricultural chemist, to be decided once for all, for the prices of the various manures are constantly liable to change.

Here, then, is a matter that should be taken up by the Government, which in this respect should follow the example of the Suss.e.x Agricultural a.s.sociation, the chemist of which publishes every spring the most economical manurial mixture which the farmer can use for his various purposes. In this thinly populated country the well-to-do planters are too few, and the humble native planters too poor, to do what is done by the rich agricultural societies of Great Britain in the way of aiding the farmer. The societies at home are mainly composed of landlords and the richer tenants. The Government in India is the one great landlord over two-thirds of British India, and should perform the duties of one.

In concluding my remarks on manures, I need hardly say that it is of the greatest importance to keep a careful record of all the manures put down, and a special manure book should be kept for this purpose, in which notes should be kept of the effects observed. But for ready reference I have found it most convenient to have a plan made of each field on the estate, and on one side of it a s.p.a.ce should be left in order to enter the manures applied. The date on which the field was planted might also be entered on the plan.