1837-41, 54,872 £151,320 1857-61, 600,942 21,506,406 1842-46, 140,220 234,473 1862-66, 785,998 2,009,342 1847.51, 315,049 " 537,348 1867,71, 973,975 2,514,389 1852.56, 911,264 861,269 1872-7G, 799,124 3,441,233 In Ceylon, suitable coffee land has been costing £8 tek£20 the acre ; and 125 to 130 the acre was the estitnate for bringing the purchased land into bearing, and providing proper buildings, suitable paths, roads, and drains. In Ceylon it is con sidered better to choose an easterly or northerly aspect ; for though the morning sun falling on the dew is said to injure the plant, and the setting sun to iniprove its fruit, the advantage of shelter outweighs these considerations. The south-west monsoon is apt to exercise a blight ing influence, curling tip and withering the few leaves it does not beat off the trees. In Ceylon, the best soil is of a deop chocolate colour, friable, and abounding with blocks and small pieces of stone. Such patches of hula are generally found at the bottom of the mearpments of the hills, or in elevatAal valleys, and rarely oil the slopes. Quartzes° 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. A nursery must be proportioned to the extent of land to be culti voted, and situated with regard to proximity fo the extended tields. The seed-grains are sown six inches asunder ; if the land become parched, it will be well to shade it with green branches, and irrigate it night• and morning ; should a long continuance of rain follow the sowing, the seed sometimes decays in the ground. It requires front six weeks to three months, accordiug to moisture and warmth, before it germinates, and in four months more the seedlings are ready to be transplanted.
The labourers on the Ceylon coffee estates, about 220,000, are principally from the districts of Madura, Tinnevelly, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Mysore. They arrive between May and October, and return in January and April via Manor. Kandyans and the lowland Singhalese were found unsuitable for the work, besides being too few ; and'the arrivals at and departures from the ports of Ceylon of Tamil coolies, from 1841 to 1873, Were— During the years 1811-46 the Tamil labourers must have saved or remitted to their country froin £385,000 to £400,000. But against this pecuniary advantage a great loss of life had to be placed. During the eight years above enumerated no less than 70,000 Malabar coolies died.
In Southern Indio, Cannon's Mysore was grown on a range of hills from 3500 to 4000 feet above the sea, having the benefit of the south-west monsoon, which very seldom fails at all, never entirely, and it has also the tail-end of the north east monsoon. Its peculiar qualities were close ness of texture and richness of flavour. From the year 1832, Europeans entered into the agri culture, and Cannon's Mysore coffee soon attracted the attention of dealers. for it rose front 1846-47 to an average of 96 shillings the cwt., and had fetched so high as 115 shillings; and the selling price of native-grown coffee in Mysore rose from one rupee per mound of 281bs. to six and eight rupees per mound. The first plantations by Mr. Cannon were at Chikmoogloor, near the Raba Booclen hills ; the next were at the Munzerabad Ghat ; and for many years the Mysore coffee dis tricts were confined to the region of the Western Ghats and the Baba Booden hills. Attempts were
made to cultivate coffee in the open country, but without success ; it seemed to require forest land, and considerable elevation and moisture.
In the year 1862 the demand for coffee lands in Southern India was at its highest. Coffee plantations two years old were then selling at £12 to £14 the acre ; of three years' growth, £15 to £17 of four years, £18 to £20 ; and in full bearing, £20 to £25,—when coffee was worth 75 to 95 shillings the cwt. Frotn that year commenced doubts in the minds of planters, but ultimately, in some districts, the result was disastrous. From those yielding three cwt. per acre, and they were the great bulk, there were no returns. In Coorg, the enemies of the coffee tree—the bu,g, the rot, the borer, insufficient capital, and the want of the owner's eye--were numerous. In Coorg there were cheap labour, cheap food, and good roads, yet in the autumn of 1866 the estates were unsaleable.
In the south of India land was sold from Rs. 10 upwards to Rs. 50 per acre from Government. In 1876, some natives of Wynad asked Rs. 30,000 for. 150 acres of forest land, equal to Rs. 200 per acre. In 7'ravancore, in 1875-76, 7817 acres were sold for Rs. 2,14,761, or Rs. 28 per acre; the highest price in a single lot realized was Rs. 82 an acre. It was estimated that an acre of jungle on the Neilgherries could be brought into bearing for Rs. 200, includin0 MI expenses. A good dwelling house will cost Is. 4000 ; the pulping house, machinery, and godowns, Rs. 4000 more. The entire cost of bringing 100 acres into bearing was generally reckoned at Rs. 30.000.
Soll.—In British Sonth India the soil recom mended is a good rich garden land, the situation high, and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered from prevailing storms. A hill afford ing shade to the shrub has been found beneficial in all tropical cliinates; if grown fully exposed to the sun, the berries ripen prernaturely. A beautiful species of Strohilanthes, which grows in Coorg, is called the coffee plant, because thought to indicate soil suited for coffee trees. Coffee delights in a moderately warm and moist atmo sphere ; but Coorg is deluged with rains during six months of the year, and scorched by the sun for the other half. In hilly country, planters protect the soil from being washed away, by ter racing, and cutting level drains across the hill face. Ceylon is peculiarly adapted to the growth of coffee, being a mountainous island, with three sides open to a vast expanse of ocean. Droughts do occur, but even in the driest seasons the hills attract clouds, which frequently pour down refreshing showers. . The heavy mists and dense clouds, which sometimes shut out the sun for days together, or roll sluggishly along the rnountain-sides, are amongst the planter's best lauxiliaries. The shrub luxuriates in a rarefied, temperate, and moist climate, and delights in frequent but not heavy rains on the slopes, where there is a good natural drainage, for any lodgment of water about its roots soon proves fatal.