The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gold, Sport, And Coffee Planting In Mysore by Robert H. Elliot This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Gold, Sport, And Coffee Planting In Mysore Author: Robert H. Elliot Release Date: October 14, 2004 [EBook #13746] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD, SPORT, AND COFFEE *** Produced by Michael Ciesielski and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net GOLD, SPORT, AND COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE WITH CHAPTERS ON COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG, THE MYSORE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY, THE INDIAN CONGRESS, CASTE, AND THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION BEING THE 38 YEARS' EXPERIENCES OF A MYSORE PLANTER BY ROBERT H. ELLIOT AUTHOR OF "EXPERIENCES OF A PLANTER," "WRITTEN ON THEIR FOREHEADS," ETC. WITH A MAP IN COLOURS WESTMINSTER 1898. DEDICATION. I have much pleasure in dedicating this book to my friend SIR K. SHESHADRI IYER, K.C.S.I., Dewan of Mysore, and trust that it may be useful in making more fully known the resources of the State whose affairs he has for many years so wisely and ably administered. PREFACE. In the year 1871 I published "The Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore," and had intended to bring out a new edition of it, but, from various causes, the project was delayed, and when I at last took the matter in hand, I found that so many things had happened since 1871 that it was necessary to write a new book. In this, hardly anything of the "Experiences" has been reproduced, except a very few natural history notes and the chapter on Caste, a subject to which I would particularly call the attention of those interested in Indian missions. I have been much assisted by informants too numerous for mention here, and can only allude to those who have most conspicuously aided me. Amongst these I am much indebted to my friend Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer, K.C.S.I., Dewan of Mysore, for access given me to information in the possession of the Government, and for returns specially prepared for the book. From my friends Mr. Graham Anderson and Mr. Brooke Mockett, two of the most able and experienced planters in Mysore, I have derived much information and assistance. I am particularly obliged to my friend Dr. Voelcker[1] for many valuable hints, and the chapter on manures has had the advantage of being read by him. For information as regards the history of coffee in Coorg I am much indebted to Mr. Meynell, who represents the large interests of Messrs. Matheson and Co. in that province, and indeed, without his aid, I could not at all have done full justice to the subject. To Mr. Grey, manager of the Nundydroog mine, I am indebted for information as regards the gold mines, and for the kind assistance he in many ways afforded me when I visited them last January. I am also obliged to Colonel Grant, Superintendent of the Mysore Revenue, Survey and Settlement Department, for information as regards game, and the proposed Game Act for Mysore. I had intended to add a chapter on the cultivation of cardamoms and pepper, but have not done so, because, for the want of recent information from those specially engaged in these cultivations, I could not feel confident of doing full justice to the subject. I may, however, say that as regards cardamoms, I have good reason for supposing that there is not much to be added to the chapter on them which appeared in the "Experiences." Though I have collected many experiences, I am of course aware that many more remain to be collected, and I should feel particularly obliged if planters and those who have any experiences to give me (natural history and sporting information would be very welcome) would be kind enough to do so. These I would propose to incorporate in an improved edition, which I look forward to bringing out when a sufficient amount of additional information has been collected. If those who have any information to give, suggestions to make, or criticisms to offer, would be kind enough to communicate with me, an improved edition might be brought out which would be highly valuable to all tropical agriculturists, and all those interested in the various subjects on which I have written. My Indian address is Bartchinhulla, Saklaspur, Mysore State, and home address, Clifton Park, Kelso, Roxburghshire. ROBERT H. ELLIOT. [1] Dr. Voelcker, Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, was, by the permission of the Society, employed for upwards of a year by the Government in India; and his "Report on the Improvement of Indian Agriculture" is an elaborate, work, of upwards of 400 pages, and contains a large body of carefully digested information, remarks, and opinions which will be of great value to the Government, and of much practical value to planters, and all tropical agriculturists. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTORY. Myself and the route to Mysore in 1855. 1 The pioneer planters of Southern Mysore. 4 The life of a planter by no means a dull one. 5 Effects of English capital on the progress of the people and the finances of the State. 6 The value, in times of famine, of European settlers. 9 A deferred native message of thanks to the English public. 10 The causes that have led to an increase of famine and scarcities. 11 Measures to promote the digging of wells by the people. 12 A line of railway from Mysore to the western coast sanctioned. 13 Wanted, land tenures which will promote well digging and other irrigation works. 14 The late Dewan's opinions in favour of a fixed land tax. 16 Evidences of irrigation works made by occupiers being promoted by a fixed land tax. 17 Famine question of great importance to settlers in India. 17 The number of European and native coffee plantations in Mysore. 18 Probable annual value of coffee produced in Mysore. Manufactures in India. 19 Manufactures in Mysore. 20 Endeavours by the Dewan to develop the iron wealth of the province. 20 "The Mysore and Coorg Directory." Value of the Dewan's annual addresses in the Representative Assembly. 21 The Dewan's efforts to promote improvements of all kinds. 21 European settlers favourably received by officials of all classes. 21 Hints as to representing any matter to a Government official. 22 Native officials are polite and obliging. 23 CHAPTER II.—THE SCENERY AND WATERFALLS OF MYSORE. General description of the Mysore country. 24 The climate. A healthy one for Europeans. 26 The beautiful scenery of the western borderlands. 27 The falls of Gairsoppa. 29 Height of the falls; difficulty of getting at them; the Lushington, Lalgali, and Majod Falls might be visited-when on the way to Gairsoppa Falls. 30 The best time for visiting the falls. 31 Description of the falls. 32 Startling sounds to be heard at the falls. 33 To the bottom of the gorge below the falls. 34 Wonderful combinations of sights and sounds. 35 The scene on the pool above the falls. 38 The beautiful moonlight effects. 39 A flying squirrel; a tiger bounding across the road. 40 The Cauvery Falls and the route to them. 40 General description of the falls. 42 The Gangana Chuckee Falls. 43 The Bar Chuckee Falls. 44 The Gairsoppa and Cauvery Falls contrasted. 46 Interesting bridges built by native engineers. 47 Leisure, solitude, and repose necessary to enjoy scenery. 48 CHAPTER III.—MYSORE—ITS GOVERNMENT AND REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY. The early history of Mysore. 49 The Hindoo and Mahometan lines. 50 The Hindoo line restored by us in 1799. 50 The insurrection of 1830. 50 The Maharajah deposed and the country in 1831 administered by the British. 51 The State restored to native administration in 1881. 51 The people at first generally disliked the change; causes of this. 52 Value of an admixture of Europeans in the Mysore service. 53 The alleged breach of good faith as regards conferring appointments on natives in British territory. 54 The constitution of Mysore; terms on which it was transferred not to native rule but to native administration. 55 Mysore as practically under British rule as any part of British India. 56 After deducting sum allotted for Maharajah's personal expenditure, the remaining revenues to be spent on public purposes only. 57 The advantages possessed by settlers in Mysore. 57 The Mysore Representative Assembly. 57 The notification by which the Assembly was established, and the system of nominating members. 58 Contrast between it and the Egyptian General Assembly of the Legislative Council. 59 First meeting of the Assembly, Oct. 7th, 1881. 59 Rules of 1890 announcing a system of electing members in future. 60 My election in 1891 as a member of the Assembly. 61 Am appointed chairman of preliminary meetings. 62 Measures agreed to at the preliminary meetings. 62 Rules to regulate discussions in preliminary meetings. 63 Organization desired to be established; funds for working the proposed organization. 64 The lady students of the Maharanee's College. 65 The Assembly formally opened; the Dewan's address. 65 Gold mines, railways, roads; interference of Madras Government with proposed Mysore Irrigation Works. 66 Measure to promote digging of wells. 68 Value of the Assembly as a means of communicating intelligence amongst the people. 69 Forests. Elephants. Female education. 69 The Archæological Survey. The Census. The municipal elections. 70 Reform of religious and charitable institutions. An irregular meeting of members. 71 A marriage law proposed. Great excitement caused thereby. Proposal adjourned. 71 Proposal to store grain against times of famine. 72 Revenue should be remitted in full when there is no crop. 72 My speech in the Assembly as chairman of preliminary meetings. 72 Members called up in order to represent grievances and wants. The marriage question again. 73 Influence of public opinion as regards age for consummation of marriages. 74 Opinion of two native gentlemen as regards my speech. 74 An important concession gained by the representatives. 75 The admirable working of the Mysore Government. General appreciation of the Dewan's administration. 76 Representatives have no power and do not want any. Causes of the absence of any demand for parliamentary institutions such as those in England. 77 Absence of general interest in the Assembly. Causes of this. 79 Great value of Assembly in bringing rulers and ruled together. Such Assembly more necessary now than formerly. Causes of this. 80 The Indian Congress. Causes of the creation of. 81 Started in 1885 by a small number of the educated classes. 82 Seditious pamphlets circulated by the Congress. 82 Copies bought for the Athenæum Club. 82 Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M.P. one of the sellers of the pamphlets. 82 Proceedings of the Congress legitimate till it fell under guidance of Mr. Hume. Excuses for Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji. 83 The composition of the first and second Congresses. 83 The third Congress. The members desire to make the laws and control the finances of India. 84 The Congress declares that as Indians in rural districts are not qualified to elect members, these should be elected by an electoral college composed of the flower of the educated classes. 85 As the desired powers are not likely to be obtained in India, the people of England must be made to believe that India is being misgoverned. 85 The Congress' schemes for bringing about a revolution in India. Native volunteers to be enrolled to bring pressure to bear on the Government. The Repeal of the Arms Act demanded. 86 The seditious pamphlets issued by the Congress. 87 The sums of money collected with the aid of the pamphlets. 88 Opinions of Congress that natives are wanting in the qualities necessary for governing India. 88 CHAPTER IV.—NATURAL HISTORY AND SPORT. The advantages and pleasures of big game shooting. 90 Comparative risks from tigers, bears, and panthers. 92 Boars and other wild animals more dangerous now than formerly. Advantages of this for sportsmen. 93 The natural history of Mysore. 94 Elephants. Tigers much more numerous in former times in Mysore. 96 In a short time 118 caught in traps. Remarkable cessation of such captures. The balance of nature destroyed. 97 The spread of intelligence amongst wild animals. Tiger passes. Difference of opinion as to how tigers seize their prey. 98 The use of the paw in killing animals and people. 99 The carrying powers of tigers and panthers. 100 Reasons for not sitting on the ground when tiger shooting. 101 Illustration of risk of sitting on the ground. 102 Caution should be exercised when approaching a tiger supposed to be dead. 103 Another illustration of the risk of sitting on the ground. 105 Illustration of the importance of sitting motionless when obliged to sit on the ground. 106 An exciting rush after a wounded tiger. 107 Coolness and courage exhibited by a native. 108 Estimate of danger of tiger shooting on foot. Should not be pursued by those whoso lives are of cash value to their families. 109 People killed by wounded tigers. Difficulty of seeing a tiger in the jungle. 110 Distinguishing sight of natives superior to that of Europeans. 111 Tigers easily recover from wounds. 112 Effects on the nerves and heart from the roar of a wounded tiger. 113 Precautions that should be exercised by sportsmen with damaged hearts. 115 The lame tiger. Met in the road at night. 116 Tying out live baits for tigers. 117 Interesting instance of tiger stalking up to a live bait. 118 Another illustration of risk of approaching a tiger apparently dead. 120 Importance of using a chain when tying out a bait. Sport spoiled from a chain not being used. 121 Tigers eat tigers sometimes. Illustration of this. 123 The tiger's power of ascending trees. 125 Interesting instance of a jackal warning tigers of danger. 126 Tiger put to flight by the rearing of a horse. 127 Effect on a tiger of the human voice. Tigers often undecided how to act. 128 Tigers form plans and act in concert. Illustration of this. 129 Tigers of Western Ghaut forests, if unmolested, rarely dangerous to man. 130 Very dangerous man-eating tigers have existed in the interior of Mysore. Man-eaters enter villages. A tiger tearing off the thatch of a hut. 131 Great courage and determination shown by natives in connection with tigers. Illustrations of this. 132 The life of a planter saved by a dog attacking the tiger. 134 Interesting behaviour of the dog after Mr. A. was wounded. 135 Treatment of wounds from tigers. A native recovers from thirteen lacerated wounds and two on the head. 136 A mad tiger. Position of body that should be adopted when waiting for a tiger. Importance of this. 137 Tiger purring with evident satisfaction after having killed a man. 138 CHAPTER V.—BEARS, PANTHERS, JUNGLE DOGS, SNAKES, JUNGLE PETS. Bear has two cubs at a time. Bears rapidly decreasing. Said by natives to be killed and eaten by tigers. Instances of tigers killing bears. 140 Bears dreaded by natives more than any animal in the jungle. Probable cause of their often attacking people. Illustration of this. 141 Attacked by an unwounded and unprovoked bear. 142 If suddenly attacked by an animal at close quarters rush towards it. 143 Wanton attacks made by bears on people. Approaching caves and getting bears out of them. 144 Great value of stink balls. 146 How not to attempt to get a bear out of a cave. Am caught by a hill fire. 147 Amusing incident at a bear's cave. A man wounded. 149 Value of having a good dog when out bear shooting. Am knocked down by a bear. 151 Panthers. Should be hunted with dogs. 152 Panther probably feigning death. A man killed. 153 The wild boar the most daring animal in the jungles. Illustration in point. 154 The great power of the wild boar. My manager charged by one. 156 Boars make shelters for themselves in the rains. The flesh of the boar not a safe food. 157 Jungle dogs. Said by natives to kill tigers. 158 The use, said by the natives to be made by the dogs, of their acrid urine. 159 A cross between the jungle and the domestic dog. 160 Curious incident connected with jungle dogs. 161 Great increase of jungle dogs. A reward should be offered for their destruction. 161 Many reported deaths from snake bites probably poisoning cases. Reasons in support of this view. From 1855 to 1893 only one death from snake bite in my neighbourhood. 162 The cobra not an aggressive snake. Unless hurt or provoked will probably never bite. Illustrations in support of this view. 163 Snakes keep a good look out. Tigers and snakes run away. 165 Many snakes are harmless, and some useful. 166 Wild animals probably require to be taught by their parents to dread man. 166 A tame stag. A tame flying squirrel. 167 A tame hornbill. 168 Probable cause of pets not caring to rejoin their wild congeners. 169 Some remarks on guns. The Paradox. 170 CHAPTER VI.—BISON SHOOTING. Unless molested the bison never attacks man. 171 An attempt to photograph a solitary bull. 173 Description of the bison. 174 Height of bull bison. Account of an interesting friendship between a tame sambur deer and a bull bison. 175 Bison are often attacked by tigers. 177 Interesting instance of a tiger stalking up to a solitary bull. 178 The tiger and bull knocked over right and left. 180 Precautions that should be taken when following up a wounded bull. 181 A tracker killed by a bull. Following a wounded bull. 182 Stalking up to a herd. The value of peppermint lozenges. 183 How a wounded bull may be lost. 185 The value of a dog when following up a wounded bull. 186 Wonderful bounding power of the bison. A narrow escape from a charging bull. 187 Special Act required for preservation of cow bison. 188 CHAPTER VII.—GOLD. The earliest tradition as regards gold in Mysore. 190 Explanation of gold being found on the ears of corn. Lieutenant Warren's investigations in 1800. 191 Native methods of procuring gold by washing and mining. 192 Depths to which old native pits were sunk. 193 Probable cause of the cessation of mining at considerable depths. 194 In 1873 leave first given to a European to mine for gold. Remarkable absence in Mysore of old records or inscriptions relating to gold mining. 195 Mr. Lavelle in 1873 applied for right to mine in Kolar. 196 Of the mines subsequently started all practically closed in 1882, except the Mysore mine, which began to get gold in end of 1884. 197 Had the Mysore Company not persevered the Kolar field would probably have been closed. Depths to which mines have been sunk. The Champion Lode. 198 General description of the Kolar field. Notes by a lady resident. 199 Life on the field. Gardening. Visitors from England. 200 The volunteers at the mines. Sport near the field. 201 Servants and supplies. Elevation and the climate. A healthy one. 202 Mining and the extraction of gold. 203 The rates of wages. No advances given to labourers. 204 Expenditure by the companies in Mysore in wages. Consequential results therefrom on the prosperity of the people. 205 Measures which the State should take to encourage the opening of new mines. 206 Royalty on mines that are not paying should be reduced or abolished. Act required to check gold stealing. 207 Some summary process should be adopted to check gold thefts. 208 Want of water on the field. Measures proposed for conserving it. 209 The want of tree planting. Other auriferous tracts in Mysore. Mr. R. Bruce Foote's report. 210 Brief analysis of Mr. Bruce Foote's report on the various auriferous tracts. The central group of auriferous rocks. 211 The west-central group. 212 The western group. Expects that many other old abandoned workings will be discovered in the jungly tracts. 213 An inexhaustible supply of beautiful porphyry near Seringapatam and close to a railway. 214 CHAPTER VIII.—CASTE. Valuable to rural populations. 215 My inquiry limited to its rural and practical effects on life. 210 Its moral effects as regards the connection of the sexes. 217 Its value in limiting the use of alcohol. 219 Morality in Manjarabad superior to that of England. 220 Widows may contract a kind of marriage. The value of caste in socially segregating inferior from superior races. 221 The mental value of the separation caused by caste. 222 The separation caused by caste has not hindered advancement amongst the rural population. The Coorgs an instance of this. 223 Disadvantages of caste as regards town populations. 224 Instances of the evils of caste amongst the higher classes in the towns. 225 Inquiry as to how far caste has acted beneficially in opposing the existing interpretation of Christianity. 227 Worthlessness of pure dogmas when adopted by a degraded people. 228 Native Christians readily revert to devil worship in cases of danger or sickness. 229 Native Christians neither better nor worse than the low-classes from which they are usually drawn. Experience of the Abbé Dubois. 230 The upper class peasantry having to give up caste would be injured by being converted. 231 The town population would not be injured by conversion. 232 Causes of the outcry against caste. 233 Its alleged tendencies. 234 The way to retain the good and lessen the evil of caste. 235 To become a Christian our missionaries compel the entire abandonment of caste. Their version of Christianity wisely rejected. 230 Mischievous action of our missionaries as regards caste. Their erroneous views a bar to the progress of Christianity. 237 Bishop Heber's "Letter on Caste". 238 Bishop Wilson's fatal "Circular" requiring absolute abandonment of caste by Christians. 240 Secession of native Christians in consequence of the "Circular." Erroneous views contained in the Report of the Madras Commissioners. 242 Views of the Tanjore missionaries as regards caste. 243 Mr. Schwartz's opinions. 244 The Tanjore missionaries not unfavourable to the retention of caste by their converts. 245 Inquiry into the origin of caste. 240 No connection between caste and idolatry. They may and do exist apart. 247 Caste as it exists in Ceylon. 249 The way in which caste probably did originate. 250 The Jews a strictly guarded caste. 251 Caste difficulties as regards taking the Sacrament. 252 Its sanitary advantages. 254 Caste no bar to the exercise of hospitality and charity. 255 Advantages of caste in increasing hospitality and charity. 257 Caste has a levelling as well as a keeping down tendency. 260 Instances of people rising into a superior caste. 261 Rigidity of caste laws much exaggerated. They vary in different places. Occasional violations of caste law condoned. Remarkable instance of this. 263 Infringement of caste when out tiger shooting. 264 Instance of variation in caste law. Caste apt to be made the scapegoat of every Indian difficulty. 266 Mr. Pope's remarks on the effects of caste. 267 Mr. Raikes's remarks on the evil effects of caste. Thinks that it is the cause of infanticide. 268 Instance to show that infanticide can exist amongst people free from caste. Polyandrous habits not necessarily a cause of infanticide. 269 Summary of principal conclusions arrived at. 270 Curious customs of the Marasa Wokul tribe in Mysore. 273 The effect of caste on the transmission of acquired aptitudes. 274 CHAPTER IX.—COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG. Description and the history of Coorg. 275 Conquered and annexed by us in 1834. My first visit to Coorg in 1857. The pioneer planters. 276 Planting without shade caused the failure of many of the plantations. 277 After shade was introduced coffee flourished. 278 European and native plantations. Their number and the probable yield from them. Expenditure per acre. 279 The kinds of manure used. Experiments by an analytical chemist. 280 Proportions of manure varied according to the condition of the coffee. The time in which manure should be applied. Applications of burnt earth. 281 Widespread results arising from the expenditure on plantations in Coorg. 282 Rates of wages, and system of procuring labourers. Leaf disease and Borer. 283 Remedies experimented on as regards leaf disease and Borer. 284 Primary cause of the existence of so much Borer. The terms on which Government lands are sold for planting. 285 Reasons why certain of the reserved State forests should be given out for planting. 286 Cinchona and Ceara rubber planting tried and abandoned. Coffee seed introduced from Brazil, and other countries, without any apparent advantage. Liberian coffee tried experimentally. 287 The capital spent on labour and the consequential results of this on agriculture. My visit to Coorg in 1891. 288 The route from Mysore. The coffee works at Hunsur. Interesting adventure with a panther. 289 To Mr. Rose's estate near Polibetta. Description of Bamboo district. 290 Life in the Bamboo district. The club, church, and co-operative store. 291 Visits to plantations. Left for Mercara. 292 The Retreat. Mr. Meynell's house. Its kitchen arrangements, etc. 293 Mr. Mann's coffee garden at Mercara. The large profits from it. To the Hallery estate six miles from Mercara. 294 Visits to several estates. To the Coovercolley estate. Mr. Mangles's. 295 Left Coovercolley for Manjarabad in Mysore. 296 General observations on coffee planting in Coorg. Its flourishing condition. More attention should be paid to shade. 297 Defects as regards shade. More attention to it would lessen Borer. 298 Manures used on the best kept up estates. 299 The profits that may be expected from good, well-managed estates. The great want of a Game Preservation Act. 300 CHAPTER X.—COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE. An agreeable life for an active intelligent man who must work somewhere. 302 Qualities necessary to make a successful planter. 303 The work not hard. The climate agreeable and healthy. The elevation of the coffee districts above sea level. 304 The changes that may be taken in the slack season by planters. The durability of well-shaded plantations. 305 Shaded plantations a very permanent property. The profits of coffee. Case of an estate bought with borrowed money. 306 Analysis of yield, expenses, and profits on a Manjarabad estate. 307 Probable profits on estates in the northern part of Mysore. 308 From want of information coffee plantations in Mysore not saleable at good prices. Failure of coffee in Ceylon. This gave coffee generally an undeservedly bad name. 309 Early notices of coffee in India. Its early history in Mysore. 310 Failure of the variety of coffee first introduced. 311 The successful introduction of the Coorg variety of coffee. 312 Mysore coffee fetches the highest price in the London market. Original Mysore coffee land tenures. 313 The new Coffee Land Rules introduced in 1885. 314 In the south of Mysore all coffee land probably taken up. In north, land reported to be still available. Planters well satisfied with the Government. 315 Advances to labourers. Legislation as regards them much needed. 316 Proposed measure to meet the advances to labourers difficulty. 317 Legislation required to amend the extraditions laws. 318 The New Cattle Trespass Act. The want of a Wild Birds' Protection Act. The neglect of game preservation. 319 In consequence of game destruction tigers forced to prey heavily on village cattle. Great losses in consequence. 320 Cruelty of native hunters. Evidences of extermination of game birds. 321 The want of a Government Agricultural Chemist. The discovery of a new hybrid coffee plant. 322 Enormous yield from it. 323 CHAPTER XI.—SHADE. General remarks on the importance of shade. 324 The governing principle as regards shade for coffee. 325 The most desirable kinds of shade trees. Those of less desirable kinds. 326 The Jack. Its merits and defects. 327 The Attí. Good when young, less desirable when old. 328 The Noga. The objections to relying on this tree. 329 Other kinds of less desirable shade trees. 330 Albizzia Moluccana. Said to be a valuable tree for shade. 331 Methods adopted when forming a shaded plantation. 332 Great advantages of clearing without burning the forest. 333 The order in which shade trees should be planted. 334 The young shade trees require shade. The charcoal tree a good nurse. 335 The management of young shade trees. 336 The evils arising from excessive trimming of side branches of shade trees. Planting under the shade of the original forest trees. 337 The value of leaving marginal belts of forest. The danger of a running fire. 338 The quantity of shade required for varying aspects and gradients. 339 The great differences between northern and southern aspects as regards heat. 340 Western and eastern aspects. 341 Importance of attending to the gradients, the quality of the soil, and its exposure to drying winds. 342 Elevation and rainfall govern quantity of shade that should be kept. The thinning, and lopping lower boughs of shade trees. 343 Much knowledge and experience required in judicious thinning. 344 More shade will be required as trees become lofty. 345 Importance of at once planting up spots where shade is deficient, in order to keep out the Borer insect. 346 Planting out young shade trees. The removal of parasites from shade trees. 347 Preparation of shade tree cuttings before planting out. How to grow young charcoal-tree plants. Valuable as nurses. 348 CHAPTER XII.—MANURE. How shade complicates the economical and effective manuring of coffee. 350 Bulk manures as a rule should not be applied to land directly under shade trees, but to more open spaces. 351 Less manure should be applied to coffee directly under shade trees. 352 Manure should be varied on different aspects. The quantity that should be annually supplied. 353 Bones may be seldom used if lime is regularly applied. 354 A considerable amount of manure required even though the loss from crops is small. 356 A test of land being sufficiently supplied with manure. The quantity of manure probably required. 357 The quantity of manure that should be put down at a time. 358 Danger from over-manuring, especially in ease of light soils. 359 Ridges should be more heavily manured than hollows. The time of year when manures should be applied. 360 Advantages of manuring at the end of the monsoon. 361 Bearing that the time of applying manures has on leaf disease. Mr. Marshall Ward's remarks as to this. 362 The various methods of applying manures. 363 In the case of steep land the manure should be buried in trenches. Farmyard manure. Its great value for coffee. 364 Substitutes for farmyard manure. 365 Value of forest land top soil as a manure, and as a substitute for farmyard manure. 366 The comparative cost of farmyard manure and top soil. Remarkable result from an application of pink-coloured soil. 367 If top soil costs the same as farmyard manure the former is better. Reasons for this being so. A compost of pink soil and manures may be made, which will equal good farmyard manure, and cost but little more. 368 The manurial value of pulp, and of dry fallen leaves. 369 Manurial value of green twigs of trees, ferns and wood ashes. 370 Night soil. Lime. 371 Bonedust. Fish manure. 372 Oil-cakes. Proportion of phosphate of lime in castor cake. 373 Nitrates of potash and soda. 374 Potash. A manure of doubtful value in the case of Mysore soils. 375 Attempt to ascertain value of potash as a manure for coffee. 376 How to grow young plants in old soils. Coprolites, discovery of, in Mysore. 377 An agricultural chemist wanted for the province. A careful record should be kept of manure applied. 378 Bringing round a neglected plantation. Steps that should be taken. 379 Manurial experiments. 380 Native manurial practises should be studied. Application of various soils as top dressing by native cultivators. The best and most economical way of manuring coffee has yet to be discovered. 381 Manurial experiments need not be costly. 382 CHAPTER XIII.—NURSERIES, TOPPING, HANDLING, PRUNING, ETC. The selection of seed. 383 Irrigated coffee near Bangalore. Mr. Meenakshia's gardens. The selection of a site for a nursery. 384 The best time for putting down the seed. 385 Plants should be grown in baskets. The pits for vacancy plants. 386 Topping. The best heights for. 387 The time when trees should be topped. 388 Handling and the removal of suckers. Its importance as regards rot and leaf disease. 389 Pruning. 390 Management of pruning, with reference to rot and leaf disease. 391 The removal of moss and rubbing down the trees. The cultivation of the soil. 392 Difficulties connected with the proper cultivation of the soil. 393 The best tools for digging. Renovation pits. 394 Renovation pits valuable as water-holes. Their value in connection with water conservation. 395 CHAPTER XIV.—THE DISEASES OF COFFEE. Leaf disease, or attacks of Hemeleïa Vastatrix. 396 Mr. Marshall Ward's report on leaf disease in Ceylon. Leaf disease probably always existed in Mysore. Said to have caused much loss on some estates. 397 Losses of leaves from other causes commonly attributed to leaf disease. No reason to fear it if land is well cultivated, manured, and shaded. Evidence that shade can control leaf disease. 398 Bad kinds of shade trees cannot control, but increase leaf disease. 399 Conditions under which leaf disease is liable to occur in the cases of good soil under good shade trees. 400 The importance of manure and cultivation with reference to leaf disease. Mr. Graham Anderson's, Mr. Marshall Ward's and Mr. Brooke Mockett's opinions. The Coorg plant not so liable to be attacked as the Chick plant. 401 The Borer insect. 402 Borer is worst under bad kinds of shade trees, but can be controlled by good caste trees. 403 Conditions favorable to attacks of the Borer. 404 Reasons for thinking that the usual practice of destroying all bored trees is of little use. 405 The Borer can only be suppressed by adequate shade. Rot, or pellicularia koleroga. Aggravated by want of free circulation of air. 406 Measures for lessening rot. Importance of meeting monsoon with mature leaves on the coffee trees. 407 Green-bugs. None in Mysore, Receipt for killing them used on Nilgiri Hills. 408 CHAPTER XV.—THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR PLANTATIONS, AND THE VALUATION OF COFFEE PROPERTY. Much uncleared land available in northern part of Mysore. 409 The various classes of forest lands. 410 Much land unsuitable from over heavy rainfall. Mr. Graham Anderson's return of rainfall. His interesting memorandum. 411 Elevation of plantations above sea level. With a few exceptions not much difference in value of the coffee of various estates. 412 The especial importance of aspect in Mysore. 413 The most favourable gradients. Various kinds of soil. 414 Comparative healthiness of the different coffee districts in Mysore. 415 Various considerations to be taken into account when valuing land. 416 An old established estate may not necessarily be an old plantation. 417 The quality of the shade ought largely to affect a valuation of a property. 418 Facilities that should be considered when valuing a property. 419 Impossible to offer opinion as to value of coffee property, till facts as regard it are widely known, and the line is opened to western coast. 420 CHAPTER XVI.—HOW TO MAKE AN ESTATE PAY, AND THE ORDER OF THE WORK. Inferior parts of estates should be thrown out of cultivation. 421 The losses caused by giving advances. 422 Advances not so necessary as formerly, as labour rates are higher now. 423 Advances to Maistries to bring labour. 424 Minor sources of loss. The order in which the various works should be performed. 425 CHAPTER XVII.—THE MANAGEMENT OF ABSENTEE ESTATES. "The fact is, we all require a little looking after." 428 Advisable to give manager an interest in the estate. Managers for estates in Mysore require to be very carefully selected. 429 A clear understanding essential between proprietor and manager. 430 Powers of attorney should be carefully drawn up. The proprietor entirely in the power of the manager. 431 The value of the eye of the owner. Every estate should have an information book. 432 Points to be entered in the information book. 433 Hints to managers. 435 CHAPTER XVIII.—THE PLANTER'S BUNGALOW AND THE AMENITIES OF AN ESTATE. The best form of bungalow. 440 The kitchen arrangements. 441 The aspect of the bungalow and ground around it. 442 Cash value of the amenities of an estate. The flower garden. 443 Building materials. 444 How to keep out white ants. 445 Coolie lines. 446 Tree planting for timber and fuel. 447 Precautions for the conservation of health. 448 Hints as regards food, and the table generally. 449 Suggestions as to books and newspapers. 451 Importance of having some interesting pursuit. 452 The minor amenities of an estate. 453 The conditions of a planter's life now ameliorated by railways. 454 Mysore out of the reach of House of Commons faddists. Advantages of this. 455 CHAPTER XIX.—THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION. On June 26th, 1893, gold standard introduced and mints closed to free coinage of silver. 456 Movement originated in India by the servants of Government, and from no other class whatever. 457 Some merchants afterwards joined in the agitation. Gold to be received at the mints at a ratio of 1s. 4d. per rupee. Sovereigns in payment of sums due to Government to be received at the rate of fifteen rupees a sovereign. 458 Cash effects of the measure. For benefit of English reader figures given in pounds sterling, a rupee taken at 2s. Rupee prices little changed in India, China and Ceylon. Difficulty of forming exact estimates as to this. 459 If gold value of silver can be forced up from 1s. 3d. to 1s. 4d., Indian Government will gain about one and a half million sterling on its home remittances, and the people lose about seven millions on their exports. 460 The Indian Finance Minister contemplates a rise to 1s. 6d. eventually. 461 A rise to 1s. 6d. would give the Exchequer a gain on home remittances of £4,500,000 and entail on the people a loss £21,000,000, equal to a tax of 21 per cent. on the exports of India. Effects of this on the producers. 462 The producers of coffee in Mysore alone would lose £56,000 a year were exchange forced up to 1s. 4d., and £156,000 a year were it raised to 1s. 6d. All producers in other parts of India of articles of export would be similarly affected. 463 If the rupee is artificially forced up by the State, the shock to confidence will repel capital and injure credit. The first effect will show itself in a lessened demand for labour. 464 The effects of increased employment on the finances. The bearing of the measure on famines and scarcity. It will intensify the effects of both, and make them more costly to the State. 465 The measure has arrayed all classes against the Government, except its own servants and a very few of the merchants. 466 The effects of the measure on the tea-planters of India and Ceylon. It must heavily affect both. If Ceylon establishes a mint, tea-planters there will have advantages over their rivals in India. 467 Coffee planters of India and Ceylon will he prejudicially affected in their competition with silver-using countries. Evil effects of the measure on the trade, manufactures, and railways of India. 469 The measure rotten from financial, political, and economical points of view. 470 The Viceroy and the supporters of the measure have admitted that it must be injurious to the producers of India. Sir William Hunter's admirable survey of the former and present financial condition of India. 471 The Viceroy has publicly declared that cheap silver has acted as "a stimulus" to the progress of India. 472 The unfair action of Lord Herschell's Committee. Not a single representative of the producing classes examined. But the majority of witnesses were dead against the monetary policy of the Government. The Currency Committee reported against the weight of the evidence. The most important points not inquired into at all by the Committee. 473 The Indian Government and Currency Committee financially panic-stricken, and in dread of effects of repeal of Sherman Act. The financial condition not such as to warrant panic. Taxational resources not exhausted. 474 Sir William Hunter's statement proves that the financial conditions were full of hope. The dread that the repeal of the Sherman Act might reduce rupee to 1s. Examination of the subject on that supposition. 475 By a rate of 1s. a rupee the Government would lose about seven millions on its home remittances, and the people of India gain fourteen millions on their exports. Mr. Gladstone's Government adopted Home Rule Bill, and Currency Measure in one year. Both forced on by tyrannical action. Gladstonian action as to Opium Commission equally tyrannical. 476 The monetary measure a policy of protection for the benefit of the silver-using countries that compete with India. 477 Some of the evils the measure, if successful, must cause. The Indian Finance Minister declared that "it ought not to be attempted unless under the pressure of necessity." No necessity arisen. An independent body wanted to efficiently check the Government. The Duke of Wellington's opinion. 478 India and Mexico compared. Mr. Carden's Consular Report. 479 Cheap silver advantageous to Mexico. The losses to the Government and railways which arise from gold payments are, comparatively speaking, a fixed quantity, while the gain to the people from cheap silver, produces consequential benefits far beyond reach of calculation. These remarks equally applicable to India. Wanted, a Government that can see this. 480 Map of Mysore CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.—PROGRESS IN MYSORE. As I now turn my thoughts back to the year 1855, when, being then in my eighteenth year, I sailed for India to seek my fortunes in the jungles of Mysore, it is difficult to believe that the journey is still the same, or that India is still the same country on the shores of which I landed so long ago. But after all, as a matter of fact, the journey is, practically speaking, not the same, and still less is India the same India which I knew in 1855. For the route across Egypt, which was then partly by rail, partly by water, and partly across the desert in transits, the bumping of which I even now distinctly remember, has been exchanged for the Suez Canal, and the frequent steamers with their accelerated rate of speed have altered all the relations of distances, and on landing at Bombay the traveller of 1855 would now find it difficult to recognize the place. For then there were the old fort walls and ditches, and narrow streets filled with a straggling throng of carts and people, while now the fort walls and ditches no longer exist, and the traveller drives into a city with public buildings, broad roads and beautiful squares and gardens, that would do credit to any capital in the world, and sees around him all the signs of advanced and advancing civilization. Then as, perhaps, he views the scene from the Tower of the Elphinstone College, and looks down on the beautiful city, on the masts of the shipping lying in the splendid harbour, and on the moving throngs of people to whom we have given peace and order, what thoughts must fill his mind! And what thoughts further, as on turning to view the scene without the city he sees on one side of it the tall chimneys of the numerous mills which have sprung up in recent times, and which tell of the conjunction of English skill and capital with the cheap hand-labour of the East—a combination that is destined, and at no very distant period ahead, to produce remarkable effects. But I must not wander here into the consideration of matters to which I shall again have occasion to refer when I come to remark on the wonderful progress made in India in recent years owing to the introduction of English skill and capital, and shall now briefly describe my route to the western jungles of Mysore. When I landed in Bombay, in 1855, the journey to the Native State of Mysore, now so easy and simple, was one requiring much time and no small degree of trouble, for the railway lines had then advanced but little—the first twenty miles in all India having been only opened near Bombay in 1853. A land journey then was not to be thought of, and as there were no coasting-steamers, I was compelled to take a passage in a Patama (native sailing craft) which was proceeding down the western coast with a cargo of salt which was stowed away in the after-part of the vessel. Over this was a low roofed and thatched house, the flooring of which was composed of strips of split bamboo laid upon the salt. On this I placed my mattress and bedding. My provisions for the voyage were very simple—a coop with some fowls, some tea, sugar, cooking utensils, and other small necessaries of life. A Portuguese servant I had hired in Bombay cooked my dinner and looked after me generally. We sailed along the sometimes bare, and occasionally palm- fringed, shores with that indifference to time and progress which is often the despair and not unfrequently the envy of Europeans. The hubble-bubble passed from mouth to mouth, and the crew whiled away the evening hours with their monotonous chants. We always anchored at night; sometimes we stopped for fishing, and once ran into a small bay— one of those charming scenic gems which can only be found in the eastern seas—to land some salt and take in cocoa- nuts and other items. As for the port of Mangalore, for which I was bound, it seemed to be, though only about 450 miles from Bombay, an immense distance away, and practically was nearly as far as Bombay is from Suez. At last, after a nine days' sail, we lay to off the mouth of the harbour into which, for reasons best known to himself, the captain of the craft did not choose to enter, and I was taken ashore in a canoe to be kindly received by the judge of the collectorate of South Kanara, to whom I had a letter of introduction. After spending some pleasant days at Mangalore I set out for Manjarabad, the talook or county which borders on the South Kanara district—in what is called a manshiel—a kind of open-sided cot slung to a bamboo pole which projects far enough in front and rear to be placed with ease on the shoulders of the bearers. Four of these men are brought into play at once, while four others run along to relieve their fellows at intervals. I started in the afternoon, and was carried up the banks of a broad river by the side of which hero and there the road wound pleasantly along. In the course of a few hours night fell, and then all nature seemed to come into active life with the hum of insects, the croaking of frogs, and various other indications of an abounding animal life. Presently I was lulled to sleep by the monotonous chant of the bearers—sleep only partially broken when changes of the whole set of bearers had to be made—and awoke the following morning to find myself some fifty miles from the coast, and amidst the gorges of the Ghauts, with vast heights towering upwards, and almost all around, while the river, which had now sunk to what in English ideas would still seem to be one of considerable size, appeared as if it had just emerged from the navel of a mountain-barrier some miles ahead. After a few miles more we passed the last hamlet of what was then called the Company's Country, and leaving the inhabited lands—if indeed in a European sense they may be called so—behind us, began to ascend the twenty miles of forest-clad gorges which lead up into the tableland of Mysore. The ascent was necessarily slow, and it was not till late in the afternoon that I saw, some 500 feet above me, and at a total elevation of about 3,200 feet above sea-level, the white walls of the only planter's bungalow in the southern part of Mysore. To this pioneer of our civilization—Mr. Frederick Green, who had begun work in 1843—I had a letter of introduction, and was most kindly received, and put in the way of acquiring land which I started on and still hold. To the south, in the adjacent little province of Coorg— now, as we shall afterwards see, an extensive coffee-field—the first European plantation had been started the year before, i.e., 1854, while to the north some fifty to seventy miles away the country was, in a European sense, occupied by only three English, or, to be exact, Scotch planters. In 1856 I started active life as a planter on my own account, about twelve miles away from the estate of Mr. Green, while in the same year two other planters—Scotchmen by the way—made their appearance. The southern part of Mysore was thus occupied by four planters, and we were all about twelve miles from each other. It is difficult to conceive the state of isolation in which we lived, and as we were all Europeanly speaking single handed, and could seldom leave home, we often had not for weeks together an opportunity of seeing a single white face, and so rare indeed was a visit from a neighbour that, when one was coming to see me, I used to sit on a hill watching for the first glimpse of him, like a shipwrecked mariner on a desert island watching for the glimpse of a sail on the horizon. As for the Indian mutinies, which broke out the year after I had started work, they might have been going on in Norway as far as we were concerned; none of us at all appreciated the importance and gravity of the events that were occurring, and one of my neighbours said that it was not worth while...