note here that I have found that seeds of the jack tree from the dry plains of the interior produce plants which grow much more rapidly in the wet coffee districts than plants do which have been raised from local seed, and this naturally raises a question, I am now experimenting on, i.e., as to whether we should not procure coffee-seed from trees grown in the dry plains of the interior where the rainfall is less than half of that of our driest coffee districts.  I may here note that coffee can be grown in low-lying sheltered land as far east as Bangalore if the coffee is irrigated.  I was shown in 1891 coffee that looked well, and had borne well, in Mr. Meenakshia’s gardens, some miles from Bangalore.  One hundred and seventy trees planted 6 x 6 ft. in 1885 gave an appreciable crop in 1889, and in 1890 3 cwt. of clean coffee, or at the rate of upwards of a ton an acre.  When I saw the trees in July, 1891, they were looking well, and had a fair crop on them.  There was no shade except a bushy tree here and there.  The proprietor, encouraged by his success, had been extending his cultivation.  In the same garden I also saw cardamom plants about seven feet high and in blossom; these had been planted eighteen months previously.  There were also some vines, grown from plants imported from Caubul, which produced large fine white grapes.

It is of course very important to select a good site for the nursery, and a ready command of water is essential, as it is both costly and unsatisfactory to carry to the beds even a short distance, and the aspect should, if possible, be northerly, as in that case very little shading is required if the ground is on a slope, as, if a line of trees is left at the head of the slope, a large amount of lateral shade will be thrown on to the beds.  Next to a northern an eastern aspect, if the land is low-lying, with a hill or sloping land rising rather abruptly behind it, is by no means a bad situation, as the sun will be entirely off the land early in the afternoon.  Should the planter unfortunately have to fall back on a southern aspect, this may be aided by leaving forest trees rather thickly on the western side of the nurseries so as to shield it from the afternoon sun, or a line of casuarinas may be planted on the west, and also on the southern side, so as to cast lateral shade on the nursery.  A western aspect is to be deprecated, in consequence of the scorching heat of the afternoon sun.

There is a common idea, which I myself once shared, that it is always best to have your nursery on new land, but this is really not at all necessary if you renew your land by carting on to it top soil from the jungle, or even a mixture of any fresh soil that has not been trampled upon, and which has been mixed with cattle manure and some bone-meal.  I consider it most important to retain the same site for the nursery, because, by growing casuarinas to cast lateral shade on it, you can ultimately dispense with shading the