omite is found
most abundantly; but I have very little doubt that the dolomite
here alluded to is only _magnesian_ limestone, and which is most
inimical to the coffee bush.

I am aware that already several manures have been tried on coffee
with varying degrees of success. Guano has, I believe, quite failed,
and is besides very costly. Cattle manure is said to be effective,
and no doubt it is, but it is a costly and troublesome affair.
Bones, ground fine, are now being tried, though they cannot but
prove most expensive, especially when imported.

A ton of bone dust contains of animal matter, 746 lbs,; phosphates
of lime, &c., 1,245 lbs.; carbonates of lime, &c., 249 lbs.

The virtue of bones lies in the phosphates far more than in the
animal matter, and thus their action on soils is felt for many years
after their application. The Singalese cultivators of paddy about
Colombo and Galle, appear to have been long aware of the fertilizing
effects of this kind of manure, and import the article in dhonies
from many parts of the coast: they bruise them coarsely before
applying them.

The partially decomposed husks of the coffee berry have been tried
for some years, and successfully, but they are difficult of
collection, and bulky to remove from one part of the estate to
another.

In Europe it would appear that little is yet known as to the causes
of the fertilising effects of oil cake: some suppose them to arise
mainly from the oil left by the crushing process, but this is not at
all clear. I do not, however, see that we must look for much
assistance from Poonac as a manure for coffee: for the cocoanut tree
it is doubtless most valuable, but we have yet to learn that, beyond
supplying so much more vegetable matter, it helps the action of the
soil on the roots of the coffee bush, which, after all, is what is
really required.

For the proper application of the dolomite to land as manure, it
should be freely burnt in a kiln, with a good quantity of wood, the
ashes of which should be afterwards mixed with the burnt lime, and
the whole exposed for several days to the action of the air,
sheltered of course from the weather. The mixture should be applied
just before the setting in of the monsoon rains: if the land be
tolerably level, the lime may be scattered broadcast on the su