y saw the inevitable end
approaching, and hastened to take up land in the eastern part of Coorg in
what is known as the Bamboo district (because the jungle lands there
consist very largely of forest trees interspersed with clumps of bamboos),
they persisted in carrying their fatal Ceylon system with them, and Mr.
Donald Stewart, called the Coffee King in Mincing Lane, who was a warm
supporter of planting in the open, even issued, it is said, an order to
his managers saying that if he found a single forest tree standing (the
coffee around even a single tree would have proved him to be wrong)
dismissal would follow. But nature proved to be too strong for Mr. Stewart
and those who followed his example, and whole estates in the Bamboo
district were practically exterminated by the Borer insect. At last the
planters, warned by a long and bitter experience, gave way all along the
line, and began to imitate the shade planters of Mysore, and shade is now
as universal in Coorg as in Mysore, and under its protection the coffee in
both countries thrives equally well. I may mention here that the Rev. G.
Richter, who is now the second oldest resident in Coorg, took an active
part in opening up the Bamboo district, and was for some time a partner in
one of the estates. He has shown great zeal in endeavouring to introduce
new products, such as tea, cocoa, ceara rubber, and vanilla. His manual
of Coorg, I may add, is most interesting and exhaustive.[48]

Besides the first mentioned, and now abandoned coffee district, and the
Bamboo district, there is the important district of North Coorg, which,
though it has a smaller number of estates, certainly contains coffee that,
so far as I am able to judge, it would be impossible to surpass.

There are, in all, at present in Coorg 130 European estates, with a total
area of 32,323 acres (of which 20,000 are in the Bamboo district), and
6,207 native estates and gardens, aggregating in all 70,669 acres. The
average production of coffee from all these sources is estimated by
competent authorities at from 4,000 to 5,000 tons of coffee per annum, or
of a probable annual value of from L250,000 to L300,000. The yield from a
well cultivated estate averages from 3 to 4 cwt. of clean coffee per acre.
Exceptional properties there are, of course, which give higher returns
than this, and some could be quoted which give 6 to 7 cwt. on the average,
while sensational figures might be quoted as regards some remark