application of nitrate of soda on the estate alluded to was at the rate of
2 cwt. an acre, and cost 21 rupees an acre, inclusive of the cost of
application. I saw the estate at the end of October, and the nitrate had
been put down in March previous. The wood it had been the means of
producing was very good and strong, dark green, and abundant, and the
effect of the nitrate was by no means confined to one season, for the
effect of the nitrate put down the year previous was still apparent. The
land here evidently was short of nitrogen, and hence the good effect of
the nitrate, but as I mentioned previously, an application of nitrate had
produced no perceptible effect on another estate belonging to the same
proprietor, which had been regularly well manured with bones and cattle
manure and composts, and because, of course, the land was so well supplied
with nitrogen that the coffee required no more. In concluding my remarks
on the effects of nitrate of soda, I may observe that by using this
manure, unremunerative coffee might be turned into a paying estate in less
than two years, while without the aid of it, from three to four years
would be required.

Potash is a manure as to which I can give no distinct information, or, at
least, only information of a negative kind. I once sent out a small
quantity of the muriate of potash, but my manager could perceive no
effects from it whatever, and I have been informed of an instance of its
having been applied to an estate in Coorg at the rate of one quarter of a
pound a tree, or at the rate of between 3 and 4 cwt. an acre, without any
perceptible effect having been produced from the application.

Then it must be remembered that the quantity of potash removed by an
average crop of coffee is only 7-1/2 lbs. an acre, that potash is firmly
held by the soil, and that it is constantly being supplied in small
quantities by the fallen leaves (these contain 3/4 per cent. of potash) of
the shade trees and the decomposition of stones in the soil, and in
applications of farmyard manure. And with reference to the demands for
potash by the tree, I may mention that I, in conjunction with a friend,
endeavoured to estimate the consumption of potash by the crop, and we sent
to Professor Anderson, of Glasgow, a carefully drawn sample of soil taken
from between four coffee trees from which twelve crops of coffee had been
removed without any manure being supplied, and also a sample of virgin
soil adjacen