casionally there are
small sections to be found in good coffee lands of soil of a light
character and pinkish hue, which few people not familiar with it could
suppose to be a good soil, but in this I have found that coffee flourishes
remarkably well. There are other classes of soil which are generally
considered to be inferior to those above mentioned, lightish, bright rod
soils, black soils (though I have seen very good coffee in such), and
soils of a whitish and rather sandy character; but it may be laid down as
a general rule that all the soils we have, and I think I have soil of
almost every class, are capable of growing good coffee if the climate is
suitable, and if the forest in it is of undoubted primaeval character; and
I have much reason to think that, where soils have been found to be
unfavourable, it is owing to the original jungle, say 50 or over 100 years
ago, having been felled, burnt off, and cropped with grain for a season,
and then abandoned. In from thirty to forty years very fair forest can be
grown, but I should say that it would take at least 150 years to restore
the land to anything approaching its chemical and physical condition when
the primaeval forest was first felled.

We have, lastly, to consider the healthiness of the climate, the water
supply, the facilities for procuring labour, and the proximity of the land
to good roads.

As regards the climate of the coffee districts in Mysore, I have no
evidence before me to show that there is much difference as regards health
in any of the climates, though some, from elevation and nearness to the
Ghauts and the source of the sea-breezes, are decidedly more agreeable
than others which are lower, hotter, and more distant from the western
passes. Manjarabad, however, is generally considered to be the healthiest
district, and some are of opinion that certain parts of the northern
coffee district are rather below the average as to healthiness. A good
water supply for drinking, and for pulping and nurseries, is, of course,
of great importance, and a careful account should be taken of this in
valuing land for planting. Then the facilities as to the supply of labour
require to be carefully taken into consideration. They vary very much, as,
in some cases, the whole labour has to be imported, while in other cases
a considerable supply can be drawn from villages in the immediate
proximity of the land. At one time it was always considered that it was a
great adv