Bababudans which have retained the original “Chick” variety of coffee, there is little difference in value between the produce of Coorg plants which have been long established in Mysore and the coffee of the original and now generally discarded variety.  I may here add that the coffee of Mysore has always had a high reputation.  This high quality has been partly attributed to soil and climate and partly to the coffee being slowly ripened under shade.  But, however that may be, a glance at the weekly lists in the “Economist” will show that Mysore coffee of the best quality is commonly valued at from 10s. to 15s. a cwt. above that of any other kind that reaches the London market.

I now propose to give a brief account of our coffee land tenures, and shall then address myself to the intricate question of coffee cultivation in Mysore, and the still more difficult question of the shade trees which shelter the coffee from sun and wind, and the soil from the wash of the tropical rains.

When I entered the province in 1855 anyone who desired to have a given tract of forest land for coffee planting sent an application to the Government for it.  An inquiry was then made, and, if no objection existed to the land being made over to the intending settler, or applicant, a puttah or grant, free of any charge for the land or any fee even in connection with the grant, was made out in Kanarese, which mentioned the name of the land and the boundaries of it, and stated that the land was to be planted with coffee within three years’ time, and that, if not so planted, it was liable to be resumed by the State.  No survey was made of the land, nor was it of any importance to estimate the acreage, there being no land tax, but in its place a tax of 1 rupee per cwt. of clean coffee produced, which was only liable to be demanded when the coffee was exported from the country, and not before.  This system may seem to many to have been an objectionable one, and, from one point of view, no doubt it was, because the more highly the planter cultivated, the more highly he paid on each acre of his holding, but, on the other hand, the system enabled the planter to start with a very small capital, as he paid nothing for his land, nor a single shilling to the State till he had produced his crop.  For starting and stimulating the industry the system certainly had its merits; but after the industry had obtained a firm footing, it was evidently of advantage to institute a taxational system of a different character, and, after much discussion and correspondence on the subject, the existing forms of tenure were finally decided on, and the “Mysore Coffee Land Rules” were formally notified to the public in March, 1885.  There are two forms of grant—­Form A, with an assessment of one rupee and a half an acre, which rate is fixed permanently, and Form B, at one rupee per acre, with liability to revision at the end of each period of thirty years.  The assessment for local purposes stands now at 1 anna an acre (1-1/2d. at 2s. exchange), and that is the only taxation we have.  There is not, and never has been, an income-tax in Mysore, nor is it at all probable that there ever will be, as the finances are in a flourishing condition, and the revenues under several important heads are improving, as may be seen on referring to the chapter on the general history of the province.