possible.”  Now if leaves are produced in April and May they become attacked by the fungus while still young, and in August and September the ripening crop is left bare on the branches.  But the leaves which were in bud in December are matured and well hardened, and have already, by living longer, done much service to the tree.  He then points out that when certain districts in Ceylon suffered from a bad attack of leaf disease in July, “a large surface of young and succulent leaves were ready to receive the spores of the Hemeleia.”  The germination of the spores was rapid, and the young leaves were soon destroyed.  The planter then, he says, should manure and prune so as to grow matured leaves during those months when the least damp and wind may be expected.  And the same remarks are evidently equally valuable as regards rot, and show us the necessity of modifying our manurial and pruning practices so as to enable the tree the better to contend against it as well as leaf disease.  All manuring, then, which leads to the production of young succulent foliage just at the beginning of the rains should be avoided, and the same remark applies equally to pruning.  But I shall again return to the subject when writing on pruning.

As to the best method of applying the manure, great differences of opinion and practice exist.  At one time in Mysore it was customary to cut a shallow trench in the shape of a half moon around the upper sides of the trees about two feet from the stem, and deep enough to contain the manure, which was then covered in with the soil taken out.  But this process was found to be expensive, and of course took much labour, which is sometimes extremely scarce, and on my property we have for some years past—­excepting in the case of manuring with fish, which is liable to be carried off by birds, dogs, jackals, and village pigs—­scattered all the manure on the surface, and close around the stem of the tree, with the idea that the manure would be less likely to be taken up by weeds, and by the roots of the shade trees.  But in connection with this system there is a fact which I did not take into account, but which is well worthy of careful consideration, and that is, that the tendency of such a system of manuring is to keep the coffee roots close to the surface.  Now it has been suggested by the late Mr. Pringle, whose opinion on another matter I have previously given, that this would have an unfavourable effect, if we had, as sometimes happens, deficient blossom showers; as in that case, and with many rootlets near the surface, a stimulus would be given to the plant which would induce it to throw out the blossom when there was not enough rain to bring it to perfection; whereas, if, by putting down the manure more deeply we attracted the roots downwards, the blossom buds could only be started after such an amount of rain as would give the soil such a soaking that a successful blossom would be insured.  There certainly seems to me