to be a great deal in this idea, but I am not aware that we have had any experiments made side by side as regards surface manuring, and manuring in pits, and therefore am not in a position to express a decided opinion on the subject, but theoretically there would seem to be much in favour of burying manure in pits, and it seems certain that the manure would be less likely to be taken up by weeds than in the case of surface manuring.

I need hardly add that in the case of all steep parts of a plantation all manure should be, if not buried deeply, at least covered with soil after the digging of a trench large enough to contain the manure.  On the plantations on the Nilgiri Hills the manure is put into pits 2-1/2 feet long, 1 foot 6 inches wide, and 1 foot deep on the lower side of the pit, which of course would make the side of the pit on the upper side of them much more than one foot in depth.  The trenches or pits are dug across the slope and in front of each coffee tree, and in the line (i.e., not in the centre of each set of four plants).  These pits are not filled up to the brim, but the manure is placed in the bottom of them, and is then covered with soil, so that the pit is about one-half filled up.  The soil taken out is heaped in a curve above the pit so as to prevent heavy rain washing down into the pit.  When more manure is required to be added—­say bone-meal—­it is scattered on the soil in the pit, or the top soil in it is scraped off and the manure scattered and then covered up.

I now propose to consider our manurial resources in detail, and shall begin with the first stay of all agriculture, farmyard manure, as to the value of which for coffee I have never met with any difference of opinion.  But there are many objections to relying on farmyard manure, or, at least, to applying it on a large scale, as, if the planter keeps many cattle of his own, he runs great risk of his herd being invaded by disease, and the difficulty and expense of feeding a large number of cattle is very considerable.  In some cases it is possible to hire cattle from the natives, and this is done occasionally, and at the rate of 15 rupees a month for 100 head, but here again risk from disease is often incurred, and if it broke out, the natives would withdraw their cattle.  The question then naturally arises whether, considering the great cost and trouble attendant on manufacturing cattle manure on a large scale, we cannot find some substitute that would diminish the quantity now required.  And here it is important to ask what farmyard manure consists of.  It consists, then, of the excreta of animals, and the vegetable matter used as litter.  From a chemical point of view it mainly provides, in addition to the organic matter, in a slowly-acting form, lime, nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid, and from a physical point of view it furnishes a padding to maintain the texture of the soil, or, in other words, to keep it in a loose and friable condition.