I now turn to a consideration of the value of jungle top soil, a manure to which I have only lately given particular attention, though I was, of course, well aware of its value in a general way, and may begin by stating that two samples of what we were using on my estates have been analyzed by Dr. Voelcker, the object being partly to ascertain the value of the soil and partly to compare its cost with the cost of cattle manure.  After estimating the cost of making cattle manure, and calculating as closely as possible the cost of obtaining and applying jungle top soil from land adjacent to the plantation, it was found that in the case of the best sample of top soil, obtained by removing only four or five inches of the soil, it paid nearly twice as well to use it as a manurial agent as it would to use cattle manure, and I may add that three tons of the soil contain the same manurial matter as two tons of ordinary well-made English farmyard manure.  In the case of the second sample analyzed, and which I was sure from the character of the land must be of inferior quality, it was found that 2-1/4 tons of the soil would contain as much manurial value as one ton of farmyard manure, and that the cost of using the two materials would be about the same.

I had also analyzed at the same time a sample of a kind of decayed pink-coloured rock, as I had found that coffee had thriven well in the pink soil which had evidently been formed from the rock in question, but the manurial value was so small that Dr. Voelcker thought that it might merely be of use in improving the physical condition of the soil.  I however applied it to some backward coffee, and also applied some of the best top soil to a contiguous piece of backward coffee, and was much surprised to find that the pink soil, to which little direct manurial value was attached by Dr. Voelcker, showed results superior to the best top soil applied alongside of it, and I am now applying it on a large scale.  This soil, I may mention, is applied by the natives to the surface of their vegetable beds.  They do not attach any manurial value to it, but apply it to keep the vegetables cool, as the soil has quite a remarkable effect in keeping itself cool while the adjacent soil is quite hot, and I have now applied it to the flower beds near my house, and also to the walks around the bungalow.  This pink decayed rock is sometimes streaked with a white decayed rock, which the natives call jadi mannu, and sometimes the latter so much preponderates that it looks nearly white.  I am told by the natives that if you mix the red and white earth together and apply the mixture to the surface of the land it will never get dry.[54]

In concluding my remarks on soil applications, I may observe that if top soil costs the same price as cattle manure, the former is to be preferred for four reasons.  It is much more easily handled and applied; it is a better substance for mixing with other manures, such as bonedust or ashes, for instance; it has a better physical effect on the soil; and is nearly free from weed seeds which abound in cattle manure.