In concluding my remarks on manures, I need hardly say that it is of the greatest importance to keep a careful record of all the manures put down, and a special manure book should be kept for this purpose, in which notes should be kept of the effects observed.  But for ready reference I have found it most convenient to have a plan made of each field on the estate, and on one side of it a space should be left in order to enter the manures applied.  The date on which the field was planted might also be entered on the plan.

Finally, I may remind the reader of the Tamul proverb which declares that “With plenty of manure even an idiot may be a successful agriculturist,” and may add to it the English adage, which says to the farmer, “Never get into debt, but if you do, let it be for manure.”

The work of bringing round an old and neglected plantation is by no means an easy one.  The first thing to be done is to see to the physical condition of the land.  This is sure to be hardened and deficient in vegetable matter, and this condition of things can only be remedied by applying large quantities of cattle manure or jungle top soil, or both.  Now it will generally be found impossible to obtain enough cattle manure to fully manure even fifty acres in the year, nor, if it could be obtained in large quantities, would cattle manure have nearly such lasting effects in ameliorating the condition of the land as would applications of jungle top soil, and besides, the latter, if procurable (which it often is), can at once be applied in large quantities, and at about one-half the cost of cattle manure, in the case, as has been previously shown, of the best top soil, and at about the same cost in the case of the most inferior quality of top soil.  It is evident, then, that great efforts should be made to procure a supply of jungle top soil, and the best top soil could of course be carried from a considerable distance without exceeding the cost of cattle manure.  With the cattle manure or top soil, bonedust and white castor cake should be applied at the rate of 8 cwt. an acre, and 5 cwt. of the former to 3 cwt. of the latter; and, if the planter is in a hurry for immediate results, he might put down a small dressing of nitrate of soda—­say 112 lbs. an acre.  With the addition of the nitrate I feel confident, after observing the results of it on one of Mr. Mangles’ estates in Coorg, that a remunerative crop would be picked in about two years after the application of the above suggested manures.  I would particularly point out that, though the land, of course, must be well dug, the planter must not look to that alone for ameliorating the hardened condition of the soil, for however well dug, it will, unless cattle manure or jungle top soil should be applied, speedily run together again into as hardened a condition as ever.  After the soil has been thoroughly manured and ameliorated in the manner suggested, moderate annual manuring will be quite sufficient for the future, for, as I have pointed out, coffee is not an exhaustive crop, though it is essential that a considerable supply of fertilizing matter should always be present in the soil.  Where top soil is not available, red soil (kemmannu), if procurable, might be used with advantage, and the results of the experiments previously given seem to show that it might be even preferable to top soil.