I am now satisfied that these pits did much damage by the sub-soil—­which is often of an undesirable quality, and always, of course, more liable to run together and harden than the original top soil—­being thrown on to the surface of the land.  In fact, they did the same damage that the steam plough has often done at home in unskilful hands, i.e., turned a fine loose surface soil into one of an inferior character.  Then the sides and edges of the pits harden and crack, and this of course adds to the heat of the plantation.  But renovation pits may be put to an excellent use if employed in their character of water-holes, as they are called by the natives, and whenever land is liable to wash, they are of great service, and, though but small portions of our shaded plantations are ever liable to wash, a line of renovation pits should always be put on the lower sides of roads to catch the water that runs off them, and thus cause it to soak gradually into the soil.  When renovation pits are used as water-holes no new ones should be opened, but the old pit should be cleaned out and its contents scattered on the surface of the land, not between the rows of coffee, as the soil would at once run into the renovation pits below, but around the stems of the coffee trees and in the lines.  I have found that renovation pits, or water-holes, are of great value as water conservators, and wherever it is necessary to increase the supply of water for a tank, deep water-holes—­say from 3 to 4 feet in depth and width—­should be dug around the upper sides of the tank, and the rain water conducted into them by small channels.  We have found, on my property, such an appreciable effect from even a moderate amount of such holes, that I am now largely increasing their number.  A friend of mine has also found a similar effect in connection with his tank, though, I may mention, he had made the pits in connection with his coffee, and not with the view of increasing the water supply in his tank.  I believe that this method of increasing the water supply would be well worth the attention of Government in connection with its numerous tanks.

The reader will remember that I have recommended applications of jungle top soil and other soil, and it should be remembered that such applications will, by rendering the soil more open, much lighten the work of digging, and this is a point that should be carefully estimated when calculating the expense of dressing the land with fresh soil.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE DISEASES OF COFFEE.

Though coffee in Mysore is liable to two diseases, and to the attack of one insect, these, when the cultivation is good, and the shade suitable in kind and degree, are not likely to cause any uneasiness in the minds of the planters.  But it is, of course, necessary to go carefully into the whole subject of these diseases and the insect attack, in order to bring out fully the steps that should be taken so to cultivate and shade the coffee as to render these evils as innocuous as possible, and I have therefore, in addition to my own knowledge, taken pains specially to procure from two planters of long practical experience their views.  The views, I may say, of Mr. Graham Anderson as regards leaf disease are particularly valuable, as he has paid much attention to the subject.