From what I have said in the previous sentence it is evident that the regulation of the shade is of great importance. And, as the plantation ages, this thinning of the shade, lopping sometimes lower boughs, removing others, and cutting down occasional trees, requires constant attention. As a rule the whole shade should be carefully re-regulated at the end of every second year, or at the beginning of the third, when it will generally be found that, in consequence of the spread of the trees, there will be much thinning to be done. To cut down trees without injury to the coffee is, I need hardly say, a very nice operation, though it is one that the natives of the wooded countries, and especially the labourers from the foot of the Ghauts, are very expert at. It should never be attempted with coolies from the plains, who, of course, are unused to climbing trees, and have no experience of woodland work. The branches and tops of the trees to be felled are first removed, after a stout rope has been attached to a fork, above the point to be cut, and the end of the rope is then run round the butt of an adjacent tree, and held by a man. A huge bough is cut and falls with a threatening crash, but so well is the end of the rope judged that the ends of the twigs just touch the tops of the coffee trees. Then a coolie proceeds to lop off the smaller twigs and branches of the bough, and as he does so, it is gradually lowered till all are removed, and the bough, bereft of its clothing, is laid on the ground. Then comes the difficult task of felling the trees between the rows of coffee, a work of great nicety, which is partly effected by the final stroke of the axe, and partly by hauling a rope attached to the top of the tree. When a tree cannot be felled between the rows, it may often be felled so as to fall into the fork of an adjacent tree, and there it may be either left till it decays or let gently down to the ground, if the stem is a thin one. Bamboo ladders should be used to ascend the tree up to the first branch, as, though coolies can readily ascend without them, their bare legs are apt to suffer, and it is for this reason that coolies often try to shirk joining the shade party. The branches lopped off should be cut up into short lengths, and piled between the coffee trees. Such branches and twigs, as they decay, form good manure.
I have said that the proper regulation of shade is a work of great importance. It is also one of great difficulty, for the person who marks the shade trees to be removed must have a thorough knowledge of the kinds most worthy of preservation, and at the same time bear in mind the aspects, the gradients, the relation of the earth to the sun during the hottest months, and the declination of the sun; and, as the planter will be usually marking shade trees in the morning, he must keep constantly in view the points where the sun will strike in during the hot afternoon hours. Then as he looks at a shade tree that has shot up to a great height, he must consider whether its shade is thrown on the coffee it once shaded or on to the top of an adjacent shade tree, and, as regards such a tree, he will often find that he is keeping on his land a tree that is merely throwing a shade on to another shade tree. I was particularly struck with this lately when looking at some howligay trees that had shot up to a great height, and which I at once ordered to be removed, as I found that their shade was now simply thrown on to the surrounding shade trees. In short, the trees were now doing no good, and were therefore merely doing harm by occupying the land and robbing it of food. I have said that when marking shade the planters must bear in mind the relation of the earth to the sun during the hottest months, and this caution is very necessary, because if he should happen to be marking trees in January for removal after the crop season is over, and does not remember that the earth is daily shifting its position, he will find that he will have made many mistakes as to the trees which should be preserved, and that a tree that is very well placed for blocking out the hot afternoon sun in January, may be of very little use in March and April.
After a shade tree has been cut down it is necessary, in order to prevent the stump throwing up suckers, to remove the bark thoroughly from the stump, and also from any roots that project from the surface of the ground. If this is not done the stump and its roots will live on and take up manure intended for the coffee.
It is important to remember that, in many parts of an estate, as the shade trees become lofty the sun will come in, just as it would on a man's head if he carried his umbrella erect, and at the end of a long pole, and I have seen coffee trees so much exposed to the sun as to require fresh shade to be planted near them, not withstanding that some of the coffee trees in question were almost touching the stem of a very tall shade tree. When the planter observes that the sun is thus likely to come in from the shooting up of the shade trees, he should plant fresh shade. Nor need he be afraid of putting down too much, for it is easily removed if this is done when the trees are small, and then it must also be remembered that, as the plantation ages, both coffee and soil call for more shade, as the growing power of the land, and its ability to keep the trees fresh and green, naturally diminishes with the advance of time. Whenever, then, the appearance of the coffee shows that it is needed, fresh shade should be at once supplied, for every yellow leaved patch of coffee in a plantation is a breeding ground for the Borer insects, which will gradually spread into the adjacent coffee, where their presence will never be detected till hot, dry seasons occur, which they are sure to do sooner or later. When spreading from such yellow patches the Borer insect may not attack strong trees. On the contrary, it will generally attack those which are in a dried up condition either from weakness of constitution or because they are suffering from the effects of an over heavy crop, but in such trees it will surely obtain a footing, and so be ready to spread further when hot, dry seasons arrive. When, then, the appearance of the coffee shows that more shade is required, charcoal trees should be planted, and on the northern side of them cuttings of the good caste shade trees should be put down; and I particularly emphasize the side for the nurse because it is thus interposed between the sun and the permanent shade trees to be sheltered.
When the permanent shade trees have grown to the required size, the charcoal trees should be removed. It must be remembered that the permanent shade trees will grow very slowly unless sheltered by such nurses from the sun, and further, that the older the land the slower is the growth of all trees. It is most necessary, then, in all old land to dig holes at least four feet deep, and fill them with some good top soil from the forest, or with ordinary soil and cattle manure and bones. In order fully to protect the young shade trees from cattle and the sun, I now erect a square of fencing composed of palm tree slabs, and so high that cattle cannot reach over it, and, in the dry season, place some toddy tree branches across the square so as to shade the plants put down. In each square I plant a cub busree cutting, or one of the five kinds of trees recommended; sow several jack seeds, and a charcoal tree as nurse. In the case of the tree cutting failing to thrive, the planter will then always have a jack tree to fall back on. Should the cutting succeed the jack plant may be removed. I may here add that the parts requiring more shade are naturally more apparent in the hot season, and the planter should then put down a short pole with a flag at the end of it, whenever more shade is required. This will greatly facilitate the work of shade planting in the monsoon, as at that time the places where more shade is required are not very readily apparent, as all the coffee then becomes more or less green.
I have alluded to the fact that parasites (Kanarese—Bundlikay) attack the shade trees, and especially the nogurigay and jack trees. They should, of course, be cut off along with the bough on which they may happen to be growing; and it is important to remember that this should be done before the seed ripens, which is usually at the beginning of the monsoon. The latter end of April is the best time to carry out this work, as, if deferred till rain begins, the trees become slippery, and so dangerous for the climbers.
I have pointed out that the five trees I have recommended as being the best for shade can all be grown from cuttings, and it is important to point out that these should be taken from young and vigorous trees, and not, as is often done, from trees which are declining from age. There are some useful remarks at pages 88 and 89 of Mr. Graham Anderson's "Jottings on Coffee," on the preparation and planting of cuttings. The holes should be two feet deep, and filled up to three-quarters of the depth with soil. The cuttings should be six feet long with a fork at the top. They should be made at the beginning of the monsoon, and left in a cool and shady place in order to thicken the sap, the lower extremity of the cutting should be cut off with a curved slope, like the mouth-piece of a flageolet. Put the cutting gently into the hole, so as not to fray the bark, and tread down firmly. Wounds should be smeared with a mixture of cowdung and mud. The attí (Ficus glomerata) may also be grown from cuttings, but these should be rather thinner than those taken from the five trees first mentioned as being the best to plant for shade.
It has been previously pointed out that charcoal trees are valuable as nurses. They may be raised by clearing and burning a small piece of jungle, or by putting some virgin jungle soil in a bed and watering it, when charcoal plants will spring up. When a few inches high, take the plants up carefully with a ball of earth and transplant into baskets filled with jungle top soil. Put out the plants with their baskets in holes about the size of those usually made for coffee plants, and early in the monsoon, and see that they are well protected from cattle.
In conclusion, I think it well to mention that we have on my property, so far as I am aware, by far the oldest artificial shading of coffee in India. For many years all the estates in Mysore relied on the original forest shade, but mine was partly destroyed by a running fire when the clearings were first made, and some of the land was cleared wholly down, burned off, and planted with the most desirable kinds of shade trees. Our experience on this property dates back to the year 1857, and is therefore particularly valuable, for the defects connected with some trees were not apparent for as much, in one important case, as thirty years.