it.
Neither trouble nor expense has been spared in order to find an antidote
to this pest. Rubbing the stems with the view of destroying the eggs of
the insect, and applying thereto chemical ingredients have both been
tried, but with very limited results. The late Mr. Pringle's antidote
consisted of the application of two washes of alkali vat waste, costing
five rupees an acre each, but, when carried into practice, the results
were far from what he anticipated. Taking out the bored trees and burning
them has proved the most effectual way of dealing with the pest, and would
be productive of still better results if native neighbours would adopt the
same practice. But as they will not adopt this practice, their plantations
become nursery grounds for the propagation of the insect. Many planters in
the Bamboo district pay 1 rupee per hundred for the Borer fly, and this
results in a large number being caught, but it is not supposed that any
appreciable effect has been produced from this practice.

There can be no doubt, it seems to me, that the primary cause of the
existence of so much Borer was owing to the planters having at first
planted in the open. This must have created an enormous supply of the
insect, which found a splendid breeding ground in the conditions furnished
by the planters, as is evidenced by the fact of whole estates having been
exterminated by it, and it will require many years of judicious shading
before this insect can be reduced within comparatively harmless limits.
The reader will observe that I say judicious shading, and I will more
fully explain what I mean by that expression when, later on in the
chapter, I give an account of my tour through Coorg in 1891, and make some
observations on the proper shading of coffee.

Most of the European estates in Coorg and many of the larger native
plantations are held under what are called "The Waste Land Rules," under
which land is put up to auction by the State at an upset price of 2 rupees
per acre (10 rupees is the upset price in Mysore), plus the value of the
timber, which adds somewhat to the price. As a rule there is now
considerable competition for land, and as much as 100 to 150 rupees has
frequently to be paid per acre. The land so purchased is subject to no
assessment up to the fourth year, but from the fourth to the ninth year 1
rupee is charged, and after that 2 rupees in perpetuity. The bulk of the
land suitable for coffee has been taken up, though