Robert Henry Elliot, (1837–1914), was an early British
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
planter in
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. He was the author of books about plantation life in Mysore and about farming in Scotland. He came from
Kelso,
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...
, Scotland.
Plantations
According to Elliot's own account in ''Gold, Sport, and Coffee Planting In Mysore'', he arrived in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...
in 1855 at 18 years of age. From there he sailed to
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...
, then headed inland through the
ghauts to the high plateau of Mysore, where he joined Frederick Green, who had begun his plantation in 1843. The first European coffee plantation to its south had just started in 1854, while the second, some to the north, was being established by three Scottish planters. In 1856 Elliot started his own plantation at Bartchinhulla,
Sakleshpur
Sakleshpur, Sakleshpura or Sakleshapura is a hill station town and headquarters of Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Economy
The town lies in the Malnad region on the hills of the biodiversity hotspot, the W ...
, Mysore State.
Mixed planting
At his farm called Clifton Park in Kelso, Scotland, he formulated what he termed the "Clifton Park System". Several editions of his book on the subject, ''Agricultural Changes'' appeared between 1898 and 1943. (The last two editions of 1908 and 1943 being entitled ''The Clifton Park System of Farming and laying down land to grass''.) In this book, which was written prior to the widespread availability and adoption of man-made fertilizer, he advocated building up the organic content of soil by planting a mixture of grasses and other plants, particularly deep-rooted plants such as chicory. Modern organic growers still find Elliot's work applicable today.
Selected works
*''The Experience of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore'', London: Chapman and Hall, 1871
*''Concerning John’s Indian affairs'', London: Chapman and Hall, 1872
*''Written on their Foreheads'', 2 vols, London: Sampson Low, 1879
*''On laying down permanent pastures, and the grasses suitable for alternate husbandry''
*''Union Agricultural Society Lectures'', no. 2. Kelso, 1883
*''Gold, Sport, And Coffee Planting In Mysore'', 1898
Project Gutenberg etext
*''The Clifton Park System of Farming and laying down land to grass'', 1898–1953 (two under the alternative title ''Agricultural Changes'')
See also
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Robert Henry
Scottish writers
Writers from the Kingdom of Mysore
British people in colonial India
1837 births
1914 deaths