Jmie 2, 1908. J Agricultural Gazette of N.S.JF. 445 



j\Ir. Bassnian favoured wide planting, i.e., up to 12 en- 16 ieet. Mr. C. Skelioii, 

 who had been making inspections and rejiorting to the Department of Agricul- 

 ture on coffee-growing, commented as follows on die views of Air. Bas.sman :— 



Mr. Bassman contends that the distance I gave in a former number of the Gazette, 

 namely, 6 ft. x 6 ft., commonly adopted by planters in Southern India and (,'eylon, is too- 

 close for the rich soil of the northern river districts of this Colony. His trees, he states, 

 1 hough planted 7 feet apart, are n w, at 5 years of age, touching each other and the 

 branches interweaving, which 1 can quite believe ; hut at the same time, to ])lant the 

 trees from 12 to l(j feet apart would ?imply be wasting ground. The primary ol)ject in 

 jilanting coffee, it is assumed, is to get the most out of it in the way of crops that yon. 

 ])05sibly can. To this end, careful hand-pruning after the plant has ol)tained a height at 

 which it may be topped is necessary, and after the second crop knife-piuuing must be 

 resorted to. If the tree is allowed to go on growing as in its natural state, the plantei- 

 will find that after the fourtli or fifth crop the returns from his trees will year liy year 

 become smaller and smaller and beautifully less, for the simple reason that the whole 

 energy of the plant is expended in maintaining a quantity of useless old wood ; the tree 

 will become an impenetrable conglomerate mass of long whippy brandies, with only a 

 foot or so at the tip of each capalsle of bearing fruit. When the tree is topped, at a height 

 to be determined In- nature of soil and aspect, — usually from -i to 5 feet, it much exposed, 

 top low — it will endeavour to continue its upward growth i)y throwing out .«uckers just 

 under the top pair of primaries. These must be removed by hand, never cut, as also any 

 secondaries that may spring out within 6 or 8 inches of the steni, so as to have a clear 

 space in the centre to allow the sun to penetrate. Should two secondary branches be 

 found springing from one eye, remove one. This is called " handling." and has to be 

 resorted to every three or four months, or even oftener, according to the wood-making 

 capabilities of the plants. As soon as the second crop has Ijcen gathered, that is, in the 

 fourth year, pruning with the knife must commence. This consists of cutting off the 

 secondaries that have borne crop. Be careful not to cut too close so as to injure tne eye, 

 for out of this eye a secondarj' must spring to bear next season's crop. If a primary 

 branch seems too long, and inclined to interlere with the adjoining trees, cut it back to 

 the first good secondary at, say, 2^ or 3 feet from the stem, and let it take the lead 

 Tliree pairs of secondaries on each primary are quite sufficient to bear a very heavy croi> 

 — at least 3 or 4 lb. of dried coft'ee to each tree. By restricting the wood-bearing 

 ))ropensities of your trees in this way, you make the most of them, and it will be seen 

 that no such great space as suggested by Mr. Bassman is required. Seven to 8 feet 

 apart, or sufficient to admit of a cultivator being driven between the trees, would, in my 

 opinion, be ample. It must not be forgotten that a foot either way makes a vast 

 difference in the number of trees to the acre, and consequently in the returns of crop. 



In Ceylon and Sumatra various trt-es are .spoken of as suitable for shade 

 pui-poses in cofleg plantations, and it is suggested the shade trees should be 

 planted some while before the coffee ; it is contended the shade tree is easily 

 removed if not required, but if the coffee tree? are suffering through want of 

 shade it takes some time to provide it. 



In Sumatra, Erytkrina indlca, and E. Albizzla s[)ecies are spoken of for 

 shale tree^, anl in Ceylon GreviUia rohu^ta has, I believe, been tried for the 

 same purpose. 



The coffee-tree begins to come out into full bearing in tlie tldrd ynti-. The 

 froit, resembling a cherry, has an outer covering named the " pulp," inside of 

 which are two beans. The beans are enveloped in two coverings, the outer 

 called the "parchment," the inner thin covering the "silver skin." 



The first operation dealing with the gathered fruit is that of passing it 

 through a pulper. Fi-om the puiper the beans [lass into a cistern, wdiere they 

 i-eraain for fermentation. After one or two days, according to circumstances, 

 the fermented coffee beans are passed into washing cisterns, where the 

 gumming substance adhering to the beans is washed away. When thoroughly 

 washed, the coffee is spread out on a prepared level space or on trays for 



