Filling the Pits. 113 



surrounding surface, the red gravelly or clayey 

 earth which will probably have been taken out 

 from the bottom of the pit being rejected. Care 

 must be taken to avoid stones, and it will be safer 

 also to exclude roots, weeds, &c., which are apt to 

 generate grubs, and so endanger the roots of the 

 plant. The pits should be filled in in wet weather, 

 or at least while the ground is moist, so that the 

 sides may not be hard or caked, as otherwise the 

 roots of the plant will have difficulty in penetrating 

 beyond its limits. 



Women and boys ought each to be able to fill in 

 sixty or seventy pits a day. Should the land be 

 on a slope, only the soil above the pits should be 

 scraped in, the lower side being carefully preserved 

 intact as a retaining wall. Careful supervision will 

 be necessary, the coolies being naturally disposed 

 to shovel in the loose earth previously taken out. 

 By digging in the soil round the sides of the pits, 

 not only is the surface mould, rich in organic 

 matter, supplied to the tender roots of the young 

 plant, but the area of the pit itself is extended ; 

 moreover the walls or sides of the pit after exposure 

 to the sun and air for some time will probably 

 have become encrusted, and unless thus broken in 

 would be apt to operate much in the same way as 

 a flower-pot, restricting the liberty of the roots in 

 their search for nourishment. 



I 



