The Rainy Season. 127 



sight, however, is due to the opinion I have always 

 held, that while the roads may be traced, that is 

 marked out, as soon as the land has been lined, 

 their actual excavation should be postponed until 

 it has been planted up. Owing to the limited 

 duration of the rainy season, pitting and planting 

 must have been completed by a certain date ; it is 

 better, therefore, that the planter should be able to 

 devote his entire attention and all his available 

 labour to these operations in the first instance. 

 When they have been disposed of, it will be time 

 enough to turn his men on to other works which 

 are able to wait. Once the rains commence, the 

 sooner the plants are in their places the better. 

 Early planting is most desirable, as . upon it a 

 maiden crop may often depend. 



Good, well-traced roads not only greatly facilitate 

 the working of an estate, but give it a tasteful 

 appearance. They are also useful as drains in 

 preventing the soil from being washed down the 

 hill-slopes by rainfall. A good cart-road will ulti- 

 mately be a desideratum, and a trace suitable 

 for one, say at a gradient not steeper than one in 

 fifteen, should be first marked out, so that the space 

 it will occupy may not be uselessly pitted and 

 planted. This should go right through the centre 

 of the estate like an artery, passing of course the 

 spot intended for the stores, pulping-house, &c. ; it 



