52 The Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee 



dry wood ashes spring quicker. The nursery 

 must be properly arranged and well shaded, 

 and when the young plants reach the size and 

 strength required, usually when they have 

 developed into four to six leaves, they are 

 transplanted to their permanent destination. 



A tree taken from a nursery with all its 

 roots and planted thus will exclusively form a 

 system of superficial roots; on the contrary, 

 instead of transplanting the young trees com- 

 pletely, these are cut almost to the roots. 

 On leaving three-quarters of an inch to one 

 inch of the principal roots the tree will develop 

 very vigorous new roots with an extraordinary 

 penetrating power, and will grow perpendicu- 

 larly to a great depth in the soil. These roots 

 will be far more vigorous than if the same tree 

 had not been pruned so much, and will have 

 the advantage of not being exposed to summer 

 droughts, or even to the work of a plough, if 

 this is used in connection with the cleaning of 

 the " cafetal " or coffee plantation. Mr. J. A. 

 van der Laat, an authority on coffee, in his 

 article in No. 4 of the " Buletin de Fomento," 

 of Costa Eica, gives in a very explicit manner 

 the advantages of pruning the roots, and I 

 would recommend readers of this booklet to 

 read the particular article to which I refer. 



As mentioned above, a virgin forest soil is 





