54 The Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee 



roots of these plants must be well outspread to 

 enable the thriving of the young trees. If the 

 subsoil is of a cold clay nature the tap roots 

 should be cut. Opinions vary also as to the 

 shade required for the coffee trees. The eleva- 

 tion above the sea level of the plantation will 

 have considerable influence on the question. 

 The higher the altitude the less shade required. 

 What young plants require is a protection from 

 the hot rays of the sun. 



Pruning. After the first full crop is produced annual 



pruning becomes necessary. The old wood bears 

 very little fruit after one crop. The primary 

 branches, which grow horizontally, should be 

 kept whole as long as possible, and only the 

 secondary and lateral ones cut, the fresh shoots 

 thrown out by the primary and secondary 

 branches being those which bear fruit. Severe 

 pruning is never required. To explain, the 

 proper part of the tree to cut off is three to four 

 inches above the brown bark, which would 

 leave a pair of branches still on the green bark, 

 and these two branches should be cut off to 

 within two to three inches of the stem, thus 

 leaving three to four inches of the stem above 

 the two top branches, which will prevent the 

 tree from splitting at the top. The trees, after 

 having been topped or pruned, are liable to 



