HANDLING AND PRUNING 



the plants, the non-pruning system seemed superior to the customary form 

 < n pinning. But I am disposed to add that I can easily conceive 

 of diniuhe conditions and stock plants where a pruning system would 

 indispensable, so that I by no means think non-pruning is of uni- 

 1 application. It is, moreover, not new but has for many years 

 n followed in other countries, and even in India has been the practice 

 in vo^ue with most Native coffee-growers. Leoming would, however, 

 to be the first European planter in India who has had the courage 

 nvictions, and who has not only uprooted two-thirds of the plants 

 his estate, but allowed those that remained to grow in obedience to soil 

 d atmospheric conditions. 



It is customary to speak of coffee-pruning as consisting of three stages, 

 operations viz. : Topping, Handling, and Pruning (proper). The first 

 twists in nipping off the top shoot, so as to check the upward growth, 

 is done at various stages, usually when the plants are 3 years old, 

 shoots being then cut at a height of 5 feet ; at other times the nipping 

 is done much earlier, at 18 months to 2 years, the stem being left at 

 m 2 to 3 feet in height. When the short process is pursued, a sucker 

 it is called) soon arises near the top pair of branches and renews the 

 p\\ ;ird growth. This is allowed to continue for a foot more and is then 

 turn nipped off. A second sucker in consequence rises up and is in 

 :e manner checked, when the desired ultimate height of the main stem 

 attained, namely 4 to 6 feet (usually 5). 



In the first instance (3-year-old stems) there is a terminal snag pro- 

 uced. The topmost pair of branches, below the snag, having the best 

 .vantage as to light and air, lengthen horizontally and in due course 

 come so weighted with fruit that the terminal snag of dead wood is split 

 pen, and this cleavage increases year after year until many bushes become 

 terally cleft in twain. Admission is thereby given to damp and weather 

 tion, also to disease and vermin of all kinds. The aim of the planter in 

 is system of " topping " is to produce a crown or umbrella of primary 

 'ranches . By what is called " handling," all undesirable suckers and 

 gormandisers " are systematically removed and every effort made to 

 train the bush severely on fixed lines of growth supposed to favour 

 iting and be most convenient to the pluckers. [Of. Pierrot, Cult. Prat. 

 Ration, du Cafeier, in L'Agri. Prat, des Pays Ckauds, 1905, v., pt. i., 

 180-93, 282-301, 411-25, 467-79 ; v., pt. ii., 34-49, 101-8.] 



In the second system (largely followed in Coorg), in addition to the 

 rminal snag, with all its possibilities of evil, the growth of the stem is 

 wice checked and snags of dead wood thereby interposed within the stem, 

 hich must have the immediate consequence of disarranging and inter- 

 ipting the circulation of the sap. Nothing could be conceived less ad- 

 autageous. Moreover, the effort is made by the growth of the secondary 

 ranches, ultimately produced, to convert the topmost three or four pairs 

 f primaries into a completely ramified umbrella, that must of necessity 

 nder the branches below a useless burden on the resources of the plant. 

 Edouard Pierrot recommends a system of pruning that does not 

 a to me to differ from that followed by the Indian planters. His 

 account of coffee-planting is, however, most instructive, and should be 

 consulted by all interested in the industry. 



So far as could be learned from personal observation, few subjects 

 are perhaps more urgently caUing for reformation, both as an aid against 



381 



COFFEA 



ARABICA 



Cultivation 

 Non-pruning. 

 Severe pruning. 



Three Stage*. 

 Topping. 



Snag Formed. 



Cleavage of 

 Stem. 



Handling. 



Interception of 

 Sap Circulation. 



Umbrella of 

 Branches. 



Reform 

 Imperative. 



