CULTIVATION OF COFFEE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 51 



earth than it was before it was pulled up ; it should then be 

 pressed down with the hands or firmly trodden down. A 

 coffee plantation, to be worked effectively, requires to be well 

 " roaded " and drained. Drains, like roads and paths, should 

 be cut as soon as the estate is commenced, or at all events 

 before the trees cover the ground, or the coffee will suffer. 

 These drains are usually about fifteen inches wide and deep, 

 and at the distance of every twenty trees, which would be 

 about 120 feet apart. As weeds are the bane of coffee estates, 

 they are to be constantly cleared off, at least once a month. 

 When the trees have been freed from suckers, and have 

 reached twelve or eighteen months, the operation of tapping is 

 usually commenced. The advantages for the custom are thus 

 detailed by Laborie : " First, it brings the fruit within easy 

 reach, and prevents the branches being broken ; secondly, the 

 tree thereby acquires strength and vigor both below and above 

 ground, and the stem becomes larger in circumference; 

 thirdly, it affords less hold to the winds ; fourthly, the form of 

 the tree is more beautiful ; and fifthly, it loses none of its 

 inferior branches, which, as nearer the source of vegetation, 



77 O 



are better nourished, and, of course, more productive." Plant- 

 ers have observed that the part of the tree most exposed to the 

 sun and air usually bears the heaviest clusters ; therefore the 

 more the tree is thinned out, t*he more it bears. This is 

 exemplified by young trees in their second and third crops, 

 which bear very heavily, chiefly from the primaries and 

 secondaries. Commonly, coffee-trees bear heavily one year 

 and lightly the next. Regular pruning and searching have 

 been found to produce the most satisfactory result. 



The next thing in order is the handling, which should be 

 done twice if practicable before crop. If the force on the 

 estate admits of it, the primings should be buried in trenches 

 between the trees. They soon turn into vegetable mould, 



