43 



Very bright red soil is to be generally avoided unless 

 actually proved good by experiment, and although white 

 soils are generally poor and unreliable some have been 

 known to produce and maintain excellent coffee. Medium 

 in all things is desirable. A coffee soil should be of good 

 average depth, and the subsoil should be separated by a 

 mere imaginary line; all violent or sudden changes in ap- 

 pearance and structure being bad. A Planter unlike a 

 surface cultivator looks upon his subsoil as a reserve fund 

 to be utilized as required, besides being the source of 

 nourishment during the hot weather, when the top -root 

 almost entirely supports the plant. The physical condition 

 of all sub-strata exerts a marked influence on the surface 

 more especially in soils highly charged with organic consti - 

 tuents. Stagnant water produces root fungi which are 

 deadly enemies to all tap-rooted plants and nearly all injuri- 

 ous Chemical compounds have their origin in the presence 

 of surplus and sour water which prevents the exit and entry 

 of the various gases. The surface should have a rich de- 

 posit of decomposed vegetable debris, and its sustaining 

 properties should be judged of by the luxuriance of the 

 general vegetation it supports. 



Large trees being subsoil feeders frequently exist in 

 situations where the surface soil is poor and indifferent, 

 but a reliable forecast as to the fertility of the surface soil 

 may be made by noticing the class of the undergrowth. 

 The presence of rank grasses is ominous, whereas a rich 

 succulent undergrowth of coffee weed (rtotf*^) mixed 

 sparsely with some description of cane (So}25g2>J and Bam- 

 boo, surmounted by a dense covering of evergreen forest 

 trees of average dimensions, may safely be considered to be 

 reliable indications of a first class coffee producing soil ; 

 provided always that it exists in a position and under 

 circumstances alike favorable to the welfare of the plant. 

 A good coffee soil should be granular yet firm that is 



