100 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP. 



round the stem to prevent too much evaporation from the 

 roots, and in very windy places it will be as well to put in a 

 S \ants S the snort sta ke close to the tree, and to tie the plant when large 

 enough to it so as to prevent too much shaking. In all plant- 

 ing operations extreme care must be taken to prevent the 

 sun from burning the roots, and whilst the plants from the 

 nurseries are being removed to the fields they should be well 

 covered up with plantain or other leaves. 



If dry weather come on suddenly after planting, the seed- 

 lings ought to be watered at least once a day until they be- 

 come well rooted, for unless this be done a large proportion 

 will die. When the young plants are rooted they require 

 careful nursing until they throw out several pairs of branches. 

 Another way of planting is to dispense with the nurseries 

 and to sow the seeds in the open field in the place where the 

 coffee tree is to be grown. Holing the land must, however, 

 be adopted except in rich, friable, virgin soil. Three seeds 

 are sown in each hole at a distance of six inches from each 

 other, and should all the seeds grow up well, the largest and 

 strongest and best formed tree is allowed to remain, the 

 others being taken up to be used when necessary for supplies 

 or for planting fresh land. This system is called planting at 

 stake and each hole requires much careful attention, it 

 must, indeed, be regarded as a miniature nursery. 



Watering 

 the plants. 



Planting at 

 stake. 



Shade neces- SHADE. Much shade is not required by full-grown coffee 



sarymihe J 



lowlands. trees, except when the Arabian species is planted in the low- 

 lands, and then shade becomes necessary. The shelter belts 

 may be allowed to grow up in this case, until the high 

 branches of the trees overshadow the cultivation, for a portion 



Shelter belts of the day. Pois doux (Inga laurina} or the rose apple 

 (Eugenia Jambos) may be used for these belts, but any 

 native tree that does not exhaust the soil will answer very 

 well. Liberian coffee growing in the lowlands, and the 



Protection Arabian coffee growing in the mountains over 2,000- feet 



from winds, elevation, do not need shade, and the belts of trees will be 



