1 62 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP. 



The weeds 

 to be buried. 



Drainage. 



Irrigation. 



Distances. 



Holing the 

 land. 



smaller ones are too weak and delicate, and larger ones do 

 not root so easily. 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND. The weeds having been 

 hoed up, and the bushes and roots of trees stumped out, the 

 land should be dug with hoes or well ploughed where possible. 

 On hill sides and on broken ground the weeds may be buried 

 in trenches dug with the hoe, for it is far better to bury the 

 weeds than to burn them on the land, as by the latter plan a 

 considerable portion of the plant food is carried off into the 

 atmosphere. If the land be sodden with moisture, it may be 

 drained by trenches being dug, as is explained in the chapter 

 on drainage ; and, where the soil is dry and water is avail- 

 able for irrigation, the cultivation will be immensely im- 

 proved by carrying irrigation canals through the land, in 

 such a way as to distribute the water as equally as possible. 

 The water must not be allowed to run continually through- 

 out the year, so as to turn the land into a marsh ; but in 

 such a matter as this, a little observation will soon enable 

 the planter to decide on the proper time to stop the irri- 

 gation. When the plants are fruiting it will be advisable 

 to turn off the water, as to'o much moisture at this time 

 is disadvantageous. 



PLANTING OUT. The suckers should be set at distances 

 of not less than fifteen feet from each other. A good system 

 is to plant in rows eighteen feet apart, the plants in the rows 

 being at distances of fifteen feet. This will give about 160 

 plants to the acre, and at the third year a yield of 500 

 bunches of bananas may be looked for from every acre of 

 good land properly cultivated. Between each third or 

 fourth row, a drainage or an irrigation trench may be dug, all 

 such trenches being made before the plants are put out. 

 The sucker must be planted a foot deep in a specially pre- 

 pared hole ; and, when the land is poor, a little manure can 

 be put at the bottom of the, hole. When planted, the earth 



