OPENING AN ESTATE. 23 



deep, is fair work for a man for a day, at a cost in 

 India of sixpence to eightpence, and in Ceylon of 

 from, ninepence to one shilling. Crowbars with one 

 end widened to about three inches, and short, thick 

 hoes or momaties to remove the loosened soil, are the 

 most useful tools for this work. It is of some impor- 

 tance to consider beforehand what is the nature of the 

 cultivation to be followed, because, if it is purposed to 

 trench over the whole of the ground immediately, 

 large pits are not requisite, but they may be made 

 deep and narrow ; if, on the other hand, the process of 

 trenching is to be deferred, even two feet wide and two 

 deep is not too large, and anything less than this 

 would be false economy. 



5. Filling pits and planting. If the felling and 

 clearing has been accomplished in good time, the land 

 will have been ready for lining and pitting in February, 

 and the pits will consequently be open for three or 

 four months before the rains set in, and the work of 

 planting commences. They will be much improved by 

 this exposure to rain and atmospheric influence, and it 

 will probably occur to the planter to fill up the pits 

 with the surface soil taken from the spaces between 

 the pits, leaving that taken out of the pits to be 

 improved by exposure. The practice of filling the 

 pits after very heavy rain, when the pits are half-full 

 of water, is very objectionable, as the soil cakes into a 

 hard mass. Care should be taken, if possible, to have 

 the pits filled a day or two before planting, as the soil 

 is then cooler and more settled. 



We now arrive at the most important item in the 

 first year's operations Planting. Plants from the 



