20 PLANTING IN UGANDA 



Coffee tree commences to bear when five years old. 



SEASONS OF CROP. The crop season naturally 

 depends on the rains; it may be early or late 

 according to the time at which these fall. 



Para. This tree may be tapped soon after the 

 commencement of the March rains, and the tap- 

 ping continued up to the end of December, with a 

 possible break of a week or two in July, should 

 that season prove very dry. The tapping should 

 cease at the end of December. We thus get from 

 eight to nine tapping months in the year; and if 

 the work is carefully done, due economy of the 

 bark being practised, the trees may be tapped for 

 the whole of this period without injury. 



Cocoa. The flowering season starts in February 

 and continues almost throughout the year. The 

 setting of the fruits is, however, more seasonal, for 

 the picking season extends only from August to 

 December. From the fertilisation of the flower to 

 the ripening of the pod the period is from five to 

 six months, so that fertilisation takes place only 

 in the period from March to July. A considerable 

 number of young pods wither and fall off after 

 having swollen to one-and-a-half inches in length. 

 This, however, need cause no alarm ; it is probably 



