of hand labour on a large plantation would seriously 

 affect the cost of production. 



An important consideration in connection with selection 

 the selection of a citnis plantation site is that it need of the plan- 

 not of necessity be close to the railway, the cost of tation site. 

 transporting the finished product being relatively 

 small. A dry sandy soil is to be preferred, in a 

 district where the average annual rainfall is about 

 ■45 inches. Citrus does not require the deep loamy 

 soil so much in demand for coffee, but anything in 

 the nature of swampy land is altogether unsuitable. 



Timber for fuel purposes is a very desirable 

 asset, as the plant for a small plantation will consume 

 a ton per day. If there is no timber or insufficient 

 •on the land itself, close proximity to a Forest Reserve 

 will generally solve the difficulty, but the prospective 

 planter should satisfy himself before hand that he 

 will be given a permit to obtain timber in the 

 Reserve. 



The land should be twice ploughed and harrowed methods GF 

 and reduced to a fine tilth : it will be all the better 1'i,.\nting. 

 for an initial crop of maize or beans. The holes 

 3ft. X 3ft. X 4ft. deep, should be dug at least three 

 months before the planting is to be done. The writer 

 has found 20ft. x 25ft. the most satisfactory planting 

 distances, the 25ft. lines being in the direction of the 

 prevailing wind. During the first year it may be 

 necessary to water the plants once a fortnight in the 

 dry season, but once they have got thoroughly 

 established this is unnecessary. A catch crop of 

 beans or maize may be grown while the plants are 

 still young without causing any loss of nutriment to 

 the plants, and as this practice helps to pay the cost 

 of establishing the plantation it is becoming general. 



Whereas in the West Indies it seems to be the cuLTiVATiON. 

 practice to allow weeds and grasses to grow rather 

 freely in the lime plantations, in East Africa clean 

 cultivation is the general rule, as it has been found 

 that thorough cultivation results in healthier trees and 

 heavier yields. Single ox cultivators are freely used 

 for this purpose, as are also disc harrows. 



The less pruning citrus trees receive the better, i-ruxing. 

 The young plants are trimmed to give a well shapen 



