Tnformalio-n about the Coffee, Tree. 



283 



a time,'and, previously to the planting operation, has to be burnt 

 oft: 



A month or"" so before the first rains commence, and whicli are 

 there very rcg-ular 'in their approach, " lining and holeing" form 



the chief work. A stranger to 

 this life, scrambling over the 

 -; rough ground, bewildered 

 amidst the tangling masses of 

 trunks of trees, rocks, &c., 

 . would imagine it impossible to 

 plant 100 acres of land with 

 young coft'ee plants at regular 

 intervals, or with any approach 

 to uniformity of distance. It 

 is done, however, and witli 

 marvellous rapidity. " Lining 

 and staking"_^ are accomplish- 

 ed quickly enough byj^means 

 of long cords, having cloth 

 tallies secured to it, at such 

 intervals as the coffee is to be 

 planted at. This line being 

 stretched across the field by 

 two or three coolies, high above all impediments, other men walk 

 along, and drive in the ground sharp sticks immediately beneath 

 each tally on the line. The ground being thus "staked" off, 

 a party of " holers" follow — this is rather tough work, as stems, 

 roots, &c., have to be removed from the spot indicated by the 

 stake, and a hole dug eighteen inches square by the like in 

 depth. 



The first burst of thunder-storms over the hill-tops is the signal 

 for beginning '' planting," and a right busy time it is ; the whole 

 force of the plantation is generally placed at this work, it being- 

 essential to have the plants in as early as possible. The young 

 seedlings, when first put out from the nursery, are very small and 

 invisible at a little distance, buried as they are amidst such acres 

 of huge blackened trees and blasted rocks. The field appears 

 one black, barren track, so unlike anj'thing approaching u " plan- 

 tation" us to puzzle strangers not a little. For some months 



