COFFEE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 43 



On moderately rich land robusta coffee should be planted 2.1 

 meters apart each way, 2,265 plants to the hectare; on very 

 fertile land the distance may be increased to 2.5 meters, or 1,600 

 plants to the hectare. 



Arabian coffee should be spaced from 2 to 2.5 meters apart or 

 on poor lands even closer. 



When the plants are 4 to 5 months old they should be about 

 20 centimeters tall and ready for transplanting. About one- 

 half of the foliage should now be cut off; a trench should be dug 

 at the end of the nursery bed about 20 centimeters or more deep ; 

 then a thin, sharp spade or bolo (cutlass) should be passed 

 through the soil, underneath and around the plant, neatly sever- 

 ing all straggling roots, and leaving the plant in the center of a 

 ball of earth. The plants should be set out in the field at the 

 same depth at which they grew in the nursery, great care being 

 taken not to break the ball. If the soil is so loose that it falls 

 away from the roots in the removal from the nursery, great care 

 should be exercised in not allowing the roots to dry out and in 

 setting out the plant so that the roots fall in a natural position. 

 In the course of the planting the soil should be firmly packed 

 about the roots. 



The sowing of the seed in a given locality should be so timed 

 that the plants are ready for transplanting at the beginning of 

 the rainy season in order to avoid the expense of artificial water- 

 ing. If transplanted during the dry season the plants necessarily 

 would have to be watered by hand from time to time until they 

 are established. 



Plants for shade. As a temporary shade and cover crop of 

 rapid growth while the coffee trees are small, perhaps no plant 

 can compete with the cadios (Cajanus indicus). The plants 

 may be cut down to serve as mulch whenever they grow too high, 

 and may be expected to grow from the stubble twice before the 

 plants die, provided they are not cut off too close to the ground. 



In Java, where robusta coffee is more extensively planted than 

 anywhere else, permanent shade is considered advisable. Mala- 

 ganit (Leucaena glauca) , a leguminous shrub which grows every- 

 where in the Philippines, seems to be preferred there to other 

 plants for shade. It is planted alternately with the coffee plants 

 and, as is the case with all plants utilized for shade, thinned 

 out later according to need. Madre de cacao (Gliricidia macu- 

 lata) and dapdap (Erythrina indica and E. subumbrans) are 

 other leguminous trees readily obtainable in most localities and 

 are adapted for shade. 



Madre de cacao should be planted at the same distance as^the 



