94 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP. 



Seed beds to 

 be manured. 



Loose soil 

 necessary. 



Fresh seeds 

 to be sown. 



Seeds germi 

 nate in six 

 weeks. 



Constant 

 weeding. 



Reserve 

 plants. 



loose earth and raised some distance above the ground, for 

 in this way the young plants can be better attended to, and 

 there is not so much danger of the ravages of caterpillars 

 and other voracious insects that sometimes destroy the 

 leaves and young plants. 



The seed beds must not be too wide, they ought to be well 

 manured if the soil be poor, and the earth should be dug up 

 and pulverised — every root and stone being carefully re- 

 moved. If the land be stiff clay, some sand or charcoal 

 dust should be mixed with it, as the delicate rootlets of the 

 young plants require a loose soil for them to penetrate 

 easily. 



The seeds fresh from the pulp are to be placed in the 

 ground with their flat side downwards, at a depth of about 

 an inch and a half below the surface, and three inches from 

 each other. A thin layer of finely broken charcoal may, 

 with advantage, be placed over the seed beds, for it keeps 

 down weeds and helps to retain moisture. In favourable 

 weather the seeds will germinate in about six weeks, and 

 the seedlings will be ready to transplant in from eight to ten 

 months. Should dry weather come on after the seeds are 

 planted, the nurseries ought to be well and frequently 

 watered. The beds must be constantly weeded, and the 

 weeds be pulled up before they grow to a large size, other- 

 wise there will be the danger of pulling up the coffee plants 

 with them. A reserve of plants should be kept to supply 

 vacancies occurring in the plantation by reason of some of 

 the plants dying after they are put out in the fields. Other 

 beds are to be made, the soil being prepared in the same 

 manner as for the nurseries, and the seedlings are then 

 planted in them about 8 or 12 inches from each other. In 

 this way, they will grow and keep pace with the plants in 

 the field ; and, when vacancies occur, they can be suppHed 

 with well-grown plants. An excellent way, when planting 

 on a small scale, is to transfer the seedlings into bamboo pots, 

 and to keep them at first in a shady and moist place, and 



