Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast of Cbiapas. 



felled. To dispose of the leaves, branches, and trunks which remain- 

 after these operations, it is customary to allow them to dry and then 

 burn them. 



In land intended for coffee it is not advisable to burn this waste 

 matter; especially should burning be avoided on land intended for the 

 nursery. 



All the branches, twigs, and leaves left by the operation of stubbing 

 and hewing should be gathered in heaps and placed above and below 

 the nursery, at distances of from twenty-five to thirty yards apart. 

 Trunks of trees which are very large are to be left where they have 

 fallen, as it would take much time and labor to remove them. All the 

 trunks and shoots that might sprout are to be destroyed by the machete 

 and the axe, without using the spade. These operations being per- 

 formed, the ground is ready for the sowing of the nursery. 



Some planters dig up the ground for the nursery, with the object of 

 making it more fertile, and, as will be seen farther on, this is done in 

 Ceylon ; but it seems to me that, while this system may be a good one 

 in poor soil, it is not so good in the soil of this coast, as the nursery 

 will thrive here without this requisite; and as, besides, if the ground 

 were dug up, weeds would grow more luxuriantly, and the rains would 

 soon wash away the richest part of the soil. 



Nurseries are to be formed at various points on the land where the 

 plantation is to be laid out, for convenience in transplanting the young 

 trees. The seed-plot is to be placed beside the nursery. 



C. Seed-Plot. The seed-plot is a sort of nursery for the nursery. 

 To form the seed-plot, the berries or seeds of the coffee, are planted, 

 six inches apart, in holes half an inch deep, and lightly covered with 

 earth. All the rules for choosing the land and for sowing the seed 

 nursery, to be indicated farther on, are also to be observed in the care 

 of the seed-plot. 



When the seeds have germinated, and the young plants are suffi- 

 ciently grown to bear transplanting, they are to be transferred to the 

 nursery, where they are to be planted farther apart, and where they 

 are to be kept until they have attained sufficient growth to be trans- 

 planted to the plantation. 



For my own part, I consider the system of combining the seed- 

 plot and the nursery preferable, as labor, time, and money are thus 

 saved, and a transplantation, from which the young plant always 

 suffers, is, besides, avoided. This is the system followed in Ceylon, 

 as will be seen farther on, and this seems to me another proof of its 

 superiority. 



D. Nursery from Seeds. It is preferable to form the nursery from 

 seed. In regard to this subject the general rules for forming nurseries 

 from young plants or slips will be given. 



