316 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast of Cbiapas. 



and requires to be replaced, they are to call the third man to do it. 

 Without these precautions it would be difficult to trace straight lines. 



The task for each of the stakers should be 750 stakes per day. 



c. Staking in Ceylon. Believing that rules for facilitating the opera- 

 tion of staking would be useful for planters, I give herewith a resume* 

 of the systems followed in Ceylon. These are two, one recommended 

 by Laborie and the other by Sabonadiere. 



Laborie System. On a cord of the same length as the plantation, 

 strips of cloth are fastened at regular intervals as in the tail of a boy's 

 kite representing the places at which the coffee-trees are to be planted. 

 Two men take the ends of the cord and stretch it tightly along the 

 ground. If there should be any obstacles in the way, such as trunks 

 of trees, the cord is not placed on one side of them but over them. 



Other men plant stakes of from eighteen to twenty-four inches in 

 length in the places marked by the pieces of cloth, taking care to fix 

 them always on the same side of the cord. If the cord should be 

 raised above the ground by any obstruction, the stake is let fall per- 

 pendicularly from the place marked by the piece of cloth, and driven 

 in the spot where it falls. When this is done the cord is moved for- 

 ward to mark another furrow, the distance between the furrows being 

 marked at either end by poles of the required length ; and so on with 

 all the furrows. 



Sabonadiere System. Eight or ten thick cords, of the length re- 

 quired, all being of the same length, are procured. Then a straight 

 line, which is to serve as a base for the others, is traced, following, as 

 far as possible, the direction of the slope or the undulations of the 

 ground, so that the stones which become loosened may fall between 

 the furrows and not injure the trees. The base line being marked, 

 another line which shall intersect it is drawn at right angles to it, a 

 carpenter's square being used for the purpose. 



Then the distances at which the trees are to be planted are marked 

 off with a pole on the lines which serve as base lines, and wherever a 

 tree is to be planted a stake is set. To each of the transverse stakes 

 the end of one of the cords is fastened, and the other end is carried 

 over to the other side of the plantation. Three or four men, provided 

 with poles of the same length as the distance apart at which the trees 

 should be placed, which is the same distance as that at which the cords 

 should be placed, are stationed there, for the purpose of seeing that the 

 cords run parallel to one another, an operation which, as has been 

 said, is difficult in broken ground where there are tree trunks, rocks, 

 and ravines. In this case it will be necessary to fasten the cords to 

 the ground at intervals with stakes. 



After the cords have been fastened, bundles of stakes are placed at 

 convenient points to be ready to be set in their respective positions. 



