328 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast ot Cbiapas. 



the larger the crops it will yield. This is seen better in the new trees, 

 which bear more fruit in their second and third crops, because they 

 then have fewer branches. 



Generally, the trees give a bad and a good crop alternately. This 

 evil may be remedied by pruning, as will be seen farther on. 



Pruning is most required in high localities which are exposed to the 

 cold winds. 



d. Topping. Topping consists in cutting off the top of the trunk or 

 the leader of the plant. 



This is the only kind of pruning practicable in Soconusco, and it is 

 done arbitrarily and without following any rule. Farther on it will be 

 seen that once the coffee plant has been thus cut, it will be indispen- 

 sable to prune it. 



When the trees have attained their ordinary height, that is, when 

 they are about six feet high, their leader, or central branch, which is 

 of little importance, is pruned, and also all the shoots that spring up 

 near the roots. This stops the vertical growth of the plant, causing 

 the branches to spread horizontally, sending out new branches which 

 bear fruit, or strengthening the branches which it has already sent out. 



Trees not thus pruned will grow as high as ten or eleven feet, and 

 I have sometimes seen them as much as twelve feet high; but cutting 

 stops the vertical growth of the tree, which then grows horizontally and 

 through its branches. 



The principal reasons in favor of cutting the leader are, according 

 to Laborie, the following: 



1. The fruit is brought by it within easy reach of the hand; it 

 facilitates the gathering of the crops and prevents the branches from 

 breaking when picking the fruit. 



2. The tree acquires greater vigor as well under the ground as 

 above it, and the trunk grows thicker. 



3. The tree presents a smaller volume of resistance to the winds. 



4. The tree loses none of its primary branches, but, on the con- 

 trary, these being nearer the source of vegetation, are better nourished 

 and consequently more productive. 



If the plant be pruned very near the highest primary branches, there 

 is danger of the trunk splitting when the branches grow thick. This 

 danger will disappear if the plant be pruned a little above the highest 

 primary branches and these be removed. 



The height at which the trees are to be left will depend in each 

 case upon the distance apart at which they are planted, the nature of 

 the ground, its altitude above the level of the sea, exposure, etc. 



In Guatemala and Soconusco they are pruned to a height of six or 

 eight feet. 



In Ceylon plants are pruned to a height of two, three, three and a 



