IRules for pruning. 329 



half, or at most four feet. Trees of more than four feet would not 

 there be able to bear the violence of the wind. If the trunk is not 

 topped they grow, in situations sheltered from the wind, to a height of 

 ten or twelve feet. 



e. Pruning. The only kind of pruning that I have seen done in 

 Soconusco is to cut all the shoots or branches which grow from the 

 root of the tree, three months after transplanting, which operation is 

 constantly repeated. 



Cutting off the top of the tree causes the sap to produce numerous 

 shoots which spring up in every direction. If these are allowed to 

 grow, the tree will soon become a mass of tangled branches which the 

 sun cannot penetrate, and will consequently have little capability of 

 yielding fruit. The sap would produce numerous branches instead of 

 being converted into fruit. Pruning is advantageous in every case, 

 but it is still more so after the top of the tree has been cut off. 



So many improvements have been made in pruning that there is 

 now a complete system of pruning coffee-trees, which is, however, un- 

 fortunately unknown here. The best way of explaining this system is 

 to give the rules which constitute it. 



The difficulty of pruning lies in performing it so that the fruit will 

 increase without exhausting the tree. It is the custom here to cure 

 with clay the wounds caused by pruning. 



/. Rules for Pruning. The practical part of pruning is comprised 

 in the rules which serve as a general guide for this operation. With 

 the object of setting down all that I have found of value on this sub- 

 ject, I insert here, even at the risk of falling into repetitions, a resume 

 of the rules given by Laborie, Sabonadiere, and a practical planter of 

 Ceylon, and those published in the Observer of Colombo, the principal 

 port of that island. 



System of Laborie. Laborie gives the following rules for pruning 

 trees planted in good soil, in a hot climate, and which have been 

 pruned before: 



1. Every branch that looks sickly, that is broken, that has suffered 

 any lesion, or that seems exhausted through over-production, is to be 

 cut off. 



2. Every branch that is decayed, withered, dry, or split, must also 

 be cut off, following the principle of regeneration. 



3. All vertical branches, branches that cross each other, or that 

 do not grow in their natural direction, and all supernumerary branches 

 which absorb the sap of the plant without producing fruit, are to be 

 taken off, or, if very thick, sawed off. 



4. The top and the middle part of the tree are to be pruned so 

 as to give free access to the air and sun. 



5. If, in spite of this, the tree should still be full of branches, 



