332 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast of Cbfapas. 



will give the light access to the plant and will give the branches more 

 room to grow. 



Double or triple shoots shall be reduced to one, choosing that which 

 grows at a right angle with the primary branch, and which lies in the 

 same horizontal plane ; the number of secondary branches on each side 

 of the primaries will then be equalized, and, finally, the same number 

 of secondaries will be left on each primary. 



In deciding upon the number of secondary branches to be left on 

 the tree, it must be borne in mind that if they be many the plant will 

 become exhausted, and in the following year will produce fewer 

 branches and less fruit. A number must be fixed upon, then, which, 

 without exhausting the plant will cause it to yield good crops, and in 

 this way the crops will be uniform, not as in plantations that are not 

 pruned, which yield a fair crop one season and a bad one the next. 



When the crop is gathered, all the secondary branches which have 

 fructified to the extent of producing tertiary branches are to be cut off. 

 Some advise that when there are enough branches to allow of it, all the 

 secondaries that have produced fruit be cut off. 



After the trees have been thus pruned, they send forth new shoots, 

 which must also be pruned, as has been already indicated, as soon as 

 they show the direction in which they are growing. If this pruning be 

 deferred, it will be more difficult to perform, and the tree will be 

 greatly injured by it, as it will then be deprived of its leaves when it 

 most needs them. 



The secondary branches must be cut off at their root, so that no 

 part may be left that might send forth shoots in a direction other than 

 the natural one, or cause the plant to sicken. 



The number of branches to be left will depend upon the soil, 

 climate, situation, etc. 



When this system has been once established, it will be very easy to 

 follow it, for the same thing that is done one year is repeated the suc- 

 ceeding years. 



g. Manner of Pruning. Laborie gives the following rules for the 

 practical part of pruning: 



1. To cut the trunk of a tree or any of its thick branches, a very 

 sharp saw is to be used which can be managed with one hand, the 

 trunk being firmly held with the other, to keep the tree from moving 

 and to facilitate the work of sawing. The trunk must be cut obliquely 

 from above downward, and the cut surface should face the north ; the sun 

 thus falls on it with less force and the rain will run off more easily, for, 

 if the water should penetrate the wood, it would injure the tree greatly. 



2. The large branches which cannot be easily pruned with a knife 

 are to be sawed off in the manner above indicated. But the saw is to 

 be used in no case in which a knife can be employed. 



