334 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast of Cbfapas. 



a. Making roads. 



b. Drainage. 



c. Making trenches. 



d. Loosening the earth. 



e. Making ridges. 



f. Irrigating. 



g. Destroying the insects which are enemies of the coffee-tree. 



h. Manuring the ground. 



Each of these labors will be considered separately, that of manur- 

 ing, which from its importance is deserving of special attention, being 

 considered in a chapter by itself. 



a. Making Roads. It is desirable that the estate be traversed by 

 cart roads, which shall place its different quarters in communication 

 with the house in which the work of preparing the coffee for the market 

 is performed. The transportation of the fruit, and of the fertilizers, 

 when these are used, will be thus facilitated and rendered cheaper. 

 The roads should not have a grade of more than ten per cent. The 

 roads should be opened before the plantation is made, for, if they 

 should be opened afterwards, many of the trees already planted and 

 bearing fruit would have to be destroyed, and many of the neighboring 

 plants would be injured by the work consequent on the opening of the 

 road. 



It is highly important that there should be easy means of communi- 

 cation between the various parts of the estate, so that the laborers may 

 be able to get to their work without difficulty, and also that the super- 

 intendent or overseer may be able to go readily to the place where the 

 workmen are employed, for if these know that they are not watched 

 they will not be likely to work diligently. 



It is an established fact that the trees near the roads are more 

 vigorous and produce more fruit than those at some distance from 

 them. The cause of this may be that the soil near the roads is looser 

 than that of the rest of the plantation, and is renewed by means of the 

 rains for which the roads form channels. This is another reason, 

 therefore, which renders it advisable that there should be roads and 

 paths in a plantation. 



Mr. Sabonadiere recommends that a road be made around the plan- 

 tation with the object, among others, of separating it from the con- 

 tiguous woods. 



Although it may seem paradoxical to say so, it is really a saving to 

 go to the expense of opening roads, for they lessen considerably the 

 labor of cultivation. 



The roads and paths should also be made to serve as channels to 

 carry off the rains. 



The ground in which coffee is planted in Ceylon is so hilly that fre- 



