Coffee Culture in Ceslon, 335 



quently the roads can be made only in terraces. Mr. Sabonadiere 

 estimates the cost of making a path five feet wide, with a channel a 

 foot wide, at ^25 sterling, or $125 per mile, and that of a cart road, 

 ten feet wide, with a channel eighteen inches wide, at $500 per mile. 



b. Drainage. It is advisable, in order to prevent the rains from 

 ^washing away the richest soil of the plantation, to construct drains 

 when making the roads, although this will require more capital and 

 labor. The drains should be made before the plantation is laid out, 

 for the reasons mentioned when speaking of roads. 



Before enriching the soil with fertilizers means should be taken to 

 preserve it that is, to prevent the rains from washing away the richest 

 part of it, and this is done by means of drains. 



In Ceylon, and other places where coffee cultivation is most ad- 

 vanced, care is always taken to construct drains. Mr. Sabonadiere 

 recommends that these be fifteen inches in width and the same in 

 depth; that they be distant from each other the space occupied by 

 twenty trees, or about one hundred and twenty- feet ; that their grade 

 be not more than one per cent., or even less, and that they run in the 

 direction of the nearest ravine. Care should be taken to keep the 

 drains always free from obstructions. 



Mr. Sabonadiere mentions an estate in Ceylon called Matelle, in 

 which all the drains empty into a pit excavated in the lowest part of 

 the ground, in which the soil washed away by the rains is deposited 

 and afterwards carried to the plantation and scattered around the 

 trunks of the trees. 



c. Making Trenches. In the estates of Ceylon where coffee culture 

 is most advanced, a system is adopted which is entirely unknown in 

 Soconusco, and which is at present considered unnecessary, but which 

 I think it advisable to mention, as it might be adopted in some parts 

 of Mexico with advantage. 



It has for its object: ist. To prevent the rains from washing away 

 the soil. 2d. To prevent the water from standing around the roots of 

 the trees. 3d. To augment the vegetable soil, which would be bene- 

 ficial to the trees. The plan in question consists in making an excava- 

 tion about three feet in length, a foot or a foot and a half in width, 

 and the same in depth, between every four trees. The earth which is 

 taken from these excavations is spread over the roots of the nearest trees. 



These excavations serve not only to retain the rain-water and the 

 soil which it carries with it, but also to receive the weeds cut down in 

 weeding, the branches, twigs, and leaves that remain after pruning, 

 and anything else at hand that will serve for manure. These excava- 

 tions, therefore, will soon be filled; they should be cleaned twice a 

 year, and the substances taken from them spread over the roots of the 

 trees, making an excellent manure. 



