342 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbern Coast of Cbiapas. 



8. GATHERING OF THE CROP. 



Under this head the following will be considered : 



A. Gathering the crop in Soconusco. 



B. Gathering the crop in Ceylon. 



Each of these points will be considered separately. 



A. Gathering the Crop in Soconusco. In regard to the gathering of 

 the crop in Soconusco and Guatemala the following points will be con- 

 sidered : 



a. Time at which the coffee-tree begins to bear fruit. 



b. Time during which the coffee-tree continues bearing fruit. 



c. Blossoming and fructification of the coffee-tree. 



d. Gathering the crop. 



Each of these subjects will be considered separately. 



a. Time at which the Coffee- Tree Begins to Bear Fruit. The second 

 year after its removal to the plantation the plant, providing it was of 

 three or four crosses at the time of transplanting, will bear its first 

 crop, called in Soconusco its trial crop, or first trial. In ground best 

 suited to it and with careful cultivation, each tree will yield on an 

 average four ounces. The following year, after transplanting, it gives 

 its second crop, which as it is still small, as compared to those which it 

 yields afterwards, is called in Soconusco its second trial. It may be 

 considered that on an average, and under the conditions already men- 

 tioned, the yield of each tree will be one pound in its second trial. In 

 the fourth year after transplantation it gives its best crop, which aver- 

 ages double that of the second crop, and in the succeeding years it 

 will continue yielding good crops. 



b. Time during which the Co fee- Tree Continues Bearing Fruit. As 

 the coffee plantations of Soconusco and Guatemala are of comparatively 

 recent planting, the duration of the life of the coffee plant cannot yet 

 be determined with exactness. Trees planted twenty-five or thirty 

 years ago still preserve much of their vigor and luxuriance and yield 

 good crops, although they have never been manured and hardly ever 

 pruned. It has also been observed that trees planted in the high lands 

 last much longer than those planted in the low lands. 



Some planters are of opinion that the duration of the life of the 

 coffee-tree depends on the shade which is given to it, and that when 

 it is exposed to the sun it will live a shorter time than when protected 

 by shade. In this regard what I have already pointed out is the case ; 

 that is, that a coffee plantation in low land, with shade, gives about the 

 same yield as a plantation without shade on higher land or on land 

 which has a lower temperature; and it is natural that it should last 

 longer than a plantation planted in low land and also exposed to the 

 sun. 



