LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 6 1 



may be greatly lessened by plowing them up and plant- 

 ing them with an annual crop until the land is exhausted, 

 as not only will the roads be bounded by the plowing 

 but weeds will not so readily grow. 



Nothing is more important than the thorough drainage 

 of a Coffee plantation, in order to carry away the excess 

 of moisture during heavy rains without allowing the 

 surface soil to be washed away. For this purpose con- 

 tinuous open trenches are cut in parallel lines across the 

 face of the slope and at from ten to fifteen yards apart ; 

 their gradient, however, should never exceed one in 

 twelve, one in twenty or even one in thirty will be still 

 better, their width may be from fifteen to eighteen inches 

 and their depth not less than one foot on the lower side. 

 They will need constant cleaning out and repair, espe- 

 cially after a heavy shower, and must in all cases empty 

 into a natural or artificial channel amply capable of 

 carrying off the water ; if furnished with breaks to catch 

 the suspended or detached soil so much the better, as the 

 latter can be collected and returned to the plantation as 

 a dressing. 



I^AYIIVG OUT THJE NURSERY. 



The Coffee plant is propagated in three different ways, 

 by " Seeds," " Buddings," and " Cuttings," the two last 

 being the most troublesome and objectionable, there 

 being at the same time no branch of Coffee cultivation of 

 more importance and none so frequently mismanaged 

 or neglected as that of the production of the plant in 

 the nursery, the greatest care and most constant watch- 

 ing being absolutely necessary to the attainment of 

 success. 



For this purpose should be selected a patch of gently 

 sloping virgin soil, warm and dry, soft in nature and not 



