WEEDING AND PRUNING. 79 



ap obstinate roots, and carries at his waist a small bag, 

 into which the weeds are at once thrust, and afterwards 

 turned out of the bags into pits dug at convenient inter- 

 vals, or are heaped up on the roads and finally buried or 

 burned, the latter being the surer method of effectually 

 destroying them. By weeding early and repeating the 

 operation as often as necessary, the ground may be kept 

 clean by hand alone. But when hand-weeding will not 

 suffice, recourse must be had to " scraping " the ground, 

 which is, however, attended with a serious drawback — the 

 first inch or more of the best surface-mould is removed, 

 at the same time thus robbing the plants of nourishment 

 and exposing the earth to the full effects of the wash. 

 On stiff clay soils, on level plantations and in damp, cool 

 climates on the other hand, hoeing is not only necessary 

 for the perfect eradication of the weeds, but is of itself 

 exceedingly beneficial to the soil, and except during the 

 dry season should be regularly done, whether weeds are 

 present or not. When scraping or hoeing it is imperative 

 that the operation should be conducted from the outside 

 towards the trees, so that the roots may be kept well 

 covered and the wash easily escape into the drains. 



The coffee tree, if allowed to grow to its natural height, 

 will commonly be found to measure from twelve to 

 fifteen feet. But the most experienced planters reduce 

 their shrubs to at the most four and a half feet, and 

 sometimes as little as three feet, and in windy and exposed 

 situations two and a half feet in some countries have been 

 adopted as the best height. And here, as in distance, 

 the planter should be guided by the nature of the soil 

 and partly by the aspect as regards wind. In thoroughly 

 sheltered situations and in the finest land a tree may be 

 allowed four and a half to five feet with advantage, but 

 m all medium situations, as regards soil and exposure. 



