100 MANURING. 
least on those of neighbours. Promising enough these 
holes look when freshly cut, and very hopeful seems 
the future of the tree when encircled with the good- 
looking soil dug out of them. But very soon comes 
the end. The soil gets quickly washed back into the 
holes again, then out of the holes and down the hill, 
rutting and tearing away with it other soil which in 
ordinary circumstances would have remained intact 
for many years. And in a year or two you will see 
the trees perched up on their individual cones of earth, 
wiih their roots looking through the sides, and into 
the yawning holes that have done the mischief. You 
dug the holes to retain the surface wash: by and 
bye you find they have not only failed in this, but 
occasioned even a greater wash. Is it not so? 
As the digging of large holes to bury cattle man- 
ures and other manures in is open to these grave 
objections, it is time that we left off such an expens- 
ive, and, in its consequences, ruinous item of labour. 
We must take to surface manuring. A host of critics, 
sensible men and excellent planters too, will be ready 
to attack this system at once: still if they give it a 
fair trial it will not be disappointed. It is not a new 
system though it is a good one. Nature has been 
employing it for thousands of years! The dying leaves 
and branches of her forests are being continually 
shed over the surface of the ground, permanently en- 
riching the soil and increasing the vigour of the vege- 
tation. Why should not we, as cultivators of trees, 
follow, as far as we may, her excellent plan? We 
have all noticed the wonderful effects, after cutting a 
road through coffee, of the loose soil thrown on the 
surface among the trees below. Look at the coffee 
near coolie lines or around cattle sheds, how lauxuri- 
ant the trees are! Yet no holes were dug there, nor 
laborious application attempted. ‘The ashes and other 
fertilizing substances scattered on the surface Were 
soon commingled with the soil they rested on, and 
the appearance of the trees in foliage and in fruit 
tell how well these did their work. ‘The practise of 
surface manuring is simple, while it is inexpensive. 
As a preliminary work it is necessary that the land 
should be dramed. J.am speaking here of steep land. 
On more level ground draining may be omitted alto- 
gether, or but sparingly used. Drains of easy gradi- 
ents, tay from 1 in 17 to 1 in 30, and from six to 
ten trees distant from each other, should be cut across 
the hillside and made to empty themselves into the 
nearest natural ravines. In average soils it would cost 
less to drain an acre, than to cut the number of big 
manure holes required in that space. And once made, 
- the drains remain, Any further expense they may 
