Tt COFFEE CULTIVATION AND MANURING.. 
should be traced;. 1 in 17 to. 1 in 30 is decidedly 
too level, as even at the gradient of 1 in 15 drains: 
are very apt to choke. How we old coffee planters: 
can have been so shortsighted as not to see long ago 
the urgent necessity of draining land is puzzling, but 
f suppose it is on. the same principle that spouting 
and other improvements: were not deemed necessary 
until later years. At all events, on this one point of 
draining planters are all agreed; the steeper the es- 
tate, the closer should the drains be eut, and ne:manure 
should be applied till the field has been thoroughly 
drained. I would recommend that all new elearings 
should be drained as soon as planted and before the 
trees begin to. cover the ground. I go entirely with 
‘‘Shuck Coffee Tree” as regards the water-hole sys- 
tem as applied to old estates. Draining alone should 
be sufficient on young estates, where the roots are of 
course well covered, and where mamoty weeding has. 
never been practised. *‘Orum” points to the coffee 
round the lines, and. the virgin forests as examples. 
why we should adopt surface manuring. No doubt 
he is right; still we cannot build lines all over our 
estates; nor are our coffee fields protected from sum 
and wash as are the forest lands. Water-holing is: 
not the ‘‘ mischievous system of cultivation” ‘‘Orum ’” 
would make us believe if properly carried out; it 
might as well be said that pruning is mischievous, 
because, if not followed by handling and proper care, 
it would render ‘‘ confusion more confused.” Water- 
holes must of course be combined with thorough drain- 
ing, they should frequently be cleared out, and the 
contents spread round the stems of the trees. Unfor- 
tunately, in these days of short labour and economy, 
there are seldom sufficient coolies on an estate to. 
carry out that system of cultivation which is abso- 
lutely necessary for the maintenance in good and pay- 
ing order of old coffee. Then again about water-holing 
‘*Orum” somewhat contradicts himself: he bids us 
notice the ‘‘effects of the loose soil thrown on the 
surface among the trees below,” and yet he depre-. 
cates water-holes. Is not the principle the same? 
and what other process is likeiy to yield sufficient 
soil to cover over the roots of old trees which have 
suffered from heavy wash and a bad system of mamoty 
weeding? That is weeding owt from the tree, instead 
of in towards the stem. But of course water-holes, 
should be cleared out occasionally, and the contents. 
spread over the roots. This seems to me the best 
means of restoring loose soil and humus to our ex- 
hausted fields, and allow room for the propagation 
of those fibrous roots so necessary for the well-being 
of a coffee tree. I have noticed that when water- 
