RESULTS OF EXCKSSLYK SHADE. 31 



in vigor, fruitful ness, and uniformity of ripening, a fact which makes 

 plain the necessity of the introduction of new stock in all countries 

 where, as in Porto Rico, this objectionable method of propagation has 

 been followed. 



Returning to the question of the bearing of this evil practice upon 

 tin 1 apparent desirability of shade, it may readil} r be understood that 

 the more heavily the old plantations are shaded the more spindling 

 will be the growth of the seedlings, and the greater the necessity of 

 continuing the shade after transplanting. One meets in Porto Rico, 

 for instance, densely crowded fields of bananas, the planting of 

 which for any other purpose than their own fruits would never be 

 suspected if special attention were not directed to the spindling, whip- 

 like coffee seedlings 2 or 3 feet high, but with few branches and 

 scarcely any leaves. Properly grown, stocky seedlings would, of 

 course be ruined by this treatment, but on the other hand it would be 

 quite impracticable to use for open culture the plants already deformed 

 and debilitated by unfavorable initial conditions of growth. Although 

 transplanting is usually undertaken only in the rainy season, it often 

 happens that vigorous and stocky seedlings are injured if unexpected 

 fair weather occurs shortly after. In some countries the use of artifi- 

 cial covering or of quick-growing plants like castor oil or indian corn 

 is considered necessary to avoid this temporary danger. But the 

 taller and more spindling the seedling the greater harm from exposure, 

 and the greater necessity for adequate protection after transplanting, 

 until, as in Porto Rico, the custom of setting out bananas in advance 

 of the coffee has come into regular use. 



OVEKSHADING. 



Whatever be the possibilities of the rational use of leguminous trees 

 for maintaining the fertility of the soil of coffee plantations, there 

 can be no doubt that the use of shade trees can be carried to hurtful 

 excess. Too much shade, even with leguminous trees, may easily be 

 worse than none. The coffee culture of Porto Rico furnishes a good 

 example of overshading, though others can in all probability be found 

 in Venezuela, Colombia, and Central America. A newspaper writer 

 who visited Porto Rico during the recent war records the following 

 interesting impression of the coffee industry of that island: 



A Porto Rican coffee plantation does not present any very marked difference in 

 appearance from the rest of the country. The bush or shrub, growing to some 8 or 

 10 feet in height, is set out on no apparent system, and grows mixed with bananas 

 and forest timber. Until one knows what it is, one might easily pass a whole planta- 

 tion and believe that he had seen nothing but a somewhat scattered forest with its 

 usual undergrowth of scrub and thicket. 



The description is certainly of very general applicability (see Pis. 

 II, IV, and VI), and though occasional plantations showing somewhat 



