24 



field the holes are made with the stick about 4 inches deep and 3 inches 

 wide. In this way about 250 or 300 holes are prepared in rows 3 feet 

 apart, the holes in each row being 2 feet apart. The holes are watered 

 immediately before the plants are put in. 



Early the next morning after these holes are made the coolie pulls 

 out about 300 of the best plants from his plant bed. Those which are 

 fresh looking and which have a healthy green color are, of course, 

 selected. The pulling is done when the dew is on the plant. The bed 

 is first wet thoroughly with water and the plants are then pulled out 

 carefully, so as not to injure the i oots. A little earth is left on the roots. 

 The plants are put upright in a basket in such a way as to sujiport 

 each other. They are usually from 3 to 6 inches long at the time of 

 pulling. When the required number has been i>ulled the tops are 

 sprinkled with water and the basket is covered with a piece of cloth. 

 The basket is then taken to the coolie's lodging, where it remains until 

 4 o'clock in the afternoon. After pulling the plants the jdant beds 

 are again watered and the loose dirt is carefully packed again. When 

 tbe seed bed begins to look yellow and the plants get old and sickly it 

 is abandoned and raked over. By this time another bed, which was 

 planted six days later, will be ready, and thus the coolie has a constant 

 supi)ly to keep him at work until his field is planted. 



About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when the rays of the sun are not 

 very strong, the coolie takes the basket and drops a plant near every 

 hole. When all are dropped he commences to plant. He holds the 

 plant in the middle of the hole with his left hand and with his right 

 hand jn^esses the dirt around the roots carefully but firmly, so that he 

 can give the plant a slight pull without removing it. 



SHADING THE YOUNG PLANTS. 



If there is time, the same evening, or otherwise early the next morn- 

 ing, the coolie commences to put in the shade planks. These are in the 

 shape of a shingle, are made of very thin, light wood about 7 or 8 

 inches long and about 5 inches high. They cost from $8 to $9 i)er 

 10,000. Each coolie supplies himself with about 3,500 of these planks, 

 which are added to his account, but if he desires to do so he can 

 return them after use and get credit for what he returns. 



The planks are put in slanting over the young plants in such a way 

 that the opening goes to the east. This shuts out the noonday heat, 

 and lets the sun shine on the plants only early in the morning. As the 

 plants grow the planks are straightened up. If the plants grow well 

 and nothing happens to them, and especially if the weather is not too 

 dry, the shade planks are taken away about twelve or fifteen days after 

 transplanting. When taken away the soil is scraped up against the 

 stem of the plant to protect it from the hot rays of the sun. 



The process herein described of setting out 300 plants is repeated and 

 continued from the new seed beds, which come on until the last one of 

 the 10,000 plants has been set out in the field of about 1^ acres. 



