6 



strengthens the lower branches, makes them cover the ground, and prevents the tree from the tendency 

 coffee has in such lands to lose its lower branches, and run up into what would be called an Umbrella 

 tree. After the sucker has grown to the needed height, it can be topped. In these ruinate lands 

 I would not recommend a height of more than 3 feet ; in virgin lands 4 to 4| feet is a suitable height, 

 but if the exposure is unfavorable they must be topped lower, as the planter's judgment may best decide. 

 Young coffee trees should also be staked, as a protection against wind. 



Pruning. 



The pruning itself should be commenced soon after the tree commences to th"~>w rvit its seconda- 

 ries It is well to treat a coffee tree as one trains and educates a child, viz : "from i v o y mth up." By 

 so doing and by regular pruning and handling or searching or feathering as it is termed iu Jamaica, one 

 may save a heavy expenditure in the future, for when full grown trees have been neglected they be- 

 come matted with heavy cross branches and it is not only expensive, but difficult even with the aid of 

 saw and knife to get them back into good order. One of the first rules to be given is that all gorman- 

 dizers and suckers, and all cross wood must be taken off: next that space about a foot in circumfer- 

 ence must be cleared round the stem so as to admit light and air ; then all overplus of young shoots 

 must be thinned out ; lastly, the trees must be trimmed round and all dead wood and weak whippy 

 branches removed. In young coffee these rules should most strictly be followed, and care taken to 

 cut the secondaries named so close to the primary as to destroy the eye and prevent, their shooting again. 

 In neglected coffee where the cross wood may be bearing, I would recommend the sacrifice of cutting 

 it away to get back the tree into proper order. In fact the tree should if possible be so regulated as 

 not to overbear itself, and sufficient wood should be left to secure a good crop the following year. In 

 pruning a great deal has to be left to the experience and ^discretion of the Superintendent in charge of 

 the field work. No absolutely definite rules can be laid down, except for young trees, each coffee tree 

 must be treated according to its actual condition, according to soil, elev ation, exposure and climate, and 

 experience can only be acquired by steady practice and observation. 



Feathering. 



Feathering is a term applied to the process of removing young shoots with the hand The most 

 experienced labourers should be selected, as the proper trimming of the trees is a very important work. 

 As to rules ; those for pruning and keeping the centre of the tree open should be observed, and the 

 double or treble shoots thinned out, and those going in the right outward direction preserved, care 

 being taken to leave sufficient bearing wood for the coming crop. In Ceylon this work was considered 

 of such importance that it was done twice before crop when labour was plentiful ; here in Jamaica from 

 scarcity of labour or economy, it is perhaps not even done once during the year. Much more might 

 easily be written about pruning, but it would be too long for such a paper as this ; and I would there- 

 fore refer any one needing further information on the subject, to consult Laborie's, Hull's, or my own 

 work on coffee planting. 



Manuring. 



Manuring was largely and expensively carried on in Ceylon where the facilities were much greater 

 than in Jamaica. Here the soil is decidedly superior, so that our coffee fields do not need manuring 

 as badly as was the case in Ceylon, to enable the trees to bear good and paying crops. However as 

 manuring is sure to do good and as much of our coffee is old, it would no doubt be most beneficial to 

 apply some suitable fertilizer. If the difficulties of transport were not so great first to the estate itself and 

 then to the upperfields and good grazing land for cattle not so scarce, there is no doubt more of this 

 work would have been done in Jamaica. In any case a few directions will not be out of place especially for 

 settlers, and low-lying coffee plantations, where cart roads are available, and cattle kept. As to the 

 best for coffee, cattle manure pure and simple must bear the palm, I mean that from a stall 

 where the cattle have been well bedded with grass and trash. Well decayed coffee pulp and 

 cattle manure, are equally good, if not better than the latter alone : mixed with stable manure it is good 

 also, but stable manure is more heating — about one half to one bushel, according to size of the tree, is 

 a good dose of the above named mixtures, and should have lasting effects for 2 or 3 years In steep 

 land manure should be applied in a semi-circular hole or trench about a foot to eighteen inches above 

 the tree, say a foot deep, and nine inches broad ; care must be taken not to cut the main and larger roots ; 

 cutting the fibrous roots does less harm, and in fact is a mode of root-pruning. In flat land the hole may 

 be cut all round the roots, and should the coffee be regular and cover the ground, the holes may be cut 

 in the centre of the four trees, about two feet square and one foot deep, the feeding roots soon finding their 

 way to it. The manure should be well mixed with the mould, and the earth over the hole well trodden 

 down, — the stem must not be buriei up as it is injurious to do so. If settlers only took care of all the 

 excrement from their houses, from cattle, pigs, or goats, and mixed it well with grass and trash in a 

 pit dug for the purpose, and applied the mixture when well decayed to their coffee trees, they would 

 secure far better crops than at present, and would keep their coffee pieces in much better condition. 



In Ceylon, manuring was of such importance that cattle sheds were erected here and there over the 

 estate, and cattle stall fed in them, with the Mauritius grass which was planted and grew so luxuriously 

 in the ravines. Artificial manures, especially Australian bone dust were also very largely used, usually 

 mixed with cattle manure, or poonac — the refuse of oil cake derived from the cocoanut after the oil has 

 been extracted in hydraulic or other presses. But such an expensive style of manuring would scarcely 

 be profitable here as our transport difficulties are so great. Nor do I believe it is necessary on our Blue 

 Mountain properties, as the Jamaica soil is so good, that ordinary careful weeding and pruning put the 

 trees into good condition and enable them to produce paying crops. 



