116 
SECOND BOOK. 
2. “ Sometimes, when the trees had grown larger, 
we mulched the ground with the weeds, spreading 
a layer of them under the trees. This not only 
helped to keep the ground moist, but also checked 
the growth of fresh weeds, 
and thus lessened the 
work of weeding, which 
destroys the fine fibrous 
coffee-roots near the sur- 
face. 
3. “As our plantation 
was in an exposed situa- 
tion, we planted a shelter- 
belt of trees to screen it 
from the winds. 
“ When the young 
coffee -trees had grown 
three or four feet high 
we topped them, to cause 
Seedling of Coffee, with Tap-root. 1 
the lower branches to 
spread, and to keep the trees low enough for their 
fruit to be easily gathered. 
4 . “ We had to clear away the ‘ suckers’, as the 
fast-growing upright shoots that spring from the 
stem are called, and to prune the trees properly. 
Many of the shoots are cleared off while they are 
small enough to be removed by the hand, and this 
work is called ‘ feathering’ or ‘ handling’. If all 
the shoots were allowed to grow, the tree would 
