128 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
is required for a relatively short harvest and berries 
picked a week too soon or a week too late are seriously 
damaged, if not irretrievably ruined. One is here 
dealing with a valuable crop and one that can accord- 
ingly pay a substantial sum for transport. There is 
no necessity, therefore, to consider the proximity of 
the railway to anything like the same degree as with 
lower-priced crops. Indeed, if the competition for 
labour in the more easily accessible parts is considered, 
it will probably prove desirable to select ones area in 
a district where the native population is dense and not 
overtapped. For the soil, a deep rich loam of the red, 
or, better still, of the chocolate, variety is the best. 
A certain amount of water is essential, and it must be 
ascertained that the average rainfall is at least forty 
inches. For the best situations the intending planter 
must be prepared to pay. It will here, as in most 
crops, prove the cheapest investment to buy the best 
land even if £4, £$, or even £6 be paid per acre— 
cheaper than paying £2 for the second best or than 
taking the third best as a gift. 
Having chosen his area of two, three or 500 acres, 
the planter will make and sow his seed-beds, and at 
the same time will prepare the first field for the 
reception of the young plants, and will take off it an 
initial crop of beans, mealies, wheat, etc. In the 
interim he will be well advised to prepare his mind by 
a thorough study of works relating to coffee generally 
and more especially to any hints that he can get as to 
local conditions. The seed beds can hardly be too 
carefully prepared. They must be of the best soil 
available and handy to water. Also they will require 
head-cover of banana-leaves or something similar. If 
the young plants are put out at the right season and at 
