296 TlMEHRL 
put in the spots where the coffee is to be planted. Care 
should be taken to get the lines symmetrical, for a badly 
lined estate is an offence to the eye, and it bothers one 
in giving tasks to the labourers. The distance at which 
the coffee should be planted is still a moot-point. I 
believe, however, that ten feet either way is the best ; 
although I may mention that in Ceylon this distance is 
thought to be far too wide. But, as a matter of fa6t, I 
have adopted ten feet distances on my own plantation, 
and the branches of the older trees have already grown 
into each other. I would advise, therefore, the longer 
intervals for good level land, and the shorter ones for 
hill-sides, and for land that is somewhat poor. Holes 
must now be dug where every picket stands, and these 
holes should be at least two feet square and two feet 
deep — i.e., eight cubic feet of earth must be removed 
The holes are to be left open for several weeks or even 
longer, so as to oxygenate the soil ; and, then, they 
should be filled up with weeds and surface earth from 
the vicinity, care being taken to keep out stones and 
large roots. After a week or two the weeds will decom- 
pose and form a rich soil which will sink down and leave 
a shallow hole, and this is to be again filled up with 
surface earth, with or without manure, according to 
circumstances. It is advisable to raise the earth some- 
what, leaving a small mound where the hole was, and on 
the top of the mound the young coffee tree is to be 
planted. The object of this system is to allow for the 
subsidence of the earth, as it is found, no matter how 
well the holes are filled, that sinkingalmost always occurs • 
and thus, after a time, the young plant will be left in a 
depression, unless the soil be heaped up as described, 
