298 TlMEHRI. 
which the plants are put in and the plantation started 
depends the whole success of the undertaking and to 
realise these considerations in their fullest sense may very 
fitly be termed the essential elements in the character of 
a good and successful planter."* When the young plants 
are rooted they still require careful nursing until they 
throw out several pairs of primary branches. They 
should be kept free from weeds, shaded from the sun, and 
protected from strong winds. As I have already pointed 
out, shade and protection are given by the plantains 
and pigeon-peas which were recommended to be planted 
between the rows of coffee ; but the roots require more 
protection than this in very hot and dry weather, so a 
system of mulching may then be employed. 
It is scarcely necessary to remark that the plantation 
ought to be kept clear of weeds ; indeed, after the coffee 
trees are put out in the fields, it will be found that the 
weeding is one of the principal items of expenditure. 
Coffee is intolerant of weeds, for the nutrition of the 
plant is carried on mainly by avast number of superficial 
fibrous roots. If, therefore, the plantation be not kept 
clean, the weeds will feed on those soluble portions of 
the soil that should be left for the coffee, with the inevi- 
table result of sickly trees and short crops. The truth of 
this was brought home to my mind some time ago by the 
following facts. A small patch of my Liberian coffee 
cultivation was neglected for awhile, and the weeds grew 
up thickly and quickly ; soon afterwards the leaves of the 
coffee turned yellow, the trees appeared to be sickly, 
and but few berries were seen on the branches. The 
patch was then weeded and kept clean, but nothing else 
* Notes, on Liberian Coffee, its History and Cultivation. Jamaica, l88i- 
