98 
Kola  and  Kolanin. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phariri. 
\    February,  1896. 
seed,  planted  in  the  field  where  they  are  to  grow;  but  the  best  results 
seem  to  come  from  planting  the  seeds  in  nursery  beds,  transplanting 
them  when  plants  are  from  2  to  3  feet  in  height.  The  seeds  as  usually 
obtained  from  growers  are  packed  for  shipment  in  boxes  covered 
with  earth,  and  the  whole  wet  with  fresh  water.  Holes  are  bored 
in  the  boxes  for  ventilation.  The  nursery  beds  in  which  they  are 
planted  are  made  of  loam,  peat  or  leaf  mould  and  kept  shaded. 
In  nursery  planting  the  seeds  are  put  in  the  bamboo  pots  com- 
monly used  in  the  tropics,  and  placed  from  9  to  1 2  inches  apart. 
It  takes  three  to  five  weeks  before  the  sprouts  appear  above  ground. 
When  ready  for  transplanting  they  are  set  a  distance  of  about  25 
feet  apart.  If  the  soil  into  which  they  are  transplanted  is  not  rich, 
the  best  planters  dig  holes  several  feet  deep,  5  feet  each  way  around, 
and  fill  in  with  the  topsoil.  It  is  necessary  for  the  young  plant  to 
have  shade.  Many  intelligent  planters,  who  have  lately  taken  up  the 
planting  of  kola,  use  the  banana  for  the  purpose.  The  banana  is  a 
very  rapid-growing  tree.  It  shelters  the  young  kola  plant  and 
makes  a  profitable  crop  while  the  kola  is  coming  into  bearing  ;  kola, 
in  turn,  will  begin  to  yield  by  the  time  the  banana  has  exhausted 
the  soil.  The  bananas  are  planted  10,  11  or  12  feet  apart,  with  the 
kola  at  every  second  banana  in  the  direction  of  the  line.  Thus,  a 
plot  of  20  feet  square  is  enclosed  with  banana  trees  with  four  kola 
plants  at  the  corners,  leaving  the  kola  from  20  to  24  feet  apart.  In 
sheltered  situations,  as  in  a  low  valley  between  hills  that  have  a 
growth  of  woods,  the  banana  is  omitted  in  the  centre  of  the  square, 
to  give  more  light  and  air.  The  gradual  thinning  out  of  the  banana 
is  made  as  the  kola  acquires  increased  growth.  Kola  is  usually 
planted  at  the  beginning  of  the  wet  season.  Grown  wild,  it  com- 
mences to  yield  fruit  about  the  fifth  or  sixth  year.  Well-cultivated 
specimens  often  begin  to  bear  considerably  earlier.  In  the  wild  state 
they  reach  full  bearing  in  the  ninth  or  tenth  year.  When  the  kola 
tree  attains  full  size,  it  is  customary  with  planters  to  place  in  the  field 
with  them  small  varieties  of  coffee,  or  some  vegetable  plants  such 
as  peas  or  yam.  Kola  gives  the  necessary  shade.  The  stems  and 
leaves  of  the  other  plants  furnish  a  good  fertilizer.  By  this  method 
a  kola  plantation  costs  nothing  except  for  the  first  planting.  Kola 
does  not  appear  to  exhaust  the  soil  as  does  the  coffee,  banana,  orange, 
etc.  Upon  once  attaining  its  growth  it  appears  to  be  of  permanent 
value.    Specimens  that  have  borne  for  fifty  years  and  probably 
