168 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, {1 Ava., 1898. 
Until the seedlings begin to show above ground, from four to five weeks 
will elapse, during which period the beds should be carefully watered at least 
once in every forty-cight hours. As the young plants reach the height of from 
3 to 4 inches, and begin to throw out their first pair of laterals, the covering 
should by degrees be removed, and finally, as the plants get to the height of 
6 inches, abandoned altogether. By this mode of treatment the plants are 
allowed to become hardy, and better able to resist the powerful rays of the 
sun when removed to the field. 
When they obtain a height of from 10 to 12 inches they may be said to 
be fit for planting out, and in doing so great care should be exercised in 
selecting only strong and healthy plants with straight and undamaged tap- 
roots. The transplanting shoald not take place before the planter has satis- 
fied himself that the rainy season has set in, otherwise shading and watering 
the young plants will have to be resorted to in order to ensure their growth, 
and this is not only tedious, but expensive. In transplanting, it 1s advisable to 
use flat-bottomed baskets in which to carry the young plants from the nursery 
to the field, and as much earth as possible should be retained round the roots, 
care also being taken that the latter are always kept well covered with a wet 
cloth, bag, moss, or some substance of like description, and never at any time 
exposed to the sun’s rays. 
In laying out the land for a coffee estate the method invariably adopted in 
Ceylon is, supposing the land to be heavy scrub or jungle, to brush the land 
thoroughly first, then to fell all standing timber to a height of not more than 
3 feet from the ground, to top off all branches of the latter, getting them to 
lie as close to the ground as possible. After an interval of from three to four 
months the land should be fit for burning off. Should the burn be complete, 
nothing scarcely will remain on the land but the trunks and stumps; it is then 
ready for lining, which should be done with great precision and regularity, 
adding thereby much to the general appearance of the estate, and also to the 
easy working of it at crop and at other times. With regard to’the distances at 
which coffee-trees should be planted out, people are wont to differ. In Ceylon 
and Southern India 5 feet by 4 feet, 5 feet by 5 feet, and 5 feet by 6 feet are 
the distances generally in vogue, the latter in most imstances being adopted ; 
but in this part of Queensland at least, where trees grow with such vigour, 1 
would recommend distances apart of 7 feet by 6 feet, which I fancy will be 
found, in the long run, to be nearly as possible the correct distances at which 
trees should be planted out. 
Though the method of dibbling the young plants into the soil is at odd 
times resorted to, it cannot in any way be recommended asa safe and practical 
way of planting out, except, indeed, where the soil is of an exceptionally 
friable nature, and even then the young plants seldom reach that degree of 
robustness characteristic to those planted in holes. It is the latter method I 
pursue myself, and the one I would recommend others to follow. Holes 
should not be less than 18 inches across the top, 18 inches deep, and about 
6 inches at bottom—flower-pot shaped, in fact, as shown in the diagram :— 
18 inches. 
g 
¥ 
& 
2 
Seren 
6 inches, 
