Holes about two feet deep and as wide as neces sary are made at the points determined for the planting. In Porto Rico a good practice is to place the subsoil on the lower side of the hole, and fill the hole only with surface-soil scraped from the vicinity. This makes a small table or flat, which can be gradually enlarged. which expedites hoeing about the young trees and reduces soil- washing during heavy rains.
Planting is done usually at the beginning of the rainy season, as it is necessary that the soil be moist and the sky at least partly cloudy. The seedlings to be planted should be thrifty and well developed. If branches have been formed and the stem thickened, the seedlings should be pruned back to about six inches from the collar. Planting is an important process and should be done with great care. It is important that the taproot be planted straight, and that it be not injured. The safest way is to lift the seedling on a spade, with the earth attached. The roots must not be exposed to the sun, and any that extend beyond the clod should be removed by sharp scissors. The seedling is placed in the center of the hole, and the soil pressed firmly about it. The collar should be slightly below the surface. If the seedlings are set bare, that is, without the clod, the plant hole should be filled and a hole of sufficient size made in the center by means of a rounded stick or dibber. The space about the root must be completely filled. Only seedlings that have not yet developed branches may be planted bare. The taproots are cut with sharp scissors at the point where they bend easily, and the side roots are pruned. The tap root should not touch the bottom of the plant hole, and the side roots should be placed as nearly nor mally as possible.
Sometimes the fields are not ready to receive the seedlings when the latter are ready, and the seedlings develop too far. They should be cut back to about six inches, as above mentioned, and planted as "stumps." Stumps are more vigorous and may be planted when the sun is shining, pro viding the roots are not exposed to the sun. Many shoots or suckers will soon appear. When these become about two inches long, all but one should he removed with a sharp pruning knife. The re maining shoot should develop into a strong plant more quickly than the seedlings.
A certain percentage of the total number of trees set out will fail, and this number must be provided for resetting. An allowance of 10 per cent for this should be an abundance ; and, with proper care, it would be excessive.
Cultivation and subsequent the trees are set and the plantation started, the further care is very slight. The work consists almost entirely
of weeding and replanting. One man can look after ten to fifteen acres. The weeding is done twice a year generally. It is essential that the land be kept clean, and that no weeds be allowed to run to seed. When the land becomes hard, sur face tillage will be required. A practical method is to cultivate in a circle around the tree, gradually enlarging the area as the tree branches. The first cultivation should always be made outside the original plant hole. Good crops demand that the soil be kept loose. The frequency of cultivations will be determined by the frequency with which the soil becomes sun-dried or packed by heavy rains. The extent of erosion or washing must also be considered, as in the steeper plantations it may make much surface tillage inadvisable.
Suckers should be removed as they appear and dead branches and unnecessary and undesirable parts cut away. The practice of pruning is falling into disuse in many coffee-growing regions because of labor and financial conditions, and has been en tirely abandoned in Hawaii. It is frequently advis able to allow a lower shoot to remain to replace the original stem which has suffered from the dying off of the lower branches. When the new stem begins to bear, the old one may be removed. Shade.—The most mooted question in coffee-cul ture is that of shade. The opinion that heavy shad ing is necessary has led to much injury of the industry, notably in Porto Rico. That high-grade coffee can be grown without shade has been shown in Guatemala and Brazil. The prevalent idea that shading benefits the foli age and fruit is erro neous. However, it is quite pr obable that shading the ground is a cultural advantage. Le guminous are frequently planted for shade, and their nitro gen-collecting powers have no doubt been bene ficial to the coffee-plants. In Java, Ceylon and Africa, leguminous trees are used largely. Other possible advantages are protection against drought, and the moder ation of the temperature of the upper layers of soil. The shade trees must not be so dense as to shut out light and air. A single tree may be placed in the center between blocks of four coffee trees each ; that is, each block of four trees will have a shade tree on each side of it in the row. For a discussion of this subject the reader should consult Bulletin No. 25, Division of Botany, United States Department of Agriculture, Shade in Coffee Culture, by O. F. Cook.