Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1851-11-01
CHE polpnesian.
ESSAY

ESShI
On THE CULTIVATION OF THE COFFEE TREE AND
MANUFACTURE OF ITS PRODUCE, WRITTEN FOR
THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,
BIZ G. RHODES.
Continued from our last.
rhe due preparation of the land for the recep-
ton Of the young plants is a subject Of great inn
portance. 1t is of the utmost consequence to re-
member that although the coffee tree thrives best
in rich, alIuvial, and moderately damp soil, it
will never succeed in a place where the water
remains in pools let The soil be rich as it may.
However some indigenous plants may thrive in
cold, wet, sour soil, the coffee tree will invaria-
bly, perish in such a locality. should therefore
sirenu"usly advise, that, soon as the seeds are
in the ground, the land intended for the coffee
field, especially if it be low plain. be surveyed.
and that drains he opened throughout to carry of
the immense quantities of rain water with which
these islands, rs well as most mountainous cOun-
tries are sometime. deuged. The land should
then he ploughed, and if level, laid out in beds
Of eight feet wide with furrow between each
bed leading to The drain. One or two crops of
mnize, potatoes or any other annual, may he all
vuntageously taken off before the coffee trees are
planted out.
When the tree has attained the height of twelve
or fifteen inches, it is fit for removal to the eId
at this stage Of its growth it is more capable OF
resisting any injury i, may sustain in ranspIanta-
ton than it would have been at any previous
period.
The proper time for transportation is at the
coolest season of the year, when the sap is down
and The plant not likely TO receive any check in
its growth the time should he chosen when the
young wood is ripened aud before the fresh
growth has commenced. No transplanting should
he carried on late in the spring nor in the summer
months, for as the young plants are generally in
vigorous state of growth at these seasons, the
sudden check they would receive, The Tin many
-cnses) nnvarinbIe exposure of their roots TO the
atmosphere and the fervish heats of the sun COM
bined, would frequently destroy the plants, or ut
least put them hack one season in their growth.
| The proper season for transportation having
arrived, the land, being cleaned of weeds and
trenched, is to be lined, and the proper spot as
signed to, and prepared for the reception of each
tree.
/ =
is matter Of great consequence to their after
growth : if they are planted too close to each
other Me mir will not circulate freely between
them, and the branches will wther and die for
want Of air and light trees are frequently seen in
this state much resembling open umbrella,
with good show of foliage on their tops, but the
stems entirely denuded it will here be proper to
say that should the primaries, which are the
branches directly proceeding from the trunk of
the tree by aEy means he destroyed, fresh
supply can never be reproduced from the same
tree, so that the injury is irreparable.
| should recommend the plants to be placed
eight feet apart, AMI nt right angles to each other;
if the soil is very rich nine feet apart, might per-
haps not be too much it will he found however
that in most situations uniform distance Of eight
feet will afford ample space for their growth, and
prevent them from interlacing their branches
with their neighbors; it will aIso allow the labor
ers room to performIher operations Of wedding,
gathering the crop, pruning &c., without injur-
ing the tree On hill-sides the trees may generally
he advantngeously planted somewhat closer
The reasons that they should be planted at right
angles, rather than in the quncunx or lozense
form are, that pure circulation Of air can be
preserved between them, and that the after cul-
tivation Of the plant is rendered much more sim
pie and cheap by this method rs will presently he
seen.
| The method of lining the land previously to
setting out the young plants is, to run row OF
long thin stakes at the distance Of about couple
of hundred feet from each other in straight line
quite through the field; this row Of stakes is to
be intersected by another row Of the same de-
scriprion stuck in the ground at right angles to
the first row the second now is to be inrersected
by third also nt right angles to it and Of course
paraIlel to the first, at the distance say, Of one
hundred and sixty feet from the point of inter-
section of the first and second rows, this will al
low space for series Of rows of twenty trees
each, and equidistant eight feet. The line is next
to ne stretched along each row Of stakes and pegs
inserted in the ground at every eight feet from
euch other these aud all other rows from which
the line is strailened, should be measured of
with roll to insure exactness, for the remainder
Of the field il will only be necessary to mark The
line at every eigh, feet with piece 6f linen OF
WOODEN stuff; the line being adjusted to the pro-
per length, ono of the marks or flags is made to
touch one Of the pegs in the first row, the line i
l then s,raitened, and the proper flag made to
touch its corresponding neg in the parallel row,
ma, = then ,nserted Il each mark, and the line
removed to the next corresponding pegs ~ she
parallel rows, and 50 on until 'e whole = 'n'shed