The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-10-03
Cultivation of Plants During
Years of Development.
PART ". OF U. S. CONsUES REPORT
How the Crop is Harvested-Machnery Quite
Neeessary-Tahles Showing Expenses and
Returns-Good Money After Fourth Year
Cost of Productiou-Yield of Trees. Etc.
CULTIVATION OF THE PLANTS,

CULTIVATION OF THE PLANTS.
After the young plants are estab-
lished in the fields, they will require
constant wedding; this may be done at
intervals of three or four months by
using the machete, hoe, or scraper
pulled by a mule. Whichever plan is
used, the ground must not be penetrat-
ed more than or inches. to avoid
injuring the surface roots of the coffee
trees, but should be well loosened
around the tree and the weeds rooted
out. The weeds should be gathered
and placed in holes made in the middle
of every four trees (burying them in
different holes, in each weedlng), where
they will rot and become manure,
serving also the purpose of keeping
the moisture in the ground, thus pre-
venting the whitening Of the tree
where irrigation is impossible. If the
ground of the plantation is very steep
and the soil inclined to be washed
away, it is better not to keep it too
clean of grass and not to root out the
weeds, as these retain the earth by
their roots and stems that lie on the
soil
1t is question with many Mexican
coffee growers whether the tree should
be topped and pruned, as good many
trees have thrived splendidly and yield
ed well by merely taking off the suck
ers or sprouts and by keeping each
one entirely free from contact with the
other trees. But if the coffee trees
be allowed to grow unrestrained, they
will become very tall, especially the
myrtle and the liberia. In these cases,
it is very difficult to pick the berries,
for the trees when not topped, general
ly bear mostly at the top, as, frequent
ly, many of the lower branches die
out as the trees increase in height. A
system of topping has been devised,
and it consists in removing the two
primaries-the one or two top branches
by a sloping outward cut close to
the stem, and then the top by an
oblique cut, so that the stumps resem-
Bile cross: but when the stem is thin
and tender, it's cutting should be done
by means of the thumb and forefnger.
This operation should be performed
after the plant has borne it's third or
fourth crop Of flowers and reached 6
feet in height Besides the above ad
vantage, the topping increases the
spread and fruitfulness of the lower
branches, and prevents strong winds
from having as much effect on the
plantation as they would if the trees
were higher.
Proper pruning of coffee trees is also
very important, for if allowed TO grow
unchecked, they will become tangled
mass of stems, branches and leaves,
and will bear very small crops. The
trees having been topped, all suckers
must be removed. These are vigorous,
erect shoots that spring up between
the main stem and the horizontal
branches and sometimes on these
branches, which should be torn off,
because they rob the tree of strength.
In so doing, a clear space is allowed
around the stem for the free cir
culation of the air and for the entry of
light In this way, the temperature is
raised, stagnant moisture is prevented,
and the growth of MOSES and other
such parasites about the trees is great
Iy hindered.
In warm and humid sections, all
sprouts appearing on the stem up to
112 TO feet from the ground should
always be destroyed, and only in case
a big space is found between the
branches, should sprOut be left, in
order TO make up for this defect. Prun-
ing should be done after the rainy sea
son on such trees as have borne fruit,
and directly after the crop has been
gathered. This operation should be