PLANTING.
There is no operation in all the work of establishing a coffee plantation that requires such careful supervision as that of planting out the young trees. If the work is carelessly done and the slender tap root is doubled up or, if it is shortened too much, the tree will never thrive. It may grow fairly well for a time, perhaps until the time for the first crop, then the foliage will turn yellow and the tree show every sign of decay. The effort to produce a crop is too much for the tree and the sooner it is pulled up and replaced by a properly planted tree the better.
The closest supervision is necessary in order that the planter may be certain that the tap roots are placed perfectly straight in the ground; and the lateral roots placed in a natural position. In order to effect this, with the least amount of trouble, transplanters have been used. A transplanter that has been used with success is made as follows: two pieces of sheet iron (galvanized) are bent into two half circles, which, when placed together, form a cylinder 3 inches in diameter and seven inches long. A piece of hoop iron is bent to a ring, that will fit over the cylinder, and riveted. The mode of using is as follows: The two halves of the cylinder are pressed into the ground, one on each side of the young coffee tree. They are pressed down until the upper ends are level with the surface of the soil. The
hoop iron ring is then pressed over the ends of the two halves of the cylinder, binding them firmly together. The cylinder can now be lifted from the ground bringing with it the young tree with all its roots in the position in which they grew. In this condition the young trees are carried to the field and, the holes being opened, the cylinder, holding the tree, is placed in the ground and the soil packed firmly around it. The hoop iron ring is then removed and the two halves of the cylinder withdrawn. The soil is again compacted around the roots and the tree is planted. There is another transplanter, invented in America, that would probably be better and more economical in working than the one described above. This transplanter consists of a cylinder of thin sheet steel. These are made in America of various sizes to suit different kinds of trees. For a coffee tree a good size would be 7 inches long and 5 inches in diameter. The cylinder has an opening, five-eighths of an inch wide, running the whole length of the cylinder and exactly opposite this opening a handle is riveted. This handle is of half inch round iron, 18 inches long with a cross bar on top. The rod is bent outward in the form of a bow, so that in working, the branches of the young tree may not be injured. The mode of working the transplanter is as follows: the cylinder is placed on the ground with the tree in the center of the cylinder. This can be done by allowing the stem of the young tree to pass through the slot in the cylinder. Then, by means of the cross handle, the cylinder is turned and pressed into the soil until the upper end is level with the surface of the ground. Then, by lifting on the stem of the tree and the handle of the transplanter at the same time, the tree is taken from the ground with its roots undisturbed. Should the end of the tap root project below the end of the cylinder, the thready end should be pinched off with the thumb nail. By placing the lower end of the cylinder on the bottom of a box and inserting a wedge-shaped piece of wood in the slot, the cylinder is sprung
open and can be withdrawn, leaving the young tree, with a cylinder of earth around its roots, standing on the bottom of the box. This operation can be repeated until the box is full of the young trees, when it is carried to the field and the trees placed one at each hole. By using a duplicate transplanter a cylinder of earth is removed from the spot where the tree is to be placed, and the tree with its cylinder of earth is placed in the round hole, which it exactly fits, the earth being slightly compacted around the roots. The tree is thus planted with the absolute certainty that the roots are in their natural position.
PAUOA VALLEY RICE FIELDS.
