3rd. The secondaries; these are the branches that grow in pairs from the primaries.
4th. The tertiaries; these are the third branches that grow in pairs from the secondaries in the same manner as the secondaries grow on the primaries.
5th. The leaves that grow on all the branches.
During the whole of the second year, the field should be gone over at least every two months and all the secondaries that make their appearance should be rubbed off; this can be done by a touch of the fingers, if the secondaries are not more than two or three inches long. If allowed to grow longer, the knife
must be used, or there is danger of tearing out the eye or bud, which we depend upon for growing new secondaries at the proper time. During the second year, the secondaries will make their appearance only on the lower sets of primaries, the upper sets as they grow being too young to grow secondaries. At the beginning of the third year all the secondaries should be allowed to grow till they attain a length of six inches; then the trees should be carefully gone over and all but five of the secondaries on each primary cut off with a sharp pruning knife. No pairs should be left, and only the strongest and most vigorous should be retained. They should be disposed on alternate sides of the primary and none left in a space of six inches from the stem of the tree. The object of this is to allow the light to penetrate to the center of the tree, for the coffee tree bears fruit in greater profusion on branches that are exposed to the light than on those that are shaded.
During this third year the tree will blossom and bear the first or maiden crop. In some cases the tree will blossom in the second year, but it is a wise plan to rub all the blossoms off, as it only weakens the tree to bear a crop at such an early age. It is of the utmost importance that in the first crop, as well as in all future crops, the tree should not be overburdened with a superabundance of growing wood. If left to itself, the lower primaries will grow a mass of secondaries, so much so that no blossom will set on them, and the first crop will come only on the upper primaries, and be only a third or fourth of the crop that would be produced if the trees were properly handled. By handling, as described above, the tree is relieved of all superfluous wood and only such secondaries are left as are needed to bear the fourth year's crop, and the maiden crop will grow on the primaries. It may be well to mention here, that coffee only grows on wood of the second year's growth, and does not grow on the same wood twice.
During the third year, the secondaries will come on the upper primaries. When they are well set, they should be reduced in number and in no case should more than five be left to grow. In some cases four or even three will be sufficient. Whatever the number that may be left, it must be understood that these are the branches that will bear the crop for the fourth year. During the third year new secondaries will grow from the places where the former secondaries grew. Sometimes two will grow from one bud, they should all be removed, the trees being gone over two months, but at the last handling before blossoming time, which varies greatly with the elevation above sea level, enough of these new secondaries should be left to make wood for the fifth year's crop. From this time on the coffee planter should be able to point out the wood on which the present and the next year's crop will be borne, and it is this wood and that only, that should be allowed to grow. All other shoots, suckers, etc., should be rubbed off each time the tree is handled, provision being made each year for the wood for the crop two years hence.
During the third year, the trees will require topping. As to the height at which a coffee tree should be topped, there is a great diversity of opinion. Some planters advocate topping as low as four and a half feet, others at six or seven feet; as a matter of fact the coffee tree will bear fruit if topped as low as one and one half feet or if not topped at all. The only valid reason for topping as low as four and a half feet is for the convenience of picking the crop. Five and a half or six feet is a good height to top a coffee tree on the rich lands of the Hawaiian Islands. In fact the planters should not be guided by the number of feet, but by the number of primaries he desires the tree to carry. Eighteen to twenty pairs are a reasonable number for a coffee tree to carry in this country, and it will be found that by not counting those primaries that grow on the stem within fifteen inches from the ground, eighteen or
twenty pairs of primaries will come on the stem within six feet from the ground. Before topping the tree, it should be allowed to grow somewhat higher that it is intended to top, so that the wood may be hardened and not decay as it sometimes does if topped when the wood is too young. Topping is performed by cutting off the top of the tree at a point an inch above a pair of primaries. Both primaries should also be cut off an inch from the stem. This will leave the top in the form of a cross; a knot will form at this point from which the tree will constantly send up shoots striving to make a new top. These should be torn off every time the tree is handled.