n on a limited scale. The annual produce is
not much more than about 400 cwt., although it is understood to be
increasing. The quality of the berry is reckoned to be nearly equal to
Mocha, and it commands a high price in the English market.
The soil recommended in India is a good rich garden land, the
situation high and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered to the
north-west, or in such other direction as the prevailing storms are
found to come from.
A plantation, or a hill affording the shrubs shade, has been found
beneficial in all tropical climates, because, if grown fully exposed
to the sun, the berries have been found to be ripened prematurely.
The spot should be well dug to a depth of two feet before the trees
are planted out, and the earth pulverised and cleared from the roots
of rank weeds, but particularly from the coarse woody grasses with
which all parts of India abound.
The best manure is found in the decayed leaves that fall from the
trees themselves, to which may be added the weeds produced in the
plantation, dried and burnt. These, then, dug in, are the only manure
that will be required. Cow-dung is the best manure for the seed-beds.
The seed reserved for sowing must be put into the ground quite fresh,
as it soon loses its power of germination. Clean, well-formed berries,
free from injury by insects, or the decay of the pulp, should be
selected.
These berries must be sown in a nursery, either in small, well-manured
beds, or in pots in a sheltered spot, not too close, as it is well to
leave them where sown until they acquire a good growth; indeed, it is
better if they are removed at once from the bed where they are sown,
to the plantation. Here they should be planted as soon as they have
attained two years of age, for, be it remembered, that if they are
left too long in the nursery, they become unproductive and never
recover. The distance at which they should be put out in the
plantation need not exceed eight feet apart in the rows, between
which, also, there should be eight feet distance. The seedlings appear
in about a month after the seed is sown.
The culture requisite is, in the first instance, to afford shade to
the young plants; many consider that this shelter should be continued
during the whole period of their culture; but this is somewhat
doubtful, as it has been found that plants so protected are not such
good bearers as those which are exposed. The best plants for this
pur
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