he whole of the branches and tinderwood having been swept away
by the mighty blaze, the land is comparatively clear.

Holes two feet square are now dug in parallel lines at a distance of
from six to eight feet apart throughout the estate, and advantage being
taken of the wet season, they are planted with young coffee trees of
about twelve inches high. Nothing is now required but to keep the land
clean until the trees attain the height of four feet and come into
bearing. This, at an elevation of three thousand feet, they generally
do in two years and a half. The stem is then topped, to prevent its
higher growth and to produce a large supply of lateral shoots.

The system of pruning is the same as with all fruit trees; the old wood
being kept down to induce fruit bearing shoots, whose number must be
proportioned to the strength of the tree.

The whole success of the estate now depends upon constant cleaning,
plentiful manuring and careful pruning, with a due regard to a frugal
expenditure and care in the up-keep of buildings, etc., etc. Much
attention is also required in the management of the cattle on the
estate, for without a proper system the amount of manure produced will
be proportionately small. They should be bedded up every night hock
deep with fresh litter and the manure thus formed should be allowed to
remain in the shed until it is between two and three feet deep. It
should then be treated on a "Geoffrey" pit (named after its inventor).

This is the simplest and most perfect method for working up the weeds
from an estate, and effectually destroying their seeds at the same time
that they are converted into manure.

A water-tight platform is formed of stucco--say forty feet
square--surrounded by a wall two feet high, so as to form a tank.
Below this is a sunken cistern--say eight feet square--into which the
drainage would be conducted from the upper platform. In this cistern a
force-pump is fitted, and the cistern is half filled with a solution of
saltpetre and sal-ammoniac.

A layer of weeds and rubbish is now laid upon the platform for a depth
of three feet, surmounted by a layer of good dung from the cattle sheds
of one foot thick. These layers are continued alternately in the
proportion of three to one of weeds, until the mass is piled to a
height of twenty feet, the last layer being good dung. Upon this mass
the contents of the cistern are pumped and evenly distributed by means
of a spreader.