four feet. But care should be taken that the wood has ripened,
which is known by its assuming a brown and hard appearance, This
strengthens the vegetation of the branches, which begin to throw out
buds, and these shortly form collateral branches; in the course of
eighteen months after the tree will have arrived at its bearing point.
Trees, after being topped, throw off suckers, which are called
gormandizers, from each joint, but more especially at the head. They
should be plucked off with care, but not cut, as the sap would flow
more readily if cut.

In pruning, one of the main objects is the admission of a free
circulation of air and light through the branches to the root of the
tree. No general rules can be laid down for pruning; much must depend
on judgment, experience, and a nice eye to appearance and preservation
of primary branches for bearing and ripening wood for the ensuing
year, as well as to regulate and proportion the size of the tree to
the functions of the roots in supplying sustenance, and the
convenience of picking the berries when ripe. Every old bough which
has seen its day, every wilful shoot growing in a wrong direction,
every fork, every cross branch or dead limb, must be cut away.

_The blossoming, and ripening_ of the fruit varies according to the
situation and temperature of the plantation. In low and hot
situations, where the thermometer ranges from 78 to 90 degrees, the
tree shows its first blossoms when about two-and-a-half years old. In
higher and colder situations the tree will not blossom in profusion
until the fourth or fifth year. If there be light showers, the
blossoms will continue on the tree for a week or more, and by the
setting of the blossoms the planter can determine what germs will
become fruit. The trees will blossom in low situations as early as
March, but the April bloom is considered the most abundant. In higher
elevations, the trees will bloom even so late as August or September.
In warm climates the fruit advances as rapidly, and in a month will
have attained the size of a pea; in more elevated and colder
localities, it will take two months to arrive at this stage. The fruit
will be ripe in from six to eight months after the blossom has set; it
ripens in warm districts about the month of August, while in others
the crop will not be mature till February. An acre will usually
contain 1,200 trees in Jamaica, and the produce would be about 400
lbs. of coffee an acre, or six o