hree consecutive years the land ought to be amply
stocked with phosphoric acid, and the bone-meal should be discontinued,
and its place supplied with small applications of lime, either annually or
at intervals of two or three years, should the latter course be more
convenient. And subsequently, when there is reason to suppose that the
land requires a fresh supply of phosphoric acid, an application of
bone-meal may again be used. I would particularly warn the planter against
over-manuring light dry soil, or south and south-western aspects, or the
upper and drier portions of eastern aspects, as an over-heavy crop on
these aspects is very perilous even with good shade, for we may not have a
drop of rain from November till April, and should such a drought occur,
and be preceded by a dry season (and such seasons occurred in 1865 and
1866, and caused the great attack of the Borer insect, which was so fatal
to all insufficiently-shaded coffee, and from which even well-shaded
coffee suffered to some extent), or should even a single dry, hot season
follow immediately after the crop is picked, there would be sure to be a
serious drying up of the plant, with but small chance of its bearing
anything worth having the season following, and very great risk of a
severe attack of Borer. But on northern and north-western aspects the land
is not exposed to parching east winds, and, as we have seen, has a
temperature about one-half cooler than that on a southern aspect, and the
planter may therefore on such aspects manure with greater freedom. But
even in these aspects I am sure that over-heavy manuring will lead
ultimately to injury to the trees, and, in a series of years, to the
production of a smaller amount of coffee.

I have indicated the amount of manure which in my opinion ought to be put
down when manure is applied for the first time on a plantation, and if the
plantation is of a flat character, or only on very moderate slopes, the
manure should be evenly applied all over it. But if, as often happens,
there are hollows and ridges on the land, then the ridges should be, as a
rule, much more heavily manured than the hollows, for which a very little
manure will suffice, as so much is washed into them, and they are,
besides, much richer to start with. It is very important to note at the
outset all those spots which, in the original forest, are very rich, so
that the manure may be applied accordingly, and though, as I have said,
the ridg