PART 11. 
that a great number of plants could be distributed to peasants and 
grown by them without unduly interfering with their ordinary 
agricultural pursuits. We see the ordinary robusta growing in twos 
or threes around native compounds, thriving without much attention 
or care, but of course being amply nourished by a mulch of old 
banana stems and other vegetable waste. These are ideal conditions 
I consider on account of the gross feeding nature of Robusta. It has 
a further suitability to native conditions which I consider of very great 
importance. It is this, the tree if left to grow ad libitum will 
develop into a perfectly balanced tree, always producing fresh 
primaries capable of carrying heavy crops. I do not think that you 
will find on a naturally developed tree any secondary growth or other 
superfluous wood. 
It follows therefore that the native can plant the tree, give it 
ordinary care during the early stages, and then leave it to look after 
itself. It has still a further advantageous character from the point of 
view of suitability to native cultivation, in its long cropping period. 
Unlike C. arabica you do not have the bulk of the crop coming on all 
at once and having to be picked within a few weeks. The ripening is 
gradual, rising to a maximum cropping period round about December- 
January-February, usually a slack period in field work. There would 
be no undue rush with the harvesting and probably much less wastage 
than there might be if the crop had to be handled within a short time. 
I think these remarks all apply equally to the crop under European 
management. I see no reason why Robusta could not be allowed to 
grow ad lib. under plantation conditions; the system would answer 
perfectly. With wider spacing than that given to Arabica the trees 
could be allowed a free development and in about ten years or so 
would reach their maximum vegetative development. Then with 
ordinary cultural treatment they would remain so, yielding year by 
year, for a generation and more. I have had trees in native 
compounds under observation for the past 12 years and they appear to 
be the same to-day as when I first saw them; they do not seem to have 
increased in diameter or height, but they have been yielding year in 
and year out. Picking the cherry from these large trees is not a 
matter of great difficulty. Many of the branches can be pulled down, 
and many of them are low enough to be picked in the ordinary way. 
Small steps will facilitate the picking of the high branches. 
This brings us to the treatment of the tree, and I should say at 
once that I am opposed to pruning where robusta is concerned. In 
commenting on the low yields of our Robusta in the Annual Report 
of the Department of Agriculture, Uganda, for the year 1922, I made 
the following statement: — 
+" These are undoubtedly low yields for Robusta and they are too 
poor to be accounted for by the incidence of low yields following high. 
The fault lies, it would appear, in applying the system of pruning 
coffee arabica to these trees; they will not accommodate themselves 
to it, and from our experience we would recommend that Robusta be 
allowed to grow ad lib., or at least abandon to a very great extent the 
drastic prunings practised on the trees hitherto.”” 1 would add to 
that statement by saying that the maximum yields from Robusta can 
be got only by allowing the normal development of the tree. 
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