the roots should not be disturbed,” is a matter of great difficulty—­I might almost indeed say an impossibility.  For, from the trampling of the people in their passage up and down the lines, and the dash of the rain, the soil becomes exceedingly hard immediately after, or at least very shortly after the rain.  Here, then, the planter finds himself between the devil and the deep sea.  Is he to leave his soil in a hardened state from the beginning of November to the end of January, or perhaps the middle of February, or is he to violate the axiom which tells him not to disturb the roots till after the crop is ripened?  And here I think the condition of things is such that he should come to a compromise, and dig up at the end of the monsoon a space of about 2 to 2-1/2 feet up the centre of the lines, which, being the part always walked upon, is necessarily liable to be puddled and hardened, and then, after crop-picking is finished, lightly dig, or pick over and stir, the remainder of the soil, breaking, of course, all clods at the same time.  By such a process we should prevent the central portion drying up and cracking, and aerate laterally the rest of the soil, and at the same time do as little damage as possible to the roots.  I need hardly say that it is of great importance to begin with all those places where the soil is most hardened, as, should the planter not be able, from shortness of labour, to complete his digging before crop, he will at least have dug those places most urgently in need of cultivation.  If the soil of the estate is pretty even in character, the hottest aspects will of course harden soonest, and should be dug first, but it may so happen that a hot aspect may have a soil of a loose and open character, while a north aspect might have a soil of stiff character, and here the planter must alter the rule so as to suit his particular case.

For digging, or rather loosening the soil at the end of the monsoon, my experience is that the four-pronged Assam fork is the best tool, and that for the light picking over of the whole of the soil after crop a light two-pronged digger is best.  This last tool is shaped like a mamoty, but with two prongs rather widely set apart instead of the broad blade of the mamoty.  It being very light, it can easily be turned in the hand, so that clods may be broken with the back of the tool, and it can be used by women, which of course is of great advantage for pushing forward the work.

Renovation pits, as they are called, were once regarded as an excellent means of deeply stirring the soil, but, of recent years, have fallen out of favour with many planters, and I think justly so.  These pits, or rather trenches, are dug in the spaces between four trees, and are generally about fifteen inches in depth, as many in width, and about ten feet long.  Weeds and rubbish were thrown into them, and when they were filled with these, and soil washed into them, the pits were abandoned and another set opened.