The mania for coffee planting has recent_The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

the barely remunerative returns at which that article has been sold,

ascribable partly to over-production, and in some measure, perhaps, to

the temporary glut of foreign coffee thrown on the British market by

the reduction of the duty. As regards the yield, some estates in

Ceylon have produced upwards of 15 cwt. per acre, but it is a good

estate that will average seven, and many do not give more than 4 cwt.

the acre.

The shipments from Colombo for five years, are stated below, with the

class of coffee:--

Plantation. Native. Total.

cwt. cwt. cwt.

1845 75,002 112,889 187,891

1846 91,240 70,991 162,231

1847 106,198 143,457 249,655

1848 191,464 88,422 279,886

1849 243,926 118,756 362,682

1850 198,997 56,692 255,689

1851 220,471 97,091 317,562

While, in 1839, the total value of the exports from Ceylon was only

£330,000, in 1850 the value of the single staple of coffee was no less

than £609,262, and in 1851 had still further increased.

I append a memorandum of the quantities of coffee exported from Ceylon

since 1836:--

Quantity. Value.

cwt. £

1836 60,329

1837 34,164

1838 49,541

1839 41,863

1840 68,206

1841 80,584 196,048

1842 119,805 269,763

1843 94,847 192,891

1844 133,957 267,663

1845 178,603 363,259

1846 173,892 328,781

1847 293,221 456,624

1848 280,010 387,150

1849 373,593 545,322

1850 278,473 609,262

1851 339,744

---------

Total in 16 years 2,600,832

---------

Average 162,552 (Ceylon Almanac for 1853.)

The local export duty of two-and-a-half per cent., was abolished from

1st September, 1848.

From these figures it appears that, in a period of sixteen years,

Ceylon exported two and a half millions of cwts. of coffee. The

consumption of coffee, although for a long time stationary in Britain,

now that adulteration is no longer legalised, is likely to increase as

rapidly as in other parts of the world; and it appears pretty evident

that, so long as anything like remunerative prices can be obtained,

Ceylon will do her part in supplying the world with an article which

occupies the position of a necessary to the poor as well as a luxury

to the rich. The exports of coffee from this colony have, within a few

thousands of hundredweights, been nearly quadrupled since 1843, when

only 94,000 cwts. were sent away.

Dr. Rudolph Gygax, in a paper submitted to the Ceylon Branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society, offered remarks on some analyses, of the coffee

of Ceylon, with suggestions for the applications of manures.

"Having had," he observes, "my attention drawn to an account of an

analysis of the Jamaica coffee berry, made by Mr. Herapath, the

Liverpool chemist, I have paid some little attention to the subject

of the coffee plant of this island, forming, as it does, so very

important a feature in the resources of this colony. The desire that

I thus felt for obtaining some information regarding the constituent

parts of the Ceylon tree and its fruit, was heightened by a

knowledge of the fact, that not a few of those coffee estates, which

once gave good promise of success, are now in a very precarious

state of production.

I much regret that the means at my disposal have not allowed me to

carry out any _quantative_ analysis, but the result of my labours

are sufficiently accurate for my present purpose. I have analysed

the wood and fruit of trees from two different localities, as well

as the ashes of some plants sent me from the Rajawella estate near

Kandy, and they all tend to bear out the result of Mr. Herapath's

inquiries. Placing the substances traced in the coffee plant in the

order in which they occur in the greatest quantity, they will stand

thus:--

Lime, potash, magnesia, phosphoric acid, other acids.

Of these lime is by far the most prominent, forming about 60 per

cent. of the whole.

I cannot help, therefore, arriving at the conclusion that, to

cultivate coffee with any degree of success, the first-named

substance must be present in the soil; or, if not present, must be

supplied to it by some process.

Now it is a singular fact that the rocks and soils of Ceylon are

greatly deficient in alkaline matter; and, taking this view of the

case, one no longer wonders that many estates cease to produce

coffee. That all, or nearly all the plantations did, in their first

year or two of bearing, produce liberally in fruit, may readily be

accounted for by the fact that the alkaline poverty of the soil was

enriched by the burning of the vast quantities of timber which lay

felled on all sides. Whilst this temporary supply lasted, all was

well with the planter. Heavy rains, and frequent scrapings of the

land with the mamotie, or hoe, soon dissipated this scanty supply,

and short crops are now the consequence.

But nature, ever bountiful, ever ready to compensate for all

deficiencies, has provided to our hands a ready means of remedying

this evil of the soil, by scattering throughout most parts of the

interior supplies of dolomitic limestone. The dolomite of Ceylon is

not pure, far from it, being mixed freely with apatite or phosphate

of lime. Even in this very accidental circumstance the coffee

planter is aided; for the phosphoric acid thus combined with the

limestone is the very substance required in addition. Some of the

finest properties in the island are situated on a limestone bottom,

and these no doubt will continue to yield abundant crops for a very

long period.

It has been urged against this opinion that in some districts where

coffee planting has proved a complete failure, dolomite is found

most abundantly; but I have very little doubt that the dolomite

here alluded to is only _magnesian_ limestone, and which is most

inimical to the coffee bush.

I am aware that already several manures have been tried on coffee

with varying degrees of success. Guano has, I believe, quite failed,

and is besides very costly. Cattle manure is said to be effective,

and no doubt it is, but it is a costly and troublesome affair.

Bones, ground fine, are now being tried, though they cannot but

prove most expensive, especially when imported.

A ton of bone dust contains of animal matter, 746 lbs,; phosphates

of lime, &c., 1,245 lbs.; carbonates of lime, &c., 249 lbs.

The virtue of bones lies in the phosphates far more than in the

animal matter, and thus their action on soils is felt for many years

after their application. The Singalese cultivators of paddy about

Colombo and Galle, appear to have been long aware of the fertilizing

effects of this kind of manure, and import the article in dhonies

from many parts of the coast: they bruise them coarsely before

applying them.

The partially decomposed husks of the coffee berry have been tried

for some years, and successfully, but they are difficult of

collection, and bulky to remove from one part of the estate to

another.

In Europe it would appear that little is yet known as to the causes

of the fertilising effects of oil cake: some suppose them to arise

mainly from the oil left by the crushing process, but this is not at

all clear. I do not, however, see that we must look for much

assistance from Poonac as a manure for coffee: for the cocoanut tree

it is doubtless most valuable, but we have yet to learn that, beyond

supplying so much more vegetable matter, it helps the action of the

soil on the roots of the coffee bush, which, after all, is what is

really required.

For the proper application of the dolomite to land as manure, it

should be freely burnt in a kiln, with a good quantity of wood, the

ashes of which should be afterwards mixed with the burnt lime, and

the whole exposed for several days to the action of the air,

sheltered of course from the weather. The mixture should be applied

just before the setting in of the monsoon rains: if the land be

tolerably level, the lime may be scattered broadcast on the surface,

though not quite near the plants. When the estate to be manured is

steep, then the substance to be applied should be placed in ridges

cut crossways to the descent of the slopes.

About one cwt. to the acre would be ample for most lands; some may,

however, require more. The contents of the husk pits might

advantageously be mixed up with the burnt lime, when a sufficiency

of it has been saved.

A planter in Ambagamoe states that he has tried the following remedy

for that destructive scourge, the coffee-bug, with great success.

He applies saltpetre in a finely-powdered state, dusted over the tree

when wet with rain or dew. The operation is inexpensive, as a very

small quantity suffices, one cwt. being sufficient for nine or ten

acres. It can be applied through a bamboo-joint covered with a

perforated top, or any equally simple contrivance.

Messrs. Worms' are reported to have found coco-nut oil an effectual

remedy.

To sum up the question of manures:--

Poonac, the marc or cake, after the coco-nut oil is expressed, is

represented to be a stimulating manure; but is not durable. Lime is an

useful application, especially to stiff soils, as the coffee tree

contains 60 parts of lime. Bone-dust is an excellent fertiliser, but

in Ceylon it is found that it cannot be applied at a less expense than

£5 per acre. Cattle manure is the cheapest and most available. Guano

does not seem suitable.

_Peeling, pulping, and winnowing._--The coffee-peeler, used for

separating the bean from the pellicle, was formerly a large wheel

revolving in a trough, the disadvantage of which was the flattening

more or less of the bean when not thoroughly dry. A new machine has

been recently introduced, the invention of Mr. Nelson, C.E., of the

Ceylon iron works, by which this evil is obviated; its principle being

not weight, but simple friction, of sufficient force to break the

parchment at first, and, when continued, to polish the bean free from

the husk. A very simple winnowing machine for cleaning the coffee as

it comes out of the peeler, is attached. From the winnowing machine it

runs into the separating machine, which sorts it into sizes, and

equalizes the samples, by which a vast amount of time and manual

labour are saved. The same principle is intended to be applied by Mr.

Nelson to pulping, which will obviate the injury now inflicted by the

grater upon the fresh berry. In spite of the greatest care numbers of

the beans in a sample, on close examination, will be found scratched

or pecked; and when the closest attention is not paid, or the person

superintending the process is devoid of mechanical skill, the injury

is proportionate.

The ordinary pulping-mill in use, consists of a cylinder of wood or

iron, covered with sheet brass or copper, and punctured similarly to a

nutmeg grater. This cylinder, technically called the barrel, runs upon

a spindle, which turns a brass pick on each side of a frame.

Immediately in a line with the centre upon which it turns, and placed

vertical to each other, are two pieces of wood, frequently shod with

iron of copper, called "the chops," placed about half an inch apart,

or sufficient to allow the passage of "parchment" coffee between them.

The lower chop is placed so close to the barrel, yet without contact,

that all coffee must be stopped by it and thrown outwards. The upper

chop is adjusted to that distance only which will permit the cherry

coffee to come into contact with the barrel; but will not allow the

berries to pass on till they have been denuded of their red epidermis

by a gentle squeeze against its rough surface. The far greater portion

of the pulps are separated by being carried past the lower chops upon

the sharp points of the copper, and thrown out behind, and a few are

left with the parchment coffee. As from the different sizes of the

berries, and their crowding for precedence as they descend from the

hopper above to the gentle embrace of the barrel and upper chop, some

pass unpulped, the coffee as it comes from the lower chop is made to

fall upon a riddle, which separates the unpulped cherries. These are

put back again, and passed through a pulper with the upper chop set

closer. The secret of working-appears to be the proper setting of the

chops, and many have been the schemes proposed for reducing this to a

certainty. Perhaps, after all, few plans are better than the old

wedges, by tightening or loosening of which the chop is kept in the

required position. Within the last few years, the machine has been

considerably improved by being formed entirely of iron, cog-wheels

being substituted in the place of straps and drums to move the riddle,

and the riddle itself is now formed of two sieves, by which the chance

of unpulped berries reaching the parchment is lessened. On some

estates, water-wheels have been put up to drive several pulpers at one

time, which otherwise would require from two to four men each to work

them, but from the costly buildings and appurtenances which such

machinery renders necessary, they are rare.

Although the operation of pulping is so simple, it is one which

requires the machine to be set in such a way that the greatest

quantity of work may be done, or, in other words, the smallest

quantity of unpulped berries be allowed to pass through. On the other

hand, the berries must not be subjected to injury from the barrel; for

if the parchment skin is pricked through, the berry will appear, when

cured, with an unsightly brown mark upon it. Several new coverings for

barrels, instead of punctured copper, have been tried; among others,

coir-cloth and wire net, but the old material is not as yet

superseded. After pulping, the coffee in parchment is received into

cisterns, in which it is, by washing, deprived of the mucilaginous

matter that still adheres to it. Without this most necessary

operation, the mucilage would ferment and expose the berry to injury,

from its highly corrosive qualities.

As some portion of pulp finds its way with the coffee to the cistern,

which, if suffered to remain would, by its long retention of moisture,

lengthen the subsequent drying process, various methods have been

adopted to remove it. One mode is to pass the coffee a second time

through a sieve worked by two men; another to pick it off the surfaces

of the cistern, to which it naturally rises.

In August, 1846, premiums were awarded by the Ceylon Agricultural

Society to Messrs. Clerihew and Josias Lambert for the improvements

they had introduced into coffee-pulpers, which, by their exertions,

had been brought to great perfection. The first improved complete

cast-iron pulper received in the island, was made for Mr. Jolly, from

drawings sent home by Mr. Lambert to Messrs. B. Hick and Son,

engineers. This pulper is one of the most perfect in every respect

that has yet been brought into use, the disadvantages belonging to the

old machine having been entirely remedied. The sieve crank has a

double eccentric action. The chops are regulated by set screws, and

the sieve suspended in a novel and secure manner, the whole combining

strength and efficacy, together with an elegance of form, which will

likewise be appreciated.

Mr. W. Clerihew, of Ceylon, submitted to the Great Exhibition a model

of his approved apparatus for drying coffee (which has been patented

in the name of Robert R. Banks, Great George Street, Westminster), and

received the Isis gold medal for the same. The intention is to dry the

vegetable and aqueous moisture of the berry. Before this is required,

the coffee has previously undergone the process of pulping, or

removal from the soft fleshy husk. Here let Mr. Clerihew describe the

advantages for himself--

"When the coffee berry is picked from the tree it bears a closer

resemblance to a ripe cherry, both in size and appearance; and

several processes have to be gone through before the article known

in commerce as coffee is produced. In the first place, the pulpy

exterior of the cherry has to be removed by the process of pulping,

which separates the seed and its thin covering called the parchment,

from the husk. When the pulping process is completed, we have the

parchment coffee by itself in a cistern, and the next process

consists in getting rid of the mucilage with which it is covered."

Having become assured, both by experiment and by Liebig's reasoning,

that the successive stages of decomposition were wholly ascribable to

the action of the stagnant air which occupies the interstices between

the beans, and taking into account that a mass of coffee presented a

medium pervious to air, it occurred to Mr. Clerihew that it was

possible, by means of fanners, working on the exhausting principle, so

to withdraw air from an enclosed space as to establish a current of

air through masses of coffee spread on perforated floors forming the

top and bottom of that space. The plan he carried into execution at

Rathgoongodde plantation in 1849. No sooner was the plan put in

operation than, instead of stagnant air occupying the interstices of

the beans and gradually acting on them, a stream of air was

established and flowing through the mass of coffee, each bean of it

became surrounded by a constantly renewed atmosphere of fresh air.

_Java_.--When Arabia enjoyed the exclusive monopoly of coffee, it

could not be foreseen that one day the island of Java would furnish

for the consumption of the world from 125 to 130 millions of pounds

per annum. The cultivation was introduced by M. Zwaendenkroom, the

Governor-General of Batavia, who obtained seeds from Mocha, in 1723.

According to official statements the following are the exports.

In 1839 there were exported 46,781,729 kilogrammes, valued at 48

million florins. Eight years labor, 1833 to 1841, brought its produce

of coffee from 12 million kilogrammes annually, up to 55 millions.

In 1846, the exports were 916,876 piculs, but, in 1850 they were only

14,801 piculs. The total coffee crop of Java was in 1850, 1,280,702

lbs.; in 1851, 1,436,171 lbs.; in 1852, 1,229,349 lbs.

1840 1841

Residences in which this produce has been

cultivated in 1840 and 1841 20 20

Number of families destined for the labor 470,673 453,289

Trees which have yielded a crop 916,193,894 216,085,600

Trees which have produced the average quantity

of a picul of 125 lbs. Dutch 280 248

Quantity of coffee furnished to the godowns

in piculs 706,258 877,444

Trees according to the reckoning made in the

month of March, 1841 and 1842 336,922,460 329,898,936

The comparative result of this table shows--1st. That, in the year

1841, coffee had been gathered from 20,000,000 more trees than the

number in 1840, and that the crop had increased by 171,000 piculs.

2nd. That, in the month of March, 1842, there were above 7 millions

less of coffee trees than in 1840. This diminution is merely nominal,

seeing that these trees have served to replace those which by their

small produce have to be suppressed in the lowlands of the residency

of Baylen. On the contrary, the increase of trees, planted from 1839

to 1840, amount to very nearly the same number, of 7 millions.

3rd. That, in the season of 1842, there was planted nearly 20 millions

of plants; of which 12 millions are to serve to replace the old trees,

and 8 millions are destined to extend this culture. It is calculated

that this island will very soon be in a condition to produce a million

of piculs or 125 millions more of Dutch pounds of coffee. Previous to

1830, Java scarcely exported as much as 40 millions of pounds.

_Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee in Java_.--For the following

valuable details I am indebted to M. de Munnick, the inspector of the

agricultural department, Batavia, as contributed to my "Colonial

Magazine" (vol. xi. p. 46).

_Soil and Situation_.--Elevated lands are found to be those best

suited for the growth of coffee in Java. Land situated between 1,000

and 4,000 feet above the level of the sea may be generally said to be

adapted to the cultivation of coffee. It must not be taken for granted

that all ground of less elevation is unsuited. Suitable ground is to

be found lower down, but the cultivation on it is more difficult; the

tree gives less fruit, and the plant is less durable. Valleys lying

between high mountains are more especially fit for coffee plantations,

because the soil which is washed down from the heights affords fresh

food continually to the lowlands; the valleys themselves are moist,

since the hills surrounding them attract the rain; and they are shut

out from severe winds by the same protecting enclosure. The soils best

suited to the successful growth of coffee may be classed as follows:--

_Firstly_. Cleared forest lands, especially those in which the black

leafy, or vegetable mould is found to considerable depth. These are

the richest grounds, and will support the coffee plant for many years,

and they are also cultivated with the least trouble.

_Secondly_. Dark brown soils, approaching to black, which, without

having much clay in them, appear to the eye to have a mixture of

coral. The greater the depth of this coral-like stratum, and of the

reddish or deep yellowish soil, the better is the ground for coffee.

This kind of land also has sufficient strength and substance to afford

nourishment for many years to the plant; but it entails more trouble

than the before mentioned soils, because the young plant does not so

speedily strike root into it, and sometimes dies, so that provision

has to be made against failures.

_Thirdly_. Reddish and loose ground, such as is generally found in

the neighbourhood of volcanic lands. This kind is frequently found

well adapted for coffee; it flourishes on such land luxuriantly, but

does not last long, as the ground possesses less strength and

nourishing substance.[6] By digging in different places we become

better acquainted with the nature of the ground, but we may take it as

a rule, that rich old forest land on which many larger trees are

found, and plains covered with heavy underwood, most frequently offer

eligible sites for coffee plantations.

Grounds in which loam is found, and stony soils, are unfit for coffee.

But I do not mean by "stony soils" land on which many stones are

lying, for on that very account it may be most suitable; but I mean

land which shows a pebbly stratum just below the surface, or such as

is of a porous, stony nature. In the choice of situation care must be

taken to select that which is as much as possible protected against

the south-east wind, because its dry influence is very injurious to

the coffee plant, and also prevents the growth of the _Erythrina_

(known here locally as the Dadap tree) which is so necessary for its

shade. Flat grounds, or gentle declivities, are better than steep

slopes; yet the latter can be well employed if proper care is taken.

_Cultivation_.--After the ground has been cleared in the dry

season--that is, after the bushes have been rooted out, the

undergrowth burnt off, and the thickets removed--ploughing is

commenced in September. When the ground has twice been deeply

ploughed, the weeds and roots must be brought together with the rake

and carefully burnt. The depth of the ploughing must be regulated by

the nature of the ground. In all kinds of cultivation, deep ploughing

is recommended, but in Java we ought not to plough deeper than the

stratum of fertile soil, as a kind of subsoil may be wrought uppermost

injurious to plants, and which, before it can become fertile, must for

a year at least have been exposed to the atmosphere.

The ground having been turned up, should be left exposed for some days

to throw off the vapor arising from it; and must then be again

ploughed and cleared with the rake. After waiting for some days, it

should be ploughed for the fourth and last time, and made as clean and

friable as possible. In small plantations this is to be done with the

spade, but on large estates the roller must be used. This roller

consists of a heavy piece of round wood, eight or ten feet long, to

which a pole is fastened in the middle to have oxen harnessed to it.

It is drawn slowly over the ploughed land, and presses the clods to

earth. To give it greater force, the driver sits or stands upon it.

Before the field has been properly ploughed and rolled in the above

way, the middle of October will have arrived, and we then begin to

open a path through the plantation from the highest to the lowest

point, about two roods broad, and the whole of the land is then

divided into separate parcels. Portioning off the estates into

divisions of equal size is a system to be much recommended. By this

means labor may be equally divided, superintended and inspected. Order

and regularity, which are necessary in all things, are most especially

required in cultivation on a large scale.

The size of these parcels is regulated by the nature of the estate. On

flat or gently declining land they may be greater than on steep

grounds, because, in order to prevent the washing away of the soil on

precipitous land, the water must be led off by trenches, which of

themselves make the divisions of land smaller. On flat ground the

divisions may be each 625 square roods, each of which may contain, if

planted--

Trees.

12 feet by 12 625

10 " 10 900

8 " 8 1406

6 " 6 2500

The distance between the coffee bushes cannot be definitely laid down,

as it depends on the nature of the soil. On the most fertile forest

lands twelve feet by twelve is a good distance. Only on low and meagre

grounds, where the tree grows less luxuriantly and strong, can six

feet by six be reckoned a proper distance.

Between the divisions a path should be left, one rood in breadth.

Along the middle paths and by the side of the divisions drains must be

cut, the former two feet in breath and depth, the latter one foot. The

drains along the divisions must be cut in such a way as to conduct the

rain-water to the larger drains which flank the middle paths. On

precipitous ground, when the coffee is planted, small ridges should be

raised between the rows, to prevent the rich earth from washing down

in the heavy rains. The steeper the land is, the closer these ridges

should be; and care should be taken to incline them, so as to break

the descent, the direction of which they should in some degree follow.

The first ridges may be made with the branches of the trees which have

been felled, or with the rubbish cleared from the ground on the first

raking of it.

_Placing the pickets._--When the ground has been worked and divided in

the above manner, the pickets are placed. These are slips of bamboo

one-and-a-half to two feet long. First--two long canes (which do not

stretch like string), each one hundred feet long, are marked off in

feet according to the distance at which the planting is to take place;

heavy stakes are made fast to each end of them, by which they can be

well secured on the ground. At the places where they are marked off in

feet, strings are fastened so tightly that they cannot be displaced;

and then the canes are laid down and well fixed in the ground, one in

the length and the other in the breadth.

Picketing does not give much trouble; it ensures regular planting, and

makes the daily inspection simple. The planting thus takes place in

straight lines, which give an ornamental appearance, and afterwards

renders the view over the whole plantation easy. At every place where

a string has been tied, a picket is stuck in the ground; then the cane

is removed to another place, and so on till all the estate is marked

out by pickets. After the picketing, a hole is made with the spade at

every mark; it should be a good foot broad and deep, and the earth

inside should be made very fine and clear. The earth is now ready to

receive the coffee plant, and the time has only to be waited for when

the first rains fully begin.

_Nurseries_.--In the month of October, or earlier, if coffee trees are

near at hand, nurseries must be prepared in the neighbourhood of the

land about to be planted. This can be done in the ravines, or, if they

are too far from the spot where the plants are wanted, pieces of

ground most convenient can be selected. If the ravines are preferred,

places must be chosen which are shaded by trees not prejudicial to the

coffee plants. On ground where there is no trees, the nurseries may be

covered, at the height of four feet, with leaves of jack (_Artocarpus

integrifolia_), areca, or other palm trees, in a manner to admit the

air.

The ground made loose and fine, coffee plants newly opening, or seeds

only, are planted or sown at a distance of four inches square; 500

square roods will in this way furnish 648,000 plants, which are

sufficient for an estate of 300,000 trees. Transplanting from

nurseries is absolutely necessary in coffee cultivation, and the

trouble it costs is always doubly repaid. Having a choice of plants, a

person can be convinced he has taken none but healthy trees, and he

proceeds therefore with a confidence of success. After the first year,

all failures having been nearly replaced, the estate is fully planted,

the trees are of regular growth, and no useless clearing is

required--a thing which is always necessary in irregular plantations.

It is easy also to pick the berries from the trees which are planted

with regularity; the work goes on smoothly; and, when the estate has

lived its time, it may be abandoned altogether, without leaving

patches of living trees here and there, which renders superintendence

so very difficult.

There should always be a plentiful supply of plants, to give an ample

choice and to make up for failures. When plants are placed in the

nurseries, they should not have more than two offshoots, or leaves,

above each other; and when the ball plants are transplanted, they

should not be higher than a foot, as large plants always give meagre

trees.

At the end of November or beginning of December, if the nurseries are

kept free from weeds, and, if necessary, occasionally watered, the

plants will be about a foot high, and will have put forth 4 or 5

leaves; they are then just fit to be transplanted. Then, the ground is

cloven with the spade, at a distance of an inch and a half round the

stem of the plant, to about three inches deep; the plant, with the

ball of earth adhering to it, is carefully lifted out of the ground,

and the ball is wrapped in a jack, plantain, or other leaf, and tied

to prevent the earth falling off; but, before the plants are thus

taken from the ground, it must be moistened to make the earth

adhesive.

_Planting the coffee trees_.--The plants, which, after the above

operation are called "ball plants," are then placed in a bamboo wicker

frame, and are carefully carried by two men to the place where they

are to be put into the ground. They are then taken out of the frame

and placed in the holes next to the pickets. The pickets are removed,

and the plant is fixed upright; the leaf surrounding the ball is made

loose, but not taken away; the planter presses the plant down with his

hand and fills up the hole with fine loose earth, and the business of

planting the coffee tree is finished.

_Planting the Dadap tree_.--This is a species of Erythrina, probably

_E. indica_, or _E. arborescens_; that used for the purpose in the

West Indies is _E. Corallodendrum_. In Java, as soon as the coffee is

planted, the operation of planting the dadap tree is commenced. The

best sort of dadap comes from Serp or Mienyak; it is smooth and

broad-leaved, and shoots up quickly. Thick young stems are chosen,

about three feet long, and the lower part is pointed off. If the dadap

is moist or juicy, it should be cut twenty-four hours before it is

planted. The dadap is planted uniformly by measuring the cane in the

same way as the coffee itself. Between every two rows of coffee one of

dadap is planted, not on a line with the coffee plants, but

alternately with them; thus, if the coffee is eight feet by eight, the

dadap is sixteen by sixteen. The dadap is planted to the depth of a

foot, with somewhat of a westerly inclination, in order that the

morning sun may fall on a larger surface of the stick. The ground must

be stiffly trodden round the bottom of the stem, and the upper part of

it should have some kind of leaf tightly bound around it to prevent

the sap from escaping. When the coffee and dadap plants have thus been

put out, every fifth day the young plantation should be carefully

inspected, and a picket placed wherever there is a failure, as a mark

to the planter that a new plant is there required. This operation of

replacing failures is carried on all through the wet season, and the

dadaps which have not succeeded are at the same time changed.

_Keeping up the estate_.--In the first six months after planting, the

estate should be cleaned each fortnight with the hoe; the ground being

well moved and the weeds taken out. Those weeds which are too close to

the plants to be removed in this manner, must be pulled out with the

hand. When the plantation is thus wholly or partially cleaned, the

earth must be taken off the weeds, and they must be collected and

thrown on the pathways.

The weeding in this manner gives at first a great deal of trouble, but

it is most advantageous in the long run, as the weeds are thus easily

kept down.

Great care must be taken to do away with an old custom of burying the

weeds in large holes on the estates. It conduces to bad and slovenly

habits, such as cutting off the tops of the weeds by wholesale, and

thus giving the plantation an appearance of cleanliness, whilst it, in

fact, is as dirty as ever. This is soon discovered by the weeds

showing themselves again above ground in a very few days, and even if

they rot under ground, they breed insects which are very hurtful to

the bushes, and the seeds vegetate.

After the first six months, this weeding will be sufficient if it

takes places once a month, but this must be persevered in till the

third year, when there may be a much greater interval between the

weeding. When the trees are coming to full growth, the hoe should be

less frequently used in cleaning; the hand must be used to the full

extent to which the branches reach, as the roots of the tree spread to

a like distance, and if they are injured the growth of the tree is

prejudiced.

The well-being of an estate chiefly depends on frequent cleaning of

the plantation in the beginning. The idea of some persons that

cleaning in the dry season is of little consequence, must be given up,

as it is principally at that very time that it is extremely profitable

to remove and clear the ground round the trees in their growth. In the

first place, this destroys the weeds which take the nourishment away

from the trees; secondly, the ground is rendered more open to receive

the slight showers and dews which moisten it, and to benefit by the

influence of the air; the roots are thus considerably refreshed. The

dew falling on ground which has been recently moved, penetrates at

once into it, and does good to the plant; but if it falls on the

weeds, the first rays of the sun absorb it, and deprive the tree of

this source of refreshment.

The dadap is to be taken care of whilst clearing goes on; it must be

cropped so as to cause it to grow upright, and to throw as much shade

as possible on the coffee without pressing upon it.

In warm fertile ground, where the coffee plant grows rapidly, the

trees should be topped in the third year; but this should be done

sparingly, and as a general measure it is not to be recommended; it

should be resorted to only as a means to prevent the too rapid growth

of the tree, or its running up to a point. Topping and taking off

suckers are both necessary on meagre soils, where the trees run much

to wood; and it prevents the trees being injured in the picking

season, which often occurs without this precaution. The top or middle

stem is broken off at a height of six or seven feet, but care must be

taken not to tear the tree; when the top shoots out again it must be

cropped a second time, and it is seldom necessary to do this more than

twice. The cropping causes the tree to shoot out in breadth, and to

push forth a greater number of sprigs, and good strong ones.

_Picking coffee_.--When the estate becomes productive, it must in the

picking season, just before the work begins, be kept exceedingly clear

of weeds, and be even swept clean with brooms, in order that the

berries which fall off may be gathered up.

The picking should take place under proper superintendence, the trees

be picked row by row, and care taken that each berry is plucked off

separately, and not a heap together, by which the trees are torn and

the first offshoots prevented. In picking high trees, light ladders

should be used, made out of two or three bamboos tied together.

_Customary preparation of the berry in the pulp_.--When the coffee is

picked and brought into the village, it is piled up in a heap in the

open air, and left in that manner for twenty-four hours. Thus heaped

up it gets warm, and this creates a certain fermentation of the juice

which is in the berry. That fermentation promotes the drying and

loosens the silvery pellicle which is attached to the bean inside the

parchment, and which cannot be entirely got rid of in any other way.

Coffee which still retains that pellicle is called in trade "grey

coffee," and is lower priced than good clean sorts. After the

fermentation, the coffee is spread out in rather thick layers, and

turned over twice a day. If it rains during this first spreading out,

the coffee does not require to be sheltered, as the washing causes the

juicy substance to evaporate, and this accelerates the drying

afterwards.

In proportion as the coffee becomes dryer, the thickness of the layer

must be reduced, and the turning over must be more frequent till the

coffee is quite dry outside and the pulp has become hard.

Then the coffee is laid out on drying floors, which can be easily and

speedily covered in rainy or damp weather, and is dried by the

powerful heat of the sun.

This system of drying in the pulp requires six weeks or two months, as

it is advisable not to be over hasty with drying.

When the coffee is entirely dry, it is either at once pounded or

placed in the stores to await that operation. In order to know if the

coffee be sufficiently dry, take a handful of it and shut your hand

close; shake it to your ear, and listen if the beans rattle freely in

the pulp. Or try them by biting the berry, and see if the bean and

pulp are both brittle and crisp, which shows that the fruit is dry

enough.

_Preparation of the coffee in the parchment, or the West India

system_.--Only sound and fully ripe beans can be prepared in the West

India manner. In picking, therefore, all unripe, green, or unsound

beans must be taken away to dry in the pulp. As soon as the coffee is

brought in, it must be pulped. This operation is performed by means of

small peeling mills. These mills consist of two horizontal wooden

cylinders rubbing on a plank; they are covered with hoop-iron, and set

in motion by a water-wheel. The coffee is driven under the cylinder,

and kept constantly moist; by being turned through the mill, the pulp

is so bruised that the bean in the parchment falls from it into the

bamboo open frame, which is placed in front of the mill. The coffee is

then pressed with the hand, and falls through the frame into a basket.

The pulp, and beans not rid of the pulp, remain on the frame; the

first is cleared away, the rest passes a second time into the mill,

and this operation is continued till all the coffee is stripped of

the pulp, and the parchment beans are in the basket. When the

parchment coffee is thus separated from the outer skin, it is thrown

into the washing troughs, and remains there for twenty-four hours;

this drains from it the slimy substance adhering to it. After being

thus steeped, it is washed with pure water two or three times in the

basket, so that it becomes quite free from slimy matter. The parchment

coffee is then spread out on drying frames, and exposed for six or

eight days to the heat of the sun, till the outside is perfectly dry.

To do this equally it must be stirred about every hour. These frames,

which serve also to dry the coffee in the pulp, are made as

follows:--A bamboo roof is set up, resting on four wooden pillars, and

sloping considerably; it is covered closely with reeds; its length is

ten feet, its breadth six feet; the pillars are from nine to ten feet

high; a wooden framework is attached to this, about thirty feet long,

or three times the length of the space covered by the roof. On this

frame are brought out three platforms, one above the other, which are

pushed out by means of little rollers under them; they are ten feet

long by six broad, and six inches deep. The borders are of wood, and

the bottom of platted bamboo. In rainy weather, or when the drying

cannot go on, the three platforms are pushed under the covered space.

These drying places are set up near the overseer's dwelling, where

they stand free, and are not shaded by trees or buildings. After this

first drying on platforms, the parchment coffee is again dried inside

the house, and bamboo huts are for this purpose erected on each side

of the outhouse of the planters. These huts have trays, divided into

two or three compartments, one above the other, to keep the coffee

separate, according to the time of its having been picked. The

parchment coffee is spread out as thin as possible, and turned over

with a small wooden rake every hour. In proportion to the dryness of

the weather, from one to two months are required to dry the coffee

fully. In drying inside the houses, the greatest care must be taken to

prevent heating the coffee; this is the great object of the West

Indian system, as such heating is very prejudicial. On this account

the huts in which the platforms are placed must be very airy, so that

the wind may have good play among the trays, on which the coffee must

be thinly spread and frequently turned.

_Pounding_.--Coffee in the pulp, as well as that in the parchment,

must, before being pounded, be exposed for some hours to the sun to

make it crisp and hard; but it must be allowed to cool again before

the pounding begins, or the beans will be liable to be broken.

The pounding is done in small baskets of a conical form, two feet

high, at the top eighteen inches in diameter, and at the bottom one

foot. These baskets are, up to one-third of their height, thickly

woven round with coir, and fastened on the ground between four thick

bamboo poles, and with the bottom half an inch in the ground itself.

The coffee is pounded by small quantities at a time with light, wooden

pestles; the baskets must not be more than half full. When the coffee

is sufficiently pounded, the basket is lifted from between the poles

and the beans are thrown into sieves, on which it is cleaned from

skin, and white, black, or broken beans. According to the West Indian

system, the coffee must now be instantly put in bags, to preserve its

greenish colour, which is very peculiar. If the green coffee is not

instantly sent to the packing stores to be bagged, it must be put up

in a very dry place, and be turned over once every day, to prevent

heating, which damps and discolors the berry.

Coffee is grown to some extent in Celebes--the average crop being from

10,000 to 12,000 piculs of 133 English pounds. The production has

rather fallen off than increased during the last few years. The whole

of the coffee grown must be delivered by the inhabitants to the

government exclusively, at twelve copper florins per picul. It is much

prized in the Netherlands, and maintains a higher price in the market

than the best Java coffee. As the treatment of the product in Java

differs wholly from that which is in vogue in Celebes, and this, in

our eyes, is much inferior, I know not whether the higher price is

ascribable to the name, or to an intrinsic superiority in quality. It

is certain that this cultivation is susceptible of much improvement,

and might be advanced to a much higher condition.

From tables given by M. Spreeuwenberg ("Journal of the Indian

Archipelago," vol. ii. p. 829) of the quantity of coffee delivered

from each district of this island, for the years 1838 to 1842, it

appears that the average annual delivery of coffee was 1,288,118 lbs.

Of the production of Sumatra I have no details, but a very fair

proportion is grown there--about five million pounds.

_Production of America and the West Indies_.--The cultivation of the

coffee plant is largely carried on in South and Central America and

the West India Islands.

Its culture has greatly increased within the last few years in

Venezuela, particularly in the valleys and on the sides of the hills.

The exports from La Guayra, in 1833, were about twelve millions of

pounds, being nearly double the quantity exported in 1830. The price

there is about ten dollars the 100 lbs., which is still too high to

enable it to enter into competition with the produce of Brazil or

Cuba.

The total produce of coffee in Venezuela in 1839 was 254,567 quintals.

The quintal is about 10 lbs. less than the English cwt.

_La Guayra_.--The exports of coffee from this port in 1796, were 283

quintals.

Quintals.

1843 164,066

1844 141,934

1845 134,585

1846 175,346

1847 130,671

1850 179,537

The exports of coffee from La Guayra have been declining within the

past few years; the shipments were but 153,901 quintals in 1851, and

only 124,623 in 1852.

Caracas coffee ranks in our market with good ordinary St. Domingo.

The decline in the produce of coffee in the British West India

possessions has been very great. In 1838, we imported from the West

India Islands and British Guiana 17½ million pounds of coffee, in 1850

we only received 4¼ million pounds from thence. The shipments from

Jamaica have decreased from about 15 million pounds in 1836, to 4

million pounds in 1850; Berbice and Demerara, from 5 million pounds in

1837, to about 8,000 pounds in 1850.

_Production of coffee in the Brazils_.--Forty-two years ago the annual

crop of coffee in Brazil did not exceed 30,000 bags, and even in 1820

it only reached 100,000 bags. About that time the high price of coffee

in England, superadded to the diminished production in Cuba,

stimulated the Brazilian planters to extend its cultivation, and in

1830 they sent to market 400,000 bags, or 64,090,000 lbs., and in

1847, the enormous quantity of 300,000,000 lbs.

It would seem from the annexed figures that the production of coffee

in Brazil doubled every five years, up to 1840, since when it has

increased eighty per cent. The increase since 1835 has been upwards of

two hundred millions of pounds, and of that increase the United States

have taken one half.

lbs.

1820 15,312,000

1825 29,201,600

1830 62,685,600

1835 100,346,400

1840 170,208,800

1850 303,556,960

The sources from whence the United States derives its supplies of

coffee are shown in the following table:--

Years. Brazil. Cuba. St. Domingo. Java. Total

1835 35,774,876 29,373,675 19,276,290 4,728,890 103,199,577

1840 47,412,756 25,331,888 9,153,524 4,343,254 94,996,095

1845 78,553,616 1,157,794 13,090,359 3,925,716 108,133,369

1850 90,319,511 3,740,803 19,440,985 5,146,961 144,986,895

1851 107,578,257 3,009,084 13,205,766 2,423,968 152,453,617

Coffee, up to 1830, paid a duty in the United States of five cents a

pound. Since 1832 it has been free.

The population of the United States in 1840 was, in round numbers,

seventeen millions; the average consumption of coffee for the three

years ending 1841, 98½ millions of pounds, which gave a consumption of

5¾ lbs. per head. The average for the three years ending 1850, was 143

millions of pounds, and the population was twenty-three millions,

which gave a consumption of 6¼ lbs. per head. In 1830 the consumption

was only 3 lbs. per head; but the price ruled nearly double what it

was in the three years preceding 1850.

In 1821 the consumption per head, to the inhabitants of the United

States, was 1 lb. 4 oz. In 1830, the proportion had increased to 3

lbs. per head, the foreign price having fallen fifty per cent. The

importation in the year 1831 doubled, in consequence of the reduced

duty; and the consumption per head for the four years ending with

1842, averaged 6 lb. per head, having quadrupled to each inhabitant

since 1821. From 1820 to 1840, the Brazilian product increased 1,100

per cent, or 155 million pounds. In the same time the consumption in

the United States increased 137 million pounds; leaving an increase of

eighteen million pounds of Rio coffee, besides the enhanced products

of all countries, to supply the increased consumption of England and

Europe.

The consequence of the duty in England is, that while the United

States, with a population of seventeen millions, consumed, in 1844,

149,711,820 lbs. of coffee, Great Britain, with a population of

twenty-seven millions, consumed 31,934,000 lbs. only, or less than

one-fourth the consumption of the United States. In 1851 the figures

remained nearly the same, viz., 148,920,000 lbs. in the United States,

and 32,564,000 lbs. for Great Britain.

The cultivation of coffee forms the present riches of Costa Rica, and

has raised it to a state of prosperity unknown in any other part of

Central America. It was begun about fifteen years ago; a few plants

having been brought from New Granada, and the first trial being

successful, it has rapidly extended. All the coffee is grown in the

plain of San Jose, where the three principal towns are situated--about

two-thirds being produced in the environs of the capital, a fourth in

those of Hindia, and the remainder at Alhajuela, and its vicinity. The

land which has been found by experience to be best suited to coffee is

a black loam, and the next best, a dark-red earth--soils of a brown

and dull yellow color being quite unsuitable. The plain of San Jose is

mostly of the first class, being, like all the soils of Central

America, formed with a large admixture of volcanic materials. Contrary

to the experience of Java and Arabia Felix, coffee is here found to

thrive much better, and produce a more healthy and equal berry on

plain land, than upon hills, or undulating slopes, which doubtless

arises from the former retaining its moisture better, and generally

containing a larger deposit of loam.

I am inclined, in a great measure, to attribute the practice of sowing

coffee in sloping land in Java to this fact, that the plains are

usually occupied by the more profitable cultivation of sugar-canes. In

Arabia, the plains are generally of a sandy nature (being lands which

have, apparently, at no very distant geological period, formed the bed

of the sea), which may account for the plantations existing only upon

the low hills and slopes.

A coffee plantation in Costa Rica produces a crop the third year after

it is planted, and is in perfection the fifth year. The coffee trees

are planted in rows, with a space of about three yards between each

and one between each plant, resembling in appearance hedges of the

laurel bay. The weeds are cut down, and the earth slightly turned with

a hoe, three or four times in the year; and the plant is not allowed

to increase above the height of six feet, for the facility of

gathering the fruit. The coffee tree here begins to flower in the

months of March and April, and the berry ripens in the plains of San

Jose in the months of November and December, strongly resembling a

wild cherry in form and appearance, being covered with a similar sweet

pulp.

As soon as the crimson color assumed by the ripe fruit indicates the

time for cropping, numbers of men, women, and children are sent to

gather the berry, which is piled in large heaps, to soften the pulp,

for forty-eight hours, and then placed in tanks, through which a

stream of water passes, when it is continually stirred, to free it

from the outer pulp; after which it is spread out on a platform, with

which every coffee estate is furnished, to dry in the sun; but there

still exists an inner husk, which, when perfectly dry, is, in the

smaller estates, removed by treading the berry under the feet of oxen;

and in the larger, by water-mills, which bruise the berry slightly to

break the husk, and afterwards separate it by fanners. The entire cost

of producing a quintal (101 1-5 lbs. British) of coffee, including the

keeping of the estate in order, cleaning and fanning the plants, and

gathering and preparing the berries, is, at the present rate of wages

(two rials, or about a shilling per day), calculated at two and a half

dollars (equal to ten shillings); but the laborers are now hardly

sufficient for working all the estates which are planted, so that the

price may probably rise a little, though the present rate of payment

enables the natives to live much better than has been their wont.

The coffee tree bears flowers only the second year, and its blossoms

last only 24 hours. The returns of the third year are very abundant;

at an average, each plant yielding a pound and a-half or two pounds of

coffee.

The price of coffee in San Jose during the months of February, March

and April, after which none can generally be met with, was, in 1846,

about 5 dollars cash per quintal, the duty (which is collected for the

repairs of the road) one rial more, so that the speculator makes at

least ten rials, or about 20 per cent., by purchasing and sending the

coffee to the port, on his outlay and charges; but it is often

bartered for manufactured goods, and is also purchased before-hand,

half being paid in imports and half in cash to the grower.

The largest coffee estates of Costa Rica are possessed by the family

of Montealegre and Don Juan Moira. The principal of these I have

examined. They appear to be very carefully and judiciously managed,

possessing good mills for cleaning and husking the coffee, worked by

water power; and annually producing 500 tons. The entire produce of

the year 1836, amounted to about 3,000 tons, and the crop of 1847

exceeded 4,000 tons, near which quantity it will probably continue,

till the population gradually increases, the laborers, as already

mentioned, being barely sufficient for the present cultivation. As the

value at the present average price in the English market of 50s. a

cwt., will give £200,000, the produce of the district will appear

pretty considerable for a petty American State, possessing only 80,000

inhabitants, and just emerging from a half-savage

condition.--(Dunlop's "Central America.")

The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose, in Costa Rica,

according to Stephens, has increased rapidly within a few years. Seven

years before, the whole crop was not more than 500 quintals, and in

1844 it amounted to 90,000.

Don Mariano Montealegre is one of the largest proprietors there, and

had three plantations in that neighbourhood. One, which Mr. Stephens

visited, contained 27,000 trees, and he was preparing to make great

additions the next year. He had expended a large sum of money in

buildings and machinery; and though his countrymen said he would ruin

himself, every year he planted more trees. His wife, La Senora, was

busily engaged in husking and drying the berries. In San Jose, by the

way (he adds), all the ladies were what might be called good

business-men, kept stores, bought and sold goods, looked out for

bargains, and were particularly knowing in the article of coffee.

The coffee at Surinam is suffered to grow in three stems from the

root, and when one of them does not produce plenty of berries, it is

cast away, and the best shoot in appearance next the root is allowed

to grow in its room. The trees are not permitted to rise higher than

about five feet, so that the negroes can very easily pluck the

berries, for gathering which there are two seasons, the one in May, or

the beginning of June, and the other in October or the beginning of

November. The berries are often plucked of unequal ripeness, which

must greatly injure the quality of the coffee. It is true when the

coffee is washed, the berries which float on the water are separated

from the others; but they are only those of the worst quality, or

broken pieces, while the half-ripe beans remain at the bottom with the

rest. Now, in the description I have given of the method of gathering

coffee in Arabia, it is seen that the tree is suffered to grow to its

natural height, and the berries are gathered by shaking the tree, and

making them fall on mats placed for them. By this way the Arabians

harvest only the beans perfectly ripe at the time, and which must give

the coffee a more delicate flavor. A tree will yield each time on an

average from 1 lb. to 1½ lb. of coffee, when pulped and perfectly

dried. An acre of land planted with coffee, when favored by the

weather, becomes more profitable than when it is planted with sugar

canes; but its crops are always very precarious, as the blossoms, and

even the berries, are sometimes damaged by the heavy rains, which are

much less injurious to sugar canes; wherefore a planter feels himself

best secured in his revenue, as soon as he can cultivate them both.

Nothing can exceed the beauty of the walks planted with coffee trees,

from their pyramidical shape and from their glossy dark green leaves,

shining with great brightness, amongst which are hanging the

scarlet-coloured berries. Mr. Baird, in his "Impressions of the West

Indies," thus speaks of a coffee plantation:--

"Anything in the way of cultivation more beautiful, or more

fragrant, than a coffee plantation, I had not conceived; and oft did

I say to myself, that if ever I became, from health and otherwise, a

cultivator of the soil within the tropics, I would cultivate the

coffee plant, even though I did so irrespective altogether of the

profit that might be derived from so doing. Much has been written,

and not without justice, of the rich fragrance of an orange grove;

and at home we ofttimes hear of the sweet odors of a bean-field. I

have, too, often enjoyed in the Carse of Stirling, and elsewhere in

Scotland, the balmy breezes as they swept over the latter,

particularly when the sun had burst out, with unusual strength,

after a shower of rain. I have likewise, in Martinique, Santa Cruz,

Jamaica, and Cuba, inhaled the gales wafted from the orangeries; but

not for a moment would I compare either with the exquisite aromatic

odors from a coffee plantation in full blow, when the

hill-side--covered over with regular rows of the tree-like shrub,

with their millions of jessamine-like flowers--showers down upon

you, as you ride up between the plants, a perfume of the most

delicately delicious description. 'Tis worth going to the West

Indies to see the sight and inhale the perfume."

The decline in the quantities of coffee drawn from the "West Indies to

supply the great demand, is manifest in the following summary of

imports from those islands:--

lbs.

In 1828 they exported about 30,000,000

1831 the imports from British West Indies were 20,017,623

1841 Ditto Ditto 9,904,230

1850, the last year in which distinct accounts 4,262,225

were kept

-----------

Decrease from 1831 15,755,398

_Jamaica_.--The coffee plant was first introduced into Jamaica by Sir

Nicholas Lawes, in 1728, when it was cultivated on an estate called

Temple Hall, in Liguanea, not far from Kingston. In 1752 there were

exported 60,000 lbs.; and in 1775, 44,000 lbs. Until 1788 little

attention was paid to this product. In the four years ending 30th

September, 1794, the average exportation of coffee was 1,603,000 lbs.;

in 1804 it amounted to 22,000,000 lbs.; and during the three years

ending 30th September, 1807, the average annual exportation was more

than 28,500,000 lbs.; which, at £6 per cwt., its cost in Jamaica,

produced more than £1,700,000. It is calculated that £20,000,000 was

invested in coffee estates. The coffee plant thrives in almost every

soil about the mountains of Jamaica, and in the very driest spots has

frequently produced abundant crops. In 1844 there were 671 coffee

plantations in the island. Coffee is grown in the vicinity of the Blue

Mountain Peak at a height of 4,700 feet above the level of the sea,

and some of the finest and most productive plantations are in this

locality. The branches of a coffee tree, on Radnor estate, covered, in

1851, a space of thirteen feet in diameter, and the tree was about

thirteen years old.

In 1789 Hayti exported 77,000,000 lbs. of coffee, but in 1826 it had

declined to 32,000,000 lbs., in 1837 it was 31,000,000 lbs., and the

shipments of this staple are now very inconsiderable.

In the West Indies, I speak principally of Jamaica, where my

experience extended, the soil best adapted for the cultivation of

coffee is found to be loose gravelly or stony. A rich black mould will

produce a luxuriant bush, which will yield little fruit. Decomposing

sandstone, and slate, known in Jamaica as rotten rock, mixed with

vegetable mould, is one of the most favorable soils. The subsoil

should be also carefully examined by a boring augur, for a stiff moist

clay, or marly bottom retentive of moisture, is particularly injurious

to the plant. A dark, rusty-colored sand, or a ferruginous marl on a

substratum of limestone, kills the tree in a few years. In virgin

lands, after the wood has been felled and cleared, the land is lined

off into rows of from six to seven feet square, and at each square a

hole is made about eighteen inches deep, into which the young plant is

placed and the earth plied gently about it, leaving from six to eight

inches of the plant above ground.

Nurseries for raising plants from seeds were formerly made, but for

many years this has been neglected, and plantations are set out now

from suckers which are drawn and trimmed of their roots, and cut about

two feet long.

The young plants require to be kept well clear from weeds, and four

cleanings in the year may be deemed necessary, the plants which have

failed must be supplied in order to ensure uniformity of appearance.

All manure, whether fluid or solid, in warm climates should be applied

in wet seasons, where it is not practicable to dig or turn it in to

prevent the escape of its volatile and nutritive principles.

As respects situation, coffee thrives best on elevated situations,

where the morning sun has most influence; and on lower mountains,

where the temperature is higher, in situations facing the south-east,

or where the sun does not act with such intensity. Low mountains, in

which the thermometer ranges from 75 to 90 degrees Fahr., as well as

those exposed to sea breezes, are less suitable for the cultivation of

coffee than those districts where the temperature averages 65 to 80

degrees Fahr., and situated at higher elevations in the interior.

As a general rule, it may be asserted that the elevation best adapted

for coffee is at an altitude ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, at a

temperature from 70 to 75 degrees Fahr. A west or south-west aspect is

the best, and the field should be well sheltered from the north

breezes. As a general rule in planting in light soils and high

temperatures, trees may be placed at the distance of four or five

feet, while in stronger soils and lower temperatures the average

distance would be from five to seven feet.

_Topping_.--The young tree shoots out its lateral branches at each

joint, which follow in regular succession, till the tree attains the

height of about four feet six inches, when it is usual to top it down

to 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

The mania for coffee planting has recently subsided, in consequence of