CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION.
The principal points which determine the value of a location for the
successful and profitable cultivation of Coffee are:--(1) Soil and
climate; (2) Situation and aspect; (3) Temperature and rainfall;
(4) Proximity to a river, and (5) Shelter from wind and wash. Most
of which are necessarily subject to variation, according to country
and locality, shelter from wind being perhaps of the most paramount
importance, and which should not be sacrificed for a richer soil, as
the latter can be artificially supplied much quicker than the former.
SOIL AND CLIMATE.
Soil and climate are subjects of primitive importance in the
cultivation of Coffee. The soil of Coffee lands varies as widely almost
as the different countries in which it is grown. In Africa, where the
plant is indigenous, it is chiefly composed of a reddish clay on the
West Coast, with a hard sandy subsoil, while on the East Coast it is
found to be composed chiefly of a dark loamy earth. The Arabian soil,
where the plant is exotic and where the finest Coffee is produced, is
purely an artificial one, while in India it is successfully grown in
five different kinds of soil, ranging from a dark chocolate clay to
a deep jungle mould. The soil of Ceylon consisting of a rich, dark
earth, friable and mixed with blocks and small stones. On the island of
Java, to the contrary, where some of the finest varieties are produced,
the soil is principally composed of a black leaf-mould, intermixed with
fine sand and small stones, whereas in the principal Coffee-growing
countries of the American continent the best crops produced, as a
general rule, are raised on rich, dark loamy lands, the subsoil of
which are too rocky to be worked with a plow. The only exception to
the rule being Brazil, where the soil varies to a great extent, a clay
of _terra rocha_ forming the chief upper and lower subsoil. The most
suitable soil for Coffee cultivation, however, is that which grows
soft timber, to be found on high quartzy ridges, where the land is
of a dark chocolate color, mixed with small stones, and overspread
here and there with boulders of granite, as where the soil is dark,
loose and full of roots, it is sure to be rich in organic matter, and
therefore good for Coffee, which is a hardy plant and not on the whole
difficult to please in this matter; such a soil generally contains
about 5 per cent. of its weight of organic matter in combination with
other fertilizing substances. Looking at Coffee soil from an analyst’s
standpoint, it consists of an _organic_ part, which when placed in the
fire will burn away, and an _inorganic_ or mineral part which will
not burn. The constitution of the first is well known to planters,
being formed of the remains of animals, insects, or minute visible
and invisible organisms of various kinds, from the dung of animals,
birds, caterpillars and worms, to that of roots, stems and leaves of
decayed vegetable matter. The inorganic part, consisting of sand,
clay, lime, magnesia and the oxides of soda, potash and manganese,
including carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric acids. The preponderance
of one or more of these natural divisions, making the soil productive
or unproductive as the case may be, while certain plants make certain
calls upon one or more of these substances, and, consequently, such
must be present and available in a soil that is to suit them. A
rich soil for Coffee generally contains about five per cent., or
one-twentieth of its weight, of organic matter in combination with
other fertilizing substances. But as to the _best_ soil for Coffee in
particular the leading authorities differ, so that as a broad principle
it may be laid down that the best soil is the _richest_, no matter what
its color, whether it be the valley silt of Arabia, the volcanic mould
of Java, the jungle soil of India and Ceylon, or the rich red earth
of Brazil. But the deeper, freer and richer the soil, whatever it may
be, the better as long as it is specially tested for phosphoric acid
and potash. The latter is found in abundance wherever a large forest
has been felled, burned grass-land being also considered good for this
purpose, as it also contains those very requisite properties of Coffee
soil.
If the soil be naturally light and poor and washed by every shower,
the more soluble portions, together with the salts of the manure
applied to the trees, is generally robbed by the heavy rains. In such
a case it is next to impossible to keep a plantation in a high state
of cultivation without an enormous expense in the constant application
of manure. Many plantations are again subject to landslips, which are
likewise produced by the violence of the rains; in such cases the
destruction is most disastrous, and whenever landslips are frequent
they may be taken as an evidence of a poor clay subsoil. The rain soaks
through the surface, and not being able to percolate through the clay
with sufficient rapidity, it lodges between the two strata, loosening
the upper surface, which slides from the greasy clay, launched, as it
were, by its own gravity, into the valley below. This is the worst
kind of soil for the coffee tree, whose long tap-root is ever seeking
nourishment from beneath. On such a soil it is very common to see
a young plantation giving great promise, but as the trees increase
in growth the tap-root reaches the clay subsoil, and the plantation
immediately falls off. The subsoil is of far more importance to the
coffee tree than the upper surface, as the latter may be improved by
manure, while if the former is bad there is no remedy. The first thing
to be considered being the soil, and the planter being satisfied with
its quality, there is another item of equal importance to be taken into
consideration when choosing a locality for a coffee plantation. This is
an extent of grazing land sufficient for the support of cattle that may
be required for producing manure. In countries with large proportions
of forests this is, however, not always practicable, the planter having
recourse to artificial manure.
The subject of climate, though quite as important as that of soil,
can yet be described with more accuracy. The extreme limits of coffee
cultivation lie between the isothermal lines of the 25° north and the
30° south of the equator, but the best zone of latitude is that lying
between the 20° north and south of the equator, one having a mean
temperature of 65° to 75° Fahrenheit. A constant and uniform moisture,
either natural or artificial, is especially requisite and indispensable
to the free development of the trees, together with a rainfall of from
75 to 150 inches per annum, falling early in the season, but must be
well distributed at the same time. The regions, however, found to be
best adapted for the most successful and profitable cultivation of
Coffee, are well-watered mountain slopes at an elevation ranging from
1,000 to 4,000 feet above sea-level, in latitudes lying between 15°
north and 15° south of the equator, although it is profitably grown at
the present time from 25° north to 30° south of that line, but only in
situations where the temperature does not fall below 55° at any time.
SELECTING LAND.
As a general rule, virgin forest land has been found the most suitable
to break up for Coffee plantations, it having become naturally enriched
by decayed vegetable matters, and the burning, to which it must first
be subjected, frees it from all weeds and insects. But exceptional
tracts of land, that have been once under cultivation and then allowed
to run wild, also form good properties, and although the soil is
rarely rich, it is generally exposed, and always entails great trouble
and expense to keep down the weeds. A temperate climate within the
tropics is to be preferred at all times, a certain degree of warmth
and humidity combined being essential--in other words, an atmosphere
resembling that of a northern hot-house produces the finest crops
of Coffee, but, unfortunately, it is inimical to the unacclimated
planter and favorable to weeds. The most suitable climate, under these
circumstances, is precisely that which Americans prefer; frost, even
though it be only at night and for a short period, is fatal, while the
presence of water, preferably a running stream, is most essential for
watering the young plants, as well as for the “pulping” process. In a
wooded country the plantation may be laid out in blocks of fifty acres,
encircled by natural belts of forest; but flat land must be avoided, as
a wet soil is fatal to profitable coffee-growing, and flat lands also
would entail great expenditure for drainage, while steep slopes, on the
other hand, are also objectionable on account of the wash occasioned by
rains carrying away both soil and manure, thus exposing the roots of
the shrubs. The top or surface-soil must be fairly good in all cases,
the subsoil may be, but must never be, composed of stiff clay, the
shrub being essentially a lateral feeder.
In opening a plantation, which is in all cases to be shaded by
preserving a portion of the original forest trees, the first thing to
be done is--after having ascertained the amount of land that can be
conveniently planted in one season--to clear a wide road through the
underwood from one end of the block of forest to the other, and as many
at right angles to the line as may facilitate easy examination and of
thoroughly inspecting the land to be cleared. The next thing to be done
is to cut another wide line round the entire portion to be cleared,
leaving a belt of from fifteen to twenty yards wide as a margin which
is always to be kept uncleared, as this marginal belt will be found
useful for shelter. The amount of shade must be regulated according
to the value of the exposure as shown in the aspect. A great deal of
shade being required on southern slopes, very little on northern ones,
and only a moderate degree of shade being required for eastern and
western slopes. The preliminary lines having been cleared, the whole
of the underwood should then be cut down from one end to the other,
and while it is yet green such portions of the larger trees as it may
be difficult to remove by carting or dragging along the ground, should
be cut up in pieces, but never burned, as is frequently the custom.
This work should be completed by the end of December. The land being
thus thoroughly cleared, lines of road should be laid out and the
usual linings and pit diggings carried out, and the plants put down
immediately after. The next point to be attended to is to plant out
such trees as are particularly suited to coffee shading, and to remove
any kinds which experience has proved to be injurious; these latter
vary in the different countries. As the shade trees grow up, the same
care must be taken of them as of the coffee tree, as regards pruning
or topping, the lower branches being judiciously removed, the object
being to grow a tree not only luxuriant but lofty, in order that it
may throw a long shadow and so afford greater protection to the plants
in its vicinity. Another point to be considered in the location of a
successful Coffee plantation is situation, as regards shade, sun and
wind, as a location and method of cultivation suited to one climate
may be entirely unsuited to another. In sea-coast or moist climates
planting without shade is generally the custom, while in dry arid
climates shade is indispensable, as in wet or damp districts Coffee
cannot be grown to advantage under the shade of the largest trees; the
methods of cultivation therefore should be entirely different in the
differing districts or localities. To be emphatic, _climate should
regulate shade, that is, shade plantations thrive best in hot, dry
climates, and unshaded in moist or humid ones_.
SITUATION AND ASPECT.
The Coffee-plant in most countries has been found to flourish best,
and produce more abundantly, and reach a greater longevity on upland
or mountain situations at altitudes ranging from one to four thousand
feet above sea-level; but a mean elevation of three thousand feet has
been found by experience to be best adapted for its most profitable
culture. In the selection of a site for the establishment of a coffee
plantation the same general rules are observed throughout all the
coffee-growing countries; and, while an eastern or southern exposure
is preferable at all times, it is not essential under all conditions,
this general principle being subject to modifications from such causes
as local peculiarities of climate, abundance of forest shade and
methods of special cultivation. Many plantations situated at sea-level
are generally overshadowed by thickets of dense foliage, while those
situated on mountain slopes are usually much exposed to winds and wash.
In the older coffee-growing countries of the East an eastern aspect
is considered the most desirable, a western exposure being generally
selected on the American continent, as it loses less of its moisture.
The opposite slope being more exposed to the vertical rays of the sun
thereby preserves a more equal temperature.
Before clearing and burning the planter should take considerable pains
to ascertain the values of the different aspects as regards sun and
wind with the view of regulating the amount of shade accordingly, as it
is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the various exposures.
For the effects the sun’s rays have on certain aspects in heating the
soil and drying up the plant are such as would be extremely difficult
to believe had the effects not been verified by competent observers
and with the aid of a thermometer. And as regards sites, northern and
southern slopes in particular, the difference between the one exposure
and the other is just what constitutes the difference between green
and dried grass, and between leaves luxuriously green and leaves
dried and withered. The grass on the northern aspects being green and
comparatively fresh, while even in a valley sheltered from drying
winds the grass on the southern slopes is completely withered. An
equally striking difference is observable in the coffee plants grown on
these situations, those on the northern slopes being full of health
and life, while those situated on the southern are yellow, drooping
and sickly; even in districts where coffee will not thrive without a
considerable amount of shade the plants thrive well with little or even
none on a northern bank, and look better than on a moderately shaded
southern aspect. Nor in the nursery is the effect less of aspect, less
striking, a nursery situated on a northern slope requiring less water
and far less shade over the young plants than in a nursery sloping
towards the south.
With regard to the aspect of wind the subject is an infinitely more
difficult one than aspect as regards the sun’s rays, the value of the
latter being mathematically ascertained, for in countries full of hills
and ravines one is constantly liable to be deceived as to the points
that are exposed and those that are sheltered from the force of the
wind; what is the right side of the hill for one planter is often the
wrong side for another, whose plantation is perhaps only a few miles
distant. While one planter may rail against the east wind, another will
be equally loud against a west. The winds, however, that are most to
be dreaded as being absolutely fatal to a coffee plantation are the
fierce gales accompanied by torrents of rain. These winds are injurious
in two ways: first, the plants are blown about, their hold on the soil
weakened and the tender rootlets broken as fast as they are formed, and
in the second case, the rain which accompanies such winds is driven
into the hillsides with such force as to occasion a certain amount of
wash, the particles of soil being lifted and valuable top soil swept
away and utterly lost. The southwest winds are only fatally injurious
on the first barrier; further inland their force is greatly modified,
and to such an extent that little or no injury results from them.
In estimating the value and importance of exposures, planters and
others of experience are frequently deceived; as aspects that one would
naturally conclude are very much exposed often remain untouched by the
wind, while on others apparently sheltered it has been known to burst
with tremendous force. Of aspects as regards wind there are two points
that may fairly be relied upon. The first is the appearance of the soil
on the slopes, and the second the inclination of the forest trees. The
soils on windy slopes will be found invariably to present a hardened
and washed appearance, and are deficient in decayed vegetable matter
on the surface. The inclination of the trees, also, and especially the
extent to which their heads are bent, denotes how forcibly the wind
strikes on these sites. In summing up on these important points of
aspect it may be observed, as regards the sun’s rays, it is patent that
a northern aspect is the best, and a southern one the worst, because
the latter is exactly twice as hot as the former. And as regards the
eastern and western aspects there is not, as regards heat arising from
the sun’s rays, much to choose between them.
SHELTER AND SHADE.
The worst enemy of the Coffee shrub is wind, its effects becoming
apparent in pinched and stunted growth or in lack of foliage. In
situations where the soil is soft and yielding it does equal mischief
by working the stems in the ground, so that in a short time a funnel
is formed round the neck of the plant, and this being continually
chafed the bark is worn off, the roots are loosened, and the plant
dies of what is called “wind-wrung.” Should it be rescued before the
bark is entirely worn off the plant may live, but it will be extremely
liable to attacks from “lug worm” or any other blight that may be
prevalent in the locality. Belts of jungle or forest land are sometimes
left standing as a protection from wind, but opinions differ as to
the advantage of this plan, some planters holding that more harm is
likely to result from the wind being concentrated into eddies instead
of taking its natural and more equitable course. This question can
only be decided by the local surroundings in each case. Such belts
being sure to form nurseries for weeds and vermin are not intended to
be permanent, and should gradually give way to fruit or other useful
trees. Sometimes artificial shelter is erected, but is considered
too costly to find general favor; indeed, in moderately sheltered
situations, staking, combined with low topping, ought to be sufficient
to secure the stability of the plant. Where they are not, the situation
has little to recommend it for successful Coffee culture.
Shade is also a consideration of great importance, and the opinion now
generally adopted is that the wholesale felling of the forest in some
sections has been altogether a mistake, and that plantations which are
now extinct might still be flourishing had the forest shade been at
least partially retained. The history of Coffee cultivation in the East
proves that in hot climates, and where prolonged periods of drought
may recur, Coffee will not flourish permanently, except under shade.
In a state of nature the Coffee plant universally affects shade. This
is the more remarkable, though the seeds are deposited by wild animals
and birds as freely on open grass-lands as in forests. The suspicion
that the “bover leaf disease,” and other immediate causes of decay,
are only induced by weakened state of the shrubs consequent upon their
exposure to light and periods of drought, is supported by the fact that
where shade trees are found standing upon an abandoned plantation,
they are still surrounded by a surviving remnant of Coffee bushes. The
question as to where shade is necessary is, however, one of climate,
as it has been proved that it is not universally beneficial. The
advantages to be derived from it in very hot climates being: diminished
exhaustion and consequently increased longevity of the plant, reduced
cost of cultivation, a conservation of the nutritious properties of
the soil, and an actual increase of them, as the cover given to the
ground causes the surface vegetable matter to decay more rapidly. And
provided the tree be a subsoil feeder, the shedding of the leaves will
yield a positive gain of surface matter which the roots of the Coffee
plant would otherwise never have reached. In addition to these there is
the direct value of the timber grown on the estate. The only serious
drawback to shade would seem to be a diminished yield of Coffee, but
this is fully atoned for by the increased longevity of the plant.
CLEANING AND BURNING.
When forest land is taken for cultivation the first step is to
effectually clear it of all timber and underwood, the latter being
first cut by means of a “cattie” or machete, the large trees being
felled from the top, and their branches lopped off so as to compact
the pile, as otherwise the “burn” will only be partial. A fine day,
after the night’s dew has evaporated, is best for setting fire to the
prostrate mass, the advantages of a thorough burn being that subsequent
operations are greatly facilitated, and that the weeds and insects are
thoroughly destroyed, while the disadvantage is that the upper soil
is burnt and rendered unfit for filling into the holes. That injury
may, to a great extent, be obviated by “lining and pitting” the land
beforehand, by which means the surface soil would be mostly covered
over with the earth taken out of the pits, and thus be protected from
the fire. On the other hand, the “lines” could not be marked out with
accuracy or with any regularity, so that the estate would subsequently
suffer to some extent in appearance, though it is an open question how
far this drawback is worth considering in comparison with the other
advantages gained. When there is not sufficient timber to make a good
burn, the brush is felled and burnt in heaps, after which the ground is
carefully gone over for the purpose of rooting up the tree stumps which
remain, but these are sometimes so difficult to eradicate that they are
left to decay, care being taken, however, to knock off shoots as fast
as they appear. It is, however, a bad method and one seldom followed,
as the rotting stumps harbor vermin of all kinds. After burning the
wood the ashes should be scattered evenly over the ground as manure to
enrich the soil.
LINING AND MARKING.
Immediately after the burn the plantation is “lined and marked out”
for the reception of the plants, the two following methods being most
in vogue among old and experienced planters: (1) A base line is laid
down as nearly as possible straight up and down the slope, and a cross
line is set off exactly at right angles to it; on this line stakes
are driven into the ground at the distances determined upon for the
final position of the young plants, to each stake a rope is fixed and
stretched parallel with the base line, and as straight as possible,
smaller stakes being provided along these lines, a rope is then finally
held across them at succeeding stages of equal width as guided by
measuring poles and the small stakes, and the small stakes are put in
where the movable rope crosses the fixed ones, each stake indicating
the site of the plant. (2) A rope is furnished with bits of scarlet rag
or flannel at the distances decided on between the plants and stretched
across the plot, stakes being inserted at each rag, the rope is then
moved forward a stage at a time, gauged by measuring rods. The first
plan is the better, especially in broken ground, but is more laborious,
the second being best available in even grass-land, but the stretch of
the rope must be estimated and allowed for, the great object being to
have the lines perfectly regular, and instead of making any deviation
where stumps or other obstacles occur, the rope is laid over them and
the corresponding plant omitted.
ROADING AND DRAINING.
Efficient roads not only greatly facilitate the making of a Coffee
plantation, but they should be so laid out as to serve the additional
purpose of drainage. A cart road should pass through the centre of the
plantation wherever it is possible to avoid a steeper gradient than
one in fifteen, emerging upon the main highway. From this branch roads
should be cut at right angles with as easy gradients as possible, and
not more than from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet apart;
these branch roads should cross the lay of the ground so as to check,
to the fullest extent, the effects of waste, and a boundary path
encircling the estate is also useful for many reasons, but the main
central road should be set out before pitting and planting. An excess
of road accommodation as regards both the number and width of the paths
is far preferable to insufficient roadway, despite the extra first
outlay, and if the ground be such, it may cost a great deal to keep
the roads clean and free from weeds. This, however, may be greatly
lessened by plowing them up and planting them with an annual crop until
the land is exhausted, as not only will the roads be bounded by the
plowing but weeds will not so readily grow.
Nothing is more important than the thorough drainage of a Coffee
plantation, in order to carry away the excess of moisture during heavy
rains without allowing the surface soil to be washed away. For this
purpose continuous open trenches are cut in parallel lines across
the face of the slope and at from ten to fifteen yards apart; their
gradient, however, should never exceed one in twelve, one in twenty
or even one in thirty will be still better, their width may be from
fifteen to eighteen inches and their depth not less than one foot
on the lower side. They will need constant cleaning out and repair,
especially after a heavy shower, and must in all cases empty into a
natural or artificial channel amply capable of carrying off the water;
if furnished with breaks to catch the suspended or detached soil so
much the better, as the latter can be collected and returned to the
plantation as a dressing.
LAYING OUT THE NURSERY.
The Coffee plant is propagated in three different ways, by “Seeds,”
“Buddings,” and “Cuttings,” the two last being the most troublesome
and objectionable, there being at the same time no branch of Coffee
cultivation of more importance and none so frequently mismanaged or
neglected as that of the production of the plant in the nursery, the
greatest care and most constant watching being absolutely necessary to
the attainment of success.
For this purpose should be selected a patch of gently sloping virgin
soil, warm and dry, soft in nature and not richer than that to which
the plants are to be subsequently transferred, but close to water,
running water, if possible. The seed-beds must be somewhat shaded, but
not so as to entirely exclude the sun nor so that the shading plant
may gather rain and send it in streams upon the beds; it must also be
cleared of all the largest stumps and thoroughly dug to a depth of
from nine to twelve inches and made very friable and at the same time
slightly raised to promote drainage, and divided by paths into narrow
strips. A deep trench is cut above the bed in an oblique direction to
prevent damage by rain and wash. The seeds are sown in rows six to nine
inches apart and about two feet deep and strewn about one inch apart in
the holes, after which they are lightly covered with mould and shaded.
A cheap and efficient shading may be secured by laying branches across
a light framework of poles. All watering must be done in the morning
or toward sunset. A bushel of coffee-seed should yield from 20,000
to 30,000 plants, the best seed being what is known as “parchment”
coffee, picked when fully ripe, pulped by hand, unfermented, unwashed
and dried in the shade. When the plants produce from two to four
leaves, exclusive of the seed-leaves, they are carefully loosened
and transferred, in damp, cloudy weather, from the seed-beds to the
nurseries and placed there from nine to twelve inches apart. Great
care must be taken meantime not to double up the tender tap-roots,
but if the tap-root is very long, it is best shortened by an oblique
cut, which soon shoots again. But when transplanting from seed-beds to
nurseries is not practiced the plants are left in the seed-beds until
they grow larger. Many planters, however, strongly recommend the former
plan, as by checking the growth of the plants the young roots become
hardened and better able, when finally planted out in the field, to
resist insects, disease and unfavorable weather. A practical suggestion
for preventing young seedlings from being eaten off at the surface of
the ground by grubs is to lightly wrap them with a piece of paper about
three inches broad where the stem joins the roots when planting. The
risk of having the young seedlings burnt up just after planting is best
guarded against by various simple measures for shading them. In about
a year, or when the plants have attained the height of about eighteen
inches, they are ready for transfer to the permanent positions on the
plantation which has been meantime prepared for their reception.
In selecting a plot for a nursery such a command of water as will
facilitate the flooding of every bed so as to thoroughly saturate the
soil, will be found indispensable, as it has been found by experience
that it is much cheaper to carry soil to water than water to soil. If
a good supply of water cannot be conveniently had on forest land by
erecting a tank or directing a stream, the cheapest plan will be found
to be to transport the soil already prepared and lay it down to the
depth of a foot to eighteen inches on any land that has a good command
of water. A couple of boys can effectually irrigate a large nursery by
this means if the water be conducted to each bed, while twenty men will
be required to carry water as many yards to a nursery of the same size,
and even then the beds will be but one-half watered. But economy alone
is not the only advantage to be gained by this method of flooding the
beds, as this process can be carried on at any time of the day, while
watering-pots cannot be used except early in the morning or late in the
afternoon without scorching the leaves.
If the nursery is formed on forest land as, if possible, it should be,
the timber should be felled, cut up and carried or rolled off the
ground--and not, as is too commonly the case, burnt on it--to obtain
the best results. The former plan is the most expensive but will be
found to pay better in the end, as the surface mould is not injured and
the friable nature of the soil is preserved intact, whereas burning
by consuming the vegetable matter on the surface renders the soil
more tenacious and less suitable to the springing of the seed. The
beds should never exceed five feet in breadth, and each bed should be
sixteen in length. Between each row of beds shallow channels should be
cut along which the water may be conducted to the head of each bed,
and in these channels during the dry season water should be allowed
to run continuously, penetrating by this means gradually into the
land, keeping it cool and moist. During the extreme hot weather the
longitudinal division between the beds should consist of earth heaped
up to the height of three inches, which will not only render the
flooding of the beds more complete, but will also prevent them drying
up as rapidly as they otherwise would. But during any storm these
divisions should be removed and each converted into a channel to convey
away the superfluous rain-water.
As regards seed there is very little to be said, except that it should,
as a matter of importance, be selected from the finest and healthiest
trees, and consist only of the ripest and finest berries to be had.
These precautions are seldom attended to, however, as it has never
been ascertained definitely that plants from carefully selected seeds
are any better than from those grown at random. Seeds have been sown
from trees both native and imported--on some plantations, of all ages
and in every kind of way--pulped by hand, pulped by machinery, and
not pulped at all, sometimes fresh and as frequently six months old.
Yet no difference could be perceived in the way the seeds come up, or
in the plants produced from them, but, as a matter of convenience, it
is much preferable to separate the seeds from the pulp and put them
down in drills. In the drills the seed should be planted at least a
quarter of an inch apart, and between each drill should be left a space
of from four to five inches. The seed should be planted in March or
April, except where a crop of plants has been previously taken from
the soil, when the seed should be put down a month earlier; in from
fourteen to eighteen months excellent plants ought to be had, if the
soil consists of virgin land. Many planters put down nursery seedlings
that have sprung up under the old coffee trees, but this plan is not to
be adopted when seed can be procured, and especially where the water is
good.
An excellent soil for sowing the seed is prepared from an admixture
of loam and leaf-mould, obtained from the decayed leaves of trees
and vegetable matter, ground fine, well sifted and then mixed with
an equal quantity of sand; while for the successful propagation of
the young plants a manure composed of finest soil, cattle and sheep
dung, dried, pulverized, sifted and then blended with proportionate
quantities of a fine sandy loam has been found specially adapted for
the purpose. The tap-roots of the young plants being extremely long
and tender, an abundant supply of the latter will be found requisite,
a good depth being very necessary to nourish and maintain them during
the early period of growth. During the hot weather the young plants
should be shaded, the most approved method of shading being to place
posts about four feet high, with forked heads, driven into the ground
at the corner of each bed, long sticks being then laid across them from
post to post, resting in the forks and also laterally, the whole being
then covered with grass, reeds or other material. Some months before
the plants are required this shade should be judiciously thinned, and
ultimately removed altogether, in order to harden the plants gradually
by exposure to the sun and air. The plants, too, at this period, should
be allowed to grow nearly to the required size, stinted of water and
brought to a stand-still, in order that the heads of the plants and the
extremities of them may solidify, for if the plants be transferred to
the plantation with newly-formed and tender shoots they run great risk
of being nipped off by the scorching rays of the sun, which frequently
makes its appearance when least expected in rainy or cloudy weather.
And when the nursery is at all exposed to dry, east winds the rows
and divisions between the row of beds should be thickly planted with
rose and fruit trees, as these not only add to the appearance of the
nursery, but are also extremely valuable as shelters.
The next branch of planting that demands special attention is that of
transferring or transplanting the young shrubs or plants at the best
possible distance from one another. Distances should be altered in
accordance with the poorness or richness of the soil; the richer and
stronger the land, the greater distance should they be planted apart;
and the poorer the soil and more exposed the location, the closer and
more thickly they should be grown. If roads are made across the slopes
and about midway up them, it may be laid down as a general rule that
the plants above the roads should be planted far closer than those
in the richer soil below. Thus, if six feet by six feet be found a
convenient distance in the best land, four and a half feet by five
and a half feet will be found the best distance in the poorer and
more exposed positions. One prime object must always be borne in
mind, _i.e._, to cover the soil, in order the better to shade it, to
keep down weeds, and at the same time leave sufficient room between
the rows to allow of passing up and down the lines with ease, and for
the pickers to get about without forcing their way and breaking the
branches. Bearing these objects in mind, a planter should regulate his
distances carefully in accordance with his soil, situation and climate.
But on these points a planter must, in a great measure, rely upon his
own judgment, and these suggestions are mainly intended to caution the
planter against fixing on any arbitrary distance as being the best.
DISTANCES OF PLANTS.
Scarcely any two planters are agreed as to the best distances to allow
between the plants, the question being governed to a great extent by
the richness of the soil, as well as by climate and situation, the
object in view must be that with the greatest convenient number of
trees in a given space none shall interfere with or incommode its
neighbor. In cold or exposed situations where the plants cannot obtain
any great size, close planting is necessary, the reverse being the
case where the climate is warm and humid and the soil is productive,
and consequently likely to produce large bushes. In Java and the West
Indies the space is often 10 × 12 feet, but other crops are there
usually planted between the Coffee rows, while in India and Ceylon
distances vary from four feet each way to eight feet, the best being
perhaps seven feet between the rows and six feet between the plants.
The number of trees contained in an acre planted 6 × 7 feet will be
about 1,000; 6 × 6, 1,200; 6 × 5, 1,450; 5 × 5, 1,750; 5 × 4, 2,150;
and 4 × 5, 2,700. The advantages to be gained in wide planting are
that field labor is facilitated and the shrubs grow larger, the
disadvantage being that more room is left for weeds.
HOLING AND PITTING.
Around or beside each stake a hole is next dug, its size depending
much upon the kind of soil; in stiff or poor land two feet each way is
not too large, but in good light ground eighteen inches will suffice,
but they had better be too deep than not deep enough. The implement
commonly used for this purpose is a kind of grubbing-hoe or spade-bar.
The earth thrown out is usually left to mellow until just before
planting, after which the hole is filled in with the best of the mould,
which must have been previously carefully freed from stones, roots and
other extraneous matter, and mixed with a little manure. The filling-in
must be done very lightly and the loose earth should rise in a heap
above the hole. This operation is best performed while the ground is
moist, but it is also a good plan to break down the sides somewhat,
more especially if they are hardened.
PLANTING AND PICKING.
When the holes have been duly prepared the young plants are removed
from the nursery with the same care as they are transplanted to the
nursery from the seed-beds; for taking up the young plants an ordinary
prong is much superior to the spade-bar, but hand-pulling must be
rigidly guarded against. The fibrous roots of each plant as taken up
are carefully pruned off to about four inches so that they may not be
doubled up in the planting, the tap-root being also shortened to about
nine inches by a clean sloping cut for the same reason, and a ball of
earth should surround the roots and if the plants are exposed to the
air for more than a few minutes, the roots should be covered with wet
moss or some other damp material. A dull, cloudy day should be chosen
for this operation whenever possible, as in bright sunshine the plants
would be all burnt up. The plants are carried in batches in wicker
trays or baskets to the plantation and are placed in the ready prepared
holes by hand, great care being taken that no roots are doubled up,
that the plants are upright and that they are placed no deeper in the
ground than they were before, and in treading the earth down around
the plant every precaution is necessary to prevent leaving holes for
the accumulation of water around the roots. The surface must also be
made firm and level as possible, but on a steep slope the outer edge
may be slightly higher than the inner, to check the effect of any wash
that may occur, but in subsequent weeding it will be necessary to guard
against exposing the lateral roots. There is some diversity of opinion
as to the size and age most suitable for putting out nursery plants,
but when dull, rainy weather can be depended on for some little time,
nursery plants of the second year are the most satisfactory, plants of
one season only being too tender for the operation, but under ordinary
conditions and with due care no serious loss of plants should be
incurred in this way. A novel plan, one which may be advantageously
adopted on small plantations, is the one resembling the method of
planting Cinchona. A number of calabashes are deprived of their small
end and emptied of their contents, into these the seedlings are placed
and gradually exposed to the sun as they grow and finally planted in
the calabashes; the latter soon rot and form manure for the plants. A
new plan that has been much followed is the substitution of “stumps”
for nursery plants--that is, plants that have been in the nursery for
about three years are dug up and pruned back leaving only about six
to eight inches of stem; they are hardier and safer in a general way
than whole plants, more especially in uncertain weather, as they will
strike readily, even without rainfall for some little time after being
put in, provided the ground has become sufficiently moist to prevent
their being burnt up, but they cannot be used in districts where a
long period of drought may be expected to succeed to a wet season. The
planting of stumps is performed in the usual way, the plants send up
several shoots from the parent stem of these, the finest are retained
to form the future tree and the rest are pulled off carefully. The
shoot that is left grows rapidly, but from the way it springs from the
stem it is liable to be accidentally broken off either by a high wind
or by the weeders. The crookedness of the stump from native-grown seed
renders them very inferior; the best size for stumps is the thickness
of a common pencil.
DIBBLING AND STAKING.
When the land is very rich and friable holing may be replaced by
the less expensive plan known as “dibbling,” which is performed in
two ways: (1) by the aid of the spade-bar is made a sufficiently
deep hole into which the plant is dropped, and secured by treading
the earth lightly around; (2) a patch of ground measuring about one
foot each way is thoroughly loosened without the soil being taken
out, in the disturbed earth a hole is made with the hand, the plant
is then inserted and trodden around as before; the latter method is
preferable. Dibbling is only practicable in exceptionable cases, and
is, moreover, open to objection, as a hole is often left in which
water may accumulate and rot the plant, and the roots are more liable
to injury than in ordinary planting, but, on the other hand, much
labor is saved. When the plants are exposed to the wind they should
be provided with supports as soon as they are ten to twelve inches
high, and present a resisting surface. For the first season’s plants
lining pegs may be used, but larger plants will need strong, inflexible
stakes, three to four feet long, entering the ground on the windward
side at about six inches distant from the plant, and at such an angle
as to meet the stem at about its middle. The plant is attached to the
stake by a broad loop of some vegetable fibre, firmly tied to the stake
but loose around the stem of the plant. If the plants have already
been worked round by the wind they will need earthing up to five or
six inches as well. The ties should be brushed with coal-tar, as a
protection against theft, insects and decay.
SUPPLYING VACANCIES.
Every precaution should be taken to guard against failures, as
“supplies,” as they are called, will seldom, if ever, do as well as
young plants put into virgin soil, but in new land failures can be
entirely guarded against by care, and their number may subsequently be
limited by keeping the ground free from weeds, and by good draining,
manuring and pruning. A certain number of vacancies, however, will
occur from time to time. And they must be filled up in the following
manner: The original pit having been re-emptied should be enlarged an
inch or two all around, but especially in depth, and this should be
done in dry weather, the pit being left open for some time, and only
filled in when the time for planting has arrived, but in most cases it
will be desirable to refill the pit with the soil which has been taken
out of it. Where the vacancy is in the midst of old trees a large pit
is necessary to protect the new plant from being interfered with by
these roots, and it will be also well to isolate the young plant by
surrounding it with a ring trench, six to eight inches wide and one
foot deep. It is also desirable to put a basketful or so of new soil
from the first into the pit near the top, but where this cannot be
managed a few handfuls of manure should be mixed with surface mould,
for only strong, healthy plants must be used for this purpose. Stumps
are, by some planters, considered more suitable than nursery plants for
supplying vacancies, as, being hardier, they throw out from three to
four “suckers,” the best of which are selected when they have attained
a height of from six to nine inches, the others being carefully pulled
off. Well-formed nursery plants, with three or four pairs of primaries
and about twelve to fifteen inches high, put in just as they come from
the beds with a good ball around the roots, are to be preferred when
steady wet weather can be calculated on for some time, but in any case
supplies ought to be put in early in the wet season, so as to give them
every advantage; they should also be marked by a tall stake, and should
be allowed to bear a maiden crop before being topped or pruned.
CATCH-CROPS.
Much has been said for and against the growing of other crops on the
plantation among the Coffee shrubs. In Java and other Coffee-growing
countries of the East it is grown between the rows. In Ceylon two
catch-crops were long in vogue, but they appear now to have gone
out of fashion, it being claimed that they exhausted the soil and
produced too much there. While in Mexico, the West Indies, Central
and South America, the culture of plantains, yams, cocoa and bananas
was carried to such an extreme on many plantations that the Coffee
became, in fact, of only secondary importance, or was even entirely
killed out. There is nothing, however, to object to in the simultaneous
cultivation of several crops, so long as each has proper space and
sufficient manure, and the plants are not antagonistic to each other,
as many claim, and the failure of one crop may be compensated for by
the success of the other. Rice and tobacco have been found to yield
good returns as catch-crops, but they possess a disadvantage, in not
affording any shade to the young Coffee plants. Cocoa, yams, bananas
and plantains are perhaps even less advisable, and similar attempts
with cotton have proved altogether failures, while maize, on the other
hand, is highly recommended from experiences in Brazil and other
countries. When adopted, it should be planted thinly in three rows,
eighteen inches apart between the Coffee rows, and two plants apart
in the Coffee rows between the Coffee plants. The seed should be sown
immediately after the Coffee is planted. It grows very quickly and
should early be thinned out to eighteen inches apart in the rows, and
will soon be high enough to completely shelter and partially shade
the Coffee, which will grow all the faster in consequence, the latter
being also greatly benefited by the extra working of the ground. In the
fall a dressing of manure--the same manure will suit both Coffee and
maize--is applied and the ground plowed or deeply hoed, preferably the
former. The crops may also be repeated the following spring, reducing
it, however, to two rows and one Coffee plant and repeating the
manuring and plowing or hoeing, but this time the choice between the
plow and hoe must be governed by the size of the Coffee shrubs; if too
high, the latter is best.
MANURES AND MANURING.
It is commonly said that Coffee is an unusually exhaustive crop, but
the exhaustion of the soil consequent upon Coffee culture is only
the result of the peculiar conditions under which the industry is
prosecuted rather than of the nature of the plant itself. Better than
any amount of artificial manuring is the retention of the naturally
rich surface soil by the effective prevention of wash as a secondary
adjunct; however, judicious manuring will prove highly beneficial, and
even necessary in almost all cases after the first or two. But it is
impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule for manuring, the most
that can be done is to indicate the essential elements of coffee soils,
the best artificial substitutes and the best methods of applying these
substitutes. The best coffee soils appear to contain about 15 per cent.
of combined iron and alumnia, the iron, if as red oxide may amount to
about 20 or even 30 per cent. being a good absorbent of fertilizing
constituents, but the alumnia should not exceed 10 per cent. Lime is
also an essential, which must be supplied, if wanting in the soil;
this is too often overlooked in the anxiety to furnish stimulants.
The percentage of organic matter may be too high, it should represent
only about 0.2 to 0.3 per cent. of nitrogen, so that the best average
manure for supplying nitrogen and potash is well-rotted dung, but its
frequent application should be accompanied by a little lime unless
the soil is already very rich in that constituent, for, without the
presence of lime, the shrubs will not receive the full benefit of
the nitrogenous principles, but its use in a tropical climate must
be governed by caution. Thoroughly fermented coffee pulp is also a
useful manure, but it is only half as valuable as dung and costs more
to apply, it should be kept covered as it is produced, and is best
mixed with fermented dung, failing which it should be well-limed, while
alone is of small benefit, but forms a good vehicle for concentrated
fertilizers. Almost all coffee soils requires a constant renewal of
phosphoric acid and lime, which are not supplied by the dung alone;
these constituents are best furnished in the form of bones steamed
and ground or by concentrated superphosphate containing from 40 to 45
per cent., while phosphate of lime. Nitrogenous manures alone are too
stimulating and help only to produce premature exhaustion, therefore
bones may with great advantage be added to the dung. Composts of pulp
and cake are useful nitrogenous manures, but they must be accompanied
by phosphates and lime. Potash seldom requires to be directly applied,
but is very advantageous after attacks of leaf-disease, while magnesia
seems to be a necessary constituent of all good coffee soils in the
proportion of 0.5 to 2 per cent., but when wanting dolomite may be
applied in its place. The great object of manuring is to apply all
the constituents required and in a soluble form, but for coffee the
nitrogen is better applied in an insoluble form--as in dung, cake and
fish manure--than in a soluble form--as in guano, nitrate of soda or
sulphate of ammonia. Phosphates are best supplied in bones, when a
lasting effect is required, but high-grade superphosphates are always
preferable for immediate effect as in cases of leaf-disease. Again in
tropical countries, all manures are best applied frequently and in
small quantities. Regular manuring after each crop would doubtless be
most generally economical and advantageous, the quantity depending
in local conditions, but should always be extra liberal after a full
harvest. Artificial manures should be put out only in damp weather,
dung may be applied at almost any time, while lime must never be in a
caustic state; when applied its best forms are gas-lime and gypsum.
The manure most freely applied and most relied on in countries where
it is available, is cattle dung, and with the view of keeping up a
regular supply of it, many estates keep a considerable stock of cattle
for this purpose alone, and which are, in many instances, stall-fed
with grass and oil-cake. But in many of the coffee-growing countries
this form, owing to a fatal obstacle in climate is not obtainable,
for while, in some countries, grass can be readily grown all the year
round, in others it is found impossible to provide any quantity of
grass for even any part of the year, and cattle have to be grazed
all day to support them at all. Besides the fatal objections to the
foregoing kind of manure, there are others which serve to show that it
is only under very favorable circumstances that cattle manure could be
used with advantage. The first is the bulky nature of the manure and
the consequent cost and labor of application, and the second, and by
no means the least, is the great risk run of losing stock by disease.
The latter consideration should be sufficient to deter the planter from
depending on a manurial source which is liable to be suddenly cut off
at any moment.
Another form of manure in use among planters is bone manure, the value
of which for all crops and in all countries, combined with its extreme
portability and cheapness of application, renders it by far the most
important of fertilizers for coffee. This form, mixed with the pulp
of the coffee is a popular one on many plantations. The pulp being
moist prevents the bone dust from being blown away, and when heaped up
before using, the heat that is thereby generated seems to exercise a
considerable effect upon the bone dust. Still another excellent manure
is made from alternate layers of farm yard manure and bone dust,
making a splendid compost. The former is generally composed of horse,
cattle and sheep manure, wood ashes and general sweepings. The best
results have been obtained from this latter form, and if sufficient
quantities of the first substance could always be obtainable, readily
and cheaply, it is without exception, the best yet discovered for
coffee manure. Bone dust, when used alone fails, though valuable as a
berry producer, to give that dark green leaf and growth of strong young
wood which is absolutely necessary to produce abundantly.
The manner of applying manure is not the same in all countries or cases
and no manure should be put more than one foot below the surface of
the ground, nor less than eighteen inches from the stem of the coffee
bush. On flat land, where there is no danger of wash, the manure may be
spread over the surface and hoed into a depth of from nine to twelve
inches, or, better still, a square hole may be cut between each four
shrubs and the manure buried in it; while on slopes it is customary to
dig a hole above each bush. For bulky manures it may be two feet long
by one and a half feet wide and one foot deep, but for concentrated
manures these dimensions must be considerably reduced. The holes should
be filled up with any prunings of other vegetable matter at hand and
then covered down firmly with the loose top-soil and the new earth from
the hole should be spread around the stem of the neighboring tree to
protect its roots. Ordinary manuring is sometimes supplemented by other
methods of improving the soil, one of which is to loosen it by driving
a long bar or a manure-fork deeply into the ground and then prying up
the earth without turning it over. Another operation is that known as
“mulching” or “ground thatching,” which consists in simply covering
the ground under the bushes with a layer of long, hard grass six to
nine inches thick, the effect of which in cold, wet soils is to keep
the ground warm and throw off excessive moisture, while in hot, dry
situations it is equally useful to retain moisture. But in any case
weeds are kept down and wash is quite prevented, and when rotten the
grass may be hoed or dug in as manure; this thatching has been found
a perfect cure for black bug. A third operation, termed “trenching”
or “water hoeing,” is where trenches are made across the slope, which
may be either opened or closed. In the former case holes three to four
feet long, twelve to fifteen inches broad and from fifteen to eighteen
inches deep are cut between each four trees, the soil taken from them
is spread over the roots of the trees, while the holes are left open to
act as catch drains and receptacles for wash, weeds, prunings and other
vegetable refuse, being emptied twice a year and their contents spread
around the roots of the shrubs. Closed trenches are ditches cut across
the entire length of the coffee rows two feet wide and deep and filled
with any vegetable rubbish at hand, they are then covered with earth
and well trodden down, while the remaining soil is spread under the
trees. The benefit of trenching is greatest in stiff soils. The refuse
matter in the trenches should be well limed in all cases, in order to
kill the grubs and other vermin for which it will otherwise form a
nursery.
WEEDING AND PRUNING.
By “weeding,” on a Coffee plantation, is meant the eradication of
_every plant_ which is not being intentionally cultivated. The
operation is performed in different ways, according to the nature of
the soil. On light soils and sloping situations hand-weeding is much
the best. The laborer is provided with a pointed stick to help in
getting up obstinate roots, and carries at his waist a small bag, into
which the weeds are at once thrust, and afterwards turned out of the
bags into pits dug at convenient intervals, or are heaped up on the
roads and finally buried or burned, the latter being the surer method
of effectually destroying them. By weeding early and repeating the
operation as often as necessary, the ground may be kept clean by hand
alone. But when hand-weeding will not suffice, recourse must be had
to “scraping” the ground, which is, however, attended with a serious
drawback--the first inch or more of the best surface-mould is removed,
at the same time thus robbing the plants of nourishment and exposing
the earth to the full effects of the wash. On stiff clay soils, on
level plantations and in damp, cool climates on the other hand, hoeing
is not only necessary for the perfect eradication of the weeds, but is
of itself exceedingly beneficial to the soil, and except during the
dry season should be regularly done, whether weeds are present or not.
When scraping or hoeing it is imperative that the operation should be
conducted from the outside towards the trees, so that the roots may be
kept well covered and the wash easily escape into the drains.
The coffee tree, if allowed to grow to its natural height, will
commonly be found to measure from twelve to fifteen feet. But the most
experienced planters reduce their shrubs to at the most four and a half
feet, and sometimes as little as three feet, and in windy and exposed
situations two and a half feet in some countries have been adopted
as the best height. And here, as in distance, the planter should be
guided by the nature of the soil and partly by the aspect as regards
wind. In thoroughly sheltered situations and in the finest land a tree
may be allowed four and a half to five feet with advantage, but in all
medium situations, as regards soil and exposure, four feet should be
the limit, or even a few inches less; in very poor and much exposed
situations three feet will be found ample for all purposes. The height
being determined on the next point is to consider the best time for
topping or pruning them. By many planters the safest and most sensible
time for performing this operation is considered to be when the tree
has exceeded the height it is intended to keep it at, and when the bark
has become brown and fully developed. Pruning should, if possible, be
all completed before blossoming season, except when it is confined
to the removal of plainly superfluous wood that is past bearing, or
has, perhaps, only a berry or two on it, when pruning may be continued
without injury or inconvenience until up to the commencement of May.
When all these are removed it will generally be found that sufficient
has been done; but on very luxuriant trees the shoots growing in the
right direction will be still too numerous, and will require further
thinning so as to reduce the number to two shoots at every point of the
branch. If this process of handling be fully and regularly attended to
there will be very little and very simple work for the knife to do,
and the pruner will merely have to remove the very driest and oldest
secondaries and shorten back such primaries as may be too long and
whippy.
[Illustration: FERMENTING COFFEE.]
In the old neglected trees the process is more difficult, but may, with
a little patience, be got into good order easy and cheaply. The first
thing to be done with them is to cut out all secondary and tertiary
branches that are past bearing, and to clear out the centre of the head
on the trees. The removal of this superfluous wood will be followed by
a sufficiently rapid growth of young wood which should be carefully
handled, and after the next crop a fair proportion of cross branches
may be cut out, but only to a slight extent, so as not to diminish
the crop prospect. Others, again, contending that the proper time is
immediately before or after the first blossoming season. In the former
case it is claimed that topping before the blossoming season has a
tendency to turn out a heavy crop on the pruning branches, while in
the latter instance other planters boldly sacrifice the heavy yield
in order to add to the permanent strength of the tree, invariably
refraining from topping the plant until just after the blossoming
period. By this latter method several pairs of branches, with their
blossoms, are cut off and lost, but the sacrifice will be amply repaid
by the increased strength added to the young tree, and also by the
advantage of having a small crop on the primary branches below.
The style of pruning first required by Coffee bushes is that known as
“topping,” the age and height at which this operation is performed
depending in a great measure upon local circumstances, this question
also being a much-debated one. The object of “topping,” or removing the
top of the bush, is to restrain its upward growth within convenient
limits, and, as a natural consequence, to strengthen and concentrate
its lateral growth. In some countries of the East topping is commenced
at the age of twelve to eighteen months, the maximum ordinary height
being four feet, which is sometimes reduced to two feet, the operation
being postponed until the shrubs have borne their maiden crop, even
though extra staking is required to withstand the wind; the best
plan being to remove the two primaries at the required height by a
sloping outward cut close to the stem, and then to remove the top
by an oblique cut so that the stumps resemble a cross, and a firm,
natural knot remains to guard against the stem splitting down. But
some planters contend that the plants should be topped as soon as
they have reached the required height, when the soft wood is easily
severed by a pinch between the finger and thumb, as in the case of
tea. In other countries the shrubs are topped either at their full
height--four and one-half to five feet--or at three feet, allowing
a “sucker” to grow up on the weather side, the latter plan being
preferred. There is much advantage gained in limiting the height to
five feet, as not only is the crop gathered more easily, and without
damage to the tree, but it is actually heavier, and the shrubs are more
readily made to cover the ground. The first result of “topping” is to
induce the growth of a number of shoots, the removal of which is termed
“handling” or “searching.” The first to appear are vertical “suckers”
or “gormandizers,” from under the primary boughs; these are immediately
rubbed off without injuring the bark. From the primaries spring
secondary branches in pairs, and at very short intervals. All such
appearing within six inches of the stem are removed at once, so that a
passage of at least a foot high is left in the centre of the tree for
the admission of the air and sun. The object of pruning is to divert
the energies of the tree from forming _wood_, and to concentrate them
upon forming _fruit_. The fruit of the Coffee tree is borne by young
wood, and as the secondaries are reproduced when they are removed,
they are cut off as soon as they have borne. A constant succession of
young wood is thus secured. In order that this may be regular, and to
avoid weakening the shrub, the secondaries that grow outside of the
foot space are left on alternate sides of the primary, their opposites
being removed each year in turn; thus one is growing while the other
is bearing. The one point in view must be the equal development of the
tree and the yearly growth of as much as it will bear, but no more.
Branches must not be allowed to grow into or cross each other, and if
two or more secondaries spring from one spot the strongest only must
be retained; where a gap occurs tertiaries may be trained to free it
in the same way. When practicable, the bushes should be handled twice
before the crop, and the pruning should be commenced immediately after
the crop and finished before the blossom comes out, but should this
be impossible, it must be suspended during the three or four days of
blossom-time, and then be carried to completion. When it is evident
that the crop on a tree will exhaust it if allowed to mature, a portion
of it must be sacrificed by pruning. The loss thus occasioned is more
apparent than real, as in every prolific season much fruit is wasted
for lack of labor, and the trees are unreasonably overtaxed and bear
poorly for some time afterwards. Everything should be done to insure
regular and even crops; the cuttings should be trenched in among the
plants as manure, and no branch should be allowed to bear more than two
or three crops before removal. Regular and systematic pruning is one of
the first essentials to successful and profitable Coffee culture. Where
Coffee plantations have been neglected on this score they must be very
gradually reduced to proper condition by sawing out the branches and
opening up the centre of the trees in the first year, and trimming out
about half the remaining wood in the second year.
ENEMIES AND REMEDIES.
The profits derived from healthy Coffee growing are so large that were
it not for the many enemies which hamper the planter’s struggles and
stultify his best efforts, his occupation would be one of the most
profitable in the world. But as it is he has to contend with numerous
foes, and the more lowly and minute forms have proved themselves the
most difficult to combat in these long struggles which have been waged
since Coffee cultivation first rose to its present importance in the
various countries in which it is grown. From the mammalian kingdom he
has not much to fear or is generally able to devise efficient remedies
against their ravages. But besides the peculiar conditions of climate,
aspect, drainage, shade, shelter and the many other drawbacks already
alluded to, particular attention must be paid to the prevention or cure
of certain maladies to which the Coffee shrub is specially liable.
The number of these insect forms and fungoid pests is considerable,
but the only ones of sufficient importance to merit description are
leaf-blight, fly, bug, borer and canker.
=Leaf-blight.=--Is a fungus known as _Homilica Vasatux_, allied to
the moulds, and is present in some form or other all the year round,
first attacking the under side of the leaves causing spots or blotches,
at first yellow, but subsequently turning black. These blotches are
covered with a pale orange-colored dust or powder, which easily rubs
off; they gradually grow in size until at last they have one part of
the former with three parts of the latter, thoroughly incubating them
before use. A disease known as leaf-rot, rather prevalent in some
countries, is distinguished from the above, and which is referred to
as a fungus named _Pelicaalana Kolorga_, sometimes appears when the
leaves of affected shrubs become covered with slimy, gelatinous matter,
turn black and drop off, the clusters of berries also rotting and
falling. There is every probability, however, that the sulphur and lime
treatment will be effective in this case also, but the shed leaves and
fruit should be collected and burned as a precaution.
=The Coffee Borer.=--This pest, formerly known as the “worm” and
“coffee-fly,” is most troublesome in the East, where in former years it
destroyed whole plantations. It has been identified as the _Xycotrechen
quadmepes_, and in its complete stage the insect appears as a winged
beetle, having from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in length,
rather finer in shape than a wasp, with hard, shiny coat, red and black
in color, but in some cases yellow and black in alternate transverse
lines, boring a passage into the stem of the coffee tree usually a few
inches above the ground.
=The Coffee-fly.=--This disease has been known for many years in San
Domingo and Brazil, having also spread to Venezuela, the Antilles,
Porto Rico, Martinique, Mexico, and all down the Atlantic coast of
South America. It is caused by the larvæ of a moth scarcely half an
inch long, named _Comistana coffcalaun_, the color of the insect being
dull-white or pale-gray, with a bar across the posterior end when
quiet. Its motions are very active and it readily takes alarm. This
insect prefers young and delicate leaves, and is most active about the
commencement of the wet season, when demolition spread over the leaves,
which then drop off, leaving the trees unable to produce any crop, or
to bring to maturity that which may have already been produced. In
districts affected by the northwest winds, the fungus generally exists
as an external parasite, in the form of long, filamentous threads,
covering every part of the back of the leaves, but so minute as to be
invisible to the naked eye. Of the many remedies experimented with for
the suppression of this disease, one only is invariably effective--that
is a mixture of the best quality of flowers of sulphur and caustic lime.
The majority of the eggs are deposited, but are dormant during the wet
season--that is, from March to May. The disease manifests itself by
the appearance of large, discolored blotches on the leaves, causing
their decay and fall. As a remedy, it has been stated that by picking
the leaves at such a time, as to take the greatest number of the larvæ
when about two weeks old, it would be easy to destroy the pest, as
the size of the blotches would then easily distinguish the diseased
foliage. Again, each of these contains several hundred eggs undergoing
incubation, and in a short time the whole of the green wood of the
tree will become covered with the young insects and coated with a
black, soot-like powder, which renders the tree easily discernible at a
distance. The bug will soon spread over the whole plantation, entirely
checking the growth of the trees, the fresh, young shoots being always
first attacked, and such wood as is allowed to mature, produces hardly
any crops; the berries, moreover, are in the earliest stages destroyed
by these insects, which cut them off with the stalk. The measures
recommended for checking this scourge are to dust the bushes with a
mixture of powdered saltpetre and quicklime in equal parts, or to brush
or sponge the affected parts with a mixture of soft-soap, tar, tobacco
and spirits of turpentine, in about equal quantities. The white bug is
a distinct species of insect, known as _Psedococcus adombrum_, and is a
small, flat, oval inspect, about one-sixteenth of an inch long, covered
with a white down or fur, having parallel ridges running across its
back from side to side, like the wood-louse, though on a much smaller
scale. It is found in various stages of development all the year round,
and takes up its quarters on the roots of the Coffee trees, to start
one part beneath the surface, at the axils of the leaves, and among
the stalks of the crop-clusters, which it cuts off wholesale, either
during the blossoms’ stage or just after the young berries have formed.
In the latter case, its operations may be easily recognized by the
large quantities of young, green berries with which the ground beneath
the trees will be strewn, and is also discerned by a white, flour-like
excretion, which it deposits around the axil-works where it has made
its abode. The prescription alike recommended for black-bug will be
here found equally efficacious, but in either case probably a decoction
of common tobacco might be sufficient when much more evenly prepared.
=The Coffee-bug.=--The Coffee tree is attacked by various species of
_coccida_ in most countries, where they are known by different names,
but careful cultivation has greatly reduced the evil. There are two
distinct species of bug found in the Coffee-growing countries, called
respectively the “black” or “scaling,” and the “white” or “mealy.”
The former, _Lecumimum Coffea_, is a minute insect which attaches
itself to the tenderest shoots of the plant, the females having the
appearance of small scallop-shells, of a brown color, and adhering to
the leaf or twig in the same manner as the scallop-shell to a rock; at
first horizontal, soon takes an upward, spiral direction, and proceeds
until a safe shoot is found in which the larvæ may be deposited. The
tree soon droops and dies down to the point at which the entry has
been effected, and where it can be easily broken off by a sharp pull
at the upper part. The only course in this case is to break off the
tree in this manner, and then burn the stem with the larvæ secreted
in its centre. Young shoots will proceed from the stump, and one of
these may be trained to succeed the original stem. The insect is very
susceptible to the effects of wood smoke, and may be easily driven off
or destroyed by the smoke of ordinary wood or grass fires.
=Canker, or Bark Disease.=--Is a disease of the Coffee plant which
has created great havoc in Africa and other countries of the East,
and which causes an annual loss of about one per cent. of the trees
of Jamaica and other West India Islands. The first symptoms is the
withering of a secondary or tertiary branch, when it will be found
that the bark under the primary branches is decayed and blue-mouldy,
the blue mould gradually extending downwards over the whole stem; a
tree once attacked never recovering, but dying in a few months. All
soils and situations seem liable to this disease, the trees beginning
to suffer when about six years old. Though the mould is the proximate
cause of death, the ultimate cause is undoubtedly due to some
unfavorable external condition.
The opinions of experienced planters as to what this may be are
various, being generally attributed to neglect of cultivation, to
unstability of climate and to a want of sufficient depth of soil.
All may be practically right, but the last seems the most probable,
and is the reason given for it in many countries. Rot, grubs, rats
and squirrels are accounted for in the following manner: “Rot,” or
the blacking and withering of the young leaves and shoots, is due to
wet and cold, and may be cured by good drainage and mulching. Grubs
of a large and yellow kind, destroy the tap-roots of the plants,
cattle-manure being a fertile source of them, must be well-limed. Rats,
squirrels, grasshoppers, ants and spiders collectively do considerable
mischief, and should be exterminated whenever possible.
GATHERING AND HARVESTING.
The cluster of buds which duly make their appearance are at first
little dark-green spikes, but as they grow they become straw-colored,
then, under the influence of a few showers, almost white, and finally
burst into snowy blossoms, and after a day or two the flowers turn
brown and fade away, the more gradually the better; when the bloom
is out, the rainfall is unwelcome, but after it is “set” the shower
is beneficial. The pistils of the flowers now assume the form of
berries, gradually growing and changing their color from dark-green to
light-yellow, which finally drys out to red or crimson. As soon as a
sprinkling of red berries is seen, picking should begin and continue as
long as any berries ripen, that is to say, from one to three months,
but the berries or “cherries” as they are more frequently called, must
not be picked until they are fully ripe, which is best indicated by a
deep, purplish-crimson color, and as the crop rarely or never ripens
all at once, two to three pickings are required, the second being
the principal one, the others being rather gleanings than pickings.
Each mature berry should be picked separately off its stalk and never
stripped off; the cherries as picked are dropped into a small bag about
eighteen inches square, suspended from the neck of the picker, and the
bags are then emptied into one or two bushel sacks or hampers placed
at intervals on the paths of the pickers. If the berries are allowed
to get over-ripe in wet weather, they will be liable to burst and drop
the beans, or to fall off bodily, but if on clean ground much of them
may be recovered, while in very hot weather they are more likely to
dry up and hold on to trees. In order to convey the berries to the
curing-houses in some countries a great saving is effected in long
distances, by running them with water down galvanized iron spouting,
made in 8-inch lengths, laid with even gradients and curves duly
secured. The berries are then despatched from the cisterns, to which
a due proportion of water has been admitted, provision being made for
collecting and utilizing the latter at the mills.
PULPING AND PREPARING.
The preparation of Coffee for market necessitates the erection of
extensive buildings and machinery on large estates, for which no
specific plans can be given, because much depends upon the size and
situation of the estate, and as much upon the kind and degree of the
preparation contemplated. But the site selected for the works should
be as near the centre of the plantation as is compatible with securing
a patch of open, airy ground to which a good stream of water can be
brought. The first requisite building should be the “pulping-house,”
comprising three floors--the berry loft, the pulping platform and the
cistern floor--and whenever possible it should be built against a
shallow cliff or embankment, so that the berry coffee may be delivered
into the loft without being hauled upstairs by hand, while the berry
loft is usually placed immediately over the pulping platform.
The operation known as “pulping” consists in clearing the coffee
“beans” from the pulp in which they are enveloped, which with ripe
berries is most easily and effectively accomplished immediately after
picking, efforts being usually made to complete the pulping of a day’s
picking during the same evening. If over-ripe or shriveled, but still
comparatively moist inside, the berries should first be soaked in water
for a few hours previous. A number of machines have been invented for
this purpose, the chief objects in all cases being to pulp rapidly,
thoroughly and without injury to the bean, for if the inner or
“silver-skin” of the bean be broken the latter is wasted.
But the latest and most simple form of “pulping”-machine is what is
known as the “Disc Pulper,” in which the separation of the bean and the
pulp is effected by means of rotating discs, covered with a thin sheet
of copper, whose surface has been “knobbed,” is raised into sort of
oval knobs by the application of a blend punch. Pulpers of this class
being portable and cheap, are most frequently used in the opening of
distant estates. The “single” form is very light, and when driven by
three plantation hands, it will pulp all the way from 20 to 25 bushels
of berries an hour. The “double” form, which has two discs and which
is furnished with a feeding-roller inside the hopper, requires from
four to six hands to pulp 40 bushels an hour, but when driven by power,
it will hull from 70 to 80 bushels in the same time. In the machine
the discs are placed between “cushions” of smooth iron, set at such
a distance that the berries cannot pass without being bruised. The
cushions rest in a movable bed of iron, set so that no bean can pass
downwards. When the disc revolves, the berries are driven forward and
squeezed, the corrugations then catch the skins and drag them between
the disc and bed. These small pulpers have an advantage over the
larger ones, in that each can be set to suit the size of a portion of
the crop--which always varies in size--and in that, with two or more
machines, there is less likelihood of complete stoppage in case of
accident. One disc pulper to every 30 or 40 acres--that is, about three
to every 100 acres, two to be set alike for large size and one for
smaller berries--should be ample in a fair-sized estate.
There are times, however, when it is impossible to pulp Coffee; the
pulpers may get out of repair, or the weather may be so untoward that
the berry does not ripen sufficiently, or become too dry for pulping.
In these cases the berries must first be fermented. The best way to do
this is to place them in one of the tanks, or if the quantity is too
small to nearly fill a tank, in an old box or cask, and cover it with
sacks or grass, and let it remain until it acquires a good warmth;
then, when the berries in squeezing are no longer slippery, they may be
taken out and spread in the sun to dry. For two or three nights it need
not be housed, nor will rain hurt it. When dry, it may be stored for
curing like parchment Coffee, but must not be mixed with it. To ferment
the berries by leaving them in a heap on the ground is a bad plan for
two reasons: First, when fermented in this manner it becomes very wet
and collects dirt, which, in the after treatment, will affect the color
of the Coffee. Second, because in a heap the fermentation cannot be
equalized throughout the Coffee. Pulping may be performed whenever
possible, as the increased trouble entailed by the latter process is
not compensated for by the alleged improvement of the flavor and no
better price is received for it.
FERMENTING AND DRYING.
The “parchment” coffee as it comes from the pulper is next submitted
to a fermentation process for the purpose of removing the saccharine
matter, without which the beans would not dry. This operation is
performed in a series of tanks, whose capacity varies with the size
of the estate, and which may be arranged in squares. The pulpers are
placed on a platform above the tanks and in such a position that the
pulped coffee can be run by water into the tanks, which must also be
so situated that the coffee will always advance by the aid of running
water and may finally be conveniently conveyed to the drying ground,
while the water and refuse run off. The amount of cistern accommodation
necessary for a plantation maybe based on the allowance of one cubic
foot for each bushel of berries picked in one day. The tanks are seldom
less than three in number--two receiving cisterns, each large enough
for the greatest possible daily picking and a third for washing the
parchment, nearly as large superficially, as the two others combined,
that is, the “washing” tanks from twelve to fifteen feet long, two
feet deep and separated by a causeway three and one-half feet wide,
and the “fermenting” tanks eight by eighteen feet long and two and
one-half feet deep. These tanks are usually made of brick-work, lined
with cement or asphalt, but wood is much better because less cold, but
all should have a slight incline in order to assist the drainage. The
receiving tanks are provided at the lowest corner with a good-sized
outlet, fitted with a plug and with a movable sieve of perforated
zinc or woven-wire, fine enough to keep back the coffee when draining
off the water, but not so fine as to choke with saccharine scum; the
receiving cisterns being used alternately. All the coffee pulped in
one day is allowed to remain in the receiving cistern until a slight
fermentation has set in; this occurs in from twelve to eighteen hours
in mild weather, but in cold weather it may take from thirty to forty
hours and even more. There are two ways of conducting fermentation--the
dry and the wet--the former consists in allowing the berries to be
without water, the bottom of the tank being perforated so as to draw
off the liquid, but by the latter process the tank remains full of
water. The dry system, however, is the better as long as care is taken
to turn the mass so that the fermentation shall be equal throughout;
the presence of water equalizes the fermentation but retards it and
slightly injures the quality of the coffee. When fermentation is not
sufficiently prolonged, the beans will assume a yellowish color--called
“blankety”--and will be difficult to dry, becoming liable to absorb
moisture at the same time. But when properly fermented the separation
of the saccharine matters is easily effected in the washing tanks, to
which the pulped beans and a good supply of water is admitted. The
washing cistern is provided with a sluice door at the lowest corner,
this door commonly measuring six inches wide by three inches deep. The
coffee is meanwhile constantly agitated by a wooden scraper or rake,
by which the light coffee and refuse matter float and may be skimmed
off, the dirty water flowing off through a tall cistern provided with a
grating to catch the skins and stray parchment, while the sound berries
are placed in draining boxes to remove the excess of moisture and are
then transferred to the drying ground with the least possible delay.
But should the climate be uncertain it will be necessary to provide
for the emergency of a succession of wet days, when drying cannot be
proceeded with. Parchment coffee may be kept in the undried state
for two weeks without injury by placing it in a cistern exposed to a
continuous flow of cold water.
In drying, the berries to be dried are first spread out on a flat
surface exposed to the heat of the sun. The material forming the
_terrcino_ (terrace) or drying ground varies greatly in the different
coffee-producing countries, but most commonly the ground is leveled
and then covered with a kind of concrete, sometimes asphalt is laid
down, but, besides being expensive it is not sure in hot climates to
withstand the heat, and such a surface is liable to crack and give
way if not carefully drained. A very good and much better plan is to
lay down coir-matting on ground which has simply been made smooth and
hard; the advantages of this plan are its cheapness, the ease with
which extra ground can be requisitioned in case of need, and the use
of the matting as a temporary covering in case of a sudden shower;
modifications of this method are to stretch coir or gunny cloth
across modern frames, or across trays with or without wheels. Shed
accommodations must always be provided ready for the reception of the
coffee at any moment, and the beans must be constantly turned over
and over, either by light rakes or shovels. The drying must also be
rendered equable and must not proceed too rapidly so as not to crack
the parchment before the bean is quite dry, for this reason also, the
coffee should not be exposed too long to a strong sun for the first
day or so. During the drying it is gathered in each day when the sun
is hot, but will then continue to dry under cover. Every care must be
taken to prevent overheating, which may happen by prolonged drying in
mild weather; rather than permit this the coffee should be returned to
a tank, and kept washed with running water.
A new method, known as “artificial drying,” has recently been adopted
in Brazil and other countries, being much quicker and cheaper. An easy
means of applying artificial heat is by passing an iron pipe, open
at both ends, through a fire outside the stove and below the level
of the floor, continuing it into the stove just beneath the floor;
the heated air, by passing upwards through the coffee, will carry off
much of the damp. Revolving drying machines are also in use; one of
the best of these is one introduced originally for drying corn. It
consists of cylinders into which steam enters and agitators arranged
so that the coffee is impelled forwards and caught up and rained down
as the cylinder revolves. The central cylinder works in a steam packet,
outside which is a light casing of sheet iron, perforated at one end so
that the air may be drawn through by a fan to assist in the drying and
carry off the liberated moisture; this machine obviates the necessity
for respreading the coffee in the terraces before hulling. Three days’
thorough sunning usually suffices to render the coffee quite dry and
brittle, in which condition it is known as “parchment coffee,” in which
state, in many countries, it is sent to port, its further curing being
left to the shippers, for not only is considerable expenditure in
buildings and machinery necessary for the purpose, but the experience
gained by manipulating various lots of coffee will enable those
who make the subject a special study to bring the sample up to the
best standard of appearance and keeping properties, but the coffee
retains its color better if allowed to remain for several weeks in the
parchment, and its quality continues to improve for months, even years,
the process being known as “curing;” as, however, protracted curing
causes great subsequent difficulty in removing, the “silver-skin”
coffee is never kept in the parchment longer than is compulsory.
HULLING AND PEELING.
This operation consists in the removal of the “parchment” and the
“silver-skin,” after which the beans are again exposed to the sun for
a period which is difficult to define. Some planters say that they
should be dried till they resist pressure of the thumb-nail, but there
is really no infallible test, as no two samples are exactly alike. It
needs much experience to prevent loss of weight by over-drying, or of
color by under-drying, but they peel best while still warm. A variety
of hullers have been tried, but preference is commonly given to the
old-fashioned edge-runner mill, composed of a circular trough with
two large wheels revolving in it and suspended about two inches from
the bottom. The trough is one-half to two-thirds filled with beans,
which remain until the grinding action of the revolving-wheels has
separated their skins, when they are let out by a lateral aperture.
A trough fifteen feet in diameter should turn out at least 1,200
pounds of marketable coffee an hour, four bushels of good parchment
coffee yielding 100 pounds clean coffee. The appearance of the coffee
immediately after hulling is very light colored, but it soon assumes a
fern-green hue, which it will retain unless exposed to damp, when it
becomes dingy or mottled-gray, and is classed as “country damaged.”
WINNOWING AND SIZING.
The peeled Coffee as it comes from the huller in company with the
detached skins is submitted to the influence of a fan whose force
must be so adjusted that it will effectually remove the skins without
carrying off the Coffee. When the Coffee has been cleaned from
the skins, it is necessary to separate it into various sizes for
market, chiefly with the object of rendering the subsequent roasting
process more equable in effect. Formerly the sizing was performed by
hand-picking, but it is now the custom to employ a machine called a
“separator,” which consists of an inclined, revolving cylindrical
sieve formed of perforated sheet-iron or steel wires, and divided into
sections of different meshes. The Coffee is fed in at the hopper, which
is furnished with a regulator and an internal worm for the purpose of
distributing it equally, while a revolving brush prevents the meshes
from being choked. Sand and dust pass through the first section and
fall into the space while the small and broken beans are delivered
below, the best and largest beans are caught up and the peaberry rolls
freely out at the end.
BUILDINGS AND STORES.
Though there is no necessity for curing the Coffee, and it may be
hulled at once if desired, the exigencies of climate render a properly
constructed warehouse one of greatest _desiderata_. The characteristics
of structure must be, first, dryness combined with security; hence,
galvanized iron forms the best material. It is generally of two
stories, the lower floor being sometimes boarded or asphalted, but the
upper must always be so made so as to admit of free circulation of air
through the Coffee placed in it. This object may best be obtained by
laying wire gauze or coir matting over reapers about one inch apart.
Abundant ventilation must also be provided, and it will be necessary
to watch for any signs of heating. Immediately on its appearance
the Coffee must be turned over rapidly. An improved form of Coffee
structure is that built on what is termed the Clerichew principle, in
which the floor of the upper story is constructed as in the former
case, resting on joists running lengthwise in the building. A ceiling
is provided for the lower story by tacking to the joists cloth which
has been well soaked in boiled rice water and lime, to render it
air-tight. Continuous air-passages are thus made beneath the floor.
About ten feet of one end of the lower apartment are partitioned off,
and its sides are made as nearly air-tight as possible, and it has no
ceiling other than the floor above, so that the passages all open into
it. In an opening in the wall of this chamber a pair of large revolving
fans are placed, their rapid vibrations drawing a continuous current
of air from the inside, and therefore through the Coffee itself. In
this manner dried parchment Coffee can be kept in perfect condition
without any turning over, and by using heated air on the same principle
as before Coffee may be housed while still only partially dry and yet
not suffer from fermentation.
PACKING AND SHIPPING.
As soon as the Coffee is sized and graded it is ready for the market.
Bags are most commonly used, but it is best packed in air-tight casks,
made from wood, which is not likely to taint the Coffee in any way.
In shipping Coffee great care is required to prevent its coming in
contact with any merchandise that may communicate to it a foreign
flavor or odor. Vessels engaged in the Coffee trade should have
perforated ventilating tubes from the bottom of the hold, passing
through the cargo, so as to allow the escape of all steam and gases
generated during transit; without such an appliance the beans will be
discolored and classed as “damaged,” an injury which cannot be covered
by insurance. In well-ventilated ships Coffee loses about one-half per
cent. in weight but gains in quality during transit; while under bad
ventilation there will be a gain of one-half per cent. in weight but a
loss of color, and consequent depreciation in value.
COST AND PROFIT.
Here a few remarks on the cost, prospects and profits of coffee
planting may not be out of place. How much does it require to start on
safely is frequently asked. From ten to twenty thousand dollars may be
considered a fair capital. As to what kind of a plantation that can
be had for these sums is a question that from the shifting nature of
prices, and the varieties of climates, soils and situations, cannot
be accurately answered, or with even an approximation to accuracy.
With regard to the profits of coffee planting the investor may get a
very large return, a moderate or a small one, and he may even suffer,
as many who have tried it have done, a considerable loss. No reliance
whatever can be placed on the estimates so often published, and though
many of them may be accurate enough as far as they go, assuming that
everything goes well, good soil, climate, cheap labor, good health,
and good seasons must be taken into account, in the brilliant reports
of the returns to be expected in the first few bearing years, usually
terminating with the assertion that “the profits subsequently to be
derived will be something fabulous.”
Transport facilities are another important factor and deserving of
much consideration. In many countries they exceed the cost of growing
and preparing the crops for market, and it frequently occurs in the
interior of Brazil, Mexico and other countries, that it does not
pay to forward the coffee to the markets at the ports of shipment.
But whatever may be the ascertained advantages in point of soil,
temperature, moisture and situation, and however bountiful may be
the yield of the plants, the speculation must always be estimated in
connection with the cost and vicissitudes with which coffee planting as
a business is unhappily associated. Anxiety must be inseparable from
an undertaking exclusively dependent on native labor, and liable to
be affected at the most critical moment by its capricious commercial
fluctuations. The crops in most of the coffee-growing countries, when
saved on the plantation, has either to encounter the risk incident
to transportation by hand through mountain districts as yet unopened
by roads, or the chances of deterioration to which it is exposed in
bullock carts during long journeys to the coast. The real facts being
that the difficulties in the way of forming accurate agricultural
statistics are in the coffee-producing countries almost insuperable,
there being either a tendency to exaggerate or depreciate the yield,
as it best serves the interests of the cultivators. And again as
regards coffee in particular, there is no means whatever of estimating
the product. A great deal being said, but very little known in the
way a man generally requires to know that he may wish to publish as
reasonably near the truth. So in going into coffee planting in any
country it signifies little whether you know what certain plantations
_have_ yielded or what amount of profits _may_ be expected. One fact
may be relied on, however, that is, if an estate frequently changes
hands, it is certainly a bad or indifferent one, if seldom it is sure
the coffee growing pays well, and further it is not necessary to
inquire, for hardly any landed investment pays so well as good sound
coffee property, and the owners are therefore seldom inclined to part
with it.
The extent of coffee plantations varies from 100 to 300 acres, the
annual product ranging from 500 to 1,000 pounds per acre of prepared
coffee, according to location and care bestowed on the plantation.
The profits also vary with the ruling market price of the coffee at
time of sale, of labor, transportation and the inscrutable effects
of the season. But a cost of from $350 to $500 per 100 pounds may be
considered a fair average; any yield under 300 per acre scarcely paying
expenses, any over 700 paying a handsome profit.