HOW COFFEE IS GROWN
_Coffee cultivation in general—Soil, climate,
rainfall, altitude, propagation, shade, windbreaks,
diseases—How the plant grows in all the principal
producing countries._
Coffee grows best in rock ground that pulverizes easily, and, if
possible, of volcanic origin. The plant favors a temperate climate
within the Tropics. It requires about 70 inches of rainfall supplied
evenly throughout the year. It will flourish from sea level up to 6,000
feet, but the quality improves the higher the elevation. _Robusta_ and
_Liberica_ do well in the lower levels, but _Arabica_ thrives best in
the hills or high table lands.
Coffee trees are grown most generally from seeds planted in shaded
nursery beds. Germination takes place in about six weeks. Usually the
plantation is laid out on heavily wooded and sloping ground. The forest
trees having been cleared and the ground prepared, the young plants are
transferred when about a year old. They are set out in shallow holes at
regular intervals of eight to 12 or even 14 feet apart. In the triangle
or hexagon system they are planted in the form of an equilateral
triangle, each tree being the same distance (usually eight or nine
feet) from its six nearest neighbors.
Shade and windbreak trees are provided for _Arabica_ in countries
subjected to strong chilly winds and intensely hot sunlight. Hand
plows and horse-drawn cultivators are employed to cultivate the ground
between the rows.
If left to grow, the coffee tree may reach a height of 40 feet; so
the planter prunes regularly after the first crop to keep it from six
to 12 feet. This makes for a quality bean and facilitates picking.
The tree bears its first crop at three years and is in full bearing
from the sixth to the 15th years, though some trees give paying crops
for 30 years. The production varies from half a pound to eight pounds
annually, and 12 pounds have been gathered from a single tree.
There are numerous pests and diseases that attack the trees, the worst
known being a leaf disease (_Hemileia vastatrix_), which destroyed the
Ceylon coffee industry in 1869.
The beauty of a coffee estate in flower is of a very fleeting
character. One day it is a snowy expanse of fragrant white blossoms
for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see, and two days later the
soft, gentle winds have blown them all away. The flowers are beautiful,
but the eye of the planter sees in them not alone beauty and fragrance.
He looks beyond and in his mind’s eye sees bags and bags of green
coffee, representing to him the goal and reward of all his toil and
worry.
Coffee cultivation methods are pretty much the same in all
coffee-producing countries, but there are always certain local
variations. In Brazil’s coffee belt there are two seasons,—the wet,
running from September to March, and the dry, running from April to
August. The coffee trees are in bloom from September to December. Here
the blossoms last about four days, and are easily beaten off by light
winds or rains. If the rains or winds are violent, the green berries
may be similarly destroyed; so that great damage may be caused by
unseasonable rains and storms.
The harvest usually begins in April or May, and extends well into
the dry season. Even in the picking season, heavy rains and strong
winds—especially the latter—may do considerable damage, for in Brazil
shade trees and windbreaks are the exception.
Approximately 25 percent of the São Paulo plantations are cultivated
by machinery. A type of cultivator very common is similar to the small
corn plow used in the United States. The Planet Junior, manufactured
by a well-known United States agricultural-machinery firm, is the most
popular cultivator. It is drawn by a small mule, with a boy to lead it,
and a man to drive and guide the plow.
[Illustration: EFFICIENT WEEDING AND HARROWING AT RIBEIRAO PRETO, SÃO
PAULO, BRAZIL]
In Colombia, the coffee tree bears its first crop when four or five
years old. The trees are not subject to unusual hazards from the
attacks of injurious insects or parasitic diseases, and on the whole
their cultivation is rather easy.
In Java, the climate and soil have long been ideal for coffee culture,
although in recent years the soil in some districts has shown the need
of fertilizer. _Robusta_ grows well even at altitudes below 1,000 feet,
but its bearing life is only 10 years, as compared with the 30 years of
_Arabica_ at altitudes of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. On some of the highland
plantations pruning is not considered necessary and the trees reach 30
or 40 feet in height. With climate and soil similar to Java, the island
of Sumatra has the added advantage that the land is not “coffee _moe_,”
or “coffee tired,” as is the case in parts of Java.
In Salvador the coffee trees begin bearing when they are two or three
years old, reaching full maturity at seven or eight years and lasting
for 30 years.
Coffee cultivation in Guatemala has reached a high degree of
perfection. The most modern methods are employed. The trees flower in
February, March, and April.
Coffee cultivation in Mexico, more especially in Soconusco, near the
border of Guatemala, reflects the influence of Guatemalan methods.
The soil, climate, and temperature all favor coffee cultivation in
Porto Rico, where the virgin land of the interior requires less labor
in its preparation than in other coffee-growing countries. It is
cleared in the usual manner, the trees are planted eight feet apart,
and hoeing and spading take the place of plow cultivation because of
the lay of the land.
Costa Rica, in its San José and Cartago districts, has a rich volcanic
soil especially adaptable to coffee cultivation.
In India, much cultivating has been done under the shade of the
original jungle trees. _Arabica_ is favored. _Robusta_ and _Maragogipe_
have been tried, but without much success.
Nicaragua has a soil that will grow coffee well in altitudes of 2,000
to 3,000 feet. Transportation is poor and costly.
In Abyssinia, the natives plant the trees in rows about 12 to 15 feet
apart, but pay little attention to cultivation.
In Arabia, land for the coffee gardens is selected on hill slopes, and
is terraced with soil and small walls of stone until it reaches up
like an amphitheater, often to a considerable height. The soil is well
fertilized. For sowing, the seeds are thoroughly dried in ashes, and,
after being placed in the ground, are carefully watched, watered, and
shaded. In about a year, the shrub has grown to a height of 12 or more
inches. Seedlings in that condition are set out in the gardens in rows,
10 to 13 feet apart. The young trees receive moisture from neighboring
wells or from irrigation ditches, and are shaded by bananas.
At maturity the trees reach a height of 10 or 15 feet. Since they never
lose all their leaves at one time, they appear always green, and bear
at the same time flowers and fruits, some of which are still green
while others are ripe or approaching maturity. Thus, in some districts,
the trees are considered to have two or even three crops a year. All
the trees begin to bear about the end of the third year.
Inefficient methods of cultivation for many years retarded the
development of coffee growing on the island of Haiti, but recently
there has been some improvement. Most of the coffee is _Arabica_. The
trees blossom twice before bearing, in January and April-May.
No shade is needed for coffee growing in Panama, and the only
cultivation consists of three or four cleanings a year to keep down the
weeds. No plowing is required.
Advanced methods of planting and cultivation are being followed in
French Indo-China and British East Africa, fostered by the French and
British governments.
In Hawaii, the volcanic soil lends itself easily to successful coffee
cultivation. Coffee trees in Kona are planted principally in the open,
though sometimes they are shaded by the native _kukui_ trees. They are
grown from seed in nurseries; and the seedlings, when one year old, are
transplanted in regular lines nine feet apart. In two years a small
crop is gathered, yielding five to 12 bags of cleaned coffee an acre.
At three years, the trees produce eight to 20 bags of cleaned coffee an
acre, and from that time they are fully matured. The ripening season is
between September and January, and there are two principal pickings.
Many plantations are cultivated by Japanese labor.
Conditions of soil and climate are favorable to coffee cultivation in
the Philippines, labor is cheap and abundant, but enterprise is lacking.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PICKING COFFEE ON A WELL-KEPT FAZENDA, BRAZIL]