^QVB'E^ ^ HORTUS JAMATCENS'IS. ' 21 



-Tn the siprinsf. In settling a ct'STee estate it is alw;n s advisealjlc to make clioioe of virgin 

 land, which ouyht to be vvxtll cieni'eil, and roads tracketl or iiuide throiHi'h it hefore, or 

 -6IJOI1 after, tlie coffee is planted. Tiie plant is pro,5ai^ated from the seed, which v t;^e- 

 tates very quuklv, and nurseries should l)e formed, so as to produce good plants, i 

 time, for any intended plantation, plants may be taken about six months old, or be- 

 tween that and twelve months, but should not be older. They are generally planted' 

 from six to eight feet distant every way from, each other, according to the poverty or 

 richness of the sail. After they are planted the ground should be kejit perfectly clean. 

 Some settlers prepare a siuall hole, lulled with manure, for each plant; but others 

 content themselves with puinting them by means of pointed )iegs, vviih .which tliey 

 simply bore a hole in the g;\nirid and in.sert the pla,nt; the former is certainly the pre- 

 ferable way, although, in good land, the coffee succeeds very well under the latter 

 treatment. The trees bear when between two and three years old the. fourth year is 

 he fullest bearing year in all situatiQu.s,; and tliey will contiaueto thrive ?.nd to bear 

 tor thirty or forty years in a good soil. They are seldom allowed to grow above six feet, 

 3ome planters eut off the tap much lower, which process throws great strengtji.into the 

 bearing branches, aad renders the tree much more convenient for picking than if it 

 was allo\\ed to ruri up taller^ This topping preserves the lower branches, which other- 

 visc would decay* as they do in all trees that are allowed to a.scend. Topping, how- 

 .ver, renders constant arid laborious pruning necessary after the fourth year, as, with- 

 out pnmhig, the vegetiztion, instead of producing fruit, would be i'orced into an use- 

 less production of brandier, and leaves, which woidd prevent the sun and air from pe- 

 netrating to the stem, by which the coffee is very nmch benefited ; and on which, in- 

 <leed, its good bearing^epends. The best time for pruning is imnvidiately after the 

 crop is taken off'; the sooner the-better, especially for such trees as have suffered by 

 itoo heavy a bearing, ia thes^^ trees the fruit frequently blasts in. its early state, turn- 

 ing black and droppii\g froGi.4.he tree. The very blossoK! is often blasted" by the north 

 winds, or excessive dry weather, when they fall withered to th? ground ; but, if the 

 fruit succeed, little capsules r knobs are formed beiieath the tlower, which suspends 

 itself, withered, at the end of the pistil. 



After the coffee berries have been picked from tiiC tree, there are several modes of 

 drying and preparing them for market. 



The simplest, but most tedious, method, is by dryins; the berrii;s on platforms in 

 the state they are jiicked from the tree, which produces the best .Ravoured ami heaviest 

 coffee, weighing from three to "five per cent, more than when dried by any of the fol- 

 lowing methods. 



Another mode is by passing the coffee berries, as picked from the tree, through a 

 simple nmchine, which breaks and bruises the pulp, allows the sweet j.uice it contains 

 to drain off, and thereby much facilitates the process of drying, not taking above half 

 the time the former method requires, about ten days, in favourable weather. 



The third method, which is generally adopted on large plantations, is by passing the 

 berries through an ingenicrus machine, called the grating mill, which tears off the pulp, 

 And completel}' seperates it from the seeds, which are afterwards washed in cisterns, 

 jind are then exposed to the sun, or dried in kilns, in the former way becoming suffici- 

 ently dry in three or four days, and in the latter in a few hours. This machine, how- 

 vevcr, injures a good many of the grains by scratching and breaking them, as well as 

 "Occasioning a general deficiency ia the weight of the coffee. These losses are, how- 

 ever, 



