20 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



J.\NUAEY 18, 1913. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



ROBUSTA COFFEE. 



This coffee was dealt with at some leneth in an 

 article on pages 132 and 138 of Volume X of the 

 Agricidtural Neics. The following additional inform- 

 ation is tsken from the Bulletin of tin- Imperial 

 Institute for October 1912: — 



onAKACTEP.s OF THE PLANT. In Certain vegetative 

 characters, C. robnsta would seem to occupy the same 

 relative position with regard to C lUierica, as does that 

 species to V. araOica. Piobusta coffee grows more rapidly 

 than Lfberian, a plant eight numths old being much taller and 

 possessing more branches and leaves than Liberian cottee 

 twelve months old. The plant is of a more robust habit, 

 and the leaves, though variable in size, are larger than those 

 of C. liUrica, but thinner and of a lighter green colour. 

 The branches, however, have a tendency to bend downwards, 

 so that the bush becomes somewhat umbrella shaped. Like 

 C. liherka the plant flowers throughout the year, the 

 flowers being intermediate in size between those of the 

 species named and of C'.-ara/nca. Perhaps the most striking 

 feature of Robusta coffee is the largo number of berries borne 

 in the numerous thick clusters, each of which contains on an 

 average forty to sixty berries, though larger numbers are 

 frequently met with. The berries are much smaller than in 

 Liberian coffee, but, since the pulp is thinner, the beans are 

 not markedly different in point of size from those of 

 C.arahica. Gallagher states that on an average 10 cwt. of 

 Liberian berries give 1 cwt. of marketable coffee, while only 

 4 cwt. of liobusta berries are required to yield the same 

 amount. In the case of the latter coffee, many more berries 

 go to the hundredweight than is the case with Liberian 

 cottee, but the greater number on the branche.s renders the 

 picking 'if anything cheaper'. The red pulp is easily remov- 

 ed, as is also the thin parchment. 



(iliALlTY OF TiiE COFFEE. Considerable variation is to be 

 found in the opinions expressed as to the quality of liobusta 

 coffee, but it is not improbable that such differences are in 

 some measure to be e.xplained as a result of different methods 

 of preparation, not all of equal excellence. It is stated that 

 the beans do not posse.^s a first-clas.s cclour, and that for the 

 first two crops a good aroma is lacking. Dr. Wildeman 

 afHrms that the flavour recalls that of Liberian coffee, but 

 with less aroma. Hart compared Kobusta coffee with the 



coffee of Costa llica and the ]vist ladies; while, according to 

 Cramer, the quality of well-prepared liobusta coffee is 

 a|iproximately that of middling Arabian coffee. The beans 

 possess a bluish green colour, similar to that of the Arabian 

 product, but they are of a somewhat different shape, being 

 larger and more convex on the curved side. 



In preparing liobusta coffee f < r consumption it is necess- 

 ary that the beans should be well roasted, and it is stated 

 that the coffee loses less weight during this process than is 

 the case with other kinds. 



INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING 



THE PINE-APPLE. 



The Hawaiian 4g'''cidtural E.\i)erimcnt Station 

 has issued recently Bulletin Xo. 28, dealing with the 

 effect of iTiangane.se in the soil on pine-apple plants, and 

 the ripening of the pine-apple fruit. A summary at the 

 end of the publication is reproduced here: — 



The root system of pine apples is very variable and par- 

 ticularly sensitive to adverse soil conditions. When grown 

 in manganiferous soil the roots are less extensive and the ends 

 of the roots are characterized by the development of swollen 

 tips, the appearance of vrhxch seems to mark the cessation of 

 the lateral growth of the roots, death and decay immediately 

 following their development. The cells immediately beneath 

 the epidermis of the roots are also somewhat more brown 

 than are normal roots. 



The stem of pine-apples serves as a repository for starch 

 and contains large amounts of this substance. 



The leaves of pine-apples in common with other mem- 

 bers (if the liromeliaceae contain several rows of palisade cells 

 which contain nothing but cell sap, and the chlorophyll is 

 confined to the spongy parenchyma in the lower three-fifths 

 of the leaf. The fruit contains only faint traces of starch 

 during early growth, and when it reaches maturity starch is 

 absent from it. 



The most conspicuous effect of manganese on this plant 

 is seen in the bleaching of the chlorophyll which first begins 

 to fade, the chloroplasta lose their organized structure, and 

 later the colour disappears altogether. ( )xalate of calcium 

 is much more abundant in pine apjilc plants growing on 

 manganiferous soils. The ash of such plants also contains 



