356 



THE AORICUTURAL NEWS. T 



November 8, 1913. 



FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 



COMPOSITION OF THE OOFFEE BERRY 



IN RELATION TO THE MANURING OF 



COFFEE ESTATES. 



During the past three years, considerable attention has 

 been given in Southern India to the manurial requirements of 

 coffee. It has been found that it is quite possible in 

 manuring coffee with a heavy mulch to provide an unbalanced 

 ratio of plant food where nitrogen is in excess and the other 

 essential constituents insufficient to meet the plant's require- 

 ments at the proper time. Attention has also been given to 

 the composition of the pulp of the coffee fruit. More recently, 

 the subject of the chemical composition of the coffee berry 

 itself has been investigated. ' This work has been carried out 

 by Mr. R. D. Anstead, B.A., Planting Expert to the United 

 Planters' As-sociation of Southern India, (and formerly 

 Superintendent of Agriculture, Grenada), in collaboration with 

 Mr. C. K. Pitlock. The results of the investigation are 

 published in the Planters' Chronklf for September 6, 1913. 

 First of all, a table of analyses is given, which shows that 

 potash is a dominant ingredient in the mineral constituents of 

 the coffee bean. It is suggested that it is only logical to 

 suppose that potiish manures should assist the ripening process, 

 and this raises the question as to when this potash should be 

 supplied: Do the coffee berries need it from their very 

 existence as bt-i lies, that is, as soon as they have set and the 

 blossom has fallen, or do they need it only towards the end 

 of their development? The same question applies also to 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid. 



To provide an answer, 'the investigators analysed fresh 

 coffee berries in different stages of development each month 

 from July to January. It was found, as might be expected, 

 that the moisture steadily, decreases as the berries increase 

 in size and age. It is believed that this circumstance is a 

 significant one, and suggests a possible fruitful line of research, 

 namely, the study of the physical condition of different types 

 of coffee soils and their moisture content at different times 

 of the year in relation to the ability of the coffee grown on 

 them to hold a big crop. 



With regard to the mineral constituents of the berries, 

 there appears to be a markedly steady increase of potash 

 content throughout the period of growth, and from this it is 

 concluded that potash in an available form is needed all 

 the time. 



The phosphoric acid content, however, appears to be a 

 constant quantity at first, with a maximum about October, 

 after which it declines. Hence it seems likely that this 

 constituent is needed in an available form chiefly at the 

 beginning of the season. 



The nitrogen content increases steadily throughout the 

 period of growth and keeps pace with the increase in 

 organic matter. 



From a practical point of view, the results of the 

 investigation are admitted to be not entirely conclusive, but 

 it is suggested that in estate practice the following procedure 

 might well be given a trial. It is suggested that potash 

 manures should be applied before the monsoon or half before 

 and half after; phosphoric acid should be put on half before 

 and half after the monsoon, the iifter-monsoon dose in an 

 available form. The nit,rogen dose might economically be 

 applied after the monsoon in an available form. 



The authors state that they are going to carry out field 

 experiments with coffee of known bearing capacity to settle 

 definitely the accuracy of their deduction.s. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF RIPE VANILLA. 



The information in this article has been selected and 

 translated from a paper publi-shed in L' Agriculture Prutiijue 

 ■ /e.s Paps Chauds (April 191.i). It concerns the question of 

 what characters should be considered to indicate the ideal 

 state of vanilla pods previous to their being picked for curing, 

 and it also deals with the differences in density (specific 

 gravity) and loss in weight of pods ripened respectively in the 

 shade and in the siitt. 



Vanilla is ripe when it splits, and when the yellow 

 colour is confined to the line of dehiscence, the remaining 

 areas being more or less green. A yellow pod is that which, 

 gathered in this state, arrives at perfect maturity without 

 altering, although it is no longer on the tree. 



It is commonly said that vanilla is fit to be picked when 

 the thick end of the pod is yellow. This is often true, but 

 not always. If the fruit has its thick end yellow, and if 

 this colour is more pronounced towards this end, and 

 descends towards the narrow end; if the two lines of the sides 

 are yellow from one end to the other, and if the little lines 

 which run down the fruit under the epidermis are also yellow, 

 or almost so, over the entire surface of the pod (underneath 

 and above); and if the 'shine' has disappeared, then the 

 vanilla is in a good state to be picked and will give a good 

 product after preparation. But if it has only its thick 

 end yellow, and if this colour is confined to an area with 

 a more or less clearly defined boundary around the neigh- 

 bouring green part; if it is shiny, coloured lines being 

 absent as much on the sides as over the whole surface, this 

 vanilla is not fit to be harvested. The thick end of the pod 

 has yellowed because it 'has touched the substratum, or 

 perhaps because it has received too much sun. 



The ripeness of pods from which an oily liquid exudes 

 and which remain green, or those that tend to become 

 brownish-black in colour at the free end, can be determined 

 by means of the two lateral lines. Fruits which split along 

 only a few millimetres of their length become, in due course, 

 completely yellow and then chocolate in colour. 



In general, one cannot count upon vanilla in the shade 

 having its thick end yellow before picking; shade-grown 

 vanilla on the plantation will have: (1) a dull appearance 

 over its entire surface, (2) two lateral yellow lines, (3) line.s, 

 yellow or yellowish-green, which are situated under the 

 epidermis, and give to all the fruit, a green and feebly yellow- 

 ish colouration. 



In this state, although the yellow colour may be visible 

 only along the two lateral lines, this vanilla will give 

 a commercial product possessing all desirable qualities. 



DIFFERENCES IN TIiIe DENSITY (SPECIFIC GRAVITY) OF PODS. 



The method adopted in carrying out this investigation 

 was to weigh and then measure, by means of a graduated 

 cylinder containing water, fruit taken (1) from plants grow- 

 ing on their supports in the shade, (2) from plants growing 

 on supporting plants in full leaf but devoid of overhead 

 shade, (3) from vanilla on supports without any shade what- 

 ever. It was found, as a result of a large number of 

 measurements, that the density of pods grown in the shade 

 was greater than those which matured in the sun. The 

 means obtained were, for (1), 1015, (i!), 1013 and 

 for (3), 0-972. 



At the end of the article, the detrimental effect of drought 

 and wind is pointed out, and attention is called to the fact 

 that in countries where the degree of humidity of the atmos- 

 phere is very great, it is found that vanilla ripened in the 

 sun is richer in essential oil than that which has been 

 allowed to mature in the shade. 



