230 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1885. 



The pre-eminence gained by Ceylon plantation for 

 colour ill former days was due doubtless to the differ- 

 ence in mode of preparation ; but in Inter times 

 other coffeo-producing countries have not been slow to 

 take a leaf out of our book, with the result, that the 

 pre-eminence is less marked than of yore. 



That the method of curing coffee has much to do 

 with its colour cannot be doubted ; and there can, I 

 think, be equally little doubt that certain conditions 

 of cultivation promote the end in view also. As 

 a rule, tlie best formed and most fully fiUed-out bean is 

 susceptible of the best colour ; and inso far as leaf- 

 disease, drought, or the opposite extreme, poor soil, 

 wind, neglect, or any other cause, mars the efforts of 

 the trees to produce line fruit, so will the task of 

 the coffee curer be rendered the more difficult and 

 uncertain. 



Given a well-matui-ed crop and the necessary appli- 

 ances in the way of machinery for curing, and suitable 

 weather for dryiug the parchment, and, above all, 

 a superiutendeut who knows what he is about, and 

 the result will be coloury coffee, provided that no 

 undue delay occurs in the transmission of crop to 

 Colombo, and that the cuiers there understand 

 their business and perform it properly. There 

 is, however, less chance of harm arising to 

 the coffee in Colombo than there is on the estate ; 

 for as a rule cur operations are not so often liable to 

 be impeded by the weather as they are upcountry. 



The colour of coffee depends greatly, although not 

 entirely, on its freedom from silver skin, that filmy 

 inte°umeut lyiug betwetn the parchment and the 

 beau, and if the caring on the estate is such, that this 

 silver skin incorporates itself with the substance of the 

 bean, no known process of subsequent curing in 

 Colombo will wholly remove it : and in proportion as 

 this skin adheies, so does the finished cofl'ee assume 

 a more or less grey appearance prir to packing. The 

 mere adherence of silver skin does not in all prob- 

 ability affect the quality of the coffee, but it is an 

 indication that at some stage in the process of curing, 

 incipient fermentation had occurred ; and we know 

 that chemical changes of this nature do affect the 

 flivour a^ well as the appearance, not only of ciffee, 

 but also of cacao, tea and other products, and there- 

 fore require to be regulated to a nicety in order to 

 produce the wished- for result. 



The question however is, what part, if any, does or 

 oufiht fermentation to play in the curing of coffee ? 

 and the answer probably is, none beyond what is ne- 

 cessary in the wa-^hing cisterns to separate the mucilage 

 from the parclunent after pulping. Some planters 

 advocate heaping the cherry fur 12 to 14 hours prior 

 to pulping ; l3ut in certain experiments, which I am 

 informed were made by other plant rs to test the re- 

 sults from this method, nothing conclusive was ob- 

 tained to show, that it had any particular advantage 

 in point of colour attained by the bean, the crucial 

 test being the price realized in London. Eapid drying 

 on estate sufficient to pi event heating on the way 

 down, quick transmission to Colombo, and prompt 

 coDcU'ision of operations there, including thorough dry- 

 in", equal sizmt;, and efficient packing in casks or 

 dcmble ba"3, uro probably the most favourable con- 

 ditio js for securing the verdict of " good coloury " in 

 a Loudon sales room.— Yours faithfully, C. VV. H. 



[Inother old merchant and estate proprietor sums 

 up hia advice to the Wynaad planters in terms 

 al nil st identical with those used by " C. W. H." so far 

 as the duty of the superintendent i« concerned : — not 

 to tr> to dry his coffee too much on estate, but to get 

 it dispatched as soon as ijossible by the speediest means 

 of iranspurt at his cimmaud to the hot dry coast, 

 where it cau be carefully attended to in a coffee-curing 

 eBtablishmeut. — Kn.] 



RAINFALL AND TEA IN NORTHERN UVA. 



Narangalla, Badnlla, 3rd Aug. 1885. 

 Dear Sir, — I enclose a return of the rainfall for the 

 past five years. This hill is generally considered an 

 exceptionally dry one, and subject to long droughts ; 

 therefore, I shall be glad to learn your opinion on the 

 distribution and the amount annually registered, and 

 whether it is sufficient to encourage the cultivation of 

 tea, as I believe it has been doubted whether tea 

 would do on this side. You will observe that the 

 average for five years equals 104'09 inches, distrib- 

 uted over 142 days of the same period per year :— . 



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A FORTY-ACRE LOT. 

 [Certainly the average rainfall and its distribution 

 ffully justify tea cultivation.— Ed ] 



ENEMIES OF CACAO. 



Kandy, Ist August 1885. 

 Dkar Sir,— I am sending you by this post in 

 a tin box an extraordinary insect, which was found 

 on a cacao tree. Can you or your entomologist tell me 

 what it ia ? I hope it is not a new plague.— Yours 

 truly, CACAO. 



