244 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 5, 1911. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE PRODUCTION OF MOCHA COFFEE. 



All the ilocba coffee grown in the world comes from the 

 Yemen, a Turkish province in the soiuh-western part of 

 Arabia, and is so called because the entire crop was formerly 

 shipped from Mocha. The trade is now wholly divided 

 between Hodeida and Aden, the bulk of it going from the 

 latter port. C'olTee can be grown successfully, probably, in 

 any of the mountainous parts of the Yemen, but its cultiva- 

 tion is, in fact, confined to a few widely scattered districts 

 and the acreage is relatively small. This is due to the fact 

 that the Yemen Arab never uses coffee himself, contrary to 

 general opinion and the reports of some travellers, but culti- 

 vates it almn.^t entirely for export. He uses ' Kishar ', 

 a beverage he brews from the dried hulls in large quantities, 

 but it is certain that he never would devote much land or 

 labour to the cultivation of the berry for its hulls, becau.se 

 there would be little profit in it. In cultivating coffee for 

 export, the Arab realizes a good profit in money when his 

 trees yield their crop and it is sold. But he must wait four 

 years after planting, during which the cost of labour is heavy, 

 before his trees begin to yield, and the main desideratum 

 with him is not money but food. In a land where the bar- 

 ter of commodities is difficult, through lack of means of com- 

 munication, money may mean clothing and comforts: but the 

 one necessity is food, and he may not always be where he can 

 buy food with his money. In conscijuence, the Yemen Arab 

 devotes little of his land to coffee, and very much excellent 

 coffee land to dhurra, a plant resembling Indian corn in 

 appearance but producing a grain like millet. He argues 

 that, however superior the money-getting qualities of land 

 planted with coffee, he gets sixteen crops of dhurra while 

 waiting for one of coffee, and is sure that his family 

 is safe from starvation. According to the American 

 Consul at Aden, the principal coffee regions are in 

 the mountains between Taiz and Ibb, and between Ibb 

 and ^erim, and Verim and Sanaa on the caravan route from 

 Taiz to /abeeil; between Hayelah and Menakha on the route 

 from Hodeida to Sanaa, and in the wild mountain region 

 north and .south of that route; between Heit el-Kakih and 

 Ubal, and between Manakha and Mathan to the north of 

 Bajil. Of all Yemen or ^locha coffee, the best is that known 

 as Mohtari, from the district of Beni Mohtar, lying almost 

 due south of Sanaa. Another nearly, if not quite as good, 

 comes from Yafi, near Taiz. Other kinds that are considered 

 superior are Sharsh, Menakha and Hifash. It is said that 



all these coffees are the san:e variet)', and that the superior 

 quality of any of the so-called kinds is due wholly to the 

 curing. In Beni [Mohtar the coffee lands are held by large 

 and wealthy proprietors, wbose means enable them to hold 

 their crop for some months after it is gathered. The berries 

 picked in September are accordingly stored away, and allowed 

 to cure all the winter. The bean thus dries out thoroughly 

 before it is hulled and brought to market. This accounts for 

 the clear, almost translucent yellow colour of the finest berries 

 when they reach ithe market. The [ilanlers in the other dis- 

 tricts, however, are compelled to sell their crop quickly, in 

 order to tide over the winter. Hence thej' pick the fruit 

 before it is properly ripened, and hull the berry before it is 

 properly dried. As a result, the colour is pale and lifeless, 

 the flavour weak and flat, compared with the berry cured 

 within the hull. So little is cofl'ee used by the people, that 

 a few months after the new crop has been gathered, it i.s 

 impossible for one passing through the country to buy 

 a single pound, except at Hodeida and Sanaa. (The Journal 

 of the Royal Sorudy of Arts. May .'j, 1911, p. GIS.) 



EXAMINATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL 



SCHOOL, DOMINICA. 



Tho following is the report of the Kxaminer 

 (Mr. F. \V. South, B.A.) on the recent half-yearly 

 examination of the Agricultural School in Dominica: — 



In consequence of an alteration in the curriculum of the 

 Agricultural School, the half-yearly examination papers were 

 set this year so as to contain questions on the first half of tho 

 .syllabus laid down for Preliminary Candidates in the Reading 

 Cour.ses examination as outlined by the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture. The examination was confined to the subject 

 of Agriculture, in which two papers were .set, each containing 

 four (juestions. 



Eight boys sat for the examination; the best answers 

 were written by G. Cuffy, who secured 7.5 per cent, of the 

 marks obtainable. The average percentage of marks obtained 

 by all the pupils was Gi."). 



In general the papers were fairly satisfactory, and the 

 standard of knowledge attained was fairly uniform. The 



