PREPARATION OF COFFEE 



to Surinam, in Dutch Guiana. Apparently the millions 

 of shrubs in the enormous coffee plantations of the New 

 World are all descended from this particular Amsterdam 

 plant. 



This New World coffee is by far the most important 

 supply. Brazil alone exports about £19,000,000 worth of 

 coffee, and that from the New World forms about 82 per 

 cent of the total world's producticm. 



The story of coffee in Ceylon is a tragedy. There happened 

 to be in the jungle a particular fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) 

 which got its living on the leaves of wild plants belonging to 

 the coffee order (Rubiacece) and others. When Arabian 

 coffee was introduced, the fungus began to attack its leaves. 

 The result was the utter ruin of the industry. It is said 

 that about £15,000,000 was lost by this Hemileia disease in 

 Ceylon. 



The plantations require a grea* deal of care. The shrubs 

 have to be carefully pnmed, and the preparation of the 

 coffee bean is not a very easy matter. It is really the seed of 

 a bright red, fleshy berry. The pulp or flesh has to be re- 

 moved, and also both a homy skin, the " parchment," and a 

 thin delicate membrane, the " silverskin,"' in which the seed 

 is enclosed. Coffee is not nearly so much used in Britain as 

 in some other places, and particularly in Holland, for the 

 Dutch drink about twenty-one pounds per head in the year, 

 whilst we in Great Britain only use about three-quarters of 

 a pound. 



It is in fact not very easy to make good coffee, and it is 

 absolutely necessary to grind and roast the beans just before 

 using them. Very often also too little coffee is used. 



Tinned coffee is often adulterated with either Chicory or 

 Endives, but those are only the two most important im- 



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