450 THE AMERICAN FARMER, 



place to become cured. When thoroughly dry, it is a good plan to look the heads over care 

 fully, and with a pair of scissors clip off all the smaller or imperfect pods, leaving only the 

 largest and best-looking ones, which are found at the crowns and ends of the best shoots. 

 Those cut off should be thrown away, being unfit for seed. The others may be shelled and 

 cleaned with a fine sieve, and put away in a tin box in a dry place until needed for sowing 

 the next season. Before shelling, the heads should be handled with care, as they sift out 

 easily, and the contents of the best pods might thus be lost. 



COFFEE. 



COFFEE is a tropical product, a native of &quot;Western Africa and Abyssinia, and has 

 become naturalized in many other countries. In its natural or wild state, the coffee- 

 tree attains a height of from twelve to twenty feet, and bears but few branches. In 

 cultivation, the tree is topped to from six to ten feet from the ground, the branches beginning 

 quite near the root, which, after being topped, gives it the general form of a pyramid. The 

 leaves are oblong-ovate, from four to five inches in length, are opposite on the branch, ever 

 green, of a rich dark-green hue, thick and glossy. 



The flowers are clustered in the axils of the leaves. They are small, white, and very 

 fragrant. When ripe, the pod or seed-vessel is of a dark -red color, and contains two cells, 

 in each of which is a seed, called the coffee-bean, or berry. 



Coffee is an important plant in the agriculture of those inter-tropical countries suited to 

 its cultivation, as its use is almost universal, and the demand for the product great, while the 

 section of the globe to which its successful culture is restricted is limited, when compared 

 with that of many other products. It is stated by reliable authority, that the annual con 

 sumption of coffee in the United States is greater than that of any other country, being six 

 times the amount of that consumed by some of the European countries. Germany and 

 France rank second, or next to the United States in this respect. 



Brazil, at present, is the largest coffee -producing country in the world. The product is, 

 however, inferior to the Java and Mocha, but is often sold in the market under the name of 

 these varieties, which are thus counterfeited. The regions in which the latter are cultivated 

 are so very limited that it would be impossible for them to supply but a comparatively small 

 fractional part of the quantity that is sold under those names, Brazil and other South Amer 

 ican countries producing quite a large proportion of this product. The leaves of the coffee- 

 tree are said to be used by the inhabitants of Sumatra, instead of the berry, and are prepared 

 for use by drying. Chicory root, dandelion root, carrots, Indian corn, rye, peas, etc., are 

 often used as substitutes for coffee after being roasted. 



Varieties. The varieties of coffee are quite numerous. The Mocha, which comes from 

 Arabia, is considered by many to be superior to all others. There is so much of the counterfeit in 

 market under that name at present that it is difficult to find the real article. It is known by 

 the beans or seeds being of a small size, and of a greenish-gray color. Java, or East India 

 coffee, has beans of a large size and yellow hue. Jamaica has beans somewhat smaller than 

 the Java, and greenish in color. Bourbon coffee has yellow beans of a light shade. Surinam 

 coffee has the largest beans. The Rio, Ceylon, Maracaibo, etc., are varieties slightly differing, 

 and though good, are not generally considered equal to the Mocha or Java. The product 

 known as the Male Berry differs from others in the form and size of the bean, it being quite 

 round and small, instead of flat like most other coffees. These round beans will be found in 

 the product of any kind of coffee in the proportion of about one to every twenty or twenty- 



