20 The Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee 



alone, which in 1690 was sent from the Dutch 

 East Indies to the Botanic Garden at 

 Amsterdam. Small plants were distributed 

 from its seeds all over the West Indies 

 and South America, and at the present time 600 

 millions of plants are estimated to be bearing 

 in Brazil. 



It is further said that in 1717 some plants 

 were sent to Martinique from France, but on 

 account of the long voyage and scant water 

 supply these were all lost except one plant, 

 which was saved through the sacrifice of an 

 officer of the French Army, who divided his 

 allowance of water with that one, thereby 

 becoming the father of the coffee industry in 

 the West Indies. From Martinique the coffee 

 plant was distributed through the West Indies, 

 reaching Jamaica in 1732 ; Porto Kico, Santo 

 Domingo, and Cuba about 1750; and some of 

 the Spanish possessions on the mainland about 

 the same -time. 



