BEVERAGE PLANTS 



Now we come to the plant itself, with some 

 curiosity, for few of us who read about it have ever 

 seen it growing, or ever expect to. Ride up to one 

 of the coffee plantations that covers the hillsides 

 in Brazil or Porto Rico, and the courteous owner 

 will send some competent person to show you 

 around. He is pleased if you express a wish to 

 see the industry of coffee-growing from the be- 

 ginning. 



The seed bed is in a sheltered corner, with 

 screens to keep both sun and wind from the plants 

 that come up after the sowing of seeds. If the 

 first whorl of leaves is showing, the plants are 

 being reset in the nursery, where they have six 

 inches of space around each one, and the most 

 careful weeding, shading, and protection from 

 winds. As the stems lengthen, the plants are 

 gradually hardened by leaving off the artificial 

 shade, and when the fourth leaf whorl is de- 

 veloped, the plant is lifted, with all the undis- 

 turbed earth the spade can carry, and set in its 

 place in the field. 



Coffee plants are perennials, of course. They 

 have woody stems that branch into a round shrub 

 form, and glossy leaves that come out in pairs 

 along the straight, slender twigs, like leaflets on a 

 walnut tree. 



