COFFEE 203 



the permanent shade trees have grown large enough 

 to answer their purpose. It is usual to give the trees 

 heavy annual prunings to keep the crop down within 

 easy reach of the pickers. 



The ripe coffee berry is a red fruit the size of a 

 small cherry. Harvesting the fruit has to be done 

 by hand, and this constitutes one of the largest items 

 of expense. The berries are passed through a rude 

 pulping mill, after which the seeds are spread on 

 large cemented floors to dry in the sun. After be- 

 coming thoroughly dry they are cleaned, graded, and 

 polished, and then are ready to sack for market. 



Most of the coffees in cultivation are supposed to 

 belong to a single species. 



The Liberian coffee is, however, entirely distinct : 

 the tree grows much larger and stronger, and the 

 fruit and seed are also larger. Like most cultivated 

 plants coffee is quite variable in character, but so 

 far very little attention has been given to the selec- 

 tion of improved strains. Here, as with most other 

 tropical products, a great field is open for the work 

 of the intelligent plant breeder. 



Diseases and Insects. — Like all other cultivated 

 crops, coffee is subject to the attacks of various fungi 

 and insects. The only insect enemy that has at- 

 tracted wide attention is the leaf miner (^Leucopterd)^ 

 a minute, lepidopterous larva, Avhich burrows in the 

 leaf tissue, forming large, irregular, deadened areas. 

 It occurs abundantly in all parts of the American 

 tropics, and does very considerable injury by so 

 greatly reducing the active leaf surface. When 

 ready to transform, it emerges and spins a very 



