42 CULTIVATION OF COFFEE IX VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 



&quot; a low, sandy shore affords a free view over vast treeless plains 

 which stretch in sad monotony as far as the eye can reach, 

 while the cloudless sky sends down an almost insupportable 

 heat ; only here and there a limited pasture, with lean grass and 

 a few graceful palm-trees, breaks the mournful uniformity ; in 

 the grateful shade a few Bedouins rest under their black tents, 

 while their brethren hasten on the uncouth dromedary through 

 the yellow desert. Very different is the scene on the southern 

 slope of the great peninsula ; for here an abundant, fragrant 

 vegetation unfolds its riches and enchants the senses ; incense 

 grows like the j uniper of our woods ; whole forests of palm-trees 

 overshadow the lower parts of the mountains, and vast stretches 

 of dnrra wave like golden grain in the gentle breeze. This is 

 the home of the coffee-tree.&quot; 



Amid such profusion of natural beauty rises the graceful 

 plant that bears the berry we so much prize. l^ot only does 

 the plant load the air with delicious perfume, but beautiful 

 butterflies are ever fluttering among its honeyed blossoms, suck 

 ing sweets ; while locusts are chirping on every branch, and a 

 cloudless blue sky looks down upon the exuberant splendor, till 

 the blossoms fade, and become transmuted in process of time 

 into a red berry, the kernel of which is the coffee-bean. &quot;While 

 these berries are maturing and becoming dark purple such 

 are the effects of a tropical climate the tree produces a second 

 and a third crop of snowy blossoms, so that the beautiful green 

 pyramidal branches are garnished with buds, and flowers, and 

 fruits, at every stage of development. 



Coffee is still cultivated in &quot;Araby the blest,&quot; the coffee- 

 gardens there being on terraces which reach to an elevation 

 of about 3,000 feet. The soil is kept moist by means of 

 small artificial canals, which are made to irrigate the whole 

 by the water falling from the upper to the lower terraces. 

 The trees here are planted so closely together that the thick 



