688 JAMAICA. 



{lightly covered. After it fprings up, and becomes a plai^f, the root 

 is well-moulded. The feed is fubjcd to decay, when it is lor too deep, 



efpecially 



ouglit not 10 be omitted; vvliicli is, tliat our plan) atian coffee i^ made life of too foon. Perhaps, 

 one part of the excellence of the Mocha coffee a rife 3 rrcm this circiitriftLince : the i'aft-India com- 

 pany fend a fliip once in t\\'o j'cars ; it is moft prubnble, a part of the l^iading hrr- hren kept, in 

 that hot country, above a year; it is fix months before it arrives in England; it may be fix ur 

 twelve months more before it comes into the conhm-ier's hands. Thus between two and three yeai-s 

 mull inevitably intervrne between its growth and confumption. Miich or that m'jcila-c, which 

 moft probably in roafting is the balis of its flavour, i? changed by tiis delay ; ind, indeed, expe- 

 rience confirms it. Dr. Fothergill mentions his having received a prcfcnt o^ lav cotfee from the 

 Weft-Indies. Some of this, which a year ai;o was fo ill-tafted as to be untit lor ufe, was laid by 

 in a very dry clofet. This year it was again tried, and found to he greatly amended. In another 

 jear, it will probablv be little inferior fo the Afiatic, if it continues to amend in proportion. 



It is of much confeqiience therefore, whether the coffee is kept in molll, damp ware-houfes, or 

 in dry, airy places; idietherit is (hipped with other goods, or alone; whether it is ufed imme- 

 diately, or not until after it has been kept a coniiderable time. It might be well worth the planter's 

 labour and expence to keep his coffee in the ifland, from year to year, till he has got fuch a quan- 

 tity', either of his own, or bought from his neighbours, fuflicient to load a fmull veflel, marking the 

 different ages on the feveral caflcs. A merchant in Kiiigfton, in which town there is no want of 

 excellent, dry ware-houfes, might fet apart one for the fole purpofe of receiving coffee ; and, col- 

 Ictfing that of the fmalleft berry, keep it ftored for a twelvemonth, and then remit it to England, in 

 a veflel chartered for the purpofe ; excluding all other commodities of the ifland, except maho- 

 gany, which would ferve to cover the bottom part of the hold, while the cofl'ee might have a dry 

 llowage above and between decks. It feems probable, to think that fuch a cargo, being houfed 

 with equal care on its arrival in England, and lodged in a ware-houfe diliinft from rum, fugar, or 

 pimento, would repay the lofs fullained by keeping fb long on hand. This, indeed, is partly proved 

 by the amended flavour of that coffee, which, by reafon of the glut at market, aad low price, has 

 not met with a prompt fiile. 



The hcji Means nf encouraging its improved Culti'vation, 



It may be of ufe, to conlider the meafures which would fooneft put our planters upon over- 

 coming ever}' difficulty ; which would oblige them to if udy the culture of this plant, the curing of 

 the fruit, and the fending it home in the higheft perfection polTible. By what means can it be made 

 the Weft-India planter's interell to cultivate coffee in fuch a manner, as to approach, in talle and 

 flavour, as near to the Aliatic as polTible > The fhort anfwer to this is, " Make it their intereft ;" 

 that is, encourage its importation. The duties and excifc on cotfee from our plantations are as 

 follow : 



/. s. d. 

 The duties at i/. 13 j. 6i-^</. /ir hundred weight, amount, /t-r lb., to about o o 4 or upwards. 

 Excifc, at 8/. 8 J. /^r hundred weight, amounts, /cr lb., to about 016 



Total, /fr lb., is -'^— o i 10 and upwards. 



When fuch an excellive load of expcnces, and fo many difliculties, arife to the grower, importer, 

 and of confequcnce to the conlumer, of Weft-India coffee ; it is no wonder, that the planters give 

 fhemfelvcs very, little concern about its cultivation. At prefent, there is very little difference in the 

 produce, and confequently in the price. The high tax upon it is a bar to its confumption *. The 

 coffee is, in general, bad; and the price in proportion. If the duties and excife upon it were 

 leflened, the confumption would be increafed ; the planters would find it more deferving their at- 

 tention ; talle would grow more refined ; the bell would be fought for ; and the price uould ad- 

 vance in proportion : but the prefent duties are almoft prohibitory, and are the true reafon why the 

 planters do not aflord the time,, experiments, and charge, that are neceflkry towards amending and 



<• The truth of thlb mull be obviou:, to mod perfons ; for there are none fcirccly but ni\ift have obferved, that, in 

 middling families, coflfcc is regarded as a i.olUj' article of regale, and iherefore fcldom (or never) brought to table, ex- 

 cept on extraordinary occatjuns. At the fame time, no family i» fo poor, as to be widiout tea : yet coffer is more ge- 

 ■erally liked by ihule who have ever tailed it; and, if it were not for the eitpenfivenefs of it, occafioned folely by the 

 exorbitant duty and excifc, would be a> univcrfally drank ; inllead of being, as at prefent it is, attainable only by the 

 richer families J who, together with the frequenters of cotfee-houfcs, ar« its chief, if not only eonfumerS, and that in 

 a more fparing degree than they would be, if the price of it was reduced by Icirening the tan it is now charged with. 



perfc(flii;g 



