COFFEA 



COFFEE BERRY 



823 



leaves curl noticeably. Its flavor is not considered 

 superior to that of the ordinary Arabian coffee. 



Mocha coffee, with its shorter internodes and smaller 

 flowers, fruits, and leaves is a distinct variety. The 

 "beans" are much less oval and are more rounded and 

 hold a high reputation for quality. 



Normally two coffee "beans" or seeds are produced 

 in each red cherry-like drupe. Some drupes, however, 

 contain three beans and others only one. When only 

 one is formed it is called "peaberry," and is oval in 

 shape instead of being flat on one side and convex on 

 the other as is the bean when two are produced. The 

 peaberries are sorted out by machinery and are sold 

 at a fancy price on account of being a little different 

 in appearance from the other coffee, but any claim to 

 superiority of flavor is without foundation. There is 

 one variety of coffee that produces a number of beans 

 in each drupe, and the corolla-segments may range up 

 to ten. As the number of beans increases, the size and 

 the attractiveness of appearance decrease, so that this 

 is a very undesirable variation. 



The fruits require six and one-half to seven months 

 to mature. The ripening of the coffee, in relation to 

 the blossoming, extends over several months. Where 

 the West Indian or wet process for curing the coffee 

 is followed, the ripe cherries are picked every fort- 

 night. While fresh they are passed through a machine 

 which pulps and separates the coffee in its parchment 

 from the pulp. The former is then fermented and 

 washed to remove a slimy covering. After thorough 

 drying in the sun or in heated driers, the parchment 

 coffee may be stored or it may have the thin brittle 

 parchment or horn-skin and the silver-skin removed 

 by special machinery. If desired it may be further 

 polished and artificially colored. After being sized and 

 having the better grades cleaned of inferior beans, it 

 is ready for roasting. In some places where the dry or 

 old preparation is followed the coffee is allowed to 

 ripen and much of it to fall from the trees and lie on 

 the ground until all can be col- 

 lected in one picking. It is then 

 dried in the sun without prelimi- 

 nary preparation. 



1024. 



Coffea arabica. 

 (XM) 



Although coffee has been used as a beverage for 

 hundreds of years by a few persons, as a world beverage 

 it is comparatively modern. In 1825 the estimated 

 production did not exceed 218,255,400 pounds. In 

 1906-1907 the production was estimated as 3,164,041,- 

 920 pounds, or an increase of 1,350 per cent in eighty- 

 one years. 



Brazil produces about three-fourths of the world's 

 coffee crop. Then follow in order of importance Vene- 

 zuela, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Haiti, Salvador, 

 Dutch East Indies, Porto Rico, British India, Costa 

 Rica, Nicaragua, and other countries. 



In Bulletin No. 79, Bureau of Statistics, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, may be found a 

 very extensive bibliography of coffee. In the Nether- 

 lands the per capita consumption is more than 15 

 pounds; in the United States under 11 Yi pounds; in 

 Japan .003 pound. 



A. Corolla -5-parted, sometimes ^- 

 B. Segms. of corolla narrow: Ivs. oblong, 1+-5 in. long, 



1 Yi in. wide. 



arabica, Linn. COMMON or ARABIAN COFFEE. Fig. 

 1024. Lvs. 3-6 in. long, rather thin, oblong, nearly 3 

 times as long as broad, more or less abruptly contracted 

 near the apex to a point about J^in. long: segms. of 

 corolla over twice as long as wide : fr. a 2-seeded, deep 

 crimson berry, but the "berries" or beans of commerce 

 are the seeds. The commercial varieties of coffee are 

 based largely on the size, shape, color and flavor of 

 the seeds, and hence the fr. is very variable, but the 

 typical fr. may be considered to be oval and Hin. long. 

 Indigenous in Abyssinia, Mozambique and Angola; 

 supposed to have been intro. in early Mohammedan 

 times from Abyssinia to Arabia, whence it became 

 known to Europeans in the 16th century. This species 

 furnished until recently the entire commercial product. 

 B.M. 1303. Gng. 6:55. A variegated form, var. varie- 

 gata, Hort., is more showy than the type. It is offered 

 by dealers in tropical plants. As coffee grows wild in 

 Afr. it is a small tree 10-15 ft. high, with the trunk 

 9-12 in. thick at the base. Often cult, under glass in 

 the N. for its economic interest, and in S. Calif, it is a 

 good outdoor ornamental shrub, esteemed for its shi- 

 ning Ivs., fragrant white fls., and red berries. 



BB. Segms. of corolla wide: Ivs. ovate. 



bengalensis, Roxbg. BENGAL COFFEE. Lvs. ovate, 

 barely twice as long as broad, acute, but not having a 

 long, abrupt point: fls. in 2's or 3's; segms. of corolla 

 barely twice as long as wide. E. Indies, Malaya. 

 B.M. 4917. This has much showier fls. than C. arabica. 

 A small shrub with glabrous, dichotomous branches. 

 Mts. of N. E. India, whence it was brought to Calcutta 

 and much cult, for a time. It is now neglected, the berries 

 being of inferior quality and the plants not productive 

 enough. 



AA. Corolla 6-, 7-, or 8-parted. 



B. Fls. in dense clusters or glomes: Ivs. short-pointed. 



liberica, Hiern. LIBERIAN COFFEE. Lvs. longer than 

 in C. arabica, and wider above the middle, with a pro- 

 portionately shorter and less abruptly contracted point : 

 fls. 15 or more in a dense cluster; corolla-segms. usually 

 7. Trop. Afr. Trans. Linn. Soc. 11.1:171 (1876). 

 G.C. II. 6 : 105. R.H. 1890, pp. 104-5. Said to be more 

 robust and productive than C. arabica, with berries 

 larger and of finer flavor. It is a more tropical plant than 

 the common coffee, and can be grown at lower levels. 



Zanguebariae, Lour. (C. Zanzibar ensis, Hort.). A 

 glabrous, erect, closely branched shrub or small tree, 

 to 6 ft., the branches ashy: Ivs. ovate or obovate, obtuse 

 or shortly pointed, 2-4 in. long, %-lM in. wide, the 

 lateral veins about 6 pairs: fls. white, axillary, in dense 

 clusters; corolla-lobes 6-7: berry red, turning black. 



BB. Fls. solitary 'or in 3's: Ivs. long-pointed, 



long. 



stenophylla, Don. Lvs. 4-6 in. long, \-\Yi in. broad, 

 narrower than in C. arabica, with a relatively longer 

 and more tapering point: corolla-segms. usually 9. 

 W. Afr. B.M. 7475. This is said to yield berries of 

 finer flavor than the Liberian coffee, and quite as freely, 

 but the bush is longer in coming into bearing. This is 

 a promising rival to the C. arabica of commerce. Seeds 

 have been distributed by British botanical gardens, 

 but are not known to be for sale at present in Amer. 



C. madagascaritnsis, Hort., and C. robusta, Hort., are names of 

 uncertain status. - TTT 



WILHELM MILLER. 



COFFEE: Coffea. N. TAYLOR, f 



COFFEE BERRY. A name of Glycine hispida, 

 which should be abandoned in favor of soybean. Vari- 

 ous leguminous seeds are used as coffee substitutes 

 and are so named; cf. Cassia, Canavalia and others. 



