66 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



More frequently shade is furnished the young plants in the 

 field until they become thoroughly established. The planting 

 distance for coffee trees varies from 6 by 6 to 12 by 12 feet, 

 according to variety, locality, and opinion of various planters. 

 Coffee trees left to themselves will attain a height of 30 or 

 40 feet. The trees are usually topped off at about 6 to 15 

 feet. This operation not only keeps the tree from growing out 

 of reach of the coffee pickers but seems to have the effect of 

 increasing the bearing of the vigorous lateral branches. 



Coffee is one of the most beautiful of all the agricultural 

 crops. The dark, glossy green leaves, thickly scattered along 

 the horizontal branches, are always an attractive sight and 

 when the great profusion of white flowers appears upon the 

 upper surface of these branches the trees somewhat resemble 

 the holly in a snow storm. Later, when the red cherries ap- 

 pear, the coffee tree is also a very attractive sight. The coffee 

 tree begins bearing at from 2 to 5 years. The bearing age 

 occurs somewhat earlier in Asiatic countries than in Brazil. 

 The full mature crop does not occur until about 7 to 10 

 years. Under ordinary conditions the limit of profitable bear- 

 ing age of coffee is about 30 years. The yield varies enor- 

 mously in different countries and in different localities. Under 

 favorable conditions the yield of. dried coffee per acre ranges 

 from 500 to 1,200 pounds. It may ordinarily be considered 

 that I to i}/2 pounds of dry coffee per tree is a satisfactory 

 yield. 



The crimson fruit of the coffee is known as the coffee cherry 

 and the seed as the coffee berry. From a botanical standpoint 

 the fruit itself is a berry, but the trade names cherry and 

 berry have become very firmly established and are so generally 

 well known that there seems little reason for attempting to 

 change the terminology. The cherries are pulped as soon as 

 they are brought in from the field by the pickers. Numerous 

 improvements have been made since the days of hand-pulping, 

 until at present very efficient pulping machines are in use on 



