CH. IV] COFFEE, CACAO OR CHOCOLATE, KOLA, ETC. 67 



The bushes are usually placed about 10 feet apart in Java, 

 and more in Brazil. In many countries, but not in Brazil, they 

 are shaded by growing among them other trees, generally 

 species of Erythrina, under which the leaf-disease, unknown in 

 Brazil,- is less troublesome. In Brazil they are merely lightly 

 shaded during the first two years of growth. 



In many countries the tops of the bushes (other than 

 Liberian) are pruned off in order to give them a spreading 

 habit and render it easier to pick the fruit, but in Brazil they 

 are allowed to grow to a height of 15 feet or more. In the 

 same way, in Java, etc., they are very carefully pruned as they 

 grow up, the primary branches being left, but the secondaries 

 removed for the first six inches from the stem, and beyond that 

 one at each node, on each side in turn, so that if at one node 

 the branch project north, at the next it will project south. 



Coffee comes into bearing at 2 5 years old, Coffea-robusta 

 bearing sooner than G. arabica, and the countries of tropical 

 Asia bearing sooner than Brazil, where however the bushes 

 keep longer in good condition. In climates with a marked dry 

 season, the bushes usually flower simultaneously, and the large 

 snowy flowers present a very beautiful sight. The fruits are 

 red berries ripening some time afterwards, and must be picked 

 soon after they are ripe, or even, to obtain the best results, 

 each one as it becomes ripe. 



The average yield of dried seeds in Brazil is at the rate of 

 | Ib. (on old soil near Rio de Janeiro) to 15 Ib. (on virgin soil 

 in the finest districts of Sao Paulo) per bush. But it is better 

 to take the average yield per acre, and this in Brazil upon 

 good, new, land reaches as high as 2900 Ib. About half that 

 amount was the average in Ceylon in the old coffee days, and 

 in general tropical Asia gives rather smaller yields as compared 

 to southern Brazil. The crop varies considerably from one 

 year to another. A " bumper " crop, which is usually obtained 

 once in every seven years or thereabouts, generally damages 

 the plants, and is succeeded by poor crops for some years. 



The collection of coffee in tropical Asia is generally by 

 careful picking of the individual berries, which are thus obtained 

 in the best condition and without intermixture of leaves and 



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