HISTORY AND CULTIVATION 73 



about 1616, Marseilles in 1644, Paris in 1657, and from thence into 

 London. It is said to have come to London in 1652, and afterwards 

 made for sale by a Greek and by an Armenian from Paris. 



Coffee soon came to this country, on its settlement by Europeans, 

 It is said that all the coffee trees cultivated here and in Europe are 

 the progeny of a single plant presented in 1714 by the magistrates of 

 Amsterdam to Lonis 14, king of France. This being placed under 

 the care of the celebrated Jussieu, whose name we have often men- 

 tioned in this work, it was in a few years widely distributed. Its use 

 was strenuously opposed by the ministers of religion, even in Turkey, 

 and by their influence severely taxed, but it is there used now to great 

 excess ; so that not to supply a wife with coffee has been deemed by 

 the government ample reason for a divorce. 



The tree was introduced into Europe by the Dutch, and also into 

 Batavia, for cultivation, in 1690, then into Surinam in 1718, and by 

 the French into Cayenne and Mauritius soon afterwards, and then into 

 Martinique, and afterwards to other W. India Islands and Jamaica in 

 1730. 



The, mode of raising the plant is from seeds planted in nurseries and 

 then transplanted into fields in rows and from 5 to 10 feet apart, chief- 

 ly on hills and sides of mountains, in fresh soil. In gravel it attains a 

 height of only 6 feet. They produce fruit the following year and are 

 in full bearing the third year. The produce of a good tree is from li 

 to 21bs. The berries are gathered by shaking them into blankets when 

 they begin to fall, and their pulpy bark shrivels ; then spread and dried, 

 placed under sheds and passed between rollers to seperate the husks, 

 then sifted, winnowed and bagged. The berries of the Arabian plant 

 are much smaller than those of the West Indies and the United States, 

 the increased size in richer soils and more humid climates being how- 

 ever at th.e expense of the flavor. The berries are sown soon after 

 gathering them, as in 6 weeks they lose their vital powers. The plant 

 may be raised from cuttinss. There are 10 or more varieties de- 

 scribed by botanists ; some are peculiar to the East and West Indies 

 South America, Arabia, &c. The coffea Jlrabiaca or Jasminum Jlri- 

 bicum is the tree affording most of the coffee of European commerce, of 

 which there are two varieties. It is an Arabic evergreen 10 or 15 feet 

 high, of a beautiful appearance at all seasons. The eastern coffee tree 

 is about 15 feet high and 12 feet in Europe. The berry is as hard as 

 horn and is 4 or 5 inches long and 2 broad. Coffee cannot be culti- 

 vated in a climate falling below 55. The worst West India or Ame- 

 rican coffee, it is said, if kept a few years, not over 10 or 14, becomes as 

 good in every respect as that from Turkey. 



The period of flowering does not last longer than 1 or 2 days. The 

 blossoms expand so profusely in one night as to give to a plantation the 

 appearance of a sudden fall of snow. In the East the berries are sha- 

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