210 



SMALL FRUIT CROPS 



land and New York. The red mulberry is generally distributed 

 from western New England to Nebraska, and southward to the 

 Gulf. The fruit is deep red at first, but becomes somewhat black 

 when fully ripe. In southern latitudes the fruit becomes fairly 

 large in size, has an agreeable taste, and is highly esteemed as 

 a fruit. 



The Coffee Berry. The coffee tree is said to have originated 

 in Abyssinia and to have received its name from the province of 

 Kaffa, where it may be still found growing in a wild state. Later it 



was carried over to 

 Mocha, in Arabia, 

 and to Java, and 

 in this way were de- 

 rived the two cele- 

 brated varieties of 

 coffee known to-day 

 under those names. 

 Since then it has 

 been taken into 

 practically every 

 tropical country of 

 the world. It can- 

 not be grown farther than 30 north or south of the equator 

 with any degree of success. The chief coffee regions of the west- 

 ern world are in Brazil, Central America, Mexico, and the West 

 Indies. It is also grown in Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Phil- 

 ippine Islands, Australia, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, Hayti, San 

 Domingo, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. 



The coffee plant is an evergreen with shiny leaves, which gener- 

 ally grows from twelve to twenty feet in height in its natural 

 state, but when under cultivation it is seldom allowed to attain 

 more than half that height. 



The plant bears fragrant white blossoms, some time in December 

 in regions south of the equator, and in a little while the blossoms 

 drop off and the berries form. Usually in April or May the early 

 berries begin to turn red, and the picking season begins. Each 

 berry is about the size and shape of the ordinary cranberry, and 

 in each berry are found two seeds or beans. After picking, the 



Picking coffee. 



