HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



COF 



use of coffee soon after its introduction into the 

 capital of Turkey, where the ministers of relig- 

 ion having made it the subject of solemn com- 

 plaint that the mosques were deserted while the 

 coffee-houses were crowded, these latter were 

 shut up by order of the mufti, who employed 

 the police of the city to prevent any one from 

 drinking coffee. This provision it was found 

 impossible to establish, so that the government, 

 with a strict eye to business, laid a tax upon the 

 sale of the beverage, which produced a large 

 revenue. The Turks are most inveterate coffee- 

 drinkers, a fact that may in a great measure be 

 accounted for by the strict prohibition which j 

 the Moslem religion lays against the use of wine 

 and spirituous liquors. So necessary was coffee 

 at one time considered among the Turks, that 

 the refusal to supply it in moderate quantities 

 to a wife was reckoned among the legal causes 

 for divorce. Coffee cannot be cultivated to 

 advantage in climates where the temperature at 

 any time descends below fifty-five degrees of 

 Fahrenheit. The trees thrive best in new soils 

 on a gentle slope, where water will not lodge 

 about the roots. In exposed situations it is 

 necessary to plant rows of tall trees, at proper 

 intervals, to moderate the scorching heat of the 

 sun. From Ellis's History of Coffee we learn 

 the following facts: "It is well known that cof- ; 

 fee raised in the West Indies does not equal in { 

 flavor that produced in Arabia and other parts 

 of the East; and it is commonly imagined that 

 this inferiority is principally owing to local 

 causes, and is, therefore, incapable of being 

 remedied. The seed of the West Indian coffee, 

 from growing in a richer soil and more humid 

 atmosphere, is larger than that of Arabia; though 

 there is reason for believing that the superior 

 quality of Turkey and East Indian coffee is not 

 altogether to be referred to the influences of soil 

 and climate, but depends, in part at least, upon 

 the age to which the seed are kept before they 

 are brought into consumption. Trees planted j 

 in a light soil, and in a dry situation, produce 

 smaller berries, which have a better flavor than 

 those grown in rich, flat, and moist soils. The 

 weight of produce yielded by the latter is, how- 

 ever, double that obtained from the former. 

 The drier the soil and the warmer the situation, 

 the better will be the coffee produced, and the j 

 sooner it will acquire a flavor." He says further: I 

 "The more common or poorest quality of South j 

 American coffee will, in the course of ten or fif- ; 

 teen years, be as good, and have as high a flavor, j 

 as the best we now have from Turkey; but due i 

 care should be taken to keep it in a dry place, i 

 and to preserve it properly. Small grained cof- 

 fee, produced in a dry soil and warm situation, 

 will be matured in three years. The trees begin 

 bearing when they are two years old; in their 

 third year they are in their full bearing. The 

 produce of a good tree is from one and a half to 

 two pounds. The aspect of a coffee plantation 

 during the period of flowering is very interest- 

 ing. In one night the blossoms expand so pro- 

 fusely as to give the trees the appearance of be- 

 ing covered with snow. This period lasts but 

 one or two days." The amount of labor required 

 to secure a crop of coffee is very great, and is 

 chiefly performed by negroes. When trees are j 

 in full bearing, an industrious man will pick 

 three bushels of the berries in a day, and each 

 bushel of ripe berries will yield ten pounds of j 

 merchantable coffee. Two systems are employed ' 

 in curing coffee : A common plan is to expose 



COL 



the berries to the sun in layers of from five to 

 six inches deep, which will cause the pulp to 

 ferment in a few days, after which it takes about 

 three weeks to dry sufficiently for the husks to 

 be separated from the seeds by a mill. Other 

 planters remove the pulp as soon as. gathered, 

 by a mill constructed for the purpose, which 

 bruises the berries and separates the pulp by 

 washing, after which it is dried in the sun, and 

 the husks removed, as in the former" process. 



Cohosh. A popular name of the genus Cfmlo- 

 phyttum. 



Coix. Job's Tears. A name applied by Theo- 

 phrastus to a reed-leaved plant. Linn. MonoRda- 

 Triandria. Nat. Ord. Gram'macecf. 



A genus of perennial grasses that succeed well 

 under ordinary cultivation in the garden. C. 

 lachryma, a native of the East Indies, from whence 

 introduced in 1596, will do well treated as an 

 annual. It is considerably grown for its seeds, 

 which are popularly known as Job's Teir*. 

 Mothers, in the last century, thought their chil- 

 dren could not be safely carried through teeth- 

 ing without a string of Job's Tears around their 

 necks. 



Colax. From colax, a parasite. Linn. G-ynandrin- 

 Monandria. Nat. Ord. Orchidacece. 



A small genus of very beautiful Orchid?, taken 

 from MaxUlaria. They are natives of Brazil, and 

 may be grown in moss and in moderate heat. 

 Lycaste was formerly included in this genus. 



Colchicum. Meadow Saffron. Named after Col- 

 chis, its native country, in Asia Minor. Linn. 

 Hexandria-Trif/ynia. Nat. Ord. Mdanfhacece. 



A hardy bulbous-rooted plant, which will 

 grow well in the border. The flowers come up 

 through the ground without the leaves in au- 

 tumn, and closely resemble those of the Crocus, 

 deleaves do not appear till the following spring, 

 and great care should be taken of them, as, if 

 they should be injured so as to prevent them 

 from exercising their proper functions in matur- 

 ing the sap, the bulb will not flower the next 

 autumn. The class are universally poisonous. 



Colea. Named after General Cole, Governor of the 

 Mauritius. Linn. Didynarnia-Angiospertnia. Nat. 

 Ord. Grescentiaceai. 



There is but one species of this genus, which 

 is found in Madagascar, Mauritius, and the ad- 

 jacent islands. It is an exceedingly ornamental 

 green-house shrub , producing large clusters of 

 bright yellow flowers in August and September. 

 Propagated by cuttings. Introduced in 1839. 



Coleus. From kolens, a sheath ; referring to the 

 way the bottom of the stamens or anther threads 

 are combined. Linn. Didynamia-G-ymnosperinia. 

 Nat. Ord. Lamiacea;. 



This somewhat extensive genus are natives of 

 Asia and Africa. It consists of annuals, some- 

 times perennials, and rarely shrubs, but none 

 of value as flowering plants, but of general use 

 in ribbon gardening, massing, or any situation 

 where striking effect is wanted. From the orig- 

 inal species many varieties, remarkable for their 

 beautiful foliage, have been produced by florists. 

 They are readily propagated by cuttings. The 

 species were introduced about 1825. 



Colic- Root. See Aletris. 



Coliseum Ivy. See Linaria. 



Collania. Derivation of name unknown. Linn. 

 Hexandria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Amaryllidacecn. 

 A beautiful free-flowering green-house peren- 

 nial, allied to Alstrasmeria, which it resembles. 

 The species are natives of Peru, and will do 

 well in this climate with the protection (?f 



