NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



331 



g the tree by ploughing', in whicli the uiwkil- 

 il lUiiy cut olT one ol" (lie liirgest rools, ll-.at 

 ill, that must destroy as large a limb. No 

 lestion ploughing may loosen the grouml nn- 

 jr the hand of a careful master and invigorate 

 e tree ; but see if we cannot lind as che;ip, 

 id in many instances, a safer method to rear 

 id preserve a good and prolltable on^hard. — 

 jpposing you take 2 47 young trees from the 

 irsery losot out 2i feet apart on an acre,* 

 hich is full enough on any land; the more 

 cky generally the better, if properly pre- 

 ired, and the less stones you will need under 

 )ur tree : when on deep intervale they mny 

 : made to llourish by not setting them too 

 ep, and by putting a goodly portion of stones 

 ider them, it is on the richest intervale 1 

 >ve found most of the deadly enemies of the 

 )ple tree, lurking in the bark without the 

 war of loco-molion: iheir destruction to the 

 le is almost universally attributed to cold ; — 

 ue their greatest abundance is on a deep soil, 

 here the parsnip root is allowed to run into 

 e deep cold earth. I still follow an old notion 

 ' marking my trees, when I take them Irom 

 e nnrsary ; set north, tiorth. It is a well known 

 ct that Indians will iind their way through 

 le forest in a dark night by feeling the bark of 

 Bcs, vrhich is always thickest on the north 

 1e ; therefore follow nature in this, in fact in 

 ery thing relating to vegetation as a general 

 tide. Any kind of manure you are disposed 

 put around a tree, put at least a foot from it, 

 id let the roots always be covered. It is pns- 

 i)le the eggs of some insects may lay near (he 

 irface, and by cutting with a hoe around a tree 

 fore winter sets in, they may be destroyed, 

 K>und loosened and the tree saved from many 

 lundsby careless ploughing. Blost insects de- 

 ind into the ground too deep to be easily dis- 

 ■bed. The grub or cut worm descends four 

 Et." (7o be conlinued.') 



* You cannot set out more than about 75 young trees 

 an acre 24 feet apart . 



Dm the Mechanic's Journal ; a periodical work late- 

 ly established in London. 



<{ THE COFFEE SHRUB, COFFEE BEAN, AND 

 COFFEE DRINK. 



The coffee shrub is a plant of the same fami- 

 as madder, namely the rubiacea of Jussieu, 

 id is arranged by Linne in his class pentan- 

 ia, and order monogynia. There are seve- 

 1 species of coffee; but the only one cultivat- 

 I for use is the Coffea Arabica of modern bo- 

 nists. It is a native of the Upper Ethiopia, 

 id grows about 14 or 20 feet high : the branch- 

 come out in pairs opposite each other, and 

 ossing the pair of branches that come out be- 

 w and above them ; the leaves are somewhat 

 ie those of the bay, but less dry, and thinner; 

 e flowers are white, and succeeded by a ber- 

 ' like a cherry, filled with yellowish pulp, and 

 10 small horn-like beams, fiat and grooved on 

 le side, and conve.^; on the other. 

 It WHS a few years before 1500 that the in- 

 ision of these berries came into use as a gene- 

 il drink, and it has slowly extended itself thro' 

 ost parts of the civilized world ; except Chi- 

 I, England, and Mexico, in which the use of 

 a is more common than that of coffee drink. 

 It was propably the elastic horny nature of 



these beans, which renders them very difficult 

 to pnwdor or for water to jienetrate, that ori- 

 ginally led the users of coffee drink to roast the 

 beans to a brown colour, in order that they 

 might grind them more easily, and extract the 

 virtues of it the more speedily. The roasting 

 not only perfectly answers these purposes, but 

 also (levelopes the aroma or odorous principle 

 of the coffee bean. 



In order to roast coffee properly the uses of 

 roasting must not be lost sight of, namely to de- 

 stroy the horn like tenacity of the green liean,and 

 to devolope its fine scent. Too much heat would 

 destroy the chemical elements, which ought to 

 be preserved, and would substitute in their place 

 others which are of an entirely different quality. 

 That fine scent, which pleases so greatly the 

 admirers of good coffee is succeeded, where the 

 coffee is over roasted, by a bitter taste, and 

 burnt smell, which is far from being pleasant 

 and even disagreeable. If, on the other hand, 

 the roasting process is under-done, and the heat 

 to which the beans have been exposed, has not 

 been sufficient, then the raw smell of the coffee 

 remains, and of course diminishes the aroma, 

 which requires a certain heat to develope it. 

 There is of course a just medium to be observ- 

 ed. Well roasted coffee ought to have a pale 

 chocolate color equally spread over it, which is 

 well known to those who are in the use of per- 

 forming this operation, but it is never necessa- 

 ry to look at the roasted beans, the scent is suf- 

 ficient ; for when the true aroma is developed, 

 and fills the surrounding atmosphere with its de- 

 licious scent, then it is time to stop the roast- 

 ing. After this period the oil acquires a burnt 

 flavor, a scent somewhat resembling that exhal- 

 ed by smokers of tobacco is perceived, and in- 

 stead of good roasted coffee there is obtained a 

 bad kind of charcoal. 



Considering the importance of this operation, 

 it is no wonder that some of those who are ve- 

 ry fond of coffee drink, although they would 

 feel ashamed in busying themselves in any oth- 

 er department of household economy, yet do 

 not hesitate to roast their own coffee, not only 

 at home, but with their own hands. The fra- 

 grancy diffused by the roasting seems to delight 

 them ; and they appear to enjoy by anticipa- 

 tion, the pleasure tiiey shall feel in drinking of 

 the infusion. 



Good raw coffee loses from 16 to 20 per cent 

 of its weight by roasting; if it loses more it is 

 certainly over-roasted. Many different modes 

 are used, and each has its admirers; but there 

 is, in fact, only a single rule to be observed, 

 namely, to use the proper degree of heat, and 

 keep it up at the same point till the roasting is 

 finished. Whether the roasting is performed 

 in close or open vessels; whether the coffee is 

 left to cool in the roaster or is turned out, or 

 even laid between cloths appear indifferent. 

 If indeed the roasting by accident is carried too 

 far, the coffee should be immediately spread 

 out thin on the floor to cool it as soon as possi- 

 ble. In all cases, when cool the roasted coffee 

 should be put into tin plate boxes, and kept 

 from any moisture. 



The chemists have made comparative analy- 

 ses of raw and roasted coffee, of which^some ac- 

 count may hereafter be given ; but at present 

 there is room only for detailing the best modes 

 of making the coffee drink. 

 It being well known that the action of solvents 



is hastened, in general, by reducing the solvent 

 to powder ; it is necessary to grind the roasted 

 coffee more or less fine, as it is intended to use 

 water less or more heated. To reduce coffee 

 to too fine a powder, allhough it would require 

 only slightly warm water to extract its soluble 

 parts, yet it would be inconvenient in other re- 

 spects, for the powder would pass through the 

 strainers of the coflee pot,,and by also remain- 

 ing suspended in the water, would render the 

 clearing of a drink diflicult. .\t all events roast- 

 ed coffee should never be ground but the mo- 

 ment before it is used, as othoiwisc it loses 

 much of its fine scent. 



It now remains only to say a few words re- 

 specting the making of the ground roasted col- 

 fee into drink, — and here the grand points are 

 not to lose the fine aroma, and not extract the 

 bitter acrid, resinous element of the coffee. 

 To avoid both these inconveniences, it is ne- 

 cessary that the coffee drink should not be made 

 with too much heat ; as this would dissipate the 

 aroma in vapours, and cause the water to dis- 

 solve the resin. The coffee therefore must 

 not be boiled in the water, and still less is it 

 proper to boil the grounds over again with fresh 

 water, as is done by some persons. Coffee 

 drink made from the grounds, when it is added 

 to that made from fresh ground coffee, gives it 

 indeed a fine deep color, but the taste of the 

 drink is very bad. 



It is not even necessary to pour boiling, or 

 even warm water upon the ground coffee : cold 

 water, if sufficient time is allowed, makes equal- 

 ly good coffee drink, for the elements to be ex- 

 tracted from the roasted coffee are extremely 

 soluble in water. But if the coffee drink is re- 

 quired to be prepared in haste, hot water must 

 be used. 



It is universally agreed on by the French ama- 

 teurs of coffee, that coffee driuk is never co gnnH 

 as when after being made with cold water,or with 

 hot water, and cooled, it is heated over again, 

 carefully avoiding a boiling heat. This heating 

 over again is supposed to cause the various ele- 

 ments which produced the fine flavor of this 

 drink, to unite more intimately; and this may 

 be the real fact. The excellency of the coffee 

 sold at Paris is well known ; and this is always 

 made one day and heated over again the next 

 day when wanted. A further advantage attends 

 this knowledge of consequence to single per- 

 sons, who in summer time do not keep a fire in 

 their chambers, that by merely pouring cold wa- 

 ter on the ground coffee over night, and strain- 

 ing it in the morning, the strained liquor may, 

 wiiile they are dressing, be heated sufficiently 

 for drinking, over a lamp ; and this gives cof- 

 fee a superiority over tea for the breakfast of 

 such persons ; as tea requires the water to be 

 boiling hot, in order to extract its virtues; and 

 of course requires a fire to be lighted. 



From the American Farmer. 

 " Prevention is better than cvre." 

 GAPES. Take a piece of assafoelida about the 

 size of a hen's egg; beat it tole.ably flat; and 

 wrap a piece of cotton cloth round it, and nail 

 it to the bottom of the trough where the hens 

 are daily watered : this method is adopted in the 

 spring of the year, when the hens begin to bring 

 forth their young broods, and it will be attend- 

 ed with invaluable success in preventing that 

 destructive disorder. Rusxiccs, 



