50 SOIL AND CLIMATE. 



were, by its own gravity, into the valley below. This is 

 the worst kind of soil for the coffee tree, whose long 

 tap-root is ever seeking nourishment from beneath. On 

 such a soil it is very common to see a young plantation 

 giving great promise, but as the trees increase in growth 

 the tap-root reaches the clay subsoil, and the plantation 

 immediately falls off. The subsoil is of far more im- 

 portance to the coffee tree than the upper surface, as the 

 latter may be improved by manure, while if the former is 

 bad there is no remedy. The first thing to be considered 

 being the soil, and the planter being satisfied with its 

 quality, there is another item of equal importance to be 

 taken into consideration when choosing a locality for a 

 coffee plantation. This is an extent of grazing land suf- 

 ficient for the support of cattle that may be required for 

 producing manure. In countries with large proportions 

 of forests this is, however, not always practicable, the 

 planter having recourse to artificial manure. 



The subject of climate, though quite as important as 

 that of soil, can yet be described with more accuracy. 

 The extreme limits of coffee cultivation lie between the 

 isothermal lines of the 25 north and the 30 south of 

 the equator, but the best zone of latitude is that lying 

 between the 20 north and south of the equator, one 

 having a mean temperature of 65 to 75 Fahrenheit. 

 A constant and uniform moisture, either natural or arti- 

 ficial, is especially requisite and indispensable to the free 

 development of the trees, together with a rainfall of 

 from 75 to 150 inches per annum, falling early in the 

 season, but must be well distributed at the same time. 

 The regions, however, found to be best adapted for the 

 most successful and profitable cultivation of Coffee, are 

 well-watered mountain slopes at an elevation ranging 

 from 1,000 to 4,000 feet above sea-level, in latitudes 



