OH-^r^TEH ^. 



XZON JA.ND DEZSCRIPXXOrOr. 



y^^OFFEE in commerce is the seed which grows in 

 1 I I the pod or fruit of the coffee plant, like the pea 

 ^iJ/ or the bean. Geographically, it is divided into 

 U African, Asian, American and Polynesian coffees, 

 and, topographically, into " Mountain," or upland, and 

 " Plaingrown," or lowland Coffees, while commercially 

 they are generally classified as " Mild " and " Strong," 

 the former comprising in trade the product of all 

 countries, with the exception of Brazil. Grown in so 

 many different and widely separated countries, provinces, 

 districts and situations, it is but natural that the different 

 products should vary materially in size, style, color, 

 form, flavor and character, and which also accounts for 

 the almost innumerable commercial divisions and sub- 

 divisions of names, grades and values. 



Africa is the original home of coffee, it being indigenous 

 to almost the entire Continent; but while it is to be 

 found growing in a wild state almost all over the entire 

 of tropical Africa, more particularly between the fifth and 

 fifteenth parallels, its cultivation for commercial purposes 

 on the " Dark Continent " is very light and partial at the 



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