TREES OF AMERICA, 81 



buy luxuries ; yet they were unwilling to go 

 without their coffee, and so they were very 

 glad when they found a tree growing in great 

 plenty, with large pods like the honey-locust, 

 and seeds in the pods that tasted something 

 like coffee ; and they called it the coffee-tree." 



" And did they burn the seeds and make 

 coffee of them, Uncle Philip ?" 



"Yesj. but the country was settled very 

 fast, and the merchants soon began to come 

 from New-Orleans, and the settlers grew rich, 

 as the land was very good, and it was but a 

 short time before West India coffee was 

 plenty enough ; and then they roasted no 

 more of the seeds of the coffee-tree ; but it 

 kept its name." 



"And what is it good for now, Uncle 

 Philip ?" 



"It has one use that is rather curious; it 

 never grows but in very rich land, and the 

 settlers always know that the soil is good 

 where they find it ; so it saves them the 

 trouble of digging, and ploughing, and plant- 

 ing, to see whether the land is worth culti- 

 vating. Besides this, the wood is of an ex- 

 cellent quality ; fine-grained and hard, and 

 good both for cabinet-making and building. 



