THE 



NATUKE AND CULTIVATION 



OF COFFEE, 



CHAPTER I. 



DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY. 



BOTANISTS and historians are alike divided in opinion 

 as to the origin of the name of the plant; but it appears 

 probable that it was given from its being first found in 

 its natural wild state in the country of Cafe, one of the 

 provinces of Abyssinia, where at this day it is still 

 found in the woods, and where a large sheep-skinful 

 may be purchased for less than a shilling,* and where 

 it is called Kahwah. The plant itself belongs to the 

 natural order Cinchonacea, an order which supplies 

 many of the most useful drugs and medicines. There 

 are several species, but as opinions differ as to whether 

 some of these are not mere varieties, and as many of 

 the distinctive qualities yield to cultivation, and are 

 materially influenced by differences of soil, climate, 



* Harris's " Highlands of Ethiopia." 



