DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 245 



planting is at the beginning of the rainy season. In moving them the roots should 

 not be exposed to the sun. The plants are shaded at first by sections of coconut leaves 

 stuck in the ground in a slanting direction. If rains are not sufficiently frequent after 

 planting, the plants are watered every evening. In Guam it is not usual to plant 

 shade trees to protect coffee. Sometimes the young plants are shaded by alternating 

 rows of bananas, which easily take root and grow quickly. These are cut down when 

 the plants are well established, as the mature coffee plant is a sun lover and becomes 

 spindling in the shade. Catch crops of taro or maize may also be planted for the 

 first two years. As with other plants, the weeds must be kept down. They are 

 allowed to lie on the ground and rot, so as to enrich it. Weeding is accomplished 

 by the fosifio, or thrust-hoe, an expert weeder being able to cover an area 1.5 m. 

 long and the width of his hoe at every thrust. In order that the trees may not grow 

 too tall for convenience in gathering the berries, they are topped after reaching a 

 suitable height. This causes them to spread out their branches and offers a smaller 

 target for the heavy winds which sometimes prevail. The plants are kept free from 

 shoots or suckers sprouting out from their stems, which are removed when young. 



In Guam coffee seems to be remarkably free from disease. The berries are some- 

 times eaten by rats, which infest the island; but these animals are not so injurious 

 to coffee as they are to cacao, of which they are immoderately fond. 



As soon as the berries are ripe they are gathered. In Guam the whole family 

 turns out to pick berries, and there is more or less jollification, as on the occasion of 

 a picnic. The removing of the flesh from the seed or pulping is accomplished by 

 hand, and the sticky, mucilaginous material surrounding the seeds is removed by 

 washing, after which the coffee is spread out on mats to dry in the sun. In this 

 condition it is covered with a thin membrane or hull, which can be removed at will 

 by pounding in large wooden mortars with \vooden pestles. The coffee should be 

 thoroughly dry before attempting to take off this hull. The chaff is gotten rid of by 

 winnowing, which consists in pouring the seed from one receptacle to another in a 

 current of wind. 



Enough coffee is not produced in Guam for exportation; indeed, there is scarcely 



enough for the use of the natives, all of whom are coffee drinkers. The product is 



of excellent quality. In preparing it the beans are roasted, as with us, and ground 



on a stone "metate" with a cylindrical "mano," like a tapering rolling-pin of stone. 



REFERENCES: 



Coffea arabica L. Sp. PL 1: 172. 1753. 

 Coffea liberica. LIBERIAN COFFEE. 



A few plants of Liberian coffee were introduced quite recently into Guam from the 

 Honolulu botanical garden. When I left the island several of them were in a thriv- 

 ing condition on a ranch near Sinahafia. 

 REFERENCES: 



Coffea liberica Hiern, Trans. Linn. Soc. II. 1: 171. t. 24. 1876. 

 Coffee, negro. See Cassia ocddentalis. 

 Coffee senna. See Cassia ocddentalis. 

 Cogon (Philippines). See under Xipheagrostis floridula. 



Coix lacryma-jobi. JOB'S TEARS. 



Family Poaceae. 



LOCAL NAMES. Lagrinas de San Pedro (Spanish); Alimodias (Philippines); 

 Tomugi, Judsu-dama (Japan); Maniumiu, Samasama (Samoa); Acayacoyotl 

 (Mexico); Camandula (Porto Rico). 



This grass, which furnishes the seeds known as "Job's tears," is common in 

 Guam. The seeds are very hard, smooth, glossy, and of a gray color. They are 



For a history of coffee and its culture see Nicholls, Tropical Agriculture, p. 91, 



