PREFACE. 



A PRACTICAL essay on the culture and preparation of 

 coffee for market in the various producing countries of 

 the world, brought down to the present time, has long 

 been wanted, especially as the sources of supply have 

 changed so much of late years. Porter's "Tropical Agri- 

 culturist" has long been out of print, and my own work 

 on " The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom" 

 is too expensive and too diffuse for ordinary reference. 

 The present hand-book deals with the subject in a popular 

 form, .but, at the same time, supplies correct information 

 on most points, combined with the fullest descriptive and 

 statistical details respecting every coffee-producing country. 

 For much of the information relating to coffee cultivation 

 in Ceylon, I am indebted to a small treatise by Mr. Gr. C. 

 Lewis, privately published in that island. For the views 

 of buildings and scenery, I am under obligations to Sir 



