35 



it was cultivated on an estate called Temple Hall, on the plains 

 of Liguanea, not far from Kingston. In 1752, 6,000,000 Ibs. of 

 coffee were exported, and in the three years ending 1807, the 

 average annual shipment was 28,500,000 Ibs. It was not 

 until the island trade was injured by the dismemberment of 

 Honduras that the heavy duties on sugar, and the competi- 

 tion of the French colonies, induced the industrious planters 

 to turn their attention to coffee. They then petitioned for 

 a protecting bounty, and for a considerable time this wa& 

 the only British colony where its cultivation was much at- 

 tended to. In 1791 there were 607 coffee-plantations in the 

 island, with 21,000 negroes employed on them. In 1844 r 

 there were 671 plantations, and it was calculated that 

 20,000,0002. sterling was invested in them. Some of the 

 finest and most productive plantations were at an elevation 

 of 4700 feet, in the vicinity of the Blue Mountain Peak. 

 Whilst in 1809, 83,250,000 Ibs. of coffee were shipped from 

 Jamaica, the average export for ten years past has not ex- 

 ceeded 6,000,000 Ibs. 



In the "West Indies and Central America a nursery of 

 young plants is usually raised from seed. At the age of six 

 months these are transplanted into the field in squares of 

 8 to 9 feet apart. Beyond keeping the field clear of weeds, 

 giving the plants a slight moulding, and freeing them of 

 suckers or sprouts, they do not require any other attention 

 for the first three years. At the expiry of this time they 

 commence to bear fruit, and the coffee is cured either by 

 drying the entire fruit in the sun, or by passing the fruit 

 through what is called a pulping mill, which separates the 

 outer pulp or covering from the beans. The beans are then 

 subjected to a washing in a tank full of water, in order to 

 remove the glutinous substance which adheres to them ; 

 this causes them to cure or dry more rapidly. They are then 

 left in what ig called the parchment husk, and exposed to the 



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