COFFEE: 

 ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PLANT. 



THERE are certain historic facts relating to the 

 cultivation of Coffee, and the introduction of the 

 drink into this country, which are interesting, if 

 not of much practical value, and must receive a 

 brief notice here. 



The plant, whose natural climatic range lies 

 between the isothermal lines of 25 North and 30 

 South of the Equator, is said to have been first 

 observed in Caffa (whence its name), a district of 

 Southern Abyssinia. From thence it was intro- 

 duced along the old caravan routes to Yemen, in 

 Arabia, about the beginning of the I4th century. 

 There can be little doubt, however, that it has 

 always grown spontaneously in various quarters of 

 the tropics, Persia, Peru, and the West Coast of 

 Africa (whence an important species takes its 

 name) being rivals for the honour of its parentage. 



