6 COFFEE : ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



The first Coffee grown in America was, no doubt, 

 introduced into Surinam by the Dutch in 1718. 

 The Governor of Cayenne De la Motte-Aigron 

 having been at Surinam, obtained some plants in 

 secret and multiplied them in 1725. 



The Coffee plant was introduced into Martinique 

 by De Clieu, a naval officer, in 1720. Thence it 

 was introduced into the other French islands into 

 Guadaloupe, for instance. In 1730 Sir Nicholas 

 Lawes first grew it in Jamaica. Du Fougerais 

 Grenier introduced Mocha Coffee into Bourbon in 

 1717. It is known how the cultivation of this shrub 

 has been extended to Java, Ceylon, the West Indies, 

 and Brazil. Nothing prevents it from spreading in 

 all tropical countries, especially as the Coffee plant 

 thrives on sloping ground, and in poor soils where 

 other crops cannot flourish. It corresponds in 

 tropical agriculture with the vine in Europe, and 

 tea in the far East. 



Passing on from the commercial to the natural 

 history of the Coffee plant, we will take a brief look 

 at its distribution, species, and habits. The three 

 chief varieties of the plant are easily recognizable 

 to those who have had much to do with Coffee. 

 The Mocha^bush, growing on the hot, sandy terraces 

 of the Red Sea littoral, is sparse of leaves and 

 somewhat gaunt and stunted in appearance, as 

 beseems a thing of the desert. Looking at the 

 signs of its condensed vitality, it appears easy to 

 understand the aromatic pungency of its dwarfed 



