THE PLANT. 17 



appearance of being carelessly prepared ; and the 

 reason why Rio, Manilla, and West African fetch 

 the least money seems obvious enough. 



The high prices of the Mochas lead one to 

 think that there is something in a name, but the 

 light colour of the seeds indicates probably not 

 only a very complete ripeness when gathered, but 

 considerable age as well ; and be it remembered 

 that Coffee improves with age, and will continue to 

 improve for fifteen or twenty years. The brown 

 Java, priced at i6os., has not only very fine seeds, 

 but it has been six or seven years in the island. 

 If Coffee bg_kept in a dry place jt : matures and 

 It loses water, gets lighter, and when 



roasted^_developes^ more aroma The fact that 

 Coffee can je stored in bulk for household-Jig^, 

 and continues to improve with 



meoid^it_to_the^careful .housewife. "C'est Page qui 

 fait le bon Cafe," says the writer of the mono- 

 graph, " Le Bresil a 1'Exposition Internationale 

 d' Amsterdam." 



In preparing Coffee after it is plucked from 

 the trees, the pulp is removed by water and fer- 

 mentation, and the parchment subsequently shred 

 from the beans by passing them between carefully- 

 adjusted rollers and winnowing. It is then ready 

 for sale and transport, and this is all the work 

 of preparation that falls to the planter's hands. 



' " To dream of drinking Coffee," says De Can- 

 dolle, " is a favourable omen, betokening riches 



c 



