COFFEE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 45 



the trees at this height. This work should preferably be done 

 while the plants are of the proper height and the green shoots 

 easily broken off, and not after the trees have exceeded the height 

 limit by several decimeters. The plant, if allowed to do so, 

 usually sends up a large number of suckers from the base, which 

 constitute a drain on the vitality of the plant. Therefore, all 

 superfluous suckers should be removed and not more than 2 to 3 

 stems to a plant should be permitted to develop. 



Occasionally robusta plants appear that are more than ordi- 

 narily subject to blight, and these should be at once pulled up 

 and burned. 



Yield. The yield of robusta coffee is* quite variable, much 

 depending upon the fertility of the soil. On the more fertile 

 soils in Java the yield per hectare in the third year was ap- 

 proximately 540 kilograms, and in the fourth and fifth years, 

 1,400 and 1,830 kilograms, respectively. In old coffee or cacao 

 fields the yields were 325, 540 and 850 kilograms per hectare, 

 respectively, during the third, fourth, and fifth years after plant- 

 ing. It is perhaps well to recall the fact that the average yield 

 of Arabian coffee in the Philippines is 174 kilograms per hectare, 

 which is of course much less than it should be, and it is not 

 believed that the Philippine planter with his present methods 

 of cultivation could equal with robusta coffee the yields quoted 

 from Java. 



The immense superiority of the robusta as a cropper over the 

 ordinary Arabian coffee is best illustrated in a table published 

 by the Department of Agriculture, Java. We learn here that 

 in Java, under identical conditions, the yield per plant was of 

 Arabian coffee, 53 to 97 grams; of robusta, 992 grams; and of 

 quilloi (a new very rare coffee) 1,020 grams. The Maragogipe 

 hybrid on its own roots yielded 14 to 18 grams, while grafted 

 on robusta the yield was 156 grams, a larger crop than any 

 Arabian coffee has given in Java. This would tend to show the 

 possibilities of robusta as a stock. Further, comparative studies 

 by Cramer have shown that 4 to 5 kilograms of fresh robusta 

 berries make 1 kilogram of coffee while of the Arabian coffee 5 

 to 6 kilograms of fruit are required to make 1 kilogram of coffee. 



Owing to the fact that the pulp on the robusta coffee (though 

 smaller in amount) is more difficult to remove than that on the 

 Arabian, robusta needs at least two and one-half days of fer- 

 mentation. The bean requires rapid drying in order to loosen 

 the silver skin and the drying is therefore done in an artificially 

 heated shed. 



