COFFEE. 



quantity It will probably continue, till the population gradually 

 increases, the laborers, as already mentioned, being barely suf- 

 ficient for the present cultivation. As the value at the present 

 average price in the English market of 50s. a cwt., will give 

 200,000, the produce of the district w r ill appear pretty con- 

 siderable for a petty American State, possessing only 80,000 in- 

 habitants, and just emerging from a half-savage condition. (Dun- 

 lop's " Central America.") 



The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose, in Costa 

 Kica, according to Stephens, has increased rapidly within a few 

 years. Seven years before, the whole crop was not more than 500 

 quintals, and in 1844 it amounted to 90,000. 



Don Mariano Montealegre is one of the largest proprietors 

 there, and had three plantations in that neighbourhood. One, 

 which Mr. Stephens visited, contained 27,000 trees, and he was 

 preparing to make great additions the next year. He had ex- 

 pended a large sum of money in buildings and machinery ; and 

 though his countrymen said he would ruin himself, every year he 

 planted more trees. His wife, La Senora, was busily engaged in 

 husking and drying the berries. In San Jose, by the way (he 

 adds), all the ladies were what might be called good business-men, 

 kept stores, bought and sold goods, looked out for bargains, and 

 were particularly knowing in the article of coffee. 



The coffee at Surinam is suffered to grow in three stems from 



the root, and when one of them does not produce plenty of berries, 



it is cast away, and the best shoot in appearance next the root is 



allowed to grow in its room. The trees are not permitted to 



rise higher than about five feet, so that the negroes can very 



easily pluck the berries, for gathering which there are two seasons, 



the one in May, or the beginning of June, and the other in 



October or the beginning of November. The berries are often 



plucked of unequal ripeness, which must greatly injure the quality 



of the coffee. It is true when the coffee is washed, the berries 



which float on the water are separated from the others ; but they 



are only those of the worst quality, or broken pieces, while the 



half-ripe beans remain at the bottom with the rest. Now, in the 



description I have given of the method of gathering coffee in Ara- 



bia, it is seen that the tree is suffered to grow to its natural height, 



and the berries are gathered by shaking the tree, and making them 



fall on mats placed for them. By this way the Arabians harvest 



only the beans perfectly ripe at the time, and which must give the 



coffee a more delicate flavor. A tree will yield each time on an 



averagefrom 1 Ib. to 1 Ib. of coffee, when pulped and perfectly dried. 



An acre of land planted with coffee, when favored by the weather, 



becomes more profitable than when it is planted with sugar canes ; 



but its crops are always very precarious, as the blossoms, and even 



the berries, are sometimes damaged by the heavy rains, which are 



much less injurious to sugar canes ; wherefore a planter feels 



himself best secured in his revenue, as soon as he can cultivate 



them both. 



