COFFEE. G9 



to four feet. But care should be taken that the wood has ripened, 

 which is known by its assuming a brown and hard appearance. 

 This strengthens the vegetation of the branches, which begin to 

 throw out buds, and these shortly form collateral branches ; in 

 the course of eighteen months after the tree will have arrived at 

 its bearing point. Trees, after being topped, throw off suckers, 

 which are called gormandizers, from each joint, but more espe- 

 cially at the head. They should be plucked off with care, but 

 not cut, as the sap would flow more readily if cut. 



In pruning, one of the main objects is the admission of a free 

 circulation of air and light through the branches to the root of 

 the tree. No general rules can be laid down for pruning ; much 

 must depend on judgment, experience, and a nice eye to ap- 

 pearance and preservation of primary branches for bearing and 

 ripening wood for the ensuing year, as well as to regulate and pro- 

 portion the size of the tree to the functions of the roots in supply- 

 ing sustenance, and the convenience of picking the berries when 

 ripe. Every old bough which has seen its day, every wilful shoot 

 growing in a wrong direction, every fork, every cross branch or 

 dead limb, must be cut away. 



The blossoming, and ripening of the fruit varies according to 

 the situation and temperature of the plantation. In low and hot 

 situations, where the thermometer ranges from 78 to 90 degrees, 

 the tree shows its first blossoms when about two-and-a-half years 

 old. In higher and colder situations the tree will not blossom in 

 profusion until the fourth or fifth year. If there be light showers, 

 the blossoms will continue on the tree for a week or more, and 

 by the setting of the blossoms the planter can determine whr-t 

 germs will become fruit. The trees will blossom in low situations 

 as early as March, but^the April bloom is considered the most 

 abundant. In higher elevations, the trees will bloom even so late 

 as August or September. In warm climates the fruit advances as 

 rapidly, and in a month will have attained the size of a pea ; in 

 more elevated and colder localities, it will take two months to 

 arrive at this stage. The fruit will be ripe in from six to eight 

 months after the blossom has set ; it ripens in warm districts 

 about the month of August, while in others the crop will not be 

 mature till February. An acre will usually contain 1,200 trees 

 in Jamaica, and the produce would be about 400 Ibs. of coffee 

 an acre, or six ounces as the produce of each tree annually. In 

 some instances, but very seldom, one pound a tree may be obtained. 

 A bushel of cherry coffee will produce about ten or twelve pounds 

 of merchantable coffee. 



The coffee berry, after being pulped and soaked for a day and 

 night to free it from the mucilage, is spread out on barbacues 

 to dry ; in ten or twelve days, if the weather has been good, it 

 will be sufficiently cured for the peeling mill. 



Mr. W. H. Marah, of Jamaica, in a Prize Essay on the Cultiva- 

 tion and Manufacture of Coffee in that Island, published in my 

 " Colonial Magazine," makes some useful remarks: 



