

^'^'HE Coffee plant, although now so widely and ex- 

 I 1"^ tensively grown and cultivated in both hemi- 

 spheres, and to be found in all the Botanic 

 gardens as well as in many of the private conservatories 

 of the new and old worlds, was entirely unknown outside 

 of Abyssinia and Arabia up to the close of the seventeenth 

 century. Ray, in his " History of Plants," published in 

 1688, expresses his surprise "that the neighboring 

 countries of Europe should permit so rare a treasure to 

 be confined to a single province, and wonders what 

 watchful dragon is employed by the natives to prevent 

 strangers from procuring either the plant or its seed, 

 which could be readily grown in similar climates and 

 soil ;" adding, " It cannot be imagined how the enterpris- 

 ing commercial nations of Europe, which founded 

 colonies in the tropics can be so inattentive to the value 

 and importance of such an acquisition." Whether act- 

 ing on this suggestion or not. the plant soon afterwards 

 was introduced and extensively cultivated in many of 

 the countries colonized by Europeans. 



Between well-recognized limits north and south of the 

 equator Coffee is found growing and bearing highly 

 profitable crops in a wide range of countries to attempt 

 anything like an exhaustive account of which, is impos- 

 sible within the range of a single chapter. Originally a 



