SELECTING LAND. 51 



lying between 15° north and 15° south of the equator, 

 ahhough it is profitably grown at the present time from 

 25° north to 30° south of that Hne, but only in situations 

 where the temperature does not fall below 55° at any 

 time. 



As a general rule, virgin forest land has been found 

 the most suitable to break up for Coffee plantations, it 

 having become naturally enriched by decayed vegetable 

 matters, and the burning, to which it must first be 

 subjected, frees it from all weeds and insects. But 

 exceptional tracts of land, that have been once under 

 cultivation and then allowed to run wild, also form 

 good properties, and although the soil is rarely rich, 

 it is generally exposed, and always entails great trouble 

 and expense to keep down the weeds. A temperate 

 climate within the tropics is to be preferred at all 

 times, a certain degree of warmth and humidity com- 

 bined being essential — in other words, an atmosphere 

 resembling that of a northern hot-house produces the 

 finest crops of Coffee, but, unfortunately, it is inimical to 

 the unacclimated planter and favorable to weeds. The 

 most suitable climate, under these circumstances, is pre- 

 cisely that which Americans prefer ; frost, even though 

 it be only at night and for a short period, is fatal, while 

 the presence of water, preferably a running stream, is 

 most essential for watering the young plants, as well 

 as for the " pulping " process. In a wooded country 

 the plantation may be laid out in blocks of fifty acres, 

 encircled by natural belts of forest ; but flat land must be 

 avoided, as a wet soil is fatal to profitable coffee-growing, 

 and flat lands also would entail great expenditure for 

 drainage, while steep slopes, on the other hand, are also 

 objectionable on account of the wash occasioned by 



