MIXOR PRODUCTS OF CEYLOX 515 



is at elevations between 2,000 to 4,500 ft., while the Liberian coffee 

 is best suited to elevations below 2,000 ft. Propagation is by seed 

 sown in nursery beds or, preferably, in baskets or bamboo-pots. 

 The seed germinates in about six weeks, and the seedlings should 

 be ready for planting out in about eight to ten months. In planting 

 out in the Held, the plants are set in lines, the distances apart being 

 about 6 ft. each way for the Arabian kind, and 8 to 10 ft. for the 

 Liberian. Temporary shade must be afforded until the plants are 

 established, permanent shade being usually considered unnecessary, 

 except at low elevations. In South India, however, Coffee is 

 usually grown under permanent shade trees. Manuring periodi- 

 cally is indispensable, and farmyard manure when obtainable is 

 considered the best. Pruning is effected mainly to keep the trees 

 in shape, thinning out superfluous or useless branches. The 

 bushes blossom chiefly in March or April, the following crop being 

 harvested in October and February. The first crop is obtained 

 when the plants are four to five years old. When in full bearing, 

 a yield of about 1 Ib. dried coffee per tree, or 6 to 7 cwt. per acre, 

 is considered a good average crop, though under favourable 

 conditions a much larger yield is obtained. In South America the 

 average annual yield is said to be about 8 cwt. per acre. The 

 berries are picked when they turn red, and a good worker can 

 pick three bushels a day. A bushel of berries will yield about 

 10 Ib. of dry coffee. Arabian coffee is at present quoted in 

 London at 75s. to 80s. per cwt. 



Pulping (i.e., removing the shell or pulp of the berries) is done 

 by a pulping machine ; or it may also be done by pounding the 

 berries in a mortar. Each berry contains two seed ("beans"), 

 with their flat sidss facing each other. The mucilaginous substance 

 surrounding these is removed by fermentation, afterwards washing 

 the beans in water, after which they are dried in the sun. The 

 "beans" are then known as parchment or plantation coffee. The 

 parchment or thin shell of the seed is removed by "hulling' 1 

 machines or by pounding the seed in wooden mortars. A 

 bushel of parchment coffee will only give about half that quantity 

 of clean beans. The coffee is then put through a winnowing mill 

 to separate the chaff or broken parchment, etc. Sometimes the 

 berries are simply dried whole, being then known as native 

 Coffee or dry berry. In this form the quality of the coffee is said 

 to be superior, but the pulping and subsequent processes are more 

 troublesome, and transport is mere costly. 



