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THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



Maech 



More About Illinois Coffee. 



Since "writing to notice of the above named 

 coffee, grown by Mr. Huffman, of Effingham, we 

 have received from him specimens of the berries. 

 They in size, color and form resemble the seed 

 of the sweet orange. The berry itself is envel- 

 oped in a thin, hard skin, which is nearly of a 

 pure white, and has a wrinkled or rough appear- 

 ance, much like other members of the Ligumini- 

 ous family to which it belongs. The seeds are 

 two boiled, like the bean, and easily separated 

 by splitting; hence, the supposed similarity to 

 Coffee that deceived our friend, the Hon. S. W. 

 Moulton. The size being that of a large pea, 

 the flesh is of a bright golden yellow, is hard, 

 and in its raw state, has a decided pea taste, 

 and we should consider it as destitute of any 

 of the real properties of coffee as that of the 

 common field pea that is so commonly used to 

 adulterate the pure berry. Mr. H. having the 

 kindness to send us just fifty seed for one dollar, 

 we cannot give it a trial in the way of a cup of 

 coffee, as we have sent samples to an eminent 

 botanist to see if he can make out the plant. 

 Thus it will be seen that we are unable to settle 

 the most important point in regard to its value, 

 to-wit: "will it make a cup of genuine coffee, 

 equal to the best Rio ?" It is neither the Ok a 

 or Japan Pea, but a legitimate member of the 

 pea family, and will doubtless prove as valuable 

 for coffee as any of its congeners. Mr. Huffman 

 is a patriot, and, withal, a shrewd genius, and 

 goes upon the broad principle of "helping others 

 to help himself." He sells £fty seed for a dollar, 

 providing that two red stamps are sent to pre- 

 pay the postage, showing a precision in the seed 

 business seldom attained. 



Mr. Huffman has very kindly answered several 

 of our enquiries in regard to its habits and cul- 

 ture, and promises to give us instructions as to 

 its use, but he says that " he cannot afford to 

 put up less than a dollar's worth of the seeds, 

 as the writing and mailing of it would be too 

 much for a less amount." We would not, there- 

 fore, a ivise any one to trouble Mr. H. with less 

 than that sum, as it would only be an annoyance to 

 him. On the whole, the price is exceedingly 

 reasonable. Seventy- two of the berries will 

 weigh an ounce, which, at two cents each, makes 

 one dollar and forty-four cents, or at the rate of 

 twenty-three doUars a pound, and as beans and 

 and peas usually weigh sixty pounds to the bushel, 

 the snug little sum of $138 the bushel. Now, 

 as Mr. H. had only some two bushel of the ber- 



ries, and is thus patriotically distributing them 

 broadcast over the land, we feel as though 



THE WEST HAS BEB CHE iTED 



out of a grand chance to become famous, and 

 the interests of Mr. H. has been sacrificed by a 

 premature publication of the great virtues of 

 this invaluable discoveory of a domestic coffee. 

 Mr. H. should have waited another year, when 

 his two bushels would have yielded three hun- 

 dred fold, and his two bushels would have yield- 

 ed a princely fortune. Besides this, the fame 

 that would have attached to the State is partially 

 lost, and the opportunity of paying off our east- 

 ern friends for such act? of kindness as giving 

 us China tree corn at a cent a grain, Morus Mul- 

 ticaulis at five dollars a plant, Rohan potatoes 

 at twenty-five cents each. Charter Oak grapes at 

 three dollars, Chinese Battatas, six seeds from 

 the axils of the leaves, at five dollars, with nu- 

 merous smaller favors equally valuable. Had 

 not r. H. given our friend, the Hon. S. W. 

 Moulton, of Shelby county, the berries to test 

 in the way of coffee, had Mr. M. not conceived 

 the idea that it was nearly equal to the Rio, had 

 he not been at Springfield at the meeting of the 

 Executive Board of the State Agricultural So- 

 ciety, they would not have offered the one hun- 

 dred dollar premium, nor would the modest cor- 

 respondent of the Tribune have advised the world 

 of the exhibition of this invaluable plant, and 

 the next crop could have been sent out in such 

 a quantity as to have produced great results. 

 Now the plant will be in so many hands that it 

 cannot be available, and thus our great opportu- 

 nity is lost. 



We have been patiently waiting for years for 

 something of the kind to turn up, with which to 

 return such valuable favors to our ingenious east- 

 ern horticulturists, but alas, " the best laid 

 schemes of mice end men gang aft aglee. ' 

 Crandall with his "Egyptian corn" made a faint 

 effort in that line, but he lacked either tact or 

 energy, and but a few hundred dollars was the 

 bare results, without any particular advantage 

 to the State, as having developed a great genius, 

 that she might place on the roll of fame, be- 

 side the worthies who have from time to time 

 sent us out such horticultural wonders. 



ITS CULTUEE. 



Plant in good deep soil, prepared as for corn 

 in drills, four feet rows, and and plant in a hill, 

 eighteen inches apart in the rows; cultivate same 

 as corn, and thresh the same as beans. The 

 plant grows about two feet high, and has a habit 



