AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 269 
misletoe, and all dead branches carefully removed. In 
fa&t the tree should be treated as an experienced gardener 
would treat a standard shrubby fruit tree in Europe, to 
expe@t its full proportion of fruit. In the curing of 
coffee great care should be taken that the fermentation 
or heating of the berry, prior to stamping, should not be 
excessive, otherwise the coffee will become black and 
unsaleable. The colour for the market being a greenish 
pearl colour—if the coffee in the husk be not slightly 
heated it will be too yellow, but if too much so it will be 
dark and of a musty smell. { 
The best flavoured coffee for use is the berry that 
dries upon the tree and does not pass through the pulp- 
ing mill, but it is much more difficult to prepare than the 
other, nor would half the crop be picked if it was left till 
it arrived at this stage. 
PLANTAINS. 
The soil of this colony is peculiarly adapted for the 
growth of this plant, which requires a strong, rich clay, 
A plantain walk has frequently been known to produce, 
without re-planting, for 15 or 20 years. The facility it 
affords of feeding the negro population with the suc- 
cedaneum they prefer to every other, even bread itself, 
and its amazing produétiveness in this congenial soil, 
together, gave the colony an amazing advantage over 
the West India Islands, where it can only be grown par- 
tially and by no means equal to the supply of the popu- 
lation. By law, an acre of Plantains is required on all 
estates for every 5 negroes, But, for the first 10 years, 
an acre of goad land will feed 10 negroes, with common 
care, that is, it will produce in 10 years 10,400 bunches, 
each bunch weighing to lbs. of edible vegetable bread, 
MM 2 
