CHAPTER n. 



THE PLANT AND ITS CULTUEE. 



The range of coffee-culttire extends over almost the whole of 

 the tropical belt of the globe, the isothermal lines between the 

 twenty-fifth degree north and the thirtieth degree south of the 

 equator comprising the principal regions adapted to the growth 

 of the plant. The plant seems to bear greater climatic extremes 

 than most members of the vegetable kingdom, and thrives in lo- 

 calities differing as much as twenty to thirty degrees in average 

 temperature. 



It is a fact weU worthy of notice that in many of the countries 

 where the Coffoea Arabica — the coffee of commerce — has been in- 

 troduced, indigenous varieties of the coffee-plant have been dis- 

 covered, as in Mauritius, Southern India, Liberia, Costa Eica and 

 Mexico, Peru, Guiana and Brazil. In the last-named country no 

 fewer 'than sixteen species are distinguished, growing in a wild 

 state. 



The coffee-plant, although of hardy growth, is not without 

 enemies, among which the principal are the borer, the bug, and 

 the leaf fungus. Drought, damp, and rot also affect and injure 

 the plant. In some coimtries shade-trees are necessary in order 

 to protect it from excessive heat. In Ceylon coffee-trees under 

 shade do not produce as liberally as trees planted in open ground, 

 and, except in very low districts, shade is rarely provided. In 

 Venezuela the long dry season makes it necessary to give the 

 plants the shelter of large overhanging trees. In Brazil coffee is 

 grown in the open. Monkeys, squirrels, and jackals are fond of 

 the ripe berries, and make no scruple to plunder the plantations. 

 A species of rat is also addicted to making inroads upon the coffee- 

 fields and biting off the leaves and tender shoots. 



