CHAPTEE XrV. 



LIBEEIAIT AND OTHER AFSICAS GEOWTHS OF COFFEE. 



The product of the African Republic, although limited in 

 amount, has, during the last few years, attracted considerable 

 notice. The plant dififers somewhat from the tree known as 0. 

 Arabica, and botanically is known as 0. Liberica. It is cultivated 

 very successfully in the hot and moist lowlands or on hills of no 

 great altitude. The tree grows wild iu various parts of Liberia, 

 but by transplanting to points near the coast, and careful cultiva- 

 tion, the bean has been improved. 



The C. Liberica is more prolific, its berries, of varying size, be- 

 ing frequently much larger than those obtained from C. Arabica, 

 which rarely exceed one-half inch in length, while Liberian coffee 

 has been shown from an inch to one and one-eighth inch in length. 

 "Jhe Liberian plant has been taken to Java, Ceylon, Brazil, and 

 other points, and subjected to experiments with a view of testing 

 its merits as compared with C. Arabica. The fruit, when ripe, 

 lacks the bright red color characteristic of 0. Arabica, and its 

 covering is hard, fibrous, and rather rough, containing little pulpy 

 matter ; it does not drop from the tree when ripe, as in the case 

 of Coffcea Arabica. The flavor is good, and if the culture and 

 preparation were systematized and pursued upon a larger scale, it 

 would undoubtedly become a favorite variety. 



The plantations in Liberia are scattered, poorly cultivated plots 

 of ground, lying along the banks of the river. It is stated that a 

 single tree has produced from twenty to twenty-four pounds of 

 beans. "While peculiarly adapted to growing in low countries, the 

 plant is being successfully cultivated in Ceylon at an elevation of 

 3,000 feet, and upon one estate 1,500 feet above sea-level a crop 

 was gathered of two tons per acre. As the future of C. Liberica 



