COFFEE CTJLTUEB IN THE WEST IISTDIES. 



141 



" "With regard to Moclia and Jamaica coffee, there must evi- 

 dently be a combination of very favorable conditions for the pro- 

 duction of beans possessing such salutary and agreeable qualities ; 

 but from the subtlety and delicacy of the lavrs of vegetable assimi- 

 lation, I fear it is almost impossible so to analyze and trace these 

 conditions as to produce their parallel in other coffee-producing 

 countries. 



"As far as I have noticed, there is little disease on any of the 

 cultivated plants of Jamaica. With the exception of the Cemi- 

 ostoma coffeeilum, a little leaf miner similar to the OroGilaria 

 coffeefoUella (Nietnee) of Ceylon, which cause the silvery tortuous 

 markings and blotches on coffee-leaves, Jamaica coffee appears to 

 be very free from disease. Our old friend the black bug is here, 

 but it does not give annoyance except, sometimes, to badly cul- 

 tivated and young coffee." 



In the British colony of Jamaica the average annual ship- 

 ments in the 'three years ending 180Y, w^ere about 11,000 tons. 

 Seventy-five years ago the exports were placed at 9,821 tons, 

 risiag to 15,200 tons iu 1814, but, subsequently, the production 

 diminished, and exports fell off very largely. During the past 

 ten or fifteen years exertions have been made to revive the coffee 

 industry, to which the island is said to be peculiarly adapted, its 

 product being noted for its superior quality. 



The Blue Mountains, which extend lengthwise of the island, 

 are admirably adapted for the cultivation of the coffee plant. The 

 first trees were planted in 1Y28. In 1844 there were nearly seven 

 hundred plantations on the island. The exports for seventeen 

 years beginning with 1864 are given as follows : 



