COFFEE 



COFFEE 



245 



continue to be a pest, since it infests also the 

 guava and certain ferns. Nematode worms are often 

 present in the roots, and rarely occur in the stem 

 and berry, causing the latter to drop before matu- 

 rity. A "black fly" (aphid) is abundant on new 

 growth in Hawaii. 



Porto Rico is not so fortunate in the point of 

 numbers of enemies, but is comparatively free from 

 serious annoyance. The diseases and insect pests 

 thus far observed are as follows: 



Coffee leaf blight, provisionally called by F. S. 

 Earle, Sderotium sp., is a fungus which covers the 

 trees from the roots up with brownish mycelial 

 threads, spreading out, as the leaves are reached, 

 into a fine white weft. The attacked leaves blacken 

 soon and fall. The remedy is plenty of sunlight 

 and spfaying with Bordeaux mixture. 



Stilbum flavidum, so-called American coffee dis- 

 ease, is a fungus making on the leaves nearly round 

 spots of about one centimeter in diameter and of 

 a yellowish color, causing the leaves to drop. 

 Reducing excessive shade is recommended as a 

 remedy. Lately the same fungus has been discovered 

 on the fruit, causing blackened spots on the pulp 

 and seeming to eat its way into one of the kernels, 

 on the parchment of which it causes wart-like 

 growths which extend to the kernel itself. Spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture is being tried. 





Fig. 352. Cement floor for air-diying the wet-washed coffee. 



These diseases, as well as coflfee root-rot, do not 

 occur frequently, however, and mostly in too moist 

 and overshaded localities. 



Coffee leaf-miner (Leueoptera coffeella) is perhaps 

 the most serious coffee pest thus far observed. It 

 is a minute silvery moth, which in its larval state 

 burrows within the leaf tissues, causing brown, 

 dead patches on the leaves. Sometimes more than 

 one larva is found in the same patch, and the leaves 

 are sometimes covered witli such patches, thus 



seriously deranging the nutrition of the plant. On 

 rich soil the harm is not very apparent, but must 

 certainly influence the crop. On poorer soils the 

 leaves drop off, leaving the trees entirely leafless 

 or with only a pair of small leaves at the point of 

 each branch, thus giving the growth of the plant 

 a tremendous setback. Hand-picking and burning 

 the attacked leaves have been resorted to, but 

 without result ; as soon as new leaves are formed 

 they are again and again attacked. Thus far the 

 only remedies are its natural enemies (discovered 

 on the island in 1904 by 0. W. Barrett), Chryso- 

 eharis livida, and Zagrammosoma multilineata, 

 parasites, the larvae of which are found inside 

 the coffee leaf-miner on which they feed, and an 

 apparently fungous disease which attacks the 

 miner in its larval state. It has been estimated 

 that the leaf-miner is responsible for the loss 

 of upwards of $100,000 worth of coffee in Porto 

 Rico annually. 



Coffee scale (Leeanium hemispherieum) is present 

 everywhere. It sometimes occurs so plentifully on 

 the tender twigs that they seem to dry out, but 

 this is very seldom, and the harm from the scale is 

 not otherwise apparent. LarvEe of lady-birds, and 

 a white fungous disease which seems to grow in 

 the bodies of the scale, spreading over all the scale 

 on the same twig or stem or plant, seem to be 

 sufficient to hold the scale in check. 



Weevils do much harm in some places by eating 

 the young leaves, and by attacking the green soft 

 parts of the twigs, in some instances causing those 

 parts bearing the fruit to drop or die. The most 

 damage apparently is done in young coffee. Mealy 

 bugs sometimes appear at the roots of old trees. 

 May beetles dig holes in the earth near the stem 

 and their larvse do damage to the roots. Other 

 larvae, bugs, rats and ants attack the coffee plant, 

 but none of them is serious. 



Coffee in Porto Rico. 



The climate and soil and nearness to European 

 and North American markets, the dense population 

 and the short distances between the seaports and 

 the mountain slopes on which the coffee is grown, 

 adapt Porto Rico especially to this industry. The 

 rugged mountainous topography which comprises 

 three-fourths of the total area, makes the cultiva- 

 tion of other important crops than coffee almost 

 impossible. As a result, coffee-growing has become 

 the leading industry of the island, and the crop is 

 grown in nearly every district. The best coffee is 

 produced in the southwestern part. Formerly 

 coffee was grown on the lowland, where it did 

 well. The production of sugar, however, has driven 

 most of it to the highlands. The high-water mark 

 was reached in 1896, when 58,780,000 pounds, 

 valued at $13,519,400, were exported. Most of 

 this went to Europe. Spain takes a large share, 

 and Austria, Hungary, Italy, France and Germany 

 are good markets. United States takes very little 

 of the output. The lower grades are shipped to 

 Cuba or are sold for home consumption. The 

 acreage in 1904 was reported as 183,541. The 

 industry is not in so prosperous condition as it 



