58 



COFFEE. 



The former reputation of Bourbon coffee was European, and tlie 

 island long owed its prosperity to coffee culture, but the hurricanes, 

 decay of the trees used for shade, and the preference given by the 

 planters of late years to sugar cultivatiou, has caused a great decline 

 in the production of coffee. In 1817 the crop exceeded 7,250,000 lbs., 

 but in 1860 only 530,000 lbs. were shipped, in 1865 less than 

 470,000 lbs., and in 1875, 467,500 lbs., although in the previous year, 

 1874, it was 719,400 lbs. The land under cultivation with coffee is 

 only 5200 acres against 121,000 acres under cane, and there are 347 

 coffee works or buildings. There are five species or varieties of 

 the coffee shrub, known on the island, viz. : 



1. Mocha, passing as Bourbon (Coffea Arahica), the first intro- 

 duced into the island and superior to all other kinds, easy to grow, 

 but requiring shade trees for shelter. 



2. Leroy coffee (^Coffea laurina), the Sierra Leone species, a hardy 

 kind, growing readily without shade, and having a seed pointed at 

 one end. 



3. Myrtle coffee, a Mocha variety, especially remarkable for the 

 longevity of the tree. 



4. Aden coffee (Goffea microcarjpa), with small regular berries, and 

 a particular aroma, brought from Yemen by Admiral J ehuine ; it is 

 the same as the Foucard coffee of Guadaloupe ; very little of this 

 variety is, however, grown in the island. 



5. Bitter or wild coffee (Coffea Mauritiana), an indigenous species, 

 common in the elevated forests of the island, with a pointed seed 

 of a strange form, having a strong and bitter flavour, which in- 

 toxicates in infusion, but mixed with other kinds is agreeable. 



Liberia. — Coffee is found in a dwarfish state growing wild in all 

 parts of the republic of Liberia, on the west coast of Africa, and 

 is believed to be a distinct species, which has lately been named 

 Coffea Liberica, but used to pass as C. microcarpa. Some suppose 

 it to be indigenous, others that it was introduced by the Portuguese 

 a few centuries ago. The coffee now being cultivated in Liberia is 

 from plants originally procured from the forest, but greatly improved 

 by cultivation. It is grown both on light alluvial soil near the 

 coast, and on gravelly soils in the interior. From present indi- 

 cations in a few years the export of coffee from Liberia will be 

 considerable, and its rich and superior flavour will secure for it 

 a corresponding demand at remunerative prices. Coffee it has been 

 proved can be cultivated with great ease, and to any extent, in this 

 republic, from being indigenous to the soil and the tree being found 

 there in abundance. A single tree at Monrovia, it is said, has yielded 

 the enormous quantity of 16 lbs. at one gathering. It was estimated 

 some years since that there were about 30,000 coffee trees in one 

 of the counties, that of Grand Bassa, and the quality of the pro- 

 duce was stated to be equal to the best Java. About the villages 

 and settlements of the Sherbro river and Sierra Leone wild coffee 

 trees are very abundant. A good many plants of Liberian coffee have 

 been sent lately from Kew to Jamaica, Southern India, and Ceylon. 



This species is now considered to be of the highest commercial 

 importance, being far more prolific than the old Coffea Arahica, of 



