.JAMAICA 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT. 



New Series.] JANUARY, 1894. ' , 



Part 1. 



LIBERIAN COFFEE. 



CoFFEA LIBERICA, Bull. 



Liberian Coffee is a native of Guinea, and is found on the low hills 

 from near the sea-coast to considerable distances inland. The climate 

 of the west coast of Africa is very damp and the rainfall heavy. 



This species grows naturally into a tree, 20 to 40 feet high, with a 

 long tap root. The berries are much larger than those of ordinary 

 coffee, and do not drop from the branches for a long time after they 

 are ripe. They differ also in the pulp becoming very hard, when dry. 



Soil. — The soil should be deep, rich, and friable. Soil that is very 

 shallow or altogether clayey, and situations where water is retained 

 for any time, must be avoided for plantations. But a certain amount 

 of clay mixed with stones or limestone debris is not prejudicial, if the 

 drainage is perfect. 



Climate. — Although in Liberia this coffee grows with an excessive 

 rainfall, said to be 187 inches, it is certain that such a large amount 

 is not by any means necessary. It gives large crops at Castleton 

 Gardens with a rainfall of 110 inches and a mean temperature of 76° F., 

 at an elevation of 580 feet. Even at Hope Gardens with an average 

 rainfall of 55 inches, it grows well, and produces a crop ; and proba- 

 bly in situations as dry as the Liguanea plains, it would, if irrigated, 

 bear heavily. 



Elevation. — It is essentially a tropical plant, and probably would 

 not succeed at higher elevations than 2,500 feet, but where ordinary 

 coffee does well, there is no need to replace it by its rival. In any 

 suitable places below the lower limit for ordinary coffee, it would 

 repay cultivation. 



Planting. — The seeds may be sown in a nursery in beds about 4 feet 



219438 



