January, 1912.] 



m 



Edible Products, 



it is necessary to stop the trees in order 

 to prevent their growing too tall ; if the 

 top is removed, the principal branches 

 form secondary branches which are not 

 inferior to the former from the point of 

 view of production. Another method 

 for encouraging the growth of second- 

 ary branches is to expose the young 

 plant to direct light. Very little differ- 

 ence in yield has been found from topped 

 and untopped plants. The sole disadvant- 

 age of topping is the formation of suckers 

 at the top of the trunk ; these should be 

 removed regularly, and this includes all 

 the pruning that is required, except in 

 the case of old trees that have produced 

 suckers near the base on account of 

 injury. The care of a plantation of 

 Coffea robusta is certainly less expensive 

 thau that of one containing Liberian 

 coffee ; epiphytes do not grow upon it, 

 and it shades the ground completely — in 

 fact, the expenses of its cultivation are 

 less than those entailed in the clean 

 weeding of a rubber plantation. If 

 weeds happen to become abundant, the 

 coffee does not die, but ceases to produce 

 fruit, and is capable of recovering in a 

 few mouths. When they are one and 

 a-half years old, the trees may be topped 

 at a height of 8 ft., and after they have 

 been topped they reach their full 

 development in three years. 



Time op Flowering and Yield. 

 The first flowering takes place a year 

 after planting, though cases are known 

 in Sumatra Avhen the period has been 

 eight months ; in the latter case, sterile 

 flowers were formed after seven months, 

 and the normal flowers appeared a month 

 later. After flowering, the time for the 

 formation of ripe fruits may be taken 

 as nine months ; thus trees of the latter 

 kind would yield a harvest in two years. 

 The plant flowers during the whole of 

 the year, resembling Coffea liberica ; 

 nevertheless, the climate has some effect 

 on production, and the crop is increased 

 in amount during the dry season. The 

 berries remain on the branches for 

 about a month, so that a monthly pick- 

 ing is necessary. 



Examples are given of the yields on 

 plantations. In one case where the plants 

 were placed at the corners of a 12 ft. 

 square with another plant in the centre, 

 the yields per acre at the different 

 ages of the plants were as follows : — 

 Two years, 1'5 cwt,, three years, 5*5 cwt.; 

 four years, 17 cwt. ; five years, 15 cwt. ; 

 six years, 21 to 24 cwt. In another case, 

 the plants were at 10 by 10 ft., with a 

 nutmeg tree in the place of every ninth 

 coffee plant when the yields were, simil- 

 arly, as follows :— Two years, 1*5 cwt. ; 

 5 



three years, 1 cwt. ; four years, 17 cwt. ; 

 five years, 17 cwt. Other examples of 

 yields are presented, and the following 

 course of a plantation of Robusta coffee 

 with rubber is given as satisfactory 

 under the conditions mentioned : — The 

 flowers should appear in the first year 

 after planting. In the next a small 

 crop of about 1 to 2 cwt. should be ob- 

 tained, and this should be increased to 14 

 cwt. per acre in the third year, with the 

 same production in the fourth year. In 

 the fifth year, the shade of the rubber 

 trees would become too thick, and only 

 the trees in the middle of the rows 

 would give a crop ; this would be about 

 7 cwt. per acre. In five years the coffee 

 plants should be removed, as the shade 

 of the rubber trees would by now make 

 their yield unsatisfactory. These figures 

 apply only to conditions where the 

 rubber trees are planted at a suitable 

 distance from the coffee— namely, at 

 least 7 ft. — and where the conditions of 

 soil and climate are favourable to inter- 

 calary cultivation. 



Preparation for Market and 

 Quality op the Product. 

 The berries are smaller than those of 

 Liberian coffee, and are borne in thick 

 bunches, so that picking is facilitated 

 and hastened. The fruit covering is 

 thin, and there is another advantage in 

 that the skin is easily removed. The 

 seeds are fermented for thirty-six hours, 

 and then washed and dried ■ for the last 

 named purpose they should be exposed 

 immediately to a temperature of about 

 60 degrees C. The quality of well-pre- 

 pared Robusta coffee is about equal to 

 that of Arabian coffee of middling 

 quality ; the seeds are slightly different 

 in shape, being larger and more convex 

 than those of Arabian coffee. The bulk 

 is about the same, and Robusta coffee 

 possesses a bluish-green colour similar to 

 that of good Arabian. The market price 

 is about 10 per cent, below that of Java 

 and Liberian coffee, but there is ample 

 compensation for this disadvantage in 

 the difference of expense in production. 



In relation to the cost of establishment 

 of a plantation, it must be remembered 

 that the driers and buildings required 

 for the coffee will be of use later in con- 

 nection with rubber production. Pinal 

 matters of interest in the present re- 

 lation are that Robusta coffee is ranked 

 by brokers with good Java coffee, and 

 above Santos. For its proper preparation 

 the seeds should be well roasted— a 

 process to which they lend themselves 

 well, and under which they lose less 

 weight than those of other kinds of 

 coffee. 



