COFFEE. 



45 



from Arabia. The cultivation of this important crop is spreadiDg 

 fast throughout the east, and has been adopted in many parts of 

 Hindostan. In the Tenasserim provinces, on the table land of 

 Mysore, in Penang, and especially in the islands of Bourbon and 

 Ceylon, it is becoming more and more an object of attention. 

 It is known to have given good produce in Sangar and the jSTer- 

 budda ; also in ^Mirzapore, as well as Dacca, and other parts of 

 Bengal ; Chota Xajpore, jMalabar, and Travancore. Trom three 

 to four million pounds of coffee are now exported from the Indian 

 presidencies annually. The highest quantity was four and a quarter 

 million pounds in 1845, but the progress of culture, judging from 

 tbe export, has been small. 



On the hilly districts on the east coast of tbe Grulf of Siam, 

 the cultivation is carried on on a limited scale. The annual 

 produce is not much more than about 400 cwt., although it is 

 understood to be increasing. The quality of the berry is reciioned 

 to be nearly equal to j\Iocha, and it commands a high price in the 

 English market. 



The soil recommended in India is a good rich garden land, the 

 situation high and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered to 

 the north-west, or in such other direction as the prevailing storms 

 are found to come from. 



A plantation, or a hill affording the shrubs shade, has been 

 found beneficial in all tropical climates, because, if grown fully 

 exposed to the sun, the berries have been found to be ripened 

 prematurely. 



The spot should be well dug to a depth of two feet before the 

 trees are planted out, and the earth pulverised and cleared from 

 the roots of rank weeds, but particularly from the coarse woody 

 grasses with which all parts of India aboimd. 



The best manure is found in the decayed leaves that fall from 

 the trees themselves, to which may be added the weeds produced 

 in the plantation, dried and burnt. These, then, dug in, are the 

 only, manure that will be required. Cow-dung is the best manure 

 for the seed-beds. 



The seed reserved for sowing must be put into the ground quite 

 fresh, as it soon loses its power of germination. Clean, well- 

 formed berries, free fr-om injury by insects, or the decay of the 

 pulp, should be selected. 



These berries must be sown in a nursery, either in small, well- 

 manured beds, or in pots in a sheltered spot, not too close, as it 

 is well to leave them where sown until they acquire a good growth; 

 indeed, it is better if they are removed at once from the bed Avhere 

 they are sown, to the plantation. Here they should be planted 

 as soon as they have attained two years of age, for, be it remem- 

 bered, that if they are left too long in the nursery, they become 

 unproductive and never recover. The distance at which they 

 should be put out in the plantation need not exceed eight feet apart 

 in the rows, between which, also, there should be eight feet distance. 

 The seedlings appear in about a month after the seed is sown. 



