6 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 2, 1888. 
Earth should never be heaped around the steal at 
any age of the tree. Only allow one sleni to the tree; 
all other shoots (from the stem) should be broken 
off ; this work requires constant attention, as Liberian 
coffee is always throwing out suckers (snoots) all the 
way up the stem. 
Topping. — Out off the top of the tree when about 
7 feet high to 5 feet. 
deeding.— Weed once a month from the time of 
burning, but if the weeds have got a good hold of 
the place, a space of about 2' in circumference around 
each tree should be kept clear and the other portions 
cut down about once a quarter or as often as cir- 
cumstances m ill permit; if kept clean from the first 
a few small boys should be kept going over the 
place regularly once a month, carrying away all 
weeds. 
Supplying.— Replace any sickly looking plants by 
good strong plants, and if any die off, try and find 
the cause and supply the vacancy. 
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COFFEE AND ITS CULTURE IN MYSORE. 
All the coffee consumed in the European and 
American world was originally derived from Arabia. 
The plant, however, is not a native of Arabia, but 
of Abyssinia, and was not introduced into the for- 
mer country until A.D. 1454, and, consequently; not 
until eight centuries after the time of Mahomet. 
The Arabians found coffee to be stimulating and 
agreeable, and, substituting it for forbidden wine, 
called it kawah, of which the European name coffee 
is a corruption through the Turkish — the world in 
Arabic mealing wine. Thereupon the Mahomedan 
doctors fell to disputing about the legality of the 
potation. Coffee is not narcotic, but the contrary ; 
the Arabian theologians, however, occupied them- 
selves with the name not the thing. In the end, 
the wholesome and agreeable beverage beat the doc- 
tors, and for nearly four centuries the use of coffee 
has been orthodox and extensive in Arabia. Dr. G. 
V. Poore, in a lecture upon coffee and tea, delivered 
recently at the Parkes Museum, said: — "I firmly 
believe that if a man, under the influence of mental 
or physical exhaustion, were offered a glass of gin, 
or a cup of real coffee, he would unhesitatingly 
choose the latter if he were aware of the marvel- 
lously stimulating effect which real coffee has." 
About the middle of the fifteeth century coffee was 
introduced from Arabia into Egypt, and from thence 
it spread over the rest of the Turkish Empire. 
A Turkish merchant took the first bag of coffee to 
England in 1650, and in the same year his Greek 
servant made the first cup of English coffee. About 
the same period it was introduced into France. In 
sixty years' time it was familiarly known in England, 
as we find from Pope's well-known lines in the 
" Rape of the Lock." 
" Coffee, which makes the politician wise, 
And see through all things with his half shut eyes." 
For at least half a century Arabia yielded the 
whole supply. In the year 1690 a certain Dutch 
Governor-General of India, one Jan Oamphius, sent 
as a curiosity to Holland a single coffee plant which 
he had raised by seed at Jeddah, in Arabia. The 
plant in question was carefully reared in a hot- 
house at the Hague, and bore fruit. Some berries 
from it were sent to Surinam, and these berries are 
the progenitors of the whole coffee plantations of 
America and its islands. 
There is, however, another version of the West 
Indian supply. It is said to have been due to a 
distinguished French botanist. Two plants were, 
under his care, taken to the West Indies from the 
Botanic (cardens at Paris, but on the voyage the 
supply of water became nearly exhausted, when this 
person was so anxious to preserve the plants that 
he deprived himself of his own allowance in order 
to water the coffee plants. From these two, it is 
added, all the coffee grown in West Indies has sprung. 
The first coffee plant known in Brazil was cultivated 
by a Franciscan monk of the name of Vellosa, in the 
garden ol the Convent of St. Antonio. The monk 
presented its fruit to the Viceroy, the Marquis of 
Laurado, who judiciously distribu'ed it to the planters. 
This was in 1774. The date when the coffee-plant 
was first introduced into Ceylon has, we are told, 
never been definitely ascertained. It is generally 
supposed to have been brought from Arabia during 
the time of the Dutch occupation of Ceylon. The 
origin of coffee in Mysore is due to a Mahomedan 
Saint, named Baba Buden. About two hundred years 
ago, this person proceeded on pilgrimage to Mecca, 
and, on his return, brought some coffee seeds in his 
calabash, and, settling down on the hills, which are 
called after his name, planted the berries near his 
cave. But local tradition also associates its intro- 
duction with one Rid Jamal Alia Magarabi, who was 
one of the successors of Baba Bude i. Over a cen- 
tury had elapsed before other gardens were raised, 
and about half a century more before British capital 
and enterprise were employed upon its cultivation. 
The pioneers of the industry in Mysore were Mr. 
Cannon, "who formed an estate on the high range 
immediately to the south of the Baba Budengiri 
where the original coffee phnts are still in existence, 
flourishing under the shade of the primeval forests;" 
and Mr. Green, who, in 1843, raised a plantation 
near Aigur, in South Munzerabad. The fact that 
Cannon's coffee trees are still extant proves that 
planters who have good soil and carefully cultivated 
and manured estates, need not fear their dying out 
at an early age. The elevation a 1 ; which coffee is 
produced varies from 2,200 to 4,200 feet above sea- 
level, and it is known that the plant refuses to 
grow a mile distant from the coffee zone. 
The coffee of Mysore is known by three or more 
descriptions namely, " Old Mysore," the " Coorg Kind" 
and the " Cannon" brand, the letter being of the 
best description and most in favor in the London 
markets. The produce from the plantations in the 
Koppa Taluk is a successful rival of its neighbours. 
Io the Kadur District, where the coffee cultivation 
of Southern India is said to have had its origin, 
the results of the industry for 1887-88 are encourag- 
ing, and its furtier devo'opment is expected. The 
number of acres assigned to coffee is 86,908, of which 
mature plants occupy 49,162, immature 18,717, and 
the unplanted area is 19,029. The total area is divided 
into 11,531 plantations, Europeans owaing 334 and 
Natives 11,187, covering, respectively, 27,428 and 
59,480 acres, against 11,303 plantations (Euglish 320 
with 2,506 acres, and Native 10,983 with 59,875 acres) 
in the year previous. Mudgeri and Koppa have the 
largest number of English estates, 176, and 79 respect- 
lively. Within the last decade upwards of thirty estates 
have been opened out by Europeans in the latter Taluk. 
Of native estates Chikmagalur is credited with the 
greatest number, viz, 6,492, while the Europeans 
possess 49. The approximate yield was, under Euro- 
pean management, 2,914,588 lb., and under Native 
2,780,780 lb., total out-turn 5,695,368 lb. In the 
year 1886-87 it was, 2,857,496 and 1,305,020 lb. respec- 
tively, total 4,162,516 lb. The average produce of a 
full-bearing acre was 120 to 360 lb. under English 
management, and from 28 to 239 under native. — Madras 
Mail. 
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SOME VEGETABLE PRODUCTS FROM 
MINCING LANE. 
To those acquainted with vegetable economic 
products, but who at the same time have no com- 
mercial training, it is interesting to watch the 
reports from the principal centres of commerce, 
showing, as they do, the fluctuations to which 
certain products are liable. The reports of the 
London drug sales are peculiarly striking in this 
respect ; for though, like other trade reports they 
are clothed in the usual techuical language, they 
give a pretty good idea of the value of some regular 
artcles of trade which in the course of the year make 
up a considerable total. 
Under the head of Essential Oils, for instance, we 
find, perhaps, the widest range of prices, from oil of 
Sweet Almonds, at Is. M. per pound, to Mitcham 
