44 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, i88j. 
ot information from that work and from our columns. 
We quote the following regarding Liberian coffee in 
Jamaica : — 
In 1879, Mr. Jenman reported as follows respecting 
the Liberian coffee at the Castleton Gardens : — " There 
is a great demand for this coffee, which the garden is 
quite unable to meet at present. All attempts which 
have to my knowledge on the part of private parties to 
import either plants or seed have proved failures. 
Another small parcel of seed received some months ago 
from Kew Gardens, produced between four and five 
dozen plants. I shall still further extend the plots now 
in cultivation, that the Gardens may in time be in the 
position to supply plants in thousands yearly. I am 
glad to be able to report that the first few trees re- 
ceived have, this year, borne, a small crop of fruit, 
which has recently been gathered and sown. Several 
applications for the seed have been made, all of which 
I have felt it my duty not to comply with. Ample 
means exist here for raising it successfully, such as pri- 
vate persons do not possess ; and, without question, it 
is to tbe interest of the colony that precautions should 
be taken to ensure a minimum of loss with the seed pro- 
duced for the first few years. From the quantity given 
the first season it would be impossible to form even an 
approximate estimate of the ultimate yield of the tree ; 
nor, as its character under cultivation is as yet unknown 
to us by actual experience, could its merits compare with 
the common species be judged thereby. However, tak- 
ing tbe circumstances connected with these particular 
trees into consideration, the yield appeared quite satis- 
factory. No record was obtained of the quantity pro- 
duced by any or all the trees, as the berries were 
picked one by one as they ripened, to avoid the risk of 
loss by rats. Taking equal numbers of average fruit 
of the two species grown side by side on the same ground, 
the relative weight of the Liberian was as eight to three 
of the Arabian." The further progress of the Liberian 
coffee plants, at Castleton, is given in the following inter- 
esting remarks by Mr. Syme in his report for 1879-80: — 
"Liberian Coffee. — Thirty plants of this species 
growing on the rather steep slope of the ravine above 
she aquatic tank are now from 4 to 10 feet in height, 
and bore this year a large crop of cherries. Over 7,000 
plants have been raised from them. The parent plants 
were in flower when the hurricane swept over them thus 
blasting all hopes of a crop of cherries in 1880-81. Of 
the 31 plants put out in the old canefield by Mr. Jenman 
in April, 1879, five were uprooted by the storm. The 
others are uow — say at twenty months old — from 3 to 5 
feet in height with stout stems and fine bushy heads 
and in the best of health. Two or three produced a 
few flowers last August. This plantation has been 
extended during the year by an additional 86 plants, 
and the ground carefully cultivated— all have done well. 
No nurseries were planted with them, and they have had 
«io protection from the sun or wind other than what 
was afforded by the adjacent hills and the bamboos 
growing by the river side. By thus planting in the 
open we may expect to have fruit from them at a 
comparatively early age. But for those who would 
plant this species extensively for profit it is advis- 
able that the plants have both shelter and partial 
*bade. Nevertheless, I am of opinion that on suitable 
soil with an annual rainfall of not less than ninety 
mches this species may be successfully cultivated 
without any special shelter from cutting winds of 
*hade from the sun ; and that it will be equally well 
or perhaps better, the soil being suitable, if provided 
with shelter and partial shade in localities with an 
annual rainfall of not less than seventy inches. Thus 
there are large tracts of coast land in the Island 
that are well suited for the successful cultivation of 
this tree-coffee." 
Hitherto, the number of plants placed under fa- 
vourable conditions in Jamaica, have been too few to 
allow of an estimate being formed of the approximate 
yield per acre. The plants now at the Castleton 
Gardens were kept for two seasons in the uncongenial 
temperature of the Cinchona Plantation (5,000 feet,) 
but after removal to Castleton (COO feet,) they have 
made satisfactory and rapid progress. Recently they 
were described as "beautiful and much admired ob- 
jects in their dress of stately dark green foliage, laden 
with the pure white bloom among which appeared the 
ruddy fruit from the previous year." During the year 
1879-80 some seven thousand eeedlings were raised 
from the produce of these trees, and the cultivation 
is being rapidly extended, both at Castleton and at 
the old Botanic garden at Bath. Another peculiarity 
of Liberian Coffee is dwelt upon which if found ge- 
nerally applicable to it, will greatly increase its value. 
The tree is mentioned as possessing lhe habit of 
sending its "strong tap-root far into the ground'' 
and this characteristic is believed " will enable the 
Liberian Coffee to live and bear fruit in seasons of 
protracted drought, which prevent the setting oi 
blossom on the ordinary coffee at low elevations." 
We may naturally look forward to the quality ot 
Liberian Coffee being greatly improved under cultiva- 
tion both in the East and the West Indies ; but tak- 
ing the opinion expressed above and assuming that 
Liberian Coffee will eell generally at 90s. per cwt.. 
this does not, necessarily, involve a lower return for 
the capital and attention devoted to it. From its adap- 
tability to cultivation in the plains, from its more 
Jobust and prolific character, and from the generally 
more economic treatment to which it is amenable, it 
is quite possible that its cultivation will prove evea 
more remunerative than the high-priced varieties of 
Arabian Coffee. 
THE EVIL WROUGHT BY THE PHYLLOXEBA 
IN FRANCE AND THE REMEDY. 
(Pall Mall Gazette.) 
While nations during the last few years have been 
occupied in flying at each other's throats and doing 
their utmost to decimate their neighbours, a silent 
enemy has been making terrible havoc in France and 
other countries, causing to the former State nearly 
as great a money loss as that entailed by a tolerably 
long war. The name of this enemy, all the more 
deadly because it is so small as to be nearly invisible, 
is the phylloxera, and the mischief that has been 
inflicted by it on French interests may be estimated 
by the fact that in 1880 alone 92,000 acres of vine- 
yards were utterly destroyed, and that the yield of 
wine and brandy, which was 83,836,000 hectolitres 
in 1875, was last year only 29,677,000. If we take 
one of tbe most productive wine departments in France 
—namely, that of Gard— we find that in 1865 there 
were 261,027 acres of vineyards, but that of these 
the phylloxera has absolutely destroyed 244,485, so 
that Gard how only possesses of her staple crop but 
16,542 acres. The yield of wine has fallen away from 
2,445,000 hectolitres to 139,640 in 1879, although a 
slight improvement was manifested last year. This 
means simple ruin to a large portion of the depart- 
ment, and a most serious loss to the whole State : 
while the numerous drinkers of claret, champagne, 
and brandy in this country are feeling their share of 
the loss not only in the scarcity of the articles, and 
the consequent rise in price,^but also in the deteriora- 
tion of the liquors, which is very marked in the 
case of the spirits. Nor is France the only victim, 
for wherever vineyards exist, as in Germany, Italy, 
Spain, Austria, Hungary, and even in Australia, we 
hear of this destructive little pest, defying all attempt* 
at extermination, and driving the vineyard proprietors 
to the verge of insanity. 
The magnitude of the evil may be measured by the 
magnitude of the reward offered by the French Go- 
