December i, 1890.] 
THT TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
415 
appearance of some trees on the spot. But I would 
not venture to recommend planting at so great a lieight, 
as I nave seen Liberian colfee growing at 3,400 feet 
above the sea, which I must say left much to be desired 
in developemeut, as well as in bearing. 
Buitenzorg and its neighbourhood seem to offer a 
favorable climate for this kind of coffee. If you ask 
me, gentlemen, how Liberian coffee would fare in the 
of ten dry lower lands of East and Central Java, I 
must tell you that as is well known and as is stated 
in BiiUikofer’s work, the climate of Liberia is very 
wet, and although in this respect it resembles West 
Java, it is questionable whether it could hold out 
against a drought of six months and at times of longer 
duration. In the year 1877 there occurred an un- 
usually long drought ; oven at Buitenzorg there was no 
rain for months ; although the young Liberian coffee 
plants grew but little during that dry period, they 
suffered but slightly from its effects. 
Great care is called for in the working of the soil. 
Generally speakirg we are in the lower lying lands 
less favourably placed than in the mo intain forest ; 
lands, rich in humus, which has sueli a bsnefloial 
iutlueuce on coffee, and which is wanting with us. It 
is evident that wo must supply its place by good 
tillage, drainage, and manurieg ; without these factors 
we shall not arrive at much. More than one Liberian 
coft’eo plantation has failed, because no sufficient 
allowance was made for the diiference of soil. 
In such matters it is impossible to lay down hard 
and fast rules ; all depends on local circumstances. 
On level ground many will prefer having the whole 
surface dug up before p'auting, others content them- 
selves with having holes dug for the plants, a method 
which may answer very well, provided that it be not 
neglected to turn over the ground well round the holes 
afterwards, or at least to loosen the soil to some depth, 
fhoukl the subsoil be inferior to that of the surface. 
Drains are indispensable, and in deciding the distance 
between the drains the formation of the ground has 
to be considered, as the nature of tlie drainage required 
depends on that. Stiff soil naturally necessitates closer 
drains than does ii^i.t soil. Tho- m.-uiuring of the 
ground in like manner must be regulated by the ua'ura 
and formation of the surf. ice; above all, heavy compact 
Fod, such as is genet ally met with in the lower lying 
lanil.H, must be euriclu'd with humus, for which purpose 
green crops, stable inauui e and compost are the most 
suitable materials. 
Must Liberian coffee be pruned, and how is it to 
he done? These are questions often put to me. As 
far a.s my own e-xperience goes, I must answer no. 
At first I was of opinion that such operation was 
necessary, or at least that the tree should be limited 
to a single stem ; but I am now by no means so sure on 
that point. I have seen a great number of magnificent 
trees, growing in two, three and even four stems 
fully as well as those confined to a single stem. 
The advantage in allowing a iilurahty of stems to 
grow appears in case of any attack on one of them 
by the “jimur upas”; as the injured stem can bo 
removed easily and the tree remaioa in good condition. 
I need hardly say that every stem or branch attacked 
by tho “ jamur upas ” and thus cut off should be 
burnt immediately; although every one must be aware 
of tho necessity of this burning of the diseased parts, 
it is not sufficiently attended to. 
S*me of the plants have a disposition to throw out 
suckers; the.se must naturally be removed in time. 
I cannot recommend tho topping of this kind of 
coffee. The tree.s are of too vigorous growth ; they 
become too high, so that it is impossible to keep them 
to a limited height. Should it be attempted to do so, 
the production of an impenetrable mass of branches 
would bo the consequence, which would interfere with 
tho setting of tho fruit and end in injury to the 
plant. It is true that wo have numberless trees here 
of between 20 and ;10 feet high, loaded from top to 
bottom with fruit, and that ladders are indispensable 
for gathering tho berries. There is no help for thi=, 
and it is well worth while to eni])loy them. 
How high or how old tho tree can boeome hero is 
uot yet known ; our oldest plants have coached 15 
years, and some have arrived at the height of 25 feet, 
without showing the smallest sign of age, and go on 
flourishing and blossoming. 
Like every cultured plant the Liberian coffee has its 
diseases to fight with. 1 have just mentioned the 
“ jamur upas,” besides which the leaf-disease attacks 
the Liberian coffee. As regards this latter, I need only 
refer to Dr. Burck’s work on the coffee leaf-disease. 
There are other complaints which coffee here suffers 
from, but none of a nature to cause any doubt as to 
the successful future in Java of Liberian coffee under a 
rational system of cultivation. 
And now as to the produce. I regret to say that 
this is not in keeping with the appearance of the 
plant. When we look at a tree of 25 feet high, from 
top to bottom laden with the fine large berries, under 
the weight of which the branches threaten to give way, 
wo feel inclined to hope for a fabulous quantity of 
crop. But much of the substance is lost, the pulp 
and skin are very thick ; according to trustworthy 
data during the East monsoon about 125 gantongs of 
cherry give I pikul of clean coffee, the proiiortion 
being I2'5 to 1 in pikuls. In the West monsoon the 
proportion is more favourable then ; from I0'3 gantongs 
of cherry, I is attained of clean coffee, being 10-3 to 1. 
Trees of 8 to 9 years old, which yield from 5| to 8 
gantoug's of fruit are not mifrequent. But the mean 
yield of a large vilautation is another matter. Besides 
the data furoished from the Experimental Garden at 
Tijkenmenh, I have by the kindness of den HeerP. O. 
van Motinau, obtained data of the produce of a plant- 
ation 8 3 'ears old with 8 bouws in extent. 
The trees were planted in 1882 and gave in 1886, 50 
pikuls; in 1887, 96 pikuls; in 1888, 80 pikuls ; and in 
1889, S3 pikuls. The harvest of 1890 is not all in yet. 
The harvest is thus respectively 6J, 12, 10 and 11 
pikuls per bouw. The proprietor of this plantation is 
of opinion that the mean produce of the last three years, 
viz., 11 pikuls per bouw, would be too much to expect 
regularly from a large extent of ground. 
The price of Liberian coffee is now very good, and the 
fact is sufficiently o.stabhshed that well-prepared 
Liberian coffee is fully worth the price of ordinary Java 
coffee. Tv.o weeks ago a planter shewed me accounts 
from which it appeared Ihat hi.' Liberian coffee of 1st, 
2nd and 3rd sorts had .averaged after reduction of all 
expenses for transport &o. had ; ielded him at the rats of 
60’8 guilders per pikul. 
All kinds of difficulties and vexatious must be 
expected iu the way of “ new products; ” the pre- 
paration was by no means the least of these difficulties 
in the case of Liberian coffee. On some plantations, 
the pulper of Walker & Co. ot Colombo is in use, which 
answers pretty well, although it has its peculiar defects. 
Tho chief trouble is caused by the remarkable irregu- 
larity iu the s'ze of the berries of the Liberian coffee. 
When the pulper is adjusted to suit the large berries 
which are the most numerous, all below a certain size 
pass through unpulped, and have to be separated from 
the pulp and put through a more closely-set pulper 
in like manner should the pulper be set so as to suit 
the smaller-sized berries, the larger do not pass through 
in both cases, much time and labour are lost. 
For the purpose of overcoming this defect, Messrs. 
Walker & Co., at the instance of Heer B. O. van 
Motman, have constructed a new pulper, which will 
.soon be iu use on Draniaga (Buitenzorg). The principle 
of this pulper is somewhat more complicated than that 
first mentioned, but in my opinion very jiractical. The 
cherry coflee is first brought by water to the pulper, 
which is sot for the larger berries ; the pulp falls into 
a gutter and is carried away by the steam of water flow- 
ing through with it, whilst the larger fruit being freed 
of its pulp, and the smaller unpulpod fall into a sieve. 
The pulped beans pass through the .sieve, whilst those that 
are not pulped fall over the sieve into a trough aud are 
taken up by an elevator and placed in a more closely eet 
pulper, by which the smallest berry is pulped. The whole 
machiuo is worked by w.ater power, and is on a scale 
sufficiently large to prepare the produce of a large plan- 
tation. For the purpose of soouring the desired yellow 
colour, tho coffee on tho aboveuamed plantation is 
subjected to the following process. After the pluckiiijj 
