7i8 
the  tropical  agriculturist. 
[April  i,  1896. 
^)est  account  of  liis  tri\).  (U  is  (piloted  011 
709. 
Dr.  Morris  is  to  deliver  an  illustrated  lecture  be- 
fore the  Society  of  Arts  on  March  18th,  on  the 
Bahamas  Sisal  Itidustry  ” which  is  sure  to  be  full 
of  interest. 
I am  exceetlingly  pleased  to  learn  of 
MR.  E.  E.  green’s 
forthcoming  work  on  the  “Scale  Insects”  which 
constitute  so  large  a proportion  of  the  worst 
enemies  of  tropical  products.  The  pros[iectus  has 
been  already  noticed  in  your  columns,  and  I 
sincerely  hope  the  venture — a very  plucky  but 
risky  one  financially— will  be  well  supported  in 
Ceylon.  Surely,  every  Tea  Estate.  Compaiiy 
should  subscribe  for  at  least  one  copy  to  put  in 
the  hands  of  its  Chief  Manager  for  reference ; 
and  the  Ceylon  Government  most  certainly  ought 
either  to  take  60  copies,  or  make  a substantial 
grant  in  aid  of  the  work — one  of  great  economic 
importance  to  the  Colony  as  I am  sure  Dr. 
Tnmen  will  report,  if  called  on  by  Governor 
Ridgeway.  Writing  to  me  under  date  the  1st 
instant,  Mr.  Green  states ; — 
*■  I have  received  very  kind  encouragement  from 
many  of  the  leading  Entomologists  in  England. 
But  the  public  has  not  as  yet  responded  very  freely 
to  my  invitation  for  subsci'iptions.  I believe  I can 
count  scarcely  more  than  a dozen  subscribers  at 
present  I But  the  prospectus  has  not  been  out  very 
long.  My  publisher’s  estimate  for  the  production  of 
the  work  is  a cool  £1,000 — so  I shall  require  200 
subscribers  at  £5  to  cover  the  cost.  I am  informed 
that  I shall  be  fortunate  if  I obtain  half  that 
number : the  publisher  warning  me  that  the  demand 
for  scientific  works  of  the  kind  is  very  limited.  Don’t 
you  think  that  this  is  a case  where  the  Ceylon  Gov- 
ernment might  give  a substantial  grant  ? It  is 
surely  of  as  much  use — though  not  of  such  general 
interest — to  the  public  as  Moore’s  work  on  the 
Butterflies  and  Moths  of  Ceylon  which  was  largely 
subsidized  by  Government.” 
Most  certainly — our  reply  is — this  work  on  the 
“ Coccidic”  is  fully  as  deserving  of  official  support 
as  tliat  on  the  Butterffies.  Could  not  the  I’lant- 
ers’  Association  Committee  move  in  the  matter 
— (1)  by  taking  the  names  of  subscribers  and 
(2)  by  requesting  some  oHicial  help  to  so  desir- 
able a production’'  Hurely  no  planter  or  mer- 
chant ill  Ceylon  would  desire  to  see  Mr.  Green 
out  of  pocket,  in  addition  to  all  the  trouble  and 
time  he  has  given  to  a useful  work  in  the  in- 
terests of  science,  of  his  adopted  Colony  and  of 
his  brother  planters  ? 
“INDIGENOUS  COFFEE.” 
Dear  Sir, — With  reference  to  your  issue,  dated  the 
29th  ultimo,  I notice  a very  interesting  letter  _from 
a correspondent  signing  himself  “11.  S,  Uagan,” 
anent  tho  above.  I heard  of  the  existence  of  the 
above  variety  of  coffee  in  the  locality  “ as  mentioned 
by  your  correspondent  ” through  the  late  Mr.  11.  E. 
Norman,  an  old  and  an  experienced  planter  in  the 
Ouchterlony  valley.  This  variety  of  coffee  was 
brought  to  his  notice,  I think,  by  a Mr.  Cootes  some 
25  years  ago  as  existing  in  the  Suffolk  and  Goodalore 
Mullay  belt,  and  when  I was  appointed  a Superin- 
tendent of  the  Goodalore  Mullay  Estate,  I was  told 
about  this  variety  and  was  asked  to  institute  a 
search  in  the  above  belt  for  the  trees  in  question.  I 
was  fortunate  enough  to  find  two  trees  in  close  proximity 
to  each  other,  the  appearance  and  description  of  the 
trees  I discovered  tallying  exactly  with  the  observa- 
tions made  by  your  correspondent  in  the  issue  men- 
tioned, except  in  that  tho  height  of  the  trees  dis- 
covered by  me  was  not  more  than  20  feet ; the  ob- 
servations made  by  your  correspondent  during  the 
time  he  was  in  the  valley  with  reference  to  this 
species  of  coffee  is  borne  out  fully  by  the  investi- 
gations I made  at  the  time.  Regarding  the  difference 
in  the  fruit  between  this  variety  and  the  coffee 
arabica,  the  only  cause  that  I can  ascribe  to  the 
want  of  maturity  in  the  beard  of  the  indigenous 
coffee  is  that  our  investigations  in  this  part  of  tho 
functions  of  the  tree  has  not  been  carried  far  enough, 
for  whenever  I visited  the  locality  in  which  the  trees 
were,  to  see  how  the  berries  were  progressing  towards 
maturity,  I invariably  found  the  trees  quite  empty 
of  berries,  having  been  stripped  of  their  fruit  by 
monkeys  and  birds  which  used  to  abound  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  above  trees.  I tried  to  preserve  the 
beiTies  by  tying  muslin  bags  around  them,  but  my 
efforts  always  proved  futile,  for  the  monkeys  invari- 
ably pulled  the  bags  off  and  took  the  berries,  so  I 
could  not  get  the  opportunity  of  seeing  if  the  berries 
would  come  to  the  same  state  of  perfection  and 
maturity  as  the  berries  of  the  coffee  arabica.  The 
late  Mr.  Lawson  was  much  interested  in  this  species 
of  coffee  ; I sent  him  several  branches  of  it  with 
blossom,  and  later  on  a branch  with  berries  ; we  also 
sent  Mr.  D.  Hooper  specimens  of  branches,  blossom, 
and  berries  of  the  trees  under  observation,  but  I 
have  never  heard  what  conclusions  the  above  gentle- 
men arrived  at  in  connection  with  the  same ; so  if 
this  letter  should  attract  Mr.  Hooper’s  attention,  I 
should  feel  much  obliged  to  that  gentleman  if  he 
would  kindly  make  it  known  through  the  medium 
of  your  valuable  paper  tho  results  of  his  investiga- 
tions, as  I am  sure  it  would  be  very  interesting  to 
those  interested  in  the  matter.  I am  sorry  to  add 
that  the  tree  I discovered  has  since  been  destroyed 
by  the  opening  out  of  the  locality  in  which  I found 
the  “wild  coffee,”  but  happily  I am  acquainted  with 
another  locality  in  which  this  species  of  coffee 
abounds.  I shall  be  glad  to  send  specimens  of  the 
tree  to  anyone  who  is  anxious  to  go  into  the  matter 
scientifically  with  a view  of  trying  “ grafting,  budding 
and  cross  fertilization,  <fec.”  and  thus  establish  a new 
variety  of  coffee. — Yours  faithfully,  R.  de  R.  N. 
Suffolk,  9th  March  1896. 
“ WILD  COFFEE.” 
{Diplospom  spha’rocarpa. — Dalz.  ) 
Mr.  Hooper  has  kindly  sent  us  the  following  ex- 
tract from  the  “ Pharmacographica  Indica,”  which 
gives  some  further  information  on  this  interesting 
tree : 
“ The  berries  of  this  trees,  growing  on  the  Wes- 
tern Ghauts,  are  known  as  ‘ Wild  Coffee.'  and,  when 
ripening,  are  eaten  by  birds  and  jackals,  but  they 
have  not  been  known  to  be  used  as  a substitute  for 
coffee  either  by  the  natives  or  European  planters. 
The  berries  are  from  half  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  and  are  crowned  by  a calyx  and  areole. 
The  seeds,  numbering  from  4 to  10  are  arranged  in  a 
vertically  imbricate  manner  in  the  sweetish  pulp  ; 
they  are  round  and  flattened  in  shape,  glossy  on  the 
surface,  light  brown  in  colour  and  horny  in  consistence. 
The  seeds  turn  dark  brown  when  roasted,  throwing  off 
the  parchment  like  testa,  and  when  powdered, 
possess  an  aroma  resembling  that  of  coffee. 
The  roasted  and  powdered  seeds  were  sub- 
mitted to  Brig. -General  Kenny  Herbert,  a great 
authority  on  Indian  cookery,  and  he  reported 
as  follows : — ‘ The  percolated  liquor  had  a re- 
markably pleasant  taste  having  a marked  flavour  of 
coffee.  Indeed  the  only  difference  I could  detect  was 
this, — the  liquor  was  not  so  brown  in  tint  as  coffee, 
being  more  golden  brown  than  dark  brown  and  the 
beverage  brewed  seemed  not  quite  so  strong  as  would 
have  been  produced  by  a similar  quantity  of  coffee 
powder.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  distinct  coffee- 
like  properties  of  this  powder  and  the  absence  of  any 
twang  or  conflicting  flavour  to  mark  its  pleasant 
taste.’ 
The  seeds  contain  an  alkaloid,  which  can  be  sepa- 
rated in  the  same  manner  as  caffeine,  an  astringent 
acid,  an  aromatic  body,  some  fat,  one  or  more  sugars, 
and  four  per  cent,  of  mineral  matter.  Tho  dried 
extract  obtained  by  boiling  water  is  16  per  cent,  or 
something  less  than  that  obtained  from  cultivated 
coffee  berries.” 
