Coffee Cultivation-. 
215 
Victoria regia , that botanical wonder which all attempts to domesticate 
here have hitherto proved ineffectual.* 
679. However much I was enchanted with this lovely garden and 
its abundance of beauteous flowers, I was just as extremely interested 
in the coffee plantation : as a matter of fact the regularity of the grounds 
and buildings, the carefully considered plan for taking advantage of the 
land and its waters, in a word its whole outward arrangement and high 
intrinsic worth deserved full recognition. I will attempt to describe 
Mr. Bach’s estate, L’Heureuse Aventure. From the back of the residence 
a broad straight main t walk, planted up with fruit trees, divided the 
whole flat into two equal parts: between every two huge mango trees 
were to be seen growing two other fruit trees, such as Achras Sapota, 
Persca gratissima, Mammea an\ericana , Citrus decumana , Anona, 
muricata, A. squamosa, Anacardium occidcntalc, and Tamarindus indica. 
A trench that ran along and parallel with the main-walk on either side 
separated this main way from the 32 foot broad coffee-beds, bordering 
upon it at right angles, which were again divided from one another 
by two-foot wide drains through which the water collecting was led to 
the above main trenches. Every bed contained from three to four rows 
of coffee bushes, of which each row stood eight to nine feet from the 
next, all four rows being enclosed by two rows of wide-branched 
Erythrinae to protect them from their greatest enemies, the scorching 
sun and sharp north wind, especially during the blossoming when both 
exert a most damaging influence upon the harvest, which indeed they 
may spoil together. If the blossom has survived a warm moist tempera- 
ture of from 75° to 85° Fahr, and dry sunny weather follows, the 
planter’s hopes are satisfied, because he can then expect 1| pounds 
cleaned coffee from every fullgrown bush. A labourer can comfortably 
look after two acres of land and at the same time pick the berries, 
because after the plantation is once established lie only has to weed and 
remove the root-suckers two or three times. When the plant has reached 
a height of from four to five feet it is “topped’’ so that the side branches 
may increase and the flow of sap to them from the root stock be assured. 
The cost of bringing an acre of bush under coffee cultivation amounts to 
from 60 to 80 dollars, according to the nature of the bush. To set up a 
coffee plantation one wants young seedlings that are grown in special 
beds or the seed itself is planted in the spot required. In the former case 
seedlings that have reached a height of two feet are transplanted : these 
are pulled out with great care, but neither the tap roots nor side roots 
are lopped. In two years’ time the plant has already reached a con- 
siderable height, and in the third a small cron can be exnected. From 
the plantation I made my way to the coffee mill or thatch-shed (mooslage) 
where the ripe berries are first of all brought. These are picked twice 
a year, in May and June and from September until November: the 
blossoming for the former crop begins in November and lasts until 
December, that for the second from the end of March to the end of April. 
When the pulp gets quite red the bean is mature and the work of 
Subsequent attempts in Georgetown and elsewhere have however met with success. (Ed.) 
