c d i? 
'ire much large? than thofe which are Imported from 
Arabia, and confequently have not fo much fpirit or 
flavour. This may be owing to feveral caufes, the 
fir ft is that of its growing in a foil too moift ; which 
is always known to increafe the fize of fruit and ve- 
getables, but their quality is greatly diminiftied 
thereby. The fe'corid is from the gathering of the 
berries too foon \ for I have been credibly informed, 
that it is the conftant practice of the planters, to 
gather the fruit when it is red : at which time the 
berries are much larger, and of greater weight, than 
thofe which are permitted to ripen perfectly on the 
trees, which is not till they are turned black, and 
their outer pulp becomes dry, and the {kins Ihrink : 
then the berries are much fmaller than before, and 
the outer cover will eafily feparate from the berry ; 
Vhich ! have always been informed, has been the 
complaint of the planters, that this was with great 
difficulty and trouble effected. A third caufe I im- 
gine may be in the drying of the berries when 
gathered ; which muft be conftantly attended to, for 
they cannot be too much expofed to the fun and air 
in the day time, but they muft be every evening re- 
moved under cover* and carefully fcreened from 
dews and rain •, nor fliould they be placed near any 
fort of liquid or moifture, for thefe berries are very 
fhbjedb to imbibe moifture, and thereby acquire the 
flavour of the liquid •, or if it be pure water, the 
berries will be enlarged, and the flavour diminilhed 
by it, as from many experiments I can affirm : for a 
bottle of rum being placed in a clofet, in which a 
canifter of Coffee berries clofely flopped, was Handing 
on a fhelf at a Confiderable diftance, in a few days 
had fo impregnated the berries, as to render them 
very difagreeable •, the fame alfo has happened by a 
bottle of fpirits of wine Handing in the fame clofet 
with Coffee and Tea, both which were in a few days 
fpoiled by it. Therefore from many experiments of 
this nature, which I have made with Coffee, it ap- 
pears to me that it fliould never be brought over in 
Ihips freighted with rum, nor fliould the berries be 
laid to dry in the houfes where the fugars are boiled, 
or the rum diftilled. I have alfo been informed by 
a gentleman who has a very good eftate in Jamaica, 
and who has lived many years in that ifland, that the 
planters frequently boil the Coffee berries before they 
are dried. As this information comes from a gen- 
tleman of great ikill and veracity, fo I cannot doubt 
of the fadt ; and if fo, this alone is fufficient to fpoil 
the beft Coffee in the world * fo that I am at a lofs to 
guels the reafon for this practice, which, as it ap- 
pears to me, -can only be intended to increafe the 
weight, therefore muft be imputed to avarice, the 
bane of every public good. 
'There was fome time paft an imperfect account 
printed in the papers, of the caufe why the American 
Coffee was not fo good as that which comes from 
Arabia in which it is fuppofed, that the goodnefs of 
the latter proceeded from the length of time which 
the berries had been kept : therefore the author pro- 
pofes that the American Coffee berries lhould be 
many years kept, which he fays will render them 
equally good. This is contrary to all the experience 
I have had, or can learn, from thofe who have feen 
the whole progrefs of Coffee in Arabia, with their 
manner of drying and packing it to fend abroad ; for 
two gentlemen who had lived there fome years af- 
fured me, that the berries, when firft gathered, were 
much better than thofe which are kept any time. 
And a curious gentleman who refided in Barbadoes 
two years, alfo told me, that he never drank better 
Coffee in any part of the world, than what he made 
from the frefti berries which he gathered himfelf, 
and roafted as he had occafion for them ; which is 
alfo confirmed by the trials which have been made 
with the berries which grow in the ftoves in England, 
which make a better flavoured liquor, than the beft 
Arabian Coffee berries which can be procured in 
England ; therefore I wifh thofe who are inclinable 
to cultivate . thefe trees in America, would make 
\ 
C 0 i 
choice of a foil rather dry than moift, m which the 
trees will not make fo great progrefs as thole which 
grow in a wet foil, nor will the produce be fo great ; 
but as the quality of the produce will be fo much 
improved, it will certainly be of greater advantage 
to them. & ' 
The next thing is, to permit the berries to remain 
fo long upon the trees, till their {kins are ffirivelled 
and turned very black; which it is true will greatly 
diminiffi their weight, but then the commodity will 
be more than double the value of that which is 
gathered fooner. 
When the berries are fully ripe, they fhould be ga- 
thered, or rather ffiaken from the trees, when they are 
perfectly dry, and fpread abroad upon cloths in the 
fun to dry, carrying them every evening under co- 
ver, to prevent the dews from falling on them, or 
the rain if any lhould happen : and when they are 
perfectly dry, they ffiould be carefully packed up in 
cloths or bags, three or four times double, and confe- 
quently kept in a dry fituation : and when they are 
fhipped for England, it lhould be on board thofe vef- 
fels which have no rum, left the Coffee fliould imbibe 
the flavour, which cannot be prevented when flowed 
in the fame place. For fome years paft, a Coffee 
Ihip from India had a few bags of pepper put on 
board, the flavour of which was imbibed by the Cof- 
fee, and the whole cargo fpoiled thereby. 
As the quantity of Coffee now confumed in Britain 
is Very much increafed of late years, fo it will cer- 
tainly be worthy of public confideration, how far it 
may be neceffaty to encourage the growth of it in 
the Britilh colonies : and certainly it deferves the at- 
tention of the inhabitants of thofe colonies, to im- 
prove this commodity to the utmoft of their power ; 
and not to have fo much regard to the quantity, as 
to the quality of it ; for although the former may 
appear to have the advantage of the latter in point of 
profit, yet the goodnefs of every commodity muft 
always claim the preference, and thereby will be 
found of more lafting advantage to the cultivator. 
C O I X. Lin. Gen. Plant. 92 7. Lachryma Jobi. Tourm 
Inft. R. H. 531. tab. 306. Job’s Tears. 
The Characters are. 
It hath male and female flowers on the fame plant y the 
male flowers are difpofed in a loofe fpike y the chaff of 
thefe have two valves , inclofing two flowers , the valves 
are oblong and bearded y the petal has two oval valves , 
the length of the chaffs with narrow beards : thefe have 
each three hairy ftamina , terminated by oblong four-cor- 
nered fummits. There are a few female flowers fltuated 
at the bafe of the male fpike in the fame plant, thefe have 
bivalvular chaffy the valves are roundijh , thick , and 
fmooth y the petal hath two oval valves , the outer being 
larger and bearded at both ends. They have a fmall oval 
germen , fupporting a fhort ftyle divided into two parts , 
crowned by two homed ftigmas which are longer than the 
flower , arid covered with fine hairs y the germen afterward 
becomes a hard , roundijh , fmooth feed . 
This genus of plants is ranged in the third fedtion 
of Linnaeus’s twenty-firft clafs, intitled Moncecia 
Triandria. The plants of this clafs have male and 
female flowers on the fame plant, and the flowers of 
this fedlion have three ftamina. 
The Species are, 
1. Coix ( Lachryma Jobi ) feminibus ovatis. Hort. Cliff. 
434. Coix with oval feeds. Lachryma Jobi. Cluf. Hift. 
p. 2. Job's Tears. 
2. Coix ( Angnlatis ) feminibus angulatis. Hort. Cliff. 
438. Coix with angular feeds. Lachryma Jobi Ameri- 
cana altiffima, Arundinis folio & facie. Plum. Cat. 
The firft: fort grows naturally in the iflands of the 
Archipelago, and is frequently cultivated in Spain 
and Portugal, where the poor inhabitants grind the 
grain to flour in a fcarcity of corn, and make a coarfe 
fort of bread of it. 
This is an annual plant, which feldom ripen its feeds 
in England, unlefs the feafon proves very warm ; 
from a thick fibrous root is fent out two or three 
jointed ftalks, which rife near three feet high, gar- 
nifhed 
