The Cultivation of Liberian Coffee. 291 
manner for several months. A more beautiful sight than 
a coffee plantation in full flower can scarcely be imagined. 
The trees look as though a snow storm had passed 
over them, the branches appear almost covered with 
white blossoms, and towards the afternoon the ground 
is strewn with the fallen corollas, which remain on the 
tree for only a day at the most. The perfume is delicious, 
it pervades everything and diffuses itself far and wide. 
A valuable essence might be made by the pomade 
process from the fallen blossoms, and the idea is 
worthy of attention in coffee countries. Those who care 
to try the experiment will find the modus operandi fully 
detailed in Dr. PlESSE'S valuable work on the Art of 
Perfumery. 
Even after the principal flowering is over, several 
smaller flowerings occur, and, as the fruit takes nearly a 
year to ripen, the curious sight of flowers and fruit in all 
stages of development is often seen. The fruit re- 
mains a long time on the tree before it withers, and this 
is an important advantage to the planter. In the case of 
the ordinary coffee the crops" must be picked at maturity, 
or the berries fall and much coffee is lost ; this is a most 
serious matter, too, when labour is not abundant; and 
in the olden times when coffee cultivation was one of 
the leading West Indian industries, all hands, including 
house servants and even the members of the planter's 
family, often took part in the annual harvest. In regard 
to the fall of the berry, the following remarks were made 
ten years ago by Mr. H. E. Stainbank.— " It is 
probable that the scarcity of labour has had much to 
do with the stationary character of the coffee enter- 
prise at the present time. As coffee, is pre-eminently 
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