THE JiEITISH ^ORTK UORlsm HKUAI.D. 
Aui: 1. JS92. 
distances from it. Under like conditions of soil and culti¬ 
vation. trees near the sea slior«.> in !?.[ourovia are about the 
same as those at Oarejslmrg' and other places tliirU miles 
distant. The wild coffee, from which tlie cultivated conies, 
is found at even still greater distance in the interior. Our 
nearest trees are a hundred yards from the sea. At Bassa 
and yinon, wo are told, trees grow well still nearer to the 
sea, ” 
“ Lowest toinperature observed at l^fonrovia near 
the sea, 02 ^ Fahrenheit, at 7 o’clock a.m. in the month of 
January, during the prevalence of the harmattan winds. 
Highest temperature observed Fahrenheit. These are exce¬ 
ptional cases. The general temperature ranges from 72 ® 
to 87 in the shade. Tu the country at the farthest point 
where coffee is cujtivated by the settlers, there is a differ¬ 
ence of one to two degre.s lower, owing ]n’incipally to the 
rise of the land. Along the coast the coffee tree thrives at 
only a few feet ( say 10) above sea lev'el;.at Oareyshnrg 
and at Mount Coffee it succeeds as well at an elevation of 
.750 feet. ” 
The coffee tree grows as well on level ground 
a.s on slopes, with this precaution, care should be taken 
that on .slopes the mould or surface soil be not wash¬ 
ed away, and on level ground that the water does not 
stand. For. while the leaves of the coffee tree delight in 
frequent refreshing showers the roots are aver.se to stand¬ 
ing water.” 
“ Mrgiu forest .•<oil is considered best for the coffee | 
tree, simply because it contains sufffcioiit plant food, and ' 
saves the expense of manuring for several years. Ordina¬ 
ry soil will answer as well, provided it contains snffieieut 
plant food or otherwise can get a sufficieiiey of manure.” 
'• The soil should he of loo.se texture ; the tree will not ’ 
thrive in stiff clay soils.” 
“ The coffee tree does not produce well under shade, 
either in the (piantity or quality of the cro[). "When the 
trees are not large enough to sliade the ground witli their 
branches and fallen leaves, they should be nudchd in the 
dry season; that is, tlieir roots should be covered with 
dried grass, straw, shavings, or anything capable of shad¬ 
ing them, but the leaves and branches should have influ¬ 
ence of the sun to elaborate a due proportion of sap into 
fruit buds. The Liberian coffee being indigenous, when i 
well established does not suffer from our tropical sun. I 
J/tdehinf/ in the dry season is geiieralh’ re([uired for very ’ 
young trees on diw hilly slo];)es.” 
‘‘ Both methods of planting are adopted. Some trees 
are planted close ( 6 to 8 feet ) while others are planted at 
greater distances ( 10 to 12 feet, ) AVhen trees are planted 
close so that they meet, they thrive and bear well, provided 
tlieir leaves and branches have the influence of the sun. 
There is also this advantage: by shading the ground they 
prevent the grass from growing, and thus save the expense 
of weeding. But it is very inconvenient to pass among 
them for the purpose of gathering the crop, pruning, &c. 
Even at the distance of 12 feet, if the trees are topped and 
kejit down, they will eventually meet ” 
‘‘The smaller variety referred to above begins to bear 
at 18 mouths, but the ordinary time for the larger variety 
is in the third ^mar. Some plants of this kind, however, 
have been known to bear sooner. The first crop is generally 
only a few berries, but the tree goes on increasing until it 
becomes capable of yielding 20 pounds. AUe have heard of 
trees giving 24 pounds each; tliose are very old trees. Afore, 
generally, depends upon cultivation than upon age. ” 
“The tree grows to a height of twenty feet or more; 
we have seen one more than thirty feet in height, this was 
in the woods near an old plantation. Some cultivators top 
their trees, others let them grow up ad liUtum. Our trees 
are topped at a height of five feet. Trees that are topped 
are more conveniently picked, and, other things being equal, 
I give a larger croj); when the trees grow up tall, moreover, 
i they are frequently injured by climbiug with ladders, and 
I pulling down the limbs, dm., and, as tlie tree ripens its crop 
and Idossoms for the next ^'■ear, at tlie same 'time, much of 
' the blossom and young fruit is rubbed off the trees, where¬ 
as the low trees are picked by standing on the ground, ’’ 
“Last year some of the trees on different plantations 
were affected witli what was said to he the disease 
vastatrix. Tlie leaves of the trees turned ( although 
v'ant of cultivation will cause the same phenomenon ); there 
wa.s a tend.eiicy in some of the branches to decay and 
dry lip the berries before they could ripen. This may have 
happened before, but we observed it only last year. Ocea.s- 
ionally the hark of a tree will decay; partially or wholly; 
when wholly, it causes the death of the tree. Occasionally a 
borer will attack a tree. AA^e have as yet observed nothing 
that would cause serious losses in coffee growing in Liberia. 
AVe rather think that the yellow appearance in some of the 
tree.s was owing to cultivation. Some of the trees supposed 
to he diseased were as full of berries as the other trees. ” 
We arc informed bv Air. AA^. B. Prver Ataiiager of 
the Development Company that planting of Coffee at 
the Byte Estate is going on rapidly and things gencrallv 
arc looking uncommonly well. Air. Fryer hopes to have 
200 acres in Coffee before very long. The Alill site tor 
the Sugar Alill is cleared and the cane already planted 
is coming up remarlvably ^^mll. 
A eoKRKSPo.xnEXT iiiider the nojn de plume of 
“ Stray Bird ” addresse.s us on the subject of exper¬ 
imental products and particularises tlie item of oil 
seeds. AA^liy not he say.s try oil seeds suck as rape 
and others. AVe coriimeiid the suggestion to our 
piautiiig trieiids. 
Eclioes of tlie Iloiitli, 
The ifenm Commercial Traveller, Comnm Vot/ageiir 
or Drummer, as the individual members of the race are 
variously denominated, arc remarkable in all countries 
for being a.s a rule “ all there when the bell rings To 
them also the proverb “ Diamond cut diamond ” applies,, 
judging from the following veracious account of a pas¬ 
sage of arms between two of the profession. — “ Bah I 
Your blow is enough to make one ill ”, said a Sydney 
drummer temporarily staying at a Rockhampton 
hotel. “ Von don’t know me, or you couldn’t say that ”, 
said Stilts; “ I could buy up a hundred men like you 
“ You can”, yelled the drummer, assuming fury, you 
can I Buy me then ! I’ll show my money against yours 
■—cash down—and the man who has the most takes the 
two lots and pays for diiiiks and cigars all round 
“Done”! eagerly exclaimed Stilts; “andlTl go first 
show “ Right Stilts put down a £100 note, some 
fifties, twenties, tens, fives and ones, and some miscel®' 
! lancous gold and silver. The drummer counted it care¬ 
fully—“ £623 14s. 9d. ” Then he plunged his hand 
deeply into his pockets and pulled out—one solitary 
threepenny bit, saying: “ Just my luck! You’ve won, 
of course; take the money, andpoij for the drinlis and 
ckjarSj pleam ”. 
