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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79274 ***
+
+
+  Transcriber’s Notes
+
+  Texts printed in italics, bold face and small capitals have been
+  transcribed between _underscores_, =equal signs= and as ALL CAPITALS
+  respectively.
+
+  More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.
+
+
+[Illustration: COFFEE TREE AND BERRIES.]
+
+
+
+
+  COFFEE
+  --ITS--
+  HISTORY,
+  CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION
+
+  --BY--
+
+  JOSEPH M. WALSH,
+
+  AUTHOR OF
+  “TEA: ITS HISTORY AND MYSTERY.”
+
+  THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.,
+  PHILADELPHIA,
+  CHICAGO, TORONTO.
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHTED, 1894,
+  BY
+  JOSEPH M. WALSH.
+
+  _All Rights Reserved._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+EARLY HISTORY.
+
+
+The gigantic extent to which the production and consumption of Coffee
+has been carried of late years, the vast number of hands employed
+in its cultivation and preparation for market, including the great
+quantity of shipping necessary for its transportation, and the enormous
+amount of capital invested in its production and trade, naturally
+invest the commodity, not only from a commercial but also from a moral
+and social standpoint, with great importance, creating as it does
+an industry of almost fabulous proportions and capital, rendering
+it second to no other article of food or drink in the world. The
+early history of Coffee, however, like that of Tea, is involved in
+considerable obscurity, the almost total absence of any historical
+fact being only compensated for by an unusual profusion of legendary
+and conjectural statements, or by purely mythical stories. As far
+as can be ascertained, it was not known to the ancients, although
+one writer claims that it is mentioned in the Bible, making the bold
+assertion that the potion offered to King David on a certain occasion,
+at the hands of the fair Abigail, to calm the temper of the excited
+monarch, must have been Coffee, basing his argument on the untenable
+grounds that the beverage, whatever it may have been, was prepared from
+_something roasted_. Yet no mention of the plant or its product is to
+be found among the Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs, although
+their trade at their period, as in the present, lay up the valley of
+the Nile toward Berber, its reputed birthplace. It was unknown to the
+Greeks and Romans in any form, and though claimed to have been in use
+among the Arabs at a very remote time, no reference is made to it by
+Mohamet or his followers up to the seventh century. No account of its
+use is to be found during the first Moslem invasion of southern Europe
+by Abdulrahman in the ninth century, although large quantities of the
+commodity were captured in their camp before Vienna during their second
+invasion of eastern Europe in the seventeenth century, and it is not
+even alluded to by any of the writers who accompanied the Crusaders
+into Syria during the thirteenth century.
+
+To the Ethiopians its use is said to have been known from time
+immemorial, and that the plant and its virtues were first discovered
+in that country is now generally admitted by all authorities on
+the subject. The first human beings who appear to have used the
+Coffee-berry in any form being the semi-savage tribes inhabiting higher
+Ethiopia, to which country the Coffee-plant is indigenous, and where it
+is to be found at the present time, growing abundantly both in a wild
+and cultivated state. Bruce, in his Travels to Discover the Source of
+the Nile, published in 1678, informs us that “The Gallæ is a wandering
+nation of Africa, who, in their incursions into Abyssinia, are obliged
+to traverse immense deserts, and being desirous of falling on the towns
+and villages of that country without warning, carry nothing to eat with
+them but the berries of the Coffee tree _roasted_ and _pulverized_,
+which they mix with grease to a certain consistency that will permit of
+its being rolled into masses about the size of billiard balls and then
+put in leathern bags until required for use. One of these balls they
+claim will support them for a whole day, when on a marauding incursion
+or in active war, better than a loaf of bread or a meal of meat,
+because it cheers their spirits as well as feeds them.”
+
+From Ethiopia, the Coffee-plant is claimed to have been introduced
+into Abyssinia as early as A. D. 875, while, according to Lagrenie,
+Coffee has been known and used in Abyssinia, from the very earliest
+times, quoting the Abbé Raynal, a missionary to that country in the
+latter part of the sixteenth century, to that effect, stating that “he
+procured some of the berries from cultivated plants, and made a trial
+of them, finding them larger, rather longer and quite as fragrant as
+those obtained from Arabia.” From Abyssinia it was evidently first
+introduced into Arabia, but at what period of the world’s history,
+or under what circumstances is also lost in doubt. Tradition--never
+at a loss for some marvelous story--ascribes its first discovery in
+the latter country to a Dervish, who in the year 1275 was driven
+out of Moka, pursued and surrounded by his enemies in the adjacent
+mountains. In the extremity of hunger he is said to have gathered some
+Coffee-berries and eaten them, then, steeping some of the parched
+berries in some water to allay his thirst, he accidentally discovered
+their agreeable flavor and nutritious properties. While another Arabian
+legend attributes its first discovery as an alimentary infusion in
+that country to a Mollah named Chadeley, who on being informed by a
+goat-herd of the peculiar and exciting effect produced on his goats,
+whenever they happened to browse on the leaves and fruit of a certain
+kind of tree, resolved to test their virtues on his monks, with whom
+it is related he had considerable difficulty in keeping awake during
+their nocturnal devotions. Preparing an infusion from the berries of
+the plant indicated, he served it to them, the experiment proving a
+complete success; the dervishes taking eagerly thereafter to the new
+and exciting beverage. While, according to an Arabian manuscript,
+now to be found in the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris, the use of
+Coffee was known in Arabia as early as the thirteenth century. This
+coffee-colored document states that “a certain Mufti of Aden, on his
+return from a journey to Persia, about the middle of the fifteenth
+century, brought back with him some _roasted_ beans of Coffee.” While
+in an old treatise upon Coffee, published in 1566 by an Arabian sheikh,
+it is stated that the first knowledge of Coffee and its use was brought
+from Abyssinia to Arabia about the beginning of the fifteenth century
+by a learned and pious mollah named Djmaleddin Abou Elfager. According
+to this document, the use of Coffee as a beverage was prevalent among
+the Abyssinians from the most remote times, and that in Arabia, when
+first introduced, it only supplanted a preparation made from the leaves
+of the Celastrus in that country. The introduction and use of the
+beverage by the Mufti gave reputation to the practice, his example soon
+rendering the new luxury popular among his countrymen, “first among
+lawyers and professional men, then with students and those who learned
+reading, the custom eventually spreading to artisans and others who
+worked in the night, and finally by travelers, who journeyed in the
+night to avoid the heat of the day.” In a short time it was declared
+in Aden “that this liquor purified the blood, by a gentle agitation,
+dissipated the ill condition of the stomach and aroused the spirits.”
+As a result of this high extolation it was quickly adopted by those
+who had no occasion to keep awake at night, and in a brief space of
+time, says M. Galland, “the whole inhabitants of Aden became inveterate
+coffee-drinkers.” Its peculiar property of dissipating drowsiness
+and preventing sleep was taken advantage of in connection with the
+prolonged religious services of the Mahometans, and its use as a
+devotional anti-soporific stirred up a fierce opposition on the part
+of the strictly orthodox and conservative section of the priesthood.
+Coffee being held by them to be an intoxicant beverage, and therefore
+prohibited by the Koran, and the dreadful penalties of an outraged
+sacred law were held over the heads of all who became addicted to its
+use in any form. But notwithstanding the threats of divine retribution,
+and though all manner of devices were adopted in order to check its
+growth, the coffee-drinking habit spread rapidly among the Arabian
+Mahometans, and the growth of coffee, as well as its use as a national
+beverage, became as inseparably associated with Arabia as tea has with
+China.
+
+From Aden, the use of coffee extended to Mecca, Medina and other cities
+and towns of Arabia, the knowledge and taste for it rapidly spreading
+outwards from that country to Syria and Persia. Public coffee-houses
+being everywhere established, also in many of the other countries in
+western Asia, affording, according to one authority, “a lounge for the
+idle and a relaxation for the man of business, where the politician
+retailed the news of the state; the poet recited his verses, and the
+Mollahs delivered their sermons to the frequenters.” But the mania for
+coffee becoming so great about this period, particularly in Syria, that
+an effort was made by authority of the government to check, if not to
+entirely suppress, the further growth of its consumption among the
+inhabitants, on the alleged ground of “its intoxicating properties,”
+but in reality because of its use leading to social and festive
+gatherings, incompatible with the strictness and teaching of the
+Mahometan religion. From Syria the use of the “benign potation,” as it
+was then termed, reached Cairo about 1510, being received with equal
+avidity in that city, so much so that in that year its indiscriminate
+use was prohibited on religious grounds, also by Khaine Beg, the
+then governor of the city. In his proclamation forbidding the use of
+coffee, it was assailed by him as “having an inebriating effect, and
+of producing inclinations condemned by the Koran.” This edict was,
+however, rescinded by his successor, Causin, soon after his assuming
+the governorship. But another effort was made to suppress its use in
+1523 by the chief priest, Abdallah Ibrahim, who denounced its use in a
+sermon delivered in the mosque of Haffanaine, a violent commotion being
+produced among the populace, the opposing factions coming to blows over
+its use. The governor, Sheikh Obelek, a man wise in his generation and
+time, then assembled the mollahs, doctors and others of the opponents
+of coffee-drinking at his residence, and after listening patiently to
+their tedious harangues against its use, treated them all to a cup of
+coffee each, first setting the example by drinking one himself. Then
+dismissing them, courteously withdrew from their presence without
+uttering a single word. By this prudent conduct the public peace was
+soon restored, and coffee was ever afterward allowed to be used in
+Cairo.
+
+Coffee continued its progress without further molestation through
+Egypt, the beverage being received in Damascus in 1530, and in
+Aleppo a few years later, without opposition, becoming known to the
+inhabitants of Constantinople for the first time in 1554, in which
+year two persons, named Schems and Heken, the former coming from
+Damascus, and the latter from Aleppo, opened the first coffee-houses in
+that city, where it soon became the favorite drink with all classes,
+“the coffee-houses being thronged night and day, the poorer classes
+actually begging money in the streets for the sole object of purchasing
+coffee.” And in Constantinople, at this time, we are informed that “a
+refusal to supply a wife with a specified quantity of coffee per diem
+was admitted to be a valid cause for divorce.” But in Constantinople,
+as in Cairo, the new habit excited considerable commotion among
+the ecclesiastical authorities and political rulers, owing to the
+popularity of the coffee-houses having a depressing influence on the
+attendance at the mosques, on which account a fierce hostility was
+excited among the religious orders against the new beverage. They laid
+their grievances before the Sultan, who first prohibited and then
+laid a heavy tax upon the coffee-houses, notwithstanding which they
+continued to flourish and extend. A similar persecution to that in
+Syria and Cairo soon attended its use in the Turkish capital, having
+not only to contend there with religious but also with political
+opposition, the religious, as usual, predominating in its severity.
+The dervishes had the _sagacity_ to discover “that coffee when roasted
+became a kind of coal, and coal being one of the substances which their
+prophet had declared was not intended by Allah for human food,” they
+therefore declaimed against it with unbounded fury. The mufti being of
+their party, the coffee-houses were at once closed by a firman of the
+Sultan, Amuret III. This prohibition was, however, found impossible
+to maintain, as a few years later a more liberal governor succeeding,
+he assured the faithful “that _roasted Coffee_ was not _coal_, and
+had no relation to it.” The coffee-houses were immediately reopened,
+and soon became as much patronized as before. But though religious
+superstition thus readily gave way to the seductive influences of
+sensitive enjoyment, a submission not at all uncommon, the political
+objections were not so easily silenced. The government, first with that
+instinctive faculty so natural to all despotic rulers of converting to
+their own advantage the tastes and prejudices of their subjects, laid a
+heavy tax on the sale and consumption of coffee, from which it derived
+an enormous revenue. But the ever-trembling apprehensions of such forms
+of government, not satisfied with this restriction, found, or rather
+fancied it found, in the coffee-houses resorts for the disaffected
+and nurseries of sedition. These “dangerous places” were consequently
+regarded with a jealous eye, and again proclaimed against by the edict
+of the Sultan. But not being deemed formidable beyond the precincts of
+the city, and also being of too much importance to the public revenue,
+they were suffered to remain open in all other parts of the empire.
+Scruples of conscience and political objections, however, eventually
+died out, religious superstition and political opposition being no
+longer excited against the use of coffee as a beverage, so far as the
+Turkish empire was concerned.
+
+
+INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE.
+
+It is likewise very difficult to determine in what year and in what
+exact manner coffee was first carried from Constantinople to western
+Europe, but it is generally admitted that the Venetians, on account of
+the proximity of their dominions and extensive trade with the Levant,
+were the first Europeans to become acquainted with it. And it is a
+noteworthy fact that the three principal dietical beverages of the
+world were introduced into Europe within a few years of each other,
+Cocoa being the first of the three which actually appeared there,
+having been brought to Spain from South America. Coffee followed,
+coming from Arabia, and Tea, the latest of the series, coming from
+China by the hands of the Portuguese.
+
+The first authentic mention made of Coffee or its use by a European
+is probably that of Rauwolf, a German physician and traveler, upon
+his return from an extended tour through Syria, in 1573. The first
+scientific account of the plant being that given by Alpinus, an
+Italian naturalist, in his _Medicina Egyptorium_, published in Venice
+in 1591. Its use as a beverage is first referred to by two English
+travelers--Biddulph and Finch--the former, in writing of it in 1603,
+stating “that the Turks have for their most common drink Coffee--a
+blackish drink made from a kind of pulse-like pease, and called by
+them _Coava_.” In 1607 Finch relates that “the people of the island
+Socotra have for their best entertainment a China dish called _Cobo_, a
+black, bitterish drink, made of a berry very like a bay-berry, brought
+from Moka, and supped off hot.” While Pietro Valla, a Venetian, in
+a letter written from Constantinople, in 1615, states that upon his
+return to Venice “he would bring back with him some coffee which he
+believed was a thing heretofore unknown in his country,” and which he
+subsequently did. It is also referred to, in 1621, by Burton in his
+“Anatomy of Melancholy” as follows: “The Turks have a drink called
+Coffee, so named from a berry, black as soot and as bitter, which they
+sip up hot, because they find by experience that that kind of drink, so
+used, helpeth digestion and promoteth alacrity.” And coffee in a liquid
+state is said to have been sold in Rome as early as 1625. Some of the
+prepared beans of Coffee were first carried from Turkey to France by
+De la Haye, as early as 1644; “not only coffee, but also the proper
+apparatus for preparing it.” In 1657 a small quantity was brought to
+Paris by Thevenot, its use, however, being confined solely to his own
+immediate family and a few friends. Up to this period, however, and
+for many years after, it had never been seen and scarcely ever heard
+of by the public at large in that country. But in 1660 “several bales
+of coffee” were shipped from Alexandria to Marseillaise, and in 1671
+the first coffee-house was opened in the latter city near the Exchange,
+“where the merchants met to smoke, talk business and divert themselves
+with play.” But it was not until the year 1669 that Coffee drinking
+became popular in France, though infrequent travelers had brought with
+them from the East a few pounds of the then curious berry. In that year
+Solieman Aga was sent as Ambassador from Mahomet IV. to the court of
+Louis XIV., where he soon became a “lion,” through the splendid and
+unique entertainments at which he figured as host. On bended knees, the
+black slaves of the Ambassador, arrayed in the most gorgeous Oriental
+costumes, presented the choicest Moka, in tiny cups of egg-shell
+porcelain, hot, strong and fragrant, poured out on saucers of gold and
+silver, placed on embroidered silk napkins fringed with gold bullion,
+to the grand dames who fluttered their fans with many grimaces, and
+bent their piquant faces--berouged, bepowdered and bepatched--over
+the new and steaming beverage. Such was the half-barbaric occasion by
+which Coffee first became generally known to that nation, which is now
+so largely dependent upon the “brown berry of Arabia.” The Parisians
+immediately became quite enthusiastic over it, the aristocracy adopting
+it as the fashionable beverage, it being recorded that the daughters
+of Louis XIV. had Coffee imported expressly for the use of the royal
+household, at a cost of $15,000 yearly.
+
+The first Coffee-house was opened in Paris, in 1672, by an Armenian,
+at the fair of St. Germaine. Meeting with considerable success, he
+was encouraged to open another at the Quai d’Ecole, where he was
+subsequently succeeded by another, but who, owing to a lack of address
+and a proper place to serve it in, was soon compelled to relinquish
+the business. About 1675 an enterprising Frenchman, Ettienne d’Alep,
+fitted up spacious apartments in the Rue des Italienes, with Oriental
+magnificence for the purpose of catering to the public taste for
+coffee. This Café--as it was called--was the first of these now famous
+institutions, was furnished in the most elegant and expensive manner,
+ornamented with rich tapestries, mirrors, pictures, divans and costly
+lustres, tea and chocolate being also sold in it. This style of
+coffee-house multiplied in a very short time in the gay city, and were
+regularly frequented by people of fashion, artists, men of letters
+and politicians, the Café Procope in particular becoming immortalized
+from its being patronized by Voltaire, Molière, Bolieau, Fontaine and
+other Encyclopedists, while another, the Café de la Régence, became
+the Mecca of chess players. In a brief period these coffee-houses had
+increased to nearly three hundred in Paris alone, the Cafés eventually
+becoming dangerous rivals to the Cabarets; finally becoming the cradle
+of the modern clubs, it being in one of these coffee-houses--the Café
+Procope--that Camille Desmoulins was wont to deliver his stirring
+addresses. But, as in the East, at first, coffee here again met with
+considerable opposition, Madame Sévigné presuming “that coffee and
+other poisons would soon go out of fashion.”
+
+The use of coffee as a beverage is claimed to have been known in
+England prior to its introduction into France, and by some authorities
+even before the return of Thevenot from the East. One account states
+that it was first offered for sale there by a Jew named Jacobs at
+Oxford, as early as 1640. And according to the journal of Thomas Rugg,
+dated September 22, 1651, coffee was then sold in a liquid state at the
+“Sultaness Head, a Cophee house by the Royal Exchange, London,” there
+being also distinct evidence extant that for some years prior to that
+date it was also offered for sale in many other parts of that city.
+The first authentic account, however, states that coffee was first
+introduced into England by a Turkey merchant named Daniel Edwards, who,
+on his return from a trip to Smyrna, brought back with him a quantity
+of it, and with it a Greek servant from Ragusa, named Pasquale Rossie,
+who understood the Eastern method of roasting and preparing it. Edwards
+had it prepared and served every day to his friends and visitors in
+true Oriental style, but finding that the novelty began to attract
+too many visitors, his house being thronged daily by those anxious to
+taste the new beverage, he established Rossie, in company with another
+named Bowman, in a tent for its sale in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill,
+London, over which Rossie erected a sign with his own portrait, and
+subsequently announcing himself to be “the first person who made
+and publicly sold Coffee drink in England.” Bowman, later, opened a
+coffee-house on his own account on Lombard street, his former partner,
+Rossie, going to Holland, where, it is said, he was the first to
+introduce coffee in the drink. At this time coffee sold for from twenty
+to twenty-five dollars per pound, but soon became cheaper.
+
+In 1657 many other houses were opened in London for the sale of coffee,
+an excise tax of eight pence per gallon being paid on it, when made
+and sold in the infusion at that time. The same year a newspaper
+advertisement appeared, stating that “In Bartholomew Lane on the back
+of the old Exchange the drink called _Cophee_ is sold in the morning
+and at three o’clock in the afternoon.” The first mention of coffee on
+the statute books was in 1660, when a duty of four pence was laid on
+every gallon of coffee made and sold, to be paid by the maker thereof,
+another particular statute, in 1663, directing that “all coffee-houses
+should be licensed at the general quarter sessions of the peace for the
+county in which they are kept.” While another advertisement in that
+year says of coffee: “It much quickens the spirits, and makes the heart
+lightsome, suppresseth the fumes exceedingly, and, therefore, is good
+against headache, prevents cough and consumption, and is excellent for
+the cure of gout, dropsy, scurvey, hypochondria and the like.”
+
+In London, as in the other cities where Coffee was first introduced,
+coffee-houses multiplied rapidly, not only in the capital, but in
+all the larger cities of England, there being in 1688, according
+to Ray, as many coffee-houses in London alone as in grand Cairo
+itself, Coffee becoming a beverage of general consumption throughout
+the entire country. Long antedating newspapers, the coffee-houses
+became news-centres, where the intelligent men of the times gathered
+to learn what was occurring in the literary and political world,
+to discuss public affairs, governmental measures, and form public
+opinion. Wits and poets, essayists and philosophers, daily gathered
+in the coffee-houses of London, during several generations, to quote
+from favorite authors. How faithfully they harangued and button-holed
+each other in that fashion so common to all ages, and within their
+precincts, what fear and folly, what foolishness and wisdom, have been
+uttered over steaming cups of Mocha.
+
+Many of these London coffee-houses afterwards became famous as the
+resorts of celebrated men. It was at “Will’s Coffee-house,” in Covent
+Garden, that Dryden and Addison, Steel and Davenant, Cary and Pope,
+met with other luminaries, while others frequented “Buttons”; Garrick
+sipping his Mocha at “Paine’s,” in Buchnal Lane. It being at the famous
+coffee-houses of “Garraway,” “Coventrie,” and the “St. James,” that
+the Whigs of that time “did most congregate,” and if it be proved that
+other potations more fiery and deep mingled with those of the Arabian
+product, it may be taken for granted that Coffee often supplied the
+place of worse beverages, or, at least, mitigated their evil effects,
+the “intellectual drink” gaining friends daily among the wits of the
+reign of Queen Anne. It was in a London coffee-house that Pope found
+the inspiration of “The Rape of the Lock,” if not the “Essay on Man,”
+also, an inspiration, which he celebrated in the following lines:--
+
+    “From silver spirits the grateful liquors glide,
+    While China’s earth receives the smoking tide;
+    At once they gratify their sense and taste,
+    And frequent cups prolong the rich repast;
+    Coffee! which makes the politician wise,
+    And see through all things with half-closed eyes.”
+
+The coffee-houses of London, as in other cities, eventually became
+convenient and much frequented resorts of association and acquaintance
+where politics, literature and business topics were freely discussed,
+and it is also remarkable that the introduction of coffee into England
+encountered the same hostility that it was fated to meet with in all
+other countries where it was first introduced. Here also it had its
+fanatical opponents, numerous pamphlets being published in favor of and
+against its use. It was discussed from every point of view, medical,
+moral, physical and political, at one time threatening to become a
+_causus belli_ between the sexes. The “Women’s petition against coffee”
+and the “Men’s answer” to the same have become a matter of history.
+Among the men also the new beverage had its opponents, as in 1657 the
+“Rainbow Coffee-house” kept by James Farr in Queen’s Temple was reputed
+and persecuted by them as “a great nuisance, and a prejudice to the
+neighborhood,” and as such was suppressed, but reopened in a short
+time afterwards. In 1675 Charles II. for political reasons attempted
+to suppress the coffee-houses by a royal proclamation, classing all of
+them as “Seminaries of sedition,” and in which it was stated that “they
+were the resort of disaffected persons who devised and spread abroad
+divers false, malicious and scandalous reports to the defamation of His
+Majesty’s Government, the disturbance of the peace and quiet of the
+nation.” This proclamation caused so much excitement throughout the
+city that it had to be rescinded in a few days on a petition from the
+tea and coffee dealers. On the opinion of legal officials being taken
+as to the legality of that step, an oracular deliverance was given to
+the effect “that the retailing of coffee might be an innocent trade,
+but as it was used to nourish sedition, spread lies and scandalize
+great men, it might also prove a common nuisance.” Cromwell ordered
+them closed again during the Protectorate for somewhat similar reasons,
+but having become necessary to the people they could not be put down
+for any length of time. But in England also, as in the other countries,
+the most effective check on the increase of the consumption of coffee
+was found to be a heavy tax, which, while restricting honest trade,
+opened up a channel for extensive smuggling operations.
+
+The London coffee-houses, however, soon assumed the additional
+character of Taverns also, other liquors being added to the fare,
+thereby losing their attraction for the temperately inclined, the Café
+or coffee-house proper flourishing only for any length of time in
+Paris alone. But while the people of London began to complain that the
+company to be found in their coffee-houses was somewhat mixed, those
+of the Parisians from the very first continued to be the most elegant
+and select places of resort even to the present day. Before their doors
+the equipages of the nobility stopped, while ladies of the highest
+rank drank their coffee without alighting, and the Salons within were
+crowded with nobles, philosophers, poets, artists and litterateurs.
+
+The sale of Coffee in a liquid form is claimed to have been first
+introduced to Holland by the aforementioned Rossie in 1664, from whence
+its use soon spread throughout Germany and other parts of the continent
+of Europe. While to Vienna the Turks themselves first introduced
+coffee in 1683, under somewhat singular circumstances. In that year
+the Moslems besieged that city with an enormous force, the siege being
+raised, as history tells, by the Polish King, John Sobieski, and the
+Moslem hordes completely routed. Large quantities of coffee were
+found in their deserted camp, and presented to one Kolschutski as a
+reward for the heroic services he had rendered during the investment
+of the city, and utilized by him in the establishment of the first
+Coffee-house in Vienna.
+
+Coffee-houses have been known in the United States from an early period
+in its history, but for a long time New Orleans was the only city where
+they existed in their true character, the manner being learned from
+Paris. Among the American people, however, the beverage has met from
+the first with great favor, being at the present time more extensively
+used here than in any country of the world, not excepting the countries
+of original production.
+
+Thus in a course of a few centuries has a berry, until then entirely
+unknown as an article of diet, except to the semi-savage tribes of
+Ethiopia and Abyssinia, made its way through the whole civilized world.
+In the nations professing the religion of Mahomet it is drunk at all
+hours of the day, and during the night by all ranks and classes of the
+people, from the Sultan and the Mufti to the merchant, the artisan and
+the peasant. While among the nations professing Christianity, by whom
+it has been known for a couple of centuries, it is still regarded as a
+luxury, but indulged in, more or less, by all classes and conditions of
+society. In none of the states of Christendom was its use ever opposed
+by religious fanaticism, nor had it to encounter much opposition from
+political jealousy, except for a brief period in England, when its use
+was interdicted by Charles II. But, like every other innovation which
+has occupied the human mind, it could not fail to occasion a difference
+of opinion among medical experts, social reformers and similar bodies.
+Its history, at the present time, being only valuable as an example
+of a commodity for which there is a universal craving amongst mankind
+in general, civilized as well as savage, and to illustrate how it has
+struggled successfully, and at length triumphantly, over religious
+superstition, political opposition, physiological prejudice, fiscal
+restrictions, exorbitant taxes, differential duties and an endless
+accumulation of antiquated obstructions. Yet, still, in common with
+other important necessaries of life, it has never attained to the
+natural state of “unrestricted competition.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
+
+
+The Coffee plant, although now so widely and extensively grown and
+cultivated in both hemispheres, and to be found in all the Botanic
+gardens as well as in many of the private conservatories of the new and
+old worlds, was entirely unknown outside of Abyssinia and Arabia up to
+the close of the seventeenth century. Ray, in his “History of Plants,”
+published in 1688, expresses his surprise “that the neighboring
+countries of Europe should permit so rare a treasure to be confined
+to a single province, and wonders what watchful dragon is employed by
+the natives to prevent strangers from procuring either the plant or
+its seed, which could be readily grown in similar climates and soil;”
+adding, “It cannot be imagined how the enterprising commercial nations
+of Europe, which founded colonies in the tropics can be so inattentive
+to the value and importance of such an acquisition.” Whether acting on
+this suggestion or not, the plant soon afterwards was introduced and
+extensively cultivated in many of the countries colonized by Europeans.
+
+Between well-recognized limits north and south of the equator Coffee is
+found growing and bearing highly profitable crops in a wide range of
+countries to attempt anything like an exhaustive account of which, is
+impossible within the range of a single chapter. Originally a native
+of Southeastern Africa the coffee plant has been widely distributed,
+successfully cultivated and propagated in regions and countries
+geographically apart and in districts widely differing in climatic and
+topographic conditions, and as having been found to endure greater
+extremes of climate, variations in soil and situation than any other
+variety of plant of tropical origin. Its facility of propagation and
+production under such extreme conditions is admitted by botanists as
+most remarkable and equalled only by few members of the vegetable
+kingdom, its cultivation at the present time extending over the entire
+tropical belt of the globe.
+
+It is practically indigenous to almost the whole of Africa, being one
+of the few useful economic products that the African flora has as yet
+given to the world. It is to be found growing there abundantly in
+a wild state, particularly between the 5th and 15th parallels, and
+in a state of cultivation on the west coast in Liberia, Loango and
+northern Angola, as well as in many of the districts lying between the
+lower Congo and the latter country, wherein no white man has as yet
+penetrated, its planting and gathering being carried on by the natives,
+who bring their harvests down to the coast at Ambrig and neighboring
+settlements to sell to the white traders. The Portuguese colonists
+of Principe and Sao Thorné, cultivate coffee extensively, their
+products standing in high repute. It has been grown with success in
+the Gaboon by French missionaries, and some desultory planting is also
+being carried on in Senegal, St. Helena, Sierra Leone and the Gambia
+colonies. It grows wild in the Congo region, the districts around
+Glandypool being eminently adapted to its cultivation, but is as yet
+not taken advantage of there, the natives of these countries, unlike
+those further south, ignoring the properties of its fruit.
+
+It is cultivated in Natal and on the Zambesi river as well as in
+Usumbara, opposite to Zanzibar, which presents a splendid field for
+Coffee planting, containing as it does admirable soil, cheap labor,
+easy transport and land which is to be had for next to nothing, the
+missionaries distributing the Coffee seed among the inhabitants to
+induce them to cultivate it more extensively. While further into the
+interior, towards Pare, Nyanza and Killimanjaro, there are increasingly
+fine sites and suitable soil for successful and profitable Coffee
+planting only owned as yet by the birds of the air and the beasts of
+the field. It is to be found both in a wild state as well as in a
+state of cultivation in Abyssinia and the Nyassa district, being also
+cultivated for commercial purposes further north in lower Egypt, Nubia,
+Somali and the Soudan, as well as in Mozambique, and the islands of
+Madagascar, Bourbon and Mauritius. But the total yield of Africa so far
+as its influence on the world’s supply is concerned is comparatively
+insignificant, the export capacity of the latter countries not
+exceeding 800 tons annually. The total product of the eastern provinces
+of Africa taken in connection with the small quantities raised on the
+west coast making Africa contribute only between 3,000 to 4,000 tons to
+the world’s production, this amount including all the Coffee grown in
+Egypt and the interior countries of that continent.
+
+From Africa the coffee plant was undoubtedly carried to Arabia, but
+at what period of the world’s history or under what circumstances is
+not definitely known. It was introduced from Arabia to Java in 1690,
+according to Boerhave, who tells us that “Nicholas Wilser, Burgomaster
+of Amsterdam and Governor of the Dutch East India Company, in that
+year instructed Van Horn, the then Governor of Batavia, to procure
+some plants or seeds of the Coffee tree from Arabia and endeavor to
+cultivate them in that settlement.” Although its introduction into
+Java is placed later by Stavornius, who claims that the plant was
+first carried from Mocha to Batavia as late as 1722 by Zwardekiom, the
+governor of the colony in that year, other authorities claiming that
+Zwardekiom only helped to extend its cultivation on that island. The
+latter account is probably the most correct one, as it is recorded
+that coffee in the bean, grown in Java, was offered for sale in the
+Amsterdam market the exact year that Stavornius states that it was
+first introduced into that island. Be this as it may, the undertaking
+was successful from the beginning, many plants being propagated there,
+one of which, the first seen in Europe, was sent to the botanic garden
+in Amsterdam, where it in due time bore fruit. Many young trees were
+subsequently propagated from this plant and distributed among the
+gardens and conservatories of Europe, one of these being sent as a
+rare present to the king of France. The Dutch later extending the
+cultivation of coffee to Sumatra, Celebes, Bali, Timour and many other
+of the smaller islands of the Malay archipelago.
+
+The Coffee plant was introduced into India, on the Malabar coast, about
+the year 1700, from Aden, although it is claimed to have been grown in
+that country, in the province of Mysore, long anterior to that year,
+tradition, relating that the plant was first introduced by Baba Booden,
+a Musselman pilgrim, who brought “seven berries” with him from Arabia
+about the year 1600, which he is said to have planted around his hut in
+the hills of Mysore, near which coffee trees over one hundred years old
+are yet to be seen. The earliest written account of the cultivation of
+the coffee plant in India is that contained in a Dutch work, entitled
+“Letters from Malabar,” by Jacob Visscher, chaplain at Cochin, in one
+of which he states that “the Coffee shrub is planted in gardens there
+for pleasure, and yields plenty of fruit, which attains a proper degree
+of ripeness, but has not the refined taste of Mocha coffee.” The exact
+year in which these letters were written is not known, but the Dutch
+editor’s preface is dated 1743, so that it may be concluded that the
+plant must have been introduced and known in India prior to that year,
+although there is no official record made of the plant or its product
+in that country further back than 1822, and though undoubtedly grown
+there at an early period, does not seem to have met with much attention
+there up to the close of the last century, no allusion being made to
+it in any Indian work until we come to “Heynes’ Tracts,” published in
+1800, in one of which we are merely told that coffee was then being
+sold in the bazaars of Bangalore and Seringapatam. At the present time
+Coffee is grown all along India from the northern limits of Mysore
+and south to the summits and slopes of the western Ghauts in British
+Cape Comorin, Coorg and Travancore, in the Wynaad and Neilgherry
+mountains, as well as in the slopes of the Shevany and Pulney hills.
+In 1880 over 500,000 acres had been taken up for Coffee culture in the
+Cochin, Madras, Mysore, Travancore, Belgaum and Bengal presidences,
+of which nearly 200,000 acres have now maturing plants. A very large
+portion of the surface of Burmah which still remains in its primeval
+state of unproductive jungle--owing to the almost total absence of
+natural energy on the part of the natives--is admirably adapted to the
+successful and profitable cultivation of Coffee. While in the hilly
+districts of the east coast of the Gulf of Siam, Cochin-China and the
+Straits settlements, the cultivation of Coffee is carried on to a
+limited extent, some fine samples being shown at the Exhibition of 1862.
+
+The Coffee plant was introduced from Java into the island of Ceylon
+by the Dutch in 1720, where they began to cultivate it without any
+successful results, their efforts being confined to the lowlands in
+the districts of Galle and Negonogo, the location proving unfavorable
+in soil and temperature, the natives being also opposed to the
+innovation. But although some coffee of excellent quality was produced,
+notwithstanding these obstacles, it was found that it could not be
+cultivated there to advantage, when compared with the Java product.
+Yet though suspended for a time by the Dutch, it was not entirely
+abandoned by the native Cingalhese, who having, in the meantime,
+learned the commercial value of the article, continued to grow it in
+small quantities, so that after the British obtained possession of
+the island the Moors, who collected it in the villages, brought the
+hulled beans to Galle and Colombo, to barter them for cutlery, cotton
+and trinkets. It is claimed, on the other hand, to have been grown in
+Ceylon long before the arrival of the Dutch, and even the Portuguese,
+but that the preparation of a beverage from its fruit was unheard of
+by the natives, who only employed its tender leaves for their curries,
+and its delicate, jassamine-like flowers for ornamenting their shrines
+and temples. On the occupation of Ceylon, after its concession to the
+British in 1825, however, the English troops found the coffee tree
+growning in profusion in the vicinity of the temples in Kandy, and also
+large coffee gardens, highly cultivated, were found on the banks of the
+river Mahawelli and close to the palace of Hangaurau.
+
+The coffee plant was introduced into the Phillipine Islands by Spanish
+missionaries from Java about 1740, but a species of wild coffee
+trees have been found on the island of Luzon, the berries being left
+ungathered, the natives being ignorant of their use or preparation,
+there being well-authentic instances of the same kind at the present
+day where the natives wonder what is done with the berries when hulled
+and cleaned, whether it is eaten or for what purpose intended. It was
+first introduced into the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius by the
+French through Du Fougerais Grenier in 1717, from Arabia and from
+Mozambique to Madagascar by natives about the same period.
+
+The island of Borneo grows good Coffee, and since the country has
+been opened up to settlers some 200,000 acres of forest lands have
+been selected by Cantonese, European and Australian planters for this
+purpose, the gardens around Silam particularly being very encouraging
+as regards the new product. With the splendid and well-proportioned
+rain-fall Coffee grows extremely well, especially Liberian Coffee,
+for which the soil and climate of that island seems well adapted.
+Coffee cultivation is carried on there in the gardens of the Europeans
+and thrives remarkably well, while the Malays state that it is grown
+extensively by the Dyaks of the Pontianak river for the use of that
+settlement, but its cultivation on an extensive or systematic scale has
+not been encouraged, the government not wishing to create a competition
+with Java. The hills on the mainland opposite Lubuhan are well adapted
+for its successful cultivation, since there Coffee can be grown without
+the trouble and expense of raising trees amongst the plantations to
+protect the plants from the sun, as has to be done in so many other
+countries. It is also systematically cultivated in the islands of
+Guinea, Fiji, the Friendly and Hawaiian Islands, as well as in many
+others of the South Pacific ocean. The Coffee plant having been in
+existence in Samoa and other islands of that group for some years past
+where it is found to flourish luxuriantly, proving the suitability of
+the soil and climate, but in consequence of never being scientifically
+treated there it has not as yet become an article of commerce from
+these islands. Coffee cultivation has been successfully introduced into
+Caledonia and other groups in the South Pacific, which, in the course
+of a few years, will probably form an important export, the trees
+raised there from seed bearing fruit in the fourth year. In Honolulu
+its cultivation is also progressing, large plantations having been laid
+out with a view to supplying the markets of Chili, Peru, Sydney and
+California.
+
+The mountain ranges on the northern coast of Australia from Moreton bay
+to Torres straits, and other parts of that section, are recommended
+for Coffee cultivation, while in Queensland the plant has long been
+successfully grown, but it has not as yet become an article of export
+there, the plantations having recently suffered much from disease. It
+has been found to thrive well, however, in the vicinity of Brisbane,
+Cardwell and other northern districts, especially among the sheltered
+ridges of the Herbert and Endeavor rivers, these sites offering the
+most favorable conditions, the smaller farmers finding that Coffee pays
+them better than corn or potatoes, several of them having recently
+sold to the merchants of Brisbane some of their product as high as 20
+cents per pound. This list does not by any means exhaust the possible
+sections in the South Pacific where Coffee cultivation has been tried
+with great advantage, but simply touches upon some of the chief centres
+adapted to the enterprise.
+
+
+INTRODUCTION OF THE COFFEE PLANT INTO AMERICA.
+
+The history of the first introduction of the coffee plant into the
+new world is as romantic as it is interesting. In the year 1714 the
+French king, Louis XIV, was presented by the magistrates of Amsterdam
+with a fine specimen of the Coffee plant, almost five feet high and
+in full foliage, from the botanic garden of that city. This plant was
+carefully nursed, and from it some sprouts were sent to Martinique
+in 1717, being committed to the care of De Clieux, an officer in
+the French naval service, who subsequently proved himself worthy
+of the trust reposed in him. The voyage being long and the weather
+unfavorable, the whole ship’s crew were at length reduced to a short
+allowance of water, all the young plants dying except one for lack
+of nourishment. It was at this juncture that this zealous patriot
+divided his own scanty allowance with the plant committed to his care,
+happily succeeding in bringing it safe to Martinique uninjured, where
+it afterwards flourished and from which was propagated sufficient to
+supply the adjacent islands, De Tour claiming that from this single
+plant was produced the almost innumerable varieties now to be found on
+the American continent.
+
+In 1718, however, the Dutch colony of Surinam began to introduce
+and cultivate Coffee, from plants received from Java. In 1722 the
+French governor of the adjoining colony of Cayenne, having business
+in Surinam, contrived, by an artifice, to bring away with him from
+there a small Coffee plant, which, in the year 1725, had produced many
+thousands, which were distributed among all the French colonies on the
+mainland, its cultivation being extended to Para from Cayenne, by the
+French, in 1732; the first Coffee plantation opened in Brazil being
+commenced in that province a few years later. Its cultivation, however,
+made little or no progress in that now world-famous Coffee-growing
+country until 1767, when its cultivation was still further extended to
+the province of Maranhao, where it soon increased rapidly under careful
+and judicious management.
+
+In 1774 a Belgian monk, named Molke, procured some plants from one of
+the prosperous Maranhao estates, and carried them to Rio de Janeiro,
+the first one being planted in the garden of the Capuchin monastery
+of Adjuda, then situated in the suburbs, but now almost in the centre
+of that city. This plant prospered so well under his care, and he,
+becoming convinced of its future importance as a valuable acquisition
+to the industries of the country, that a few years later he cleared a
+plantation for its systematic and more extensive cultivation. Joachim
+Bruno, the then Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, also perceiving the valuable
+benefits to be derived by the country from Coffee cultivation, and to
+whom Brazil is indebted for the introduction and cultivation of many
+of its now valuable trees and plants, was accustomed to distribute
+the seeds of the coffee produced on Molke’s plantation and the garden
+of the monastery among the religious institutions of his diocese,
+personally recommending and encouraging its cultivation by them, at
+the same time presenting many specimens to the laity. From this simple
+and unostentatious beginning, has grown the extensive coffee-lands of
+to-day in Brazil, hundreds of thousands of acres of land being devoted
+to its culture at the present day, over $100,000,000 being invested in
+the industry.
+
+From Brazil the coffee plant was later carried to Peru, Chili, Paraguay
+and other South American countries, while from Martinique it was first
+introduced into Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes in 1732, a special act
+of Parliament being passed in that year to encourage and foster its
+cultivation on that island. Coffee culture is claimed to have been
+first introduced into San Domingo by wild fowl who carried the seeds
+in their craws from one of the neighboring islands about 1735, being
+later introduced to the smaller islands of the Antilles by the French
+themselves.
+
+The Spaniards procured some plants from Martinique, and undertook its
+cultivation in Cuba, Porto Rico and others of their possessions in the
+West Indies about 1750, its culture prospering well in these islands
+until replaced later by the less expensive and more profitable sugar
+industry, but it was not until 1784 that they undertook its cultivation
+in their possessions on the mainland. In that year Bartholemew Blandin
+started a plantation in the Chacao valley, situated about a league from
+the now famous coffee-growing district of Caracas, a Dr. Sligo, soon
+afterwards, following Blandin’s example in the equally famous district
+of Maracaibo, the new branch of industry being soon generally adopted
+throughout Venezuela, Columbo, Ecuador and Bolivia, where several
+varieties are grown, particularly throughout the Yungas district, the
+best product being valued as not inferior to the far-famed Mocha itself.
+
+In 1818 the profitableness of coffee culture in the West Indies led to
+the establishment of extensive plantations in Mexico in the cantons of
+Orizaba and Cordova, which in 1825 were in a most flourishing state,
+its cultivation in that country being still further extended to the
+valleys of the interior, in 1826 there being in Cuentla and Cuenmarca
+alone estates containing as many as 500,000 coffee trees. Elsewhere
+in Mexico at the time much attention was bestowed in extending its
+cultivation, great hopes being entertained that every available
+spot would be occupied in its cultivation and that its people would
+be largely engaged in its cultivation and exportation to foreign
+countries. But the civil disorders which begun so soon after its
+introduction to that country and which continued for so long a time
+after paralyzed the industry in its infancy, disappointing these hopes
+so much so that the production of coffee in Mexico has been almost
+limited to supplying the home demand. Now, however, a brighter era has
+arrived, more attention being given to its cultivation in that country,
+her coffee product steadily increasing and improving from year to
+year. From Mexico the cultivation of the coffee plant spread through
+Guatemala to Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador and Costa Rica, until it
+is or will be grown throughout all the Central and South American
+countries.
+
+Efforts have been made from time to time during the past twenty years
+to introduce the cultivation of coffee into the United States, many
+thousands of plants being distributed throughout Florida, Texas and
+Lower California with that object in view. Reported results to the
+Agricultural Department in Washington from these distributions lead
+to the belief that the climate is too cold for its production for
+commercial purposes. Some years ago the department received a sample
+of coffee berries which had been gathered from plants said to have
+been grown in the open air near the Manatee river in Florida. It was
+afterwards learned upon investigation that these plants had been
+protected during the coldest nights by canvas coverings, and in some
+instances with blankets, yet it is admitted that while it is more than
+likely that in the extreme southern parts of Florida the coffee plant
+would thrive without protection and in the open air, the topographical
+conformation of that part of the State is most unfavorable for its
+commercial cultivation. Again, in the extreme southern part of
+California climatic conditions favorable to its production have
+been found, but so far little encouragement has been received from
+the efforts to cultivate the plant in that section. Some years ago
+Liberian coffee-plants were introduced by the Agricultural Department,
+this species being hardier and needing less care and attention when
+transplanted to other countries. But, contrary to all precedent and
+expectations, they were found to require a warmer climate and more
+congenial topographic conditions than the Arabian species already
+tried. Here it is a fact worthy of note, that in many of the countries
+into which the coffee plant has been introduced, indigenous varieties
+were subsequently discovered. This is more particularly true of
+Liberia, Mauritius, Malabar and Manilla in the Eastern Hemisphere, and
+in Mexico, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil in the Western. No less
+than sixteen different species being claimed to have been discovered in
+the latter country alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FORM.
+
+
+This now important and valuable article of food was known to the early
+inhabitants of Ethiopia, where its virtues were first discovered and
+used, as _Bun_, signifying “brown” or “roasted.” In Arabia it is
+termed _Kawah_, meaning “strength” or “vigor,” the infusion being
+called _Quahouch_; while to the Turks it is known as _Chaube_ in the
+bean, and _Kahve_ in the liquid state; to Persians, _Karweh_; to the
+natives of the Malay Archipelago as _Kopi_, and finally _Kaffa_ or
+_Caffia_ by the inhabitants of that district, situated in the Province
+of Narca, in southeastern Abyssinia, where it is to be found growing
+in wild abundance, even at the present day, whence its botanical name,
+_Coffea_, adopted by Linnæus and others.
+
+The genus known as _Coffea_ is divided by botanists into some sixty
+species, of which fifteen are referred to Africa, seven to Asia and
+about twenty-two to America; but there is abundant reason for supposing
+that the majority of these so-called _species_ are but mere varieties,
+a single _genus_, due to different conditions of soil, climate and
+cultivation, three of which it will be sufficient for all practical
+purposes to distinguish in this work. It is classed botanically as
+a species coming under the head of the _Pentandria_ of Linnæus and
+the family _Rubiceæ_, although by others it is placed among the
+_Cinchonaceæs_ family of plants which comprise numerous species of
+tropical berry-bearing shrubs, one of which only is known to possess
+valuable properties celebrated for the agreeable and stimulating
+effect of an infusion made from its roasted albumen.
+
+The common Coffee shrub is an evergreen plant, which, under natural
+conditions, grows to a height of from eighteen to twenty feet, having
+the appearance of an upright, slender tree, with main stem very erect,
+and free from branches for the greater part of its height, but opening
+at the top into drooping branches, few but long, with an abundance
+of fine fibrous roots under ground, and an all-important top-root.
+But in a state of cultivation it is a shrub of close and systematic
+growth of low-standing, and averaging only from four to six feet in
+height, its upward growth being checked by the pruning-knife of the
+cultivator, and also trained by frequent cutting and topping so as to
+assume a pyramidal form for the purpose of increasing the quantity
+and improving the quality of its product as well as to facilitate the
+picking of its crop. The branches are bracheate, horizontal, simple and
+opposite, growing regularly from the ground up, but trailing towards
+the top, cylindrical in form, flexible, loose and expanding out and
+downwards like those of the apple tree, and extremely pleasing in
+general appearance. The leaves are from five to six inches in length,
+and from two to three wide in the middle when full grown, oblong-ovate,
+accuminate, smooth, and of a dark, shiny-green color on the upper
+surface, but pale underneath, firm and leathery in texture, closely
+resembling those of the Portuguese laurel, continuing three years, and
+possessing slightly tonic and stimulating properties. The flowers,
+which are produced in dense clusters in the axils of the leaves fitting
+close to the axils, are funnel-shaped and small but numerous, having a
+five-toothed calyx, a tubular five-parted corolla, five stamens and a
+single bifid style, snow-white in color, possessing a rich, fragrant
+odor, approaching that of the jessamine, the plants in blossom having
+a peculiarly rich and attractive appearance, the bloom being very
+evanescent and of short duration, but are quickly followed by fruit,
+there being generally two, sometimes three, relays of blossoms before
+all the buds mature, until after a day or two, when they gradually
+turn brown and fade away; the slower and more gradual this process the
+better for the crop, which is always estimated by the abundance of the
+blossoms. The fruit, which quickly follows in the hollow of the leaves,
+is a fleshy or “pulpy” berry, at first greenish and hard to the touch,
+assumes a yellowish hue as it continues to ripen under the meridian
+sun, the color deepening not regularly but by crimson or scarlet shades
+and tints which spread over the surface, having at this stage the size
+and appearance of a small cherry, assuming a dark-red or deep, glossy
+purple black color with a smooth and bloomless cuticle as it matures.
+In both states of flower and fruit nature is nowhere so profuse and
+beautiful in the variety of its colors and forms. The plant, being an
+evergreen, the foliage is always fresh, and, though, in the autumn
+season, the blossoms appear scattered among the dark-green leaves,
+resembling flakes of snow, they are hardly ever absent from the tree.
+It continues to put forth fruit, while the blossoms are arriving at
+maturity, and nothing is more singular or striking of its kind than its
+producing capabilities, as at all seasons, leaves, blossoms and ripe
+fruit are to be seen on the same tree at the same time, and the fruit
+may be gathered at any period, but the regular harvests are usually two
+in the course of a year.
+
+Each fruit contains two seeds embedded in a yellowish pulp, the seeds
+being again enclosed in a thin membraneous parchment. The _Epicarp_ or
+outer-skin of the berry is at first dark-green in color, but assumes
+a yellow and finally a bright-scarlet color as it ripens, becoming
+dark-purple as it dries, having a little circular area at the summit
+and a callous point through it. In this condition it contains a
+mucilaginous, saccharine, glutinous substance, technically termed the
+“pulp,” a succulent, sweet and palatable matter, closely enveloping
+the seeds, frequently eaten by the pickers. Another substance, known
+as the _Mesocarp_, secures and separates the _Pyrenes_ or seeds, and
+as the fruit dries this mesocarp hardens and becomes part of the shell
+or hull surrounding the seeds, which it becomes necessary to remove by
+a milling or hulling process in order to free them from this covering.
+These pyrenes or seeds are again invested by a cartilaginous membrane
+termed the _Endocarp_, but commonly known as the “parchment,” a
+papery, elastic substance, loosely but completely enveloping them. On
+removing this parchment we have exposed two small, oval seeds facing
+each other, though sometimes there is but one called from its shape
+male or “pea-berry.” These seeds, which constitute the raw Coffee of
+commerce, are plano-convex in form, the flat surfaces which are laid
+against each other within the berry, having a longitudinal furrow or
+groove extending their entire length. When first exposed they are of a
+soft, semi-translucent bluish or greenish color, afterwards becoming
+hard, tough or flinty in texture, in which state it is known as “rice
+coffee,” the bulk of which forms the Coffees of commerce. This seed or
+“bean” as it is called in trade is still incased in what is known as
+the _Testa_, another covering which forms an integument of the seed
+and which is known to commerce as the “silver-skin,” the mass of the
+coffee beneath this testa being termed the _Albumen_. Contained in this
+albumen and embedded near its base is to be found the _Embryo_. The
+first of these structures, that is, the epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp,
+belong to the fruit or berry, the other three, that is, the testa,
+albumen and embryo, being essentially parts of the seed or bean. The
+uses of these various structures surrounding the embryo are to protect
+it from injury and at the same time supply it with proper nourishment
+until such time as it is enabled to take care of itself. The testa
+or silver-skin enveloping every part of the albumen, following and
+dipping into the furrow on the face of the Coffee bean by its tough,
+leatherly nature, acts as an effectual protection to the delicate
+structures contained within. The albumen, bearing the same relation to
+the bean that flour does to wheat, the white-meat to cocoanut, and the
+aromatic, ruminated secretion to the nutmeg. It is a secretion, found
+in the _internal_ of the seed, enveloping the embryo plant, and for the
+support of which it is destined when it first begins to germinate. Each
+perfect Coffee berry should contain two such oval seeds, placed facing
+each other, the flat sides opposite; but it frequently occurs that
+only one seed forms, the other becoming abortive, and variously known
+as “virgin” “male” or “pea-berry.” Coffee seeds are generally termed
+“beans” in commerce, a term not derived from any resemblance they may
+have to a bean; while, again, they are termed by many as “berries,” the
+latter term being applicable only to the fruit or pod, the term “bean”
+being more appropriate to the seed.
+
+
+SUB-VARIETIES.
+
+According to some botanists, there is but one genus of the Coffee
+plant,--_Coffea Arabica_,--others, again, contending that there are two
+separate and distinct species, classified as _Coffea Orientalis_ and
+_Coffea Occidentalis_. While admitting but one genus, the difference in
+size, appearance and product being attributed by them to a variation
+in soil, climate and methods of cultivation, there are three principal
+varieties, however, readily distinguished and recognized by those who
+have much to do with it, and are known to commerce as _Coffea Arabica_,
+_Coffea Liberica_ and _Coffea Maragogipe_, lately discovered in Brazil,
+all of which or their transplants furnish the Coffees of commerce.
+
+[Illustration: COFFEE HACIENDA AND GROWER.]
+
+[Illustration: _Coffea Arabica_,]
+
+Or “Arabian Coffee plant,” is the best-known species, being an
+evergreen, partaking more of the nature of a shrub, which, in a
+state of cultivation, varies in height from four to six feet, its
+foliage resembling that of Portuguese laurel. The trunk is erect
+and slender, averaging about three inches in diameter and covered
+with a whitish-brown bark, rather rough in appearance. The branches
+are numerous, ordinarily bending downwards when the plant begins to
+grow old, but when young and vigorous extend in a round form like
+an umbrella. The wood is very limber and pliable, so much so that
+the ends of the longest branches may be bent down to within three
+inches of the ground without snapping. The leaves are oval in form,
+dark green in color, shiny and sharp pointed as those of the citron
+tree, ranged on the branches opposite, but at a little distance from
+each other. The flowers or blossoms are also numerous, clustering
+with projecting antlers, snowy-white and very fragrant, but of short
+duration, disappearing quick, but rapidly followed by the fruit
+springing apparently from them. The fruit is a small berry, green at
+first, but assuming a rich scarlet as it ripens. From this species has
+been propagated the numerous varieties now known to commerce. The range
+of this species is at elevations of from 1,000 to 4,000 feet above
+sea-level between the latitudes of 15° north and 15° south, but its
+cultivation may be extended for commercial purposes to 36° north and
+30° south in latitudes where the temperature does not fall below 55°;
+still the most favorable climate for it would be where the temperature
+does not fall below 60° to 80° in the shade, and as to humidity there
+should be no month in the year entirely devoid of rain, the total
+of which should range from 100 to 150 inches per annum, that is, an
+absence of extremes of temperature with a constant supply of moisture.
+This species is cultivated chiefly in Arabia, India, Ceylon, Natal,
+Java, Sumatra and other islands in the Malay Archipelago, as well as
+in Mexico, the West Indies, Central and South America and recently in
+Australasia, furnishing almost the whole of the coffees of commerce.
+
+[Illustration: _Coffea Liberica_,]
+
+Or “Liberian Coffee plant,” which has recently been brought forward
+as a rival to the Arabian variety, is an indigenous species found
+both in a wild and cultivated state on the west coast of Africa, and
+which in an adult cultivated state ranges in height from fifteen to
+twenty feet, being of tree-like habits. The trunk is thick, very erect,
+and covered with a dark-brown bark of a downy texture. The branches
+also differ from those of the Arabian species insomuch as they do
+not possess the horizontal, drooping tendency so characteristic of
+the latter, being also hardier and more prolific. The leaves are
+proportionately large, varying in length from eight to fifteen inches
+and in many instances from four to five inches in width at their widest
+part. They are dark-green in color, leathery in texture, and instead
+of the wedge-shaped base, narrowing as it approaches the petitole or
+stalk; it more resembles the continuation of the extremity of the leaf
+itself. The flowers are also fewer, never more than six to eight in a
+cluster, are much larger, but devoid of fragrance. The fruit, as may be
+inferred from the tree-like habits of this species, is extremely large,
+averaging an inch to an inch and a quarter in length, ellipsoidal in
+form, and characteristically pointed at both ends. It lacks the bright
+red color of the Arabian variety, when ripe, being commonly of a dull
+red, approaching brown, becoming black as it dries. The pulp is also
+thicker, fibrous and more fleshy, but lacking in succulence, and cannot
+be eaten; the parchment being hard and brittle, dark-brown in color
+and never clear. The testa, or silver-skin, is much stronger, tougher,
+and more tightly rolled into the deep, narrow furrow on the face. The
+seed or bean is also extremely large in size, peculiar in form, what is
+known as “male” or “pea-berry” in form is dark-brown in color, solid
+and heavy in weight and exceedingly strong in flavor. Taken altogether,
+the wide divergence in the general appearance and habits of this
+variety, the culture of the leaves, lesser number of flowers, size,
+weight, color, peculiar formation, and other characteristics, stamp it
+as a distinct species of the genus _Coffea_.
+
+Increasing attention is lately being devoted to this species. It is a
+native of Liberia, and is to be found growing wild in great abundance
+along the whole of the Guinea coast and is to be distinguished from
+the ordinary shrub by much more vigorous growth, by affecting flat,
+low and coast lands as well as hill sides, by attaining greater size
+and withstanding greater extremes of climate. It also possesses
+the additional advantage in that it is capable of improvement by
+cultivation, and though as liable to disease as the Arabian plant,
+appears to be affected only in a minor degree, while on the other hand
+the product is much coarser flavored, which is considered no drawback
+to its being used for admixture with better sorts, by which means it
+yields a cheap, yet genuine beverage. Experiments have been lately
+tried in Ceylon of grafting the finer flavored Arabian on the stocks
+of this species, thus producing a hybrid from which great benefits are
+anticipated in the future. It is a species, moreover, which grows well
+in low altitudes, and would probably flourish is situations that have
+proved unsuitable for the Arabian plant, and should it come up to the
+sanguine expectations of the Java, Ceylon, Mexican, South American and
+other planters, to whom it has been submitted for experiment, there is
+no doubt but that it will prove a formidable rival to the species which
+have hitherto received the exclusive attention of planters generally.
+
+[Illustration: _Coffea Maragogipe_,]
+
+Or “Brazilian Coffee plant,” is a new and indigenous variety, recently
+discovered in the province of that name, in Brazil, much larger than
+the Arabian, but smaller than the Liberian. It grows with extraordinary
+vigor, coming into full bearing much sooner than either of the
+foregoing varieties, trees of two to three years attaining a height
+of eight to ten feet, being full of fruit at that age, the berry and
+product per acre being also larger. Planters who have adopted this
+variety are so well pleased with the results obtained that they are
+replacing the regular species with it, all agreeing that in size of
+berry, style of bean, strength and flavor, it is a species to be
+recommended.
+
+
+OTHER VARIETIES.
+
+There are numerous other varieties of the Coffee plant, closely allied,
+but still markedly distinct from the foregoing species, inasmuch
+as they do not possess any valuable or intrinsic properties, being
+cultivated only for the sake of their foliage or flowers. Among which
+is that of:--
+
+=Coffea Mauritiana.=--Found on the island of Mauritius, and evidently
+belonging to the Arabian species, yet claimed by La Marche to be
+specifically distinct from it, on account of the difference in the
+size and form of its fruit. This eminent botanist must have been
+unaccountably negligent with respect to its specific character, having
+retained the description given by Linnæus of the Arabian plant, which
+is in the Plantarium described as entirely opposite to it.
+
+=Coffea Guinensis.=--A native of Guinea, on the west coast of Africa,
+and a shrub from one to two feet high, with flowers quadrified, berries
+small and violet-colored, seeds two in number, cartilaginous and
+pointed at the ends; but found to be entirely devoid of the valuable or
+stimulating properties so characteristic of those of the true Coffee
+plant.
+
+=Coffea Panenlato.=--Another species, also found on the Guinea
+coast, being a shrub having a large trunk, from seven to eight feet
+high, covered with a gray, cracked bark and yielding a fruit totally
+different from that of Coffee.
+
+=Coffea Racemora.=--A species found in a wild state on the east coast
+of Africa, and in a state of cultivation in the vicinity of Zanzibar.
+It is a small, upright, tree-like plant about six feet high, heavy in
+foliage and flowering, but devoid of fragrance and barren of fruit.
+
+=Coffea Trifora.=--A shrub of about six feet high, found in Othahetai,
+foliaceous and flowery, but producing no fruit. This particular variety
+is also to be found in Jamaica, San Domingo, Martinique and other
+islands of the West Indies. Many other species such as the _Coffea
+Fambasena_, a native of the Friendly Islands, _Coffea Ghengalensis_,
+grown in Nepaul, _Coffea Opulina_ and the _Cirdorata_, the latter being
+claimed to be analogous to the true Coffee plant, and is extensively
+grown on the island of Tamai, and many others cultivated principally
+for their seeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION.
+
+
+The principal points which determine the value of a location for the
+successful and profitable cultivation of Coffee are:--(1) Soil and
+climate; (2) Situation and aspect; (3) Temperature and rainfall;
+(4) Proximity to a river, and (5) Shelter from wind and wash. Most
+of which are necessarily subject to variation, according to country
+and locality, shelter from wind being perhaps of the most paramount
+importance, and which should not be sacrificed for a richer soil, as
+the latter can be artificially supplied much quicker than the former.
+
+
+SOIL AND CLIMATE.
+
+Soil and climate are subjects of primitive importance in the
+cultivation of Coffee. The soil of Coffee lands varies as widely almost
+as the different countries in which it is grown. In Africa, where the
+plant is indigenous, it is chiefly composed of a reddish clay on the
+West Coast, with a hard sandy subsoil, while on the East Coast it is
+found to be composed chiefly of a dark loamy earth. The Arabian soil,
+where the plant is exotic and where the finest Coffee is produced, is
+purely an artificial one, while in India it is successfully grown in
+five different kinds of soil, ranging from a dark chocolate clay to
+a deep jungle mould. The soil of Ceylon consisting of a rich, dark
+earth, friable and mixed with blocks and small stones. On the island of
+Java, to the contrary, where some of the finest varieties are produced,
+the soil is principally composed of a black leaf-mould, intermixed with
+fine sand and small stones, whereas in the principal Coffee-growing
+countries of the American continent the best crops produced, as a
+general rule, are raised on rich, dark loamy lands, the subsoil of
+which are too rocky to be worked with a plow. The only exception to
+the rule being Brazil, where the soil varies to a great extent, a clay
+of _terra rocha_ forming the chief upper and lower subsoil. The most
+suitable soil for Coffee cultivation, however, is that which grows
+soft timber, to be found on high quartzy ridges, where the land is
+of a dark chocolate color, mixed with small stones, and overspread
+here and there with boulders of granite, as where the soil is dark,
+loose and full of roots, it is sure to be rich in organic matter, and
+therefore good for Coffee, which is a hardy plant and not on the whole
+difficult to please in this matter; such a soil generally contains
+about 5 per cent. of its weight of organic matter in combination with
+other fertilizing substances. Looking at Coffee soil from an analyst’s
+standpoint, it consists of an _organic_ part, which when placed in the
+fire will burn away, and an _inorganic_ or mineral part which will
+not burn. The constitution of the first is well known to planters,
+being formed of the remains of animals, insects, or minute visible
+and invisible organisms of various kinds, from the dung of animals,
+birds, caterpillars and worms, to that of roots, stems and leaves of
+decayed vegetable matter. The inorganic part, consisting of sand,
+clay, lime, magnesia and the oxides of soda, potash and manganese,
+including carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric acids. The preponderance
+of one or more of these natural divisions, making the soil productive
+or unproductive as the case may be, while certain plants make certain
+calls upon one or more of these substances, and, consequently, such
+must be present and available in a soil that is to suit them. A
+rich soil for Coffee generally contains about five per cent., or
+one-twentieth of its weight, of organic matter in combination with
+other fertilizing substances. But as to the _best_ soil for Coffee in
+particular the leading authorities differ, so that as a broad principle
+it may be laid down that the best soil is the _richest_, no matter what
+its color, whether it be the valley silt of Arabia, the volcanic mould
+of Java, the jungle soil of India and Ceylon, or the rich red earth
+of Brazil. But the deeper, freer and richer the soil, whatever it may
+be, the better as long as it is specially tested for phosphoric acid
+and potash. The latter is found in abundance wherever a large forest
+has been felled, burned grass-land being also considered good for this
+purpose, as it also contains those very requisite properties of Coffee
+soil.
+
+If the soil be naturally light and poor and washed by every shower,
+the more soluble portions, together with the salts of the manure
+applied to the trees, is generally robbed by the heavy rains. In such
+a case it is next to impossible to keep a plantation in a high state
+of cultivation without an enormous expense in the constant application
+of manure. Many plantations are again subject to landslips, which are
+likewise produced by the violence of the rains; in such cases the
+destruction is most disastrous, and whenever landslips are frequent
+they may be taken as an evidence of a poor clay subsoil. The rain soaks
+through the surface, and not being able to percolate through the clay
+with sufficient rapidity, it lodges between the two strata, loosening
+the upper surface, which slides from the greasy clay, launched, as it
+were, by its own gravity, into the valley below. This is the worst
+kind of soil for the coffee tree, whose long tap-root is ever seeking
+nourishment from beneath. On such a soil it is very common to see
+a young plantation giving great promise, but as the trees increase
+in growth the tap-root reaches the clay subsoil, and the plantation
+immediately falls off. The subsoil is of far more importance to the
+coffee tree than the upper surface, as the latter may be improved by
+manure, while if the former is bad there is no remedy. The first thing
+to be considered being the soil, and the planter being satisfied with
+its quality, there is another item of equal importance to be taken into
+consideration when choosing a locality for a coffee plantation. This is
+an extent of grazing land sufficient for the support of cattle that may
+be required for producing manure. In countries with large proportions
+of forests this is, however, not always practicable, the planter having
+recourse to artificial manure.
+
+The subject of climate, though quite as important as that of soil,
+can yet be described with more accuracy. The extreme limits of coffee
+cultivation lie between the isothermal lines of the 25° north and the
+30° south of the equator, but the best zone of latitude is that lying
+between the 20° north and south of the equator, one having a mean
+temperature of 65° to 75° Fahrenheit. A constant and uniform moisture,
+either natural or artificial, is especially requisite and indispensable
+to the free development of the trees, together with a rainfall of from
+75 to 150 inches per annum, falling early in the season, but must be
+well distributed at the same time. The regions, however, found to be
+best adapted for the most successful and profitable cultivation of
+Coffee, are well-watered mountain slopes at an elevation ranging from
+1,000 to 4,000 feet above sea-level, in latitudes lying between 15°
+north and 15° south of the equator, although it is profitably grown at
+the present time from 25° north to 30° south of that line, but only in
+situations where the temperature does not fall below 55° at any time.
+
+
+SELECTING LAND.
+
+As a general rule, virgin forest land has been found the most suitable
+to break up for Coffee plantations, it having become naturally enriched
+by decayed vegetable matters, and the burning, to which it must first
+be subjected, frees it from all weeds and insects. But exceptional
+tracts of land, that have been once under cultivation and then allowed
+to run wild, also form good properties, and although the soil is
+rarely rich, it is generally exposed, and always entails great trouble
+and expense to keep down the weeds. A temperate climate within the
+tropics is to be preferred at all times, a certain degree of warmth
+and humidity combined being essential--in other words, an atmosphere
+resembling that of a northern hot-house produces the finest crops
+of Coffee, but, unfortunately, it is inimical to the unacclimated
+planter and favorable to weeds. The most suitable climate, under these
+circumstances, is precisely that which Americans prefer; frost, even
+though it be only at night and for a short period, is fatal, while the
+presence of water, preferably a running stream, is most essential for
+watering the young plants, as well as for the “pulping” process. In a
+wooded country the plantation may be laid out in blocks of fifty acres,
+encircled by natural belts of forest; but flat land must be avoided, as
+a wet soil is fatal to profitable coffee-growing, and flat lands also
+would entail great expenditure for drainage, while steep slopes, on the
+other hand, are also objectionable on account of the wash occasioned by
+rains carrying away both soil and manure, thus exposing the roots of
+the shrubs. The top or surface-soil must be fairly good in all cases,
+the subsoil may be, but must never be, composed of stiff clay, the
+shrub being essentially a lateral feeder.
+
+In opening a plantation, which is in all cases to be shaded by
+preserving a portion of the original forest trees, the first thing to
+be done is--after having ascertained the amount of land that can be
+conveniently planted in one season--to clear a wide road through the
+underwood from one end of the block of forest to the other, and as many
+at right angles to the line as may facilitate easy examination and of
+thoroughly inspecting the land to be cleared. The next thing to be done
+is to cut another wide line round the entire portion to be cleared,
+leaving a belt of from fifteen to twenty yards wide as a margin which
+is always to be kept uncleared, as this marginal belt will be found
+useful for shelter. The amount of shade must be regulated according
+to the value of the exposure as shown in the aspect. A great deal of
+shade being required on southern slopes, very little on northern ones,
+and only a moderate degree of shade being required for eastern and
+western slopes. The preliminary lines having been cleared, the whole
+of the underwood should then be cut down from one end to the other,
+and while it is yet green such portions of the larger trees as it may
+be difficult to remove by carting or dragging along the ground, should
+be cut up in pieces, but never burned, as is frequently the custom.
+This work should be completed by the end of December. The land being
+thus thoroughly cleared, lines of road should be laid out and the
+usual linings and pit diggings carried out, and the plants put down
+immediately after. The next point to be attended to is to plant out
+such trees as are particularly suited to coffee shading, and to remove
+any kinds which experience has proved to be injurious; these latter
+vary in the different countries. As the shade trees grow up, the same
+care must be taken of them as of the coffee tree, as regards pruning
+or topping, the lower branches being judiciously removed, the object
+being to grow a tree not only luxuriant but lofty, in order that it
+may throw a long shadow and so afford greater protection to the plants
+in its vicinity. Another point to be considered in the location of a
+successful Coffee plantation is situation, as regards shade, sun and
+wind, as a location and method of cultivation suited to one climate
+may be entirely unsuited to another. In sea-coast or moist climates
+planting without shade is generally the custom, while in dry arid
+climates shade is indispensable, as in wet or damp districts Coffee
+cannot be grown to advantage under the shade of the largest trees; the
+methods of cultivation therefore should be entirely different in the
+differing districts or localities. To be emphatic, _climate should
+regulate shade, that is, shade plantations thrive best in hot, dry
+climates, and unshaded in moist or humid ones_.
+
+
+SITUATION AND ASPECT.
+
+The Coffee-plant in most countries has been found to flourish best,
+and produce more abundantly, and reach a greater longevity on upland
+or mountain situations at altitudes ranging from one to four thousand
+feet above sea-level; but a mean elevation of three thousand feet has
+been found by experience to be best adapted for its most profitable
+culture. In the selection of a site for the establishment of a coffee
+plantation the same general rules are observed throughout all the
+coffee-growing countries; and, while an eastern or southern exposure
+is preferable at all times, it is not essential under all conditions,
+this general principle being subject to modifications from such causes
+as local peculiarities of climate, abundance of forest shade and
+methods of special cultivation. Many plantations situated at sea-level
+are generally overshadowed by thickets of dense foliage, while those
+situated on mountain slopes are usually much exposed to winds and wash.
+In the older coffee-growing countries of the East an eastern aspect
+is considered the most desirable, a western exposure being generally
+selected on the American continent, as it loses less of its moisture.
+The opposite slope being more exposed to the vertical rays of the sun
+thereby preserves a more equal temperature.
+
+Before clearing and burning the planter should take considerable pains
+to ascertain the values of the different aspects as regards sun and
+wind with the view of regulating the amount of shade accordingly, as it
+is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the various exposures.
+For the effects the sun’s rays have on certain aspects in heating the
+soil and drying up the plant are such as would be extremely difficult
+to believe had the effects not been verified by competent observers
+and with the aid of a thermometer. And as regards sites, northern and
+southern slopes in particular, the difference between the one exposure
+and the other is just what constitutes the difference between green
+and dried grass, and between leaves luxuriously green and leaves
+dried and withered. The grass on the northern aspects being green and
+comparatively fresh, while even in a valley sheltered from drying
+winds the grass on the southern slopes is completely withered. An
+equally striking difference is observable in the coffee plants grown on
+these situations, those on the northern slopes being full of health
+and life, while those situated on the southern are yellow, drooping
+and sickly; even in districts where coffee will not thrive without a
+considerable amount of shade the plants thrive well with little or even
+none on a northern bank, and look better than on a moderately shaded
+southern aspect. Nor in the nursery is the effect less of aspect, less
+striking, a nursery situated on a northern slope requiring less water
+and far less shade over the young plants than in a nursery sloping
+towards the south.
+
+With regard to the aspect of wind the subject is an infinitely more
+difficult one than aspect as regards the sun’s rays, the value of the
+latter being mathematically ascertained, for in countries full of hills
+and ravines one is constantly liable to be deceived as to the points
+that are exposed and those that are sheltered from the force of the
+wind; what is the right side of the hill for one planter is often the
+wrong side for another, whose plantation is perhaps only a few miles
+distant. While one planter may rail against the east wind, another will
+be equally loud against a west. The winds, however, that are most to
+be dreaded as being absolutely fatal to a coffee plantation are the
+fierce gales accompanied by torrents of rain. These winds are injurious
+in two ways: first, the plants are blown about, their hold on the soil
+weakened and the tender rootlets broken as fast as they are formed, and
+in the second case, the rain which accompanies such winds is driven
+into the hillsides with such force as to occasion a certain amount of
+wash, the particles of soil being lifted and valuable top soil swept
+away and utterly lost. The southwest winds are only fatally injurious
+on the first barrier; further inland their force is greatly modified,
+and to such an extent that little or no injury results from them.
+
+In estimating the value and importance of exposures, planters and
+others of experience are frequently deceived; as aspects that one would
+naturally conclude are very much exposed often remain untouched by the
+wind, while on others apparently sheltered it has been known to burst
+with tremendous force. Of aspects as regards wind there are two points
+that may fairly be relied upon. The first is the appearance of the soil
+on the slopes, and the second the inclination of the forest trees. The
+soils on windy slopes will be found invariably to present a hardened
+and washed appearance, and are deficient in decayed vegetable matter
+on the surface. The inclination of the trees, also, and especially the
+extent to which their heads are bent, denotes how forcibly the wind
+strikes on these sites. In summing up on these important points of
+aspect it may be observed, as regards the sun’s rays, it is patent that
+a northern aspect is the best, and a southern one the worst, because
+the latter is exactly twice as hot as the former. And as regards the
+eastern and western aspects there is not, as regards heat arising from
+the sun’s rays, much to choose between them.
+
+
+SHELTER AND SHADE.
+
+The worst enemy of the Coffee shrub is wind, its effects becoming
+apparent in pinched and stunted growth or in lack of foliage. In
+situations where the soil is soft and yielding it does equal mischief
+by working the stems in the ground, so that in a short time a funnel
+is formed round the neck of the plant, and this being continually
+chafed the bark is worn off, the roots are loosened, and the plant
+dies of what is called “wind-wrung.” Should it be rescued before the
+bark is entirely worn off the plant may live, but it will be extremely
+liable to attacks from “lug worm” or any other blight that may be
+prevalent in the locality. Belts of jungle or forest land are sometimes
+left standing as a protection from wind, but opinions differ as to
+the advantage of this plan, some planters holding that more harm is
+likely to result from the wind being concentrated into eddies instead
+of taking its natural and more equitable course. This question can
+only be decided by the local surroundings in each case. Such belts
+being sure to form nurseries for weeds and vermin are not intended to
+be permanent, and should gradually give way to fruit or other useful
+trees. Sometimes artificial shelter is erected, but is considered
+too costly to find general favor; indeed, in moderately sheltered
+situations, staking, combined with low topping, ought to be sufficient
+to secure the stability of the plant. Where they are not, the situation
+has little to recommend it for successful Coffee culture.
+
+Shade is also a consideration of great importance, and the opinion now
+generally adopted is that the wholesale felling of the forest in some
+sections has been altogether a mistake, and that plantations which are
+now extinct might still be flourishing had the forest shade been at
+least partially retained. The history of Coffee cultivation in the East
+proves that in hot climates, and where prolonged periods of drought
+may recur, Coffee will not flourish permanently, except under shade.
+In a state of nature the Coffee plant universally affects shade. This
+is the more remarkable, though the seeds are deposited by wild animals
+and birds as freely on open grass-lands as in forests. The suspicion
+that the “bover leaf disease,” and other immediate causes of decay,
+are only induced by weakened state of the shrubs consequent upon their
+exposure to light and periods of drought, is supported by the fact that
+where shade trees are found standing upon an abandoned plantation,
+they are still surrounded by a surviving remnant of Coffee bushes. The
+question as to where shade is necessary is, however, one of climate,
+as it has been proved that it is not universally beneficial. The
+advantages to be derived from it in very hot climates being: diminished
+exhaustion and consequently increased longevity of the plant, reduced
+cost of cultivation, a conservation of the nutritious properties of
+the soil, and an actual increase of them, as the cover given to the
+ground causes the surface vegetable matter to decay more rapidly. And
+provided the tree be a subsoil feeder, the shedding of the leaves will
+yield a positive gain of surface matter which the roots of the Coffee
+plant would otherwise never have reached. In addition to these there is
+the direct value of the timber grown on the estate. The only serious
+drawback to shade would seem to be a diminished yield of Coffee, but
+this is fully atoned for by the increased longevity of the plant.
+
+
+CLEANING AND BURNING.
+
+When forest land is taken for cultivation the first step is to
+effectually clear it of all timber and underwood, the latter being
+first cut by means of a “cattie” or machete, the large trees being
+felled from the top, and their branches lopped off so as to compact
+the pile, as otherwise the “burn” will only be partial. A fine day,
+after the night’s dew has evaporated, is best for setting fire to the
+prostrate mass, the advantages of a thorough burn being that subsequent
+operations are greatly facilitated, and that the weeds and insects are
+thoroughly destroyed, while the disadvantage is that the upper soil
+is burnt and rendered unfit for filling into the holes. That injury
+may, to a great extent, be obviated by “lining and pitting” the land
+beforehand, by which means the surface soil would be mostly covered
+over with the earth taken out of the pits, and thus be protected from
+the fire. On the other hand, the “lines” could not be marked out with
+accuracy or with any regularity, so that the estate would subsequently
+suffer to some extent in appearance, though it is an open question how
+far this drawback is worth considering in comparison with the other
+advantages gained. When there is not sufficient timber to make a good
+burn, the brush is felled and burnt in heaps, after which the ground is
+carefully gone over for the purpose of rooting up the tree stumps which
+remain, but these are sometimes so difficult to eradicate that they are
+left to decay, care being taken, however, to knock off shoots as fast
+as they appear. It is, however, a bad method and one seldom followed,
+as the rotting stumps harbor vermin of all kinds. After burning the
+wood the ashes should be scattered evenly over the ground as manure to
+enrich the soil.
+
+
+LINING AND MARKING.
+
+Immediately after the burn the plantation is “lined and marked out”
+for the reception of the plants, the two following methods being most
+in vogue among old and experienced planters: (1) A base line is laid
+down as nearly as possible straight up and down the slope, and a cross
+line is set off exactly at right angles to it; on this line stakes
+are driven into the ground at the distances determined upon for the
+final position of the young plants, to each stake a rope is fixed and
+stretched parallel with the base line, and as straight as possible,
+smaller stakes being provided along these lines, a rope is then finally
+held across them at succeeding stages of equal width as guided by
+measuring poles and the small stakes, and the small stakes are put in
+where the movable rope crosses the fixed ones, each stake indicating
+the site of the plant. (2) A rope is furnished with bits of scarlet rag
+or flannel at the distances decided on between the plants and stretched
+across the plot, stakes being inserted at each rag, the rope is then
+moved forward a stage at a time, gauged by measuring rods. The first
+plan is the better, especially in broken ground, but is more laborious,
+the second being best available in even grass-land, but the stretch of
+the rope must be estimated and allowed for, the great object being to
+have the lines perfectly regular, and instead of making any deviation
+where stumps or other obstacles occur, the rope is laid over them and
+the corresponding plant omitted.
+
+
+ROADING AND DRAINING.
+
+Efficient roads not only greatly facilitate the making of a Coffee
+plantation, but they should be so laid out as to serve the additional
+purpose of drainage. A cart road should pass through the centre of the
+plantation wherever it is possible to avoid a steeper gradient than
+one in fifteen, emerging upon the main highway. From this branch roads
+should be cut at right angles with as easy gradients as possible, and
+not more than from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet apart;
+these branch roads should cross the lay of the ground so as to check,
+to the fullest extent, the effects of waste, and a boundary path
+encircling the estate is also useful for many reasons, but the main
+central road should be set out before pitting and planting. An excess
+of road accommodation as regards both the number and width of the paths
+is far preferable to insufficient roadway, despite the extra first
+outlay, and if the ground be such, it may cost a great deal to keep
+the roads clean and free from weeds. This, however, may be greatly
+lessened by plowing them up and planting them with an annual crop until
+the land is exhausted, as not only will the roads be bounded by the
+plowing but weeds will not so readily grow.
+
+Nothing is more important than the thorough drainage of a Coffee
+plantation, in order to carry away the excess of moisture during heavy
+rains without allowing the surface soil to be washed away. For this
+purpose continuous open trenches are cut in parallel lines across
+the face of the slope and at from ten to fifteen yards apart; their
+gradient, however, should never exceed one in twelve, one in twenty
+or even one in thirty will be still better, their width may be from
+fifteen to eighteen inches and their depth not less than one foot
+on the lower side. They will need constant cleaning out and repair,
+especially after a heavy shower, and must in all cases empty into a
+natural or artificial channel amply capable of carrying off the water;
+if furnished with breaks to catch the suspended or detached soil so
+much the better, as the latter can be collected and returned to the
+plantation as a dressing.
+
+
+LAYING OUT THE NURSERY.
+
+The Coffee plant is propagated in three different ways, by “Seeds,”
+“Buddings,” and “Cuttings,” the two last being the most troublesome
+and objectionable, there being at the same time no branch of Coffee
+cultivation of more importance and none so frequently mismanaged or
+neglected as that of the production of the plant in the nursery, the
+greatest care and most constant watching being absolutely necessary to
+the attainment of success.
+
+For this purpose should be selected a patch of gently sloping virgin
+soil, warm and dry, soft in nature and not richer than that to which
+the plants are to be subsequently transferred, but close to water,
+running water, if possible. The seed-beds must be somewhat shaded, but
+not so as to entirely exclude the sun nor so that the shading plant
+may gather rain and send it in streams upon the beds; it must also be
+cleared of all the largest stumps and thoroughly dug to a depth of
+from nine to twelve inches and made very friable and at the same time
+slightly raised to promote drainage, and divided by paths into narrow
+strips. A deep trench is cut above the bed in an oblique direction to
+prevent damage by rain and wash. The seeds are sown in rows six to nine
+inches apart and about two feet deep and strewn about one inch apart in
+the holes, after which they are lightly covered with mould and shaded.
+A cheap and efficient shading may be secured by laying branches across
+a light framework of poles. All watering must be done in the morning
+or toward sunset. A bushel of coffee-seed should yield from 20,000
+to 30,000 plants, the best seed being what is known as “parchment”
+coffee, picked when fully ripe, pulped by hand, unfermented, unwashed
+and dried in the shade. When the plants produce from two to four
+leaves, exclusive of the seed-leaves, they are carefully loosened
+and transferred, in damp, cloudy weather, from the seed-beds to the
+nurseries and placed there from nine to twelve inches apart. Great
+care must be taken meantime not to double up the tender tap-roots,
+but if the tap-root is very long, it is best shortened by an oblique
+cut, which soon shoots again. But when transplanting from seed-beds to
+nurseries is not practiced the plants are left in the seed-beds until
+they grow larger. Many planters, however, strongly recommend the former
+plan, as by checking the growth of the plants the young roots become
+hardened and better able, when finally planted out in the field, to
+resist insects, disease and unfavorable weather. A practical suggestion
+for preventing young seedlings from being eaten off at the surface of
+the ground by grubs is to lightly wrap them with a piece of paper about
+three inches broad where the stem joins the roots when planting. The
+risk of having the young seedlings burnt up just after planting is best
+guarded against by various simple measures for shading them. In about
+a year, or when the plants have attained the height of about eighteen
+inches, they are ready for transfer to the permanent positions on the
+plantation which has been meantime prepared for their reception.
+
+In selecting a plot for a nursery such a command of water as will
+facilitate the flooding of every bed so as to thoroughly saturate the
+soil, will be found indispensable, as it has been found by experience
+that it is much cheaper to carry soil to water than water to soil. If
+a good supply of water cannot be conveniently had on forest land by
+erecting a tank or directing a stream, the cheapest plan will be found
+to be to transport the soil already prepared and lay it down to the
+depth of a foot to eighteen inches on any land that has a good command
+of water. A couple of boys can effectually irrigate a large nursery by
+this means if the water be conducted to each bed, while twenty men will
+be required to carry water as many yards to a nursery of the same size,
+and even then the beds will be but one-half watered. But economy alone
+is not the only advantage to be gained by this method of flooding the
+beds, as this process can be carried on at any time of the day, while
+watering-pots cannot be used except early in the morning or late in the
+afternoon without scorching the leaves.
+
+If the nursery is formed on forest land as, if possible, it should be,
+the timber should be felled, cut up and carried or rolled off the
+ground--and not, as is too commonly the case, burnt on it--to obtain
+the best results. The former plan is the most expensive but will be
+found to pay better in the end, as the surface mould is not injured and
+the friable nature of the soil is preserved intact, whereas burning
+by consuming the vegetable matter on the surface renders the soil
+more tenacious and less suitable to the springing of the seed. The
+beds should never exceed five feet in breadth, and each bed should be
+sixteen in length. Between each row of beds shallow channels should be
+cut along which the water may be conducted to the head of each bed,
+and in these channels during the dry season water should be allowed
+to run continuously, penetrating by this means gradually into the
+land, keeping it cool and moist. During the extreme hot weather the
+longitudinal division between the beds should consist of earth heaped
+up to the height of three inches, which will not only render the
+flooding of the beds more complete, but will also prevent them drying
+up as rapidly as they otherwise would. But during any storm these
+divisions should be removed and each converted into a channel to convey
+away the superfluous rain-water.
+
+As regards seed there is very little to be said, except that it should,
+as a matter of importance, be selected from the finest and healthiest
+trees, and consist only of the ripest and finest berries to be had.
+These precautions are seldom attended to, however, as it has never
+been ascertained definitely that plants from carefully selected seeds
+are any better than from those grown at random. Seeds have been sown
+from trees both native and imported--on some plantations, of all ages
+and in every kind of way--pulped by hand, pulped by machinery, and
+not pulped at all, sometimes fresh and as frequently six months old.
+Yet no difference could be perceived in the way the seeds come up, or
+in the plants produced from them, but, as a matter of convenience, it
+is much preferable to separate the seeds from the pulp and put them
+down in drills. In the drills the seed should be planted at least a
+quarter of an inch apart, and between each drill should be left a space
+of from four to five inches. The seed should be planted in March or
+April, except where a crop of plants has been previously taken from
+the soil, when the seed should be put down a month earlier; in from
+fourteen to eighteen months excellent plants ought to be had, if the
+soil consists of virgin land. Many planters put down nursery seedlings
+that have sprung up under the old coffee trees, but this plan is not to
+be adopted when seed can be procured, and especially where the water is
+good.
+
+An excellent soil for sowing the seed is prepared from an admixture
+of loam and leaf-mould, obtained from the decayed leaves of trees
+and vegetable matter, ground fine, well sifted and then mixed with
+an equal quantity of sand; while for the successful propagation of
+the young plants a manure composed of finest soil, cattle and sheep
+dung, dried, pulverized, sifted and then blended with proportionate
+quantities of a fine sandy loam has been found specially adapted for
+the purpose. The tap-roots of the young plants being extremely long
+and tender, an abundant supply of the latter will be found requisite,
+a good depth being very necessary to nourish and maintain them during
+the early period of growth. During the hot weather the young plants
+should be shaded, the most approved method of shading being to place
+posts about four feet high, with forked heads, driven into the ground
+at the corner of each bed, long sticks being then laid across them from
+post to post, resting in the forks and also laterally, the whole being
+then covered with grass, reeds or other material. Some months before
+the plants are required this shade should be judiciously thinned, and
+ultimately removed altogether, in order to harden the plants gradually
+by exposure to the sun and air. The plants, too, at this period, should
+be allowed to grow nearly to the required size, stinted of water and
+brought to a stand-still, in order that the heads of the plants and the
+extremities of them may solidify, for if the plants be transferred to
+the plantation with newly-formed and tender shoots they run great risk
+of being nipped off by the scorching rays of the sun, which frequently
+makes its appearance when least expected in rainy or cloudy weather.
+And when the nursery is at all exposed to dry, east winds the rows
+and divisions between the row of beds should be thickly planted with
+rose and fruit trees, as these not only add to the appearance of the
+nursery, but are also extremely valuable as shelters.
+
+The next branch of planting that demands special attention is that of
+transferring or transplanting the young shrubs or plants at the best
+possible distance from one another. Distances should be altered in
+accordance with the poorness or richness of the soil; the richer and
+stronger the land, the greater distance should they be planted apart;
+and the poorer the soil and more exposed the location, the closer and
+more thickly they should be grown. If roads are made across the slopes
+and about midway up them, it may be laid down as a general rule that
+the plants above the roads should be planted far closer than those
+in the richer soil below. Thus, if six feet by six feet be found a
+convenient distance in the best land, four and a half feet by five
+and a half feet will be found the best distance in the poorer and
+more exposed positions. One prime object must always be borne in
+mind, _i.e._, to cover the soil, in order the better to shade it, to
+keep down weeds, and at the same time leave sufficient room between
+the rows to allow of passing up and down the lines with ease, and for
+the pickers to get about without forcing their way and breaking the
+branches. Bearing these objects in mind, a planter should regulate his
+distances carefully in accordance with his soil, situation and climate.
+But on these points a planter must, in a great measure, rely upon his
+own judgment, and these suggestions are mainly intended to caution the
+planter against fixing on any arbitrary distance as being the best.
+
+
+DISTANCES OF PLANTS.
+
+Scarcely any two planters are agreed as to the best distances to allow
+between the plants, the question being governed to a great extent by
+the richness of the soil, as well as by climate and situation, the
+object in view must be that with the greatest convenient number of
+trees in a given space none shall interfere with or incommode its
+neighbor. In cold or exposed situations where the plants cannot obtain
+any great size, close planting is necessary, the reverse being the
+case where the climate is warm and humid and the soil is productive,
+and consequently likely to produce large bushes. In Java and the West
+Indies the space is often 10 × 12 feet, but other crops are there
+usually planted between the Coffee rows, while in India and Ceylon
+distances vary from four feet each way to eight feet, the best being
+perhaps seven feet between the rows and six feet between the plants.
+The number of trees contained in an acre planted 6 × 7 feet will be
+about 1,000; 6 × 6, 1,200; 6 × 5, 1,450; 5 × 5, 1,750; 5 × 4, 2,150;
+and 4 × 5, 2,700. The advantages to be gained in wide planting are
+that field labor is facilitated and the shrubs grow larger, the
+disadvantage being that more room is left for weeds.
+
+
+HOLING AND PITTING.
+
+Around or beside each stake a hole is next dug, its size depending
+much upon the kind of soil; in stiff or poor land two feet each way is
+not too large, but in good light ground eighteen inches will suffice,
+but they had better be too deep than not deep enough. The implement
+commonly used for this purpose is a kind of grubbing-hoe or spade-bar.
+The earth thrown out is usually left to mellow until just before
+planting, after which the hole is filled in with the best of the mould,
+which must have been previously carefully freed from stones, roots and
+other extraneous matter, and mixed with a little manure. The filling-in
+must be done very lightly and the loose earth should rise in a heap
+above the hole. This operation is best performed while the ground is
+moist, but it is also a good plan to break down the sides somewhat,
+more especially if they are hardened.
+
+
+PLANTING AND PICKING.
+
+When the holes have been duly prepared the young plants are removed
+from the nursery with the same care as they are transplanted to the
+nursery from the seed-beds; for taking up the young plants an ordinary
+prong is much superior to the spade-bar, but hand-pulling must be
+rigidly guarded against. The fibrous roots of each plant as taken up
+are carefully pruned off to about four inches so that they may not be
+doubled up in the planting, the tap-root being also shortened to about
+nine inches by a clean sloping cut for the same reason, and a ball of
+earth should surround the roots and if the plants are exposed to the
+air for more than a few minutes, the roots should be covered with wet
+moss or some other damp material. A dull, cloudy day should be chosen
+for this operation whenever possible, as in bright sunshine the plants
+would be all burnt up. The plants are carried in batches in wicker
+trays or baskets to the plantation and are placed in the ready prepared
+holes by hand, great care being taken that no roots are doubled up,
+that the plants are upright and that they are placed no deeper in the
+ground than they were before, and in treading the earth down around
+the plant every precaution is necessary to prevent leaving holes for
+the accumulation of water around the roots. The surface must also be
+made firm and level as possible, but on a steep slope the outer edge
+may be slightly higher than the inner, to check the effect of any wash
+that may occur, but in subsequent weeding it will be necessary to guard
+against exposing the lateral roots. There is some diversity of opinion
+as to the size and age most suitable for putting out nursery plants,
+but when dull, rainy weather can be depended on for some little time,
+nursery plants of the second year are the most satisfactory, plants of
+one season only being too tender for the operation, but under ordinary
+conditions and with due care no serious loss of plants should be
+incurred in this way. A novel plan, one which may be advantageously
+adopted on small plantations, is the one resembling the method of
+planting Cinchona. A number of calabashes are deprived of their small
+end and emptied of their contents, into these the seedlings are placed
+and gradually exposed to the sun as they grow and finally planted in
+the calabashes; the latter soon rot and form manure for the plants. A
+new plan that has been much followed is the substitution of “stumps”
+for nursery plants--that is, plants that have been in the nursery for
+about three years are dug up and pruned back leaving only about six
+to eight inches of stem; they are hardier and safer in a general way
+than whole plants, more especially in uncertain weather, as they will
+strike readily, even without rainfall for some little time after being
+put in, provided the ground has become sufficiently moist to prevent
+their being burnt up, but they cannot be used in districts where a
+long period of drought may be expected to succeed to a wet season. The
+planting of stumps is performed in the usual way, the plants send up
+several shoots from the parent stem of these, the finest are retained
+to form the future tree and the rest are pulled off carefully. The
+shoot that is left grows rapidly, but from the way it springs from the
+stem it is liable to be accidentally broken off either by a high wind
+or by the weeders. The crookedness of the stump from native-grown seed
+renders them very inferior; the best size for stumps is the thickness
+of a common pencil.
+
+
+DIBBLING AND STAKING.
+
+When the land is very rich and friable holing may be replaced by
+the less expensive plan known as “dibbling,” which is performed in
+two ways: (1) by the aid of the spade-bar is made a sufficiently
+deep hole into which the plant is dropped, and secured by treading
+the earth lightly around; (2) a patch of ground measuring about one
+foot each way is thoroughly loosened without the soil being taken
+out, in the disturbed earth a hole is made with the hand, the plant
+is then inserted and trodden around as before; the latter method is
+preferable. Dibbling is only practicable in exceptionable cases, and
+is, moreover, open to objection, as a hole is often left in which
+water may accumulate and rot the plant, and the roots are more liable
+to injury than in ordinary planting, but, on the other hand, much
+labor is saved. When the plants are exposed to the wind they should
+be provided with supports as soon as they are ten to twelve inches
+high, and present a resisting surface. For the first season’s plants
+lining pegs may be used, but larger plants will need strong, inflexible
+stakes, three to four feet long, entering the ground on the windward
+side at about six inches distant from the plant, and at such an angle
+as to meet the stem at about its middle. The plant is attached to the
+stake by a broad loop of some vegetable fibre, firmly tied to the stake
+but loose around the stem of the plant. If the plants have already
+been worked round by the wind they will need earthing up to five or
+six inches as well. The ties should be brushed with coal-tar, as a
+protection against theft, insects and decay.
+
+
+SUPPLYING VACANCIES.
+
+Every precaution should be taken to guard against failures, as
+“supplies,” as they are called, will seldom, if ever, do as well as
+young plants put into virgin soil, but in new land failures can be
+entirely guarded against by care, and their number may subsequently be
+limited by keeping the ground free from weeds, and by good draining,
+manuring and pruning. A certain number of vacancies, however, will
+occur from time to time. And they must be filled up in the following
+manner: The original pit having been re-emptied should be enlarged an
+inch or two all around, but especially in depth, and this should be
+done in dry weather, the pit being left open for some time, and only
+filled in when the time for planting has arrived, but in most cases it
+will be desirable to refill the pit with the soil which has been taken
+out of it. Where the vacancy is in the midst of old trees a large pit
+is necessary to protect the new plant from being interfered with by
+these roots, and it will be also well to isolate the young plant by
+surrounding it with a ring trench, six to eight inches wide and one
+foot deep. It is also desirable to put a basketful or so of new soil
+from the first into the pit near the top, but where this cannot be
+managed a few handfuls of manure should be mixed with surface mould,
+for only strong, healthy plants must be used for this purpose. Stumps
+are, by some planters, considered more suitable than nursery plants for
+supplying vacancies, as, being hardier, they throw out from three to
+four “suckers,” the best of which are selected when they have attained
+a height of from six to nine inches, the others being carefully pulled
+off. Well-formed nursery plants, with three or four pairs of primaries
+and about twelve to fifteen inches high, put in just as they come from
+the beds with a good ball around the roots, are to be preferred when
+steady wet weather can be calculated on for some time, but in any case
+supplies ought to be put in early in the wet season, so as to give them
+every advantage; they should also be marked by a tall stake, and should
+be allowed to bear a maiden crop before being topped or pruned.
+
+
+CATCH-CROPS.
+
+Much has been said for and against the growing of other crops on the
+plantation among the Coffee shrubs. In Java and other Coffee-growing
+countries of the East it is grown between the rows. In Ceylon two
+catch-crops were long in vogue, but they appear now to have gone
+out of fashion, it being claimed that they exhausted the soil and
+produced too much there. While in Mexico, the West Indies, Central
+and South America, the culture of plantains, yams, cocoa and bananas
+was carried to such an extreme on many plantations that the Coffee
+became, in fact, of only secondary importance, or was even entirely
+killed out. There is nothing, however, to object to in the simultaneous
+cultivation of several crops, so long as each has proper space and
+sufficient manure, and the plants are not antagonistic to each other,
+as many claim, and the failure of one crop may be compensated for by
+the success of the other. Rice and tobacco have been found to yield
+good returns as catch-crops, but they possess a disadvantage, in not
+affording any shade to the young Coffee plants. Cocoa, yams, bananas
+and plantains are perhaps even less advisable, and similar attempts
+with cotton have proved altogether failures, while maize, on the other
+hand, is highly recommended from experiences in Brazil and other
+countries. When adopted, it should be planted thinly in three rows,
+eighteen inches apart between the Coffee rows, and two plants apart
+in the Coffee rows between the Coffee plants. The seed should be sown
+immediately after the Coffee is planted. It grows very quickly and
+should early be thinned out to eighteen inches apart in the rows, and
+will soon be high enough to completely shelter and partially shade
+the Coffee, which will grow all the faster in consequence, the latter
+being also greatly benefited by the extra working of the ground. In the
+fall a dressing of manure--the same manure will suit both Coffee and
+maize--is applied and the ground plowed or deeply hoed, preferably the
+former. The crops may also be repeated the following spring, reducing
+it, however, to two rows and one Coffee plant and repeating the
+manuring and plowing or hoeing, but this time the choice between the
+plow and hoe must be governed by the size of the Coffee shrubs; if too
+high, the latter is best.
+
+
+MANURES AND MANURING.
+
+It is commonly said that Coffee is an unusually exhaustive crop, but
+the exhaustion of the soil consequent upon Coffee culture is only
+the result of the peculiar conditions under which the industry is
+prosecuted rather than of the nature of the plant itself. Better than
+any amount of artificial manuring is the retention of the naturally
+rich surface soil by the effective prevention of wash as a secondary
+adjunct; however, judicious manuring will prove highly beneficial, and
+even necessary in almost all cases after the first or two. But it is
+impossible to lay down any hard and fast rule for manuring, the most
+that can be done is to indicate the essential elements of coffee soils,
+the best artificial substitutes and the best methods of applying these
+substitutes. The best coffee soils appear to contain about 15 per cent.
+of combined iron and alumnia, the iron, if as red oxide may amount to
+about 20 or even 30 per cent. being a good absorbent of fertilizing
+constituents, but the alumnia should not exceed 10 per cent. Lime is
+also an essential, which must be supplied, if wanting in the soil;
+this is too often overlooked in the anxiety to furnish stimulants.
+The percentage of organic matter may be too high, it should represent
+only about 0.2 to 0.3 per cent. of nitrogen, so that the best average
+manure for supplying nitrogen and potash is well-rotted dung, but its
+frequent application should be accompanied by a little lime unless
+the soil is already very rich in that constituent, for, without the
+presence of lime, the shrubs will not receive the full benefit of
+the nitrogenous principles, but its use in a tropical climate must
+be governed by caution. Thoroughly fermented coffee pulp is also a
+useful manure, but it is only half as valuable as dung and costs more
+to apply, it should be kept covered as it is produced, and is best
+mixed with fermented dung, failing which it should be well-limed, while
+alone is of small benefit, but forms a good vehicle for concentrated
+fertilizers. Almost all coffee soils requires a constant renewal of
+phosphoric acid and lime, which are not supplied by the dung alone;
+these constituents are best furnished in the form of bones steamed
+and ground or by concentrated superphosphate containing from 40 to 45
+per cent., while phosphate of lime. Nitrogenous manures alone are too
+stimulating and help only to produce premature exhaustion, therefore
+bones may with great advantage be added to the dung. Composts of pulp
+and cake are useful nitrogenous manures, but they must be accompanied
+by phosphates and lime. Potash seldom requires to be directly applied,
+but is very advantageous after attacks of leaf-disease, while magnesia
+seems to be a necessary constituent of all good coffee soils in the
+proportion of 0.5 to 2 per cent., but when wanting dolomite may be
+applied in its place. The great object of manuring is to apply all
+the constituents required and in a soluble form, but for coffee the
+nitrogen is better applied in an insoluble form--as in dung, cake and
+fish manure--than in a soluble form--as in guano, nitrate of soda or
+sulphate of ammonia. Phosphates are best supplied in bones, when a
+lasting effect is required, but high-grade superphosphates are always
+preferable for immediate effect as in cases of leaf-disease. Again in
+tropical countries, all manures are best applied frequently and in
+small quantities. Regular manuring after each crop would doubtless be
+most generally economical and advantageous, the quantity depending
+in local conditions, but should always be extra liberal after a full
+harvest. Artificial manures should be put out only in damp weather,
+dung may be applied at almost any time, while lime must never be in a
+caustic state; when applied its best forms are gas-lime and gypsum.
+
+The manure most freely applied and most relied on in countries where
+it is available, is cattle dung, and with the view of keeping up a
+regular supply of it, many estates keep a considerable stock of cattle
+for this purpose alone, and which are, in many instances, stall-fed
+with grass and oil-cake. But in many of the coffee-growing countries
+this form, owing to a fatal obstacle in climate is not obtainable,
+for while, in some countries, grass can be readily grown all the year
+round, in others it is found impossible to provide any quantity of
+grass for even any part of the year, and cattle have to be grazed
+all day to support them at all. Besides the fatal objections to the
+foregoing kind of manure, there are others which serve to show that it
+is only under very favorable circumstances that cattle manure could be
+used with advantage. The first is the bulky nature of the manure and
+the consequent cost and labor of application, and the second, and by
+no means the least, is the great risk run of losing stock by disease.
+The latter consideration should be sufficient to deter the planter from
+depending on a manurial source which is liable to be suddenly cut off
+at any moment.
+
+Another form of manure in use among planters is bone manure, the value
+of which for all crops and in all countries, combined with its extreme
+portability and cheapness of application, renders it by far the most
+important of fertilizers for coffee. This form, mixed with the pulp
+of the coffee is a popular one on many plantations. The pulp being
+moist prevents the bone dust from being blown away, and when heaped up
+before using, the heat that is thereby generated seems to exercise a
+considerable effect upon the bone dust. Still another excellent manure
+is made from alternate layers of farm yard manure and bone dust,
+making a splendid compost. The former is generally composed of horse,
+cattle and sheep manure, wood ashes and general sweepings. The best
+results have been obtained from this latter form, and if sufficient
+quantities of the first substance could always be obtainable, readily
+and cheaply, it is without exception, the best yet discovered for
+coffee manure. Bone dust, when used alone fails, though valuable as a
+berry producer, to give that dark green leaf and growth of strong young
+wood which is absolutely necessary to produce abundantly.
+
+The manner of applying manure is not the same in all countries or cases
+and no manure should be put more than one foot below the surface of
+the ground, nor less than eighteen inches from the stem of the coffee
+bush. On flat land, where there is no danger of wash, the manure may be
+spread over the surface and hoed into a depth of from nine to twelve
+inches, or, better still, a square hole may be cut between each four
+shrubs and the manure buried in it; while on slopes it is customary to
+dig a hole above each bush. For bulky manures it may be two feet long
+by one and a half feet wide and one foot deep, but for concentrated
+manures these dimensions must be considerably reduced. The holes should
+be filled up with any prunings of other vegetable matter at hand and
+then covered down firmly with the loose top-soil and the new earth from
+the hole should be spread around the stem of the neighboring tree to
+protect its roots. Ordinary manuring is sometimes supplemented by other
+methods of improving the soil, one of which is to loosen it by driving
+a long bar or a manure-fork deeply into the ground and then prying up
+the earth without turning it over. Another operation is that known as
+“mulching” or “ground thatching,” which consists in simply covering
+the ground under the bushes with a layer of long, hard grass six to
+nine inches thick, the effect of which in cold, wet soils is to keep
+the ground warm and throw off excessive moisture, while in hot, dry
+situations it is equally useful to retain moisture. But in any case
+weeds are kept down and wash is quite prevented, and when rotten the
+grass may be hoed or dug in as manure; this thatching has been found
+a perfect cure for black bug. A third operation, termed “trenching”
+or “water hoeing,” is where trenches are made across the slope, which
+may be either opened or closed. In the former case holes three to four
+feet long, twelve to fifteen inches broad and from fifteen to eighteen
+inches deep are cut between each four trees, the soil taken from them
+is spread over the roots of the trees, while the holes are left open to
+act as catch drains and receptacles for wash, weeds, prunings and other
+vegetable refuse, being emptied twice a year and their contents spread
+around the roots of the shrubs. Closed trenches are ditches cut across
+the entire length of the coffee rows two feet wide and deep and filled
+with any vegetable rubbish at hand, they are then covered with earth
+and well trodden down, while the remaining soil is spread under the
+trees. The benefit of trenching is greatest in stiff soils. The refuse
+matter in the trenches should be well limed in all cases, in order to
+kill the grubs and other vermin for which it will otherwise form a
+nursery.
+
+
+WEEDING AND PRUNING.
+
+By “weeding,” on a Coffee plantation, is meant the eradication of
+_every plant_ which is not being intentionally cultivated. The
+operation is performed in different ways, according to the nature of
+the soil. On light soils and sloping situations hand-weeding is much
+the best. The laborer is provided with a pointed stick to help in
+getting up obstinate roots, and carries at his waist a small bag, into
+which the weeds are at once thrust, and afterwards turned out of the
+bags into pits dug at convenient intervals, or are heaped up on the
+roads and finally buried or burned, the latter being the surer method
+of effectually destroying them. By weeding early and repeating the
+operation as often as necessary, the ground may be kept clean by hand
+alone. But when hand-weeding will not suffice, recourse must be had
+to “scraping” the ground, which is, however, attended with a serious
+drawback--the first inch or more of the best surface-mould is removed,
+at the same time thus robbing the plants of nourishment and exposing
+the earth to the full effects of the wash. On stiff clay soils, on
+level plantations and in damp, cool climates on the other hand, hoeing
+is not only necessary for the perfect eradication of the weeds, but is
+of itself exceedingly beneficial to the soil, and except during the
+dry season should be regularly done, whether weeds are present or not.
+When scraping or hoeing it is imperative that the operation should be
+conducted from the outside towards the trees, so that the roots may be
+kept well covered and the wash easily escape into the drains.
+
+The coffee tree, if allowed to grow to its natural height, will
+commonly be found to measure from twelve to fifteen feet. But the most
+experienced planters reduce their shrubs to at the most four and a half
+feet, and sometimes as little as three feet, and in windy and exposed
+situations two and a half feet in some countries have been adopted
+as the best height. And here, as in distance, the planter should be
+guided by the nature of the soil and partly by the aspect as regards
+wind. In thoroughly sheltered situations and in the finest land a tree
+may be allowed four and a half to five feet with advantage, but in all
+medium situations, as regards soil and exposure, four feet should be
+the limit, or even a few inches less; in very poor and much exposed
+situations three feet will be found ample for all purposes. The height
+being determined on the next point is to consider the best time for
+topping or pruning them. By many planters the safest and most sensible
+time for performing this operation is considered to be when the tree
+has exceeded the height it is intended to keep it at, and when the bark
+has become brown and fully developed. Pruning should, if possible, be
+all completed before blossoming season, except when it is confined
+to the removal of plainly superfluous wood that is past bearing, or
+has, perhaps, only a berry or two on it, when pruning may be continued
+without injury or inconvenience until up to the commencement of May.
+When all these are removed it will generally be found that sufficient
+has been done; but on very luxuriant trees the shoots growing in the
+right direction will be still too numerous, and will require further
+thinning so as to reduce the number to two shoots at every point of the
+branch. If this process of handling be fully and regularly attended to
+there will be very little and very simple work for the knife to do,
+and the pruner will merely have to remove the very driest and oldest
+secondaries and shorten back such primaries as may be too long and
+whippy.
+
+[Illustration: FERMENTING COFFEE.]
+
+In the old neglected trees the process is more difficult, but may, with
+a little patience, be got into good order easy and cheaply. The first
+thing to be done with them is to cut out all secondary and tertiary
+branches that are past bearing, and to clear out the centre of the head
+on the trees. The removal of this superfluous wood will be followed by
+a sufficiently rapid growth of young wood which should be carefully
+handled, and after the next crop a fair proportion of cross branches
+may be cut out, but only to a slight extent, so as not to diminish
+the crop prospect. Others, again, contending that the proper time is
+immediately before or after the first blossoming season. In the former
+case it is claimed that topping before the blossoming season has a
+tendency to turn out a heavy crop on the pruning branches, while in
+the latter instance other planters boldly sacrifice the heavy yield
+in order to add to the permanent strength of the tree, invariably
+refraining from topping the plant until just after the blossoming
+period. By this latter method several pairs of branches, with their
+blossoms, are cut off and lost, but the sacrifice will be amply repaid
+by the increased strength added to the young tree, and also by the
+advantage of having a small crop on the primary branches below.
+
+The style of pruning first required by Coffee bushes is that known as
+“topping,” the age and height at which this operation is performed
+depending in a great measure upon local circumstances, this question
+also being a much-debated one. The object of “topping,” or removing the
+top of the bush, is to restrain its upward growth within convenient
+limits, and, as a natural consequence, to strengthen and concentrate
+its lateral growth. In some countries of the East topping is commenced
+at the age of twelve to eighteen months, the maximum ordinary height
+being four feet, which is sometimes reduced to two feet, the operation
+being postponed until the shrubs have borne their maiden crop, even
+though extra staking is required to withstand the wind; the best
+plan being to remove the two primaries at the required height by a
+sloping outward cut close to the stem, and then to remove the top
+by an oblique cut so that the stumps resemble a cross, and a firm,
+natural knot remains to guard against the stem splitting down. But
+some planters contend that the plants should be topped as soon as
+they have reached the required height, when the soft wood is easily
+severed by a pinch between the finger and thumb, as in the case of
+tea. In other countries the shrubs are topped either at their full
+height--four and one-half to five feet--or at three feet, allowing
+a “sucker” to grow up on the weather side, the latter plan being
+preferred. There is much advantage gained in limiting the height to
+five feet, as not only is the crop gathered more easily, and without
+damage to the tree, but it is actually heavier, and the shrubs are more
+readily made to cover the ground. The first result of “topping” is to
+induce the growth of a number of shoots, the removal of which is termed
+“handling” or “searching.” The first to appear are vertical “suckers”
+or “gormandizers,” from under the primary boughs; these are immediately
+rubbed off without injuring the bark. From the primaries spring
+secondary branches in pairs, and at very short intervals. All such
+appearing within six inches of the stem are removed at once, so that a
+passage of at least a foot high is left in the centre of the tree for
+the admission of the air and sun. The object of pruning is to divert
+the energies of the tree from forming _wood_, and to concentrate them
+upon forming _fruit_. The fruit of the Coffee tree is borne by young
+wood, and as the secondaries are reproduced when they are removed,
+they are cut off as soon as they have borne. A constant succession of
+young wood is thus secured. In order that this may be regular, and to
+avoid weakening the shrub, the secondaries that grow outside of the
+foot space are left on alternate sides of the primary, their opposites
+being removed each year in turn; thus one is growing while the other
+is bearing. The one point in view must be the equal development of the
+tree and the yearly growth of as much as it will bear, but no more.
+Branches must not be allowed to grow into or cross each other, and if
+two or more secondaries spring from one spot the strongest only must
+be retained; where a gap occurs tertiaries may be trained to free it
+in the same way. When practicable, the bushes should be handled twice
+before the crop, and the pruning should be commenced immediately after
+the crop and finished before the blossom comes out, but should this
+be impossible, it must be suspended during the three or four days of
+blossom-time, and then be carried to completion. When it is evident
+that the crop on a tree will exhaust it if allowed to mature, a portion
+of it must be sacrificed by pruning. The loss thus occasioned is more
+apparent than real, as in every prolific season much fruit is wasted
+for lack of labor, and the trees are unreasonably overtaxed and bear
+poorly for some time afterwards. Everything should be done to insure
+regular and even crops; the cuttings should be trenched in among the
+plants as manure, and no branch should be allowed to bear more than two
+or three crops before removal. Regular and systematic pruning is one of
+the first essentials to successful and profitable Coffee culture. Where
+Coffee plantations have been neglected on this score they must be very
+gradually reduced to proper condition by sawing out the branches and
+opening up the centre of the trees in the first year, and trimming out
+about half the remaining wood in the second year.
+
+
+ENEMIES AND REMEDIES.
+
+The profits derived from healthy Coffee growing are so large that were
+it not for the many enemies which hamper the planter’s struggles and
+stultify his best efforts, his occupation would be one of the most
+profitable in the world. But as it is he has to contend with numerous
+foes, and the more lowly and minute forms have proved themselves the
+most difficult to combat in these long struggles which have been waged
+since Coffee cultivation first rose to its present importance in the
+various countries in which it is grown. From the mammalian kingdom he
+has not much to fear or is generally able to devise efficient remedies
+against their ravages. But besides the peculiar conditions of climate,
+aspect, drainage, shade, shelter and the many other drawbacks already
+alluded to, particular attention must be paid to the prevention or cure
+of certain maladies to which the Coffee shrub is specially liable.
+The number of these insect forms and fungoid pests is considerable,
+but the only ones of sufficient importance to merit description are
+leaf-blight, fly, bug, borer and canker.
+
+=Leaf-blight.=--Is a fungus known as _Homilica Vasatux_, allied to
+the moulds, and is present in some form or other all the year round,
+first attacking the under side of the leaves causing spots or blotches,
+at first yellow, but subsequently turning black. These blotches are
+covered with a pale orange-colored dust or powder, which easily rubs
+off; they gradually grow in size until at last they have one part of
+the former with three parts of the latter, thoroughly incubating them
+before use. A disease known as leaf-rot, rather prevalent in some
+countries, is distinguished from the above, and which is referred to
+as a fungus named _Pelicaalana Kolorga_, sometimes appears when the
+leaves of affected shrubs become covered with slimy, gelatinous matter,
+turn black and drop off, the clusters of berries also rotting and
+falling. There is every probability, however, that the sulphur and lime
+treatment will be effective in this case also, but the shed leaves and
+fruit should be collected and burned as a precaution.
+
+=The Coffee Borer.=--This pest, formerly known as the “worm” and
+“coffee-fly,” is most troublesome in the East, where in former years it
+destroyed whole plantations. It has been identified as the _Xycotrechen
+quadmepes_, and in its complete stage the insect appears as a winged
+beetle, having from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in length,
+rather finer in shape than a wasp, with hard, shiny coat, red and black
+in color, but in some cases yellow and black in alternate transverse
+lines, boring a passage into the stem of the coffee tree usually a few
+inches above the ground.
+
+=The Coffee-fly.=--This disease has been known for many years in San
+Domingo and Brazil, having also spread to Venezuela, the Antilles,
+Porto Rico, Martinique, Mexico, and all down the Atlantic coast of
+South America. It is caused by the larvæ of a moth scarcely half an
+inch long, named _Comistana coffcalaun_, the color of the insect being
+dull-white or pale-gray, with a bar across the posterior end when
+quiet. Its motions are very active and it readily takes alarm. This
+insect prefers young and delicate leaves, and is most active about the
+commencement of the wet season, when demolition spread over the leaves,
+which then drop off, leaving the trees unable to produce any crop, or
+to bring to maturity that which may have already been produced. In
+districts affected by the northwest winds, the fungus generally exists
+as an external parasite, in the form of long, filamentous threads,
+covering every part of the back of the leaves, but so minute as to be
+invisible to the naked eye. Of the many remedies experimented with for
+the suppression of this disease, one only is invariably effective--that
+is a mixture of the best quality of flowers of sulphur and caustic lime.
+
+The majority of the eggs are deposited, but are dormant during the wet
+season--that is, from March to May. The disease manifests itself by
+the appearance of large, discolored blotches on the leaves, causing
+their decay and fall. As a remedy, it has been stated that by picking
+the leaves at such a time, as to take the greatest number of the larvæ
+when about two weeks old, it would be easy to destroy the pest, as
+the size of the blotches would then easily distinguish the diseased
+foliage. Again, each of these contains several hundred eggs undergoing
+incubation, and in a short time the whole of the green wood of the
+tree will become covered with the young insects and coated with a
+black, soot-like powder, which renders the tree easily discernible at a
+distance. The bug will soon spread over the whole plantation, entirely
+checking the growth of the trees, the fresh, young shoots being always
+first attacked, and such wood as is allowed to mature, produces hardly
+any crops; the berries, moreover, are in the earliest stages destroyed
+by these insects, which cut them off with the stalk. The measures
+recommended for checking this scourge are to dust the bushes with a
+mixture of powdered saltpetre and quicklime in equal parts, or to brush
+or sponge the affected parts with a mixture of soft-soap, tar, tobacco
+and spirits of turpentine, in about equal quantities. The white bug is
+a distinct species of insect, known as _Psedococcus adombrum_, and is a
+small, flat, oval inspect, about one-sixteenth of an inch long, covered
+with a white down or fur, having parallel ridges running across its
+back from side to side, like the wood-louse, though on a much smaller
+scale. It is found in various stages of development all the year round,
+and takes up its quarters on the roots of the Coffee trees, to start
+one part beneath the surface, at the axils of the leaves, and among
+the stalks of the crop-clusters, which it cuts off wholesale, either
+during the blossoms’ stage or just after the young berries have formed.
+In the latter case, its operations may be easily recognized by the
+large quantities of young, green berries with which the ground beneath
+the trees will be strewn, and is also discerned by a white, flour-like
+excretion, which it deposits around the axil-works where it has made
+its abode. The prescription alike recommended for black-bug will be
+here found equally efficacious, but in either case probably a decoction
+of common tobacco might be sufficient when much more evenly prepared.
+
+=The Coffee-bug.=--The Coffee tree is attacked by various species of
+_coccida_ in most countries, where they are known by different names,
+but careful cultivation has greatly reduced the evil. There are two
+distinct species of bug found in the Coffee-growing countries, called
+respectively the “black” or “scaling,” and the “white” or “mealy.”
+The former, _Lecumimum Coffea_, is a minute insect which attaches
+itself to the tenderest shoots of the plant, the females having the
+appearance of small scallop-shells, of a brown color, and adhering to
+the leaf or twig in the same manner as the scallop-shell to a rock; at
+first horizontal, soon takes an upward, spiral direction, and proceeds
+until a safe shoot is found in which the larvæ may be deposited. The
+tree soon droops and dies down to the point at which the entry has
+been effected, and where it can be easily broken off by a sharp pull
+at the upper part. The only course in this case is to break off the
+tree in this manner, and then burn the stem with the larvæ secreted
+in its centre. Young shoots will proceed from the stump, and one of
+these may be trained to succeed the original stem. The insect is very
+susceptible to the effects of wood smoke, and may be easily driven off
+or destroyed by the smoke of ordinary wood or grass fires.
+
+=Canker, or Bark Disease.=--Is a disease of the Coffee plant which
+has created great havoc in Africa and other countries of the East,
+and which causes an annual loss of about one per cent. of the trees
+of Jamaica and other West India Islands. The first symptoms is the
+withering of a secondary or tertiary branch, when it will be found
+that the bark under the primary branches is decayed and blue-mouldy,
+the blue mould gradually extending downwards over the whole stem; a
+tree once attacked never recovering, but dying in a few months. All
+soils and situations seem liable to this disease, the trees beginning
+to suffer when about six years old. Though the mould is the proximate
+cause of death, the ultimate cause is undoubtedly due to some
+unfavorable external condition.
+
+The opinions of experienced planters as to what this may be are
+various, being generally attributed to neglect of cultivation, to
+unstability of climate and to a want of sufficient depth of soil.
+All may be practically right, but the last seems the most probable,
+and is the reason given for it in many countries. Rot, grubs, rats
+and squirrels are accounted for in the following manner: “Rot,” or
+the blacking and withering of the young leaves and shoots, is due to
+wet and cold, and may be cured by good drainage and mulching. Grubs
+of a large and yellow kind, destroy the tap-roots of the plants,
+cattle-manure being a fertile source of them, must be well-limed. Rats,
+squirrels, grasshoppers, ants and spiders collectively do considerable
+mischief, and should be exterminated whenever possible.
+
+
+GATHERING AND HARVESTING.
+
+The cluster of buds which duly make their appearance are at first
+little dark-green spikes, but as they grow they become straw-colored,
+then, under the influence of a few showers, almost white, and finally
+burst into snowy blossoms, and after a day or two the flowers turn
+brown and fade away, the more gradually the better; when the bloom
+is out, the rainfall is unwelcome, but after it is “set” the shower
+is beneficial. The pistils of the flowers now assume the form of
+berries, gradually growing and changing their color from dark-green to
+light-yellow, which finally drys out to red or crimson. As soon as a
+sprinkling of red berries is seen, picking should begin and continue as
+long as any berries ripen, that is to say, from one to three months,
+but the berries or “cherries” as they are more frequently called, must
+not be picked until they are fully ripe, which is best indicated by a
+deep, purplish-crimson color, and as the crop rarely or never ripens
+all at once, two to three pickings are required, the second being
+the principal one, the others being rather gleanings than pickings.
+Each mature berry should be picked separately off its stalk and never
+stripped off; the cherries as picked are dropped into a small bag about
+eighteen inches square, suspended from the neck of the picker, and the
+bags are then emptied into one or two bushel sacks or hampers placed
+at intervals on the paths of the pickers. If the berries are allowed
+to get over-ripe in wet weather, they will be liable to burst and drop
+the beans, or to fall off bodily, but if on clean ground much of them
+may be recovered, while in very hot weather they are more likely to
+dry up and hold on to trees. In order to convey the berries to the
+curing-houses in some countries a great saving is effected in long
+distances, by running them with water down galvanized iron spouting,
+made in 8-inch lengths, laid with even gradients and curves duly
+secured. The berries are then despatched from the cisterns, to which
+a due proportion of water has been admitted, provision being made for
+collecting and utilizing the latter at the mills.
+
+
+PULPING AND PREPARING.
+
+The preparation of Coffee for market necessitates the erection of
+extensive buildings and machinery on large estates, for which no
+specific plans can be given, because much depends upon the size and
+situation of the estate, and as much upon the kind and degree of the
+preparation contemplated. But the site selected for the works should
+be as near the centre of the plantation as is compatible with securing
+a patch of open, airy ground to which a good stream of water can be
+brought. The first requisite building should be the “pulping-house,”
+comprising three floors--the berry loft, the pulping platform and the
+cistern floor--and whenever possible it should be built against a
+shallow cliff or embankment, so that the berry coffee may be delivered
+into the loft without being hauled upstairs by hand, while the berry
+loft is usually placed immediately over the pulping platform.
+
+The operation known as “pulping” consists in clearing the coffee
+“beans” from the pulp in which they are enveloped, which with ripe
+berries is most easily and effectively accomplished immediately after
+picking, efforts being usually made to complete the pulping of a day’s
+picking during the same evening. If over-ripe or shriveled, but still
+comparatively moist inside, the berries should first be soaked in water
+for a few hours previous. A number of machines have been invented for
+this purpose, the chief objects in all cases being to pulp rapidly,
+thoroughly and without injury to the bean, for if the inner or
+“silver-skin” of the bean be broken the latter is wasted.
+
+But the latest and most simple form of “pulping”-machine is what is
+known as the “Disc Pulper,” in which the separation of the bean and the
+pulp is effected by means of rotating discs, covered with a thin sheet
+of copper, whose surface has been “knobbed,” is raised into sort of
+oval knobs by the application of a blend punch. Pulpers of this class
+being portable and cheap, are most frequently used in the opening of
+distant estates. The “single” form is very light, and when driven by
+three plantation hands, it will pulp all the way from 20 to 25 bushels
+of berries an hour. The “double” form, which has two discs and which
+is furnished with a feeding-roller inside the hopper, requires from
+four to six hands to pulp 40 bushels an hour, but when driven by power,
+it will hull from 70 to 80 bushels in the same time. In the machine
+the discs are placed between “cushions” of smooth iron, set at such
+a distance that the berries cannot pass without being bruised. The
+cushions rest in a movable bed of iron, set so that no bean can pass
+downwards. When the disc revolves, the berries are driven forward and
+squeezed, the corrugations then catch the skins and drag them between
+the disc and bed. These small pulpers have an advantage over the
+larger ones, in that each can be set to suit the size of a portion of
+the crop--which always varies in size--and in that, with two or more
+machines, there is less likelihood of complete stoppage in case of
+accident. One disc pulper to every 30 or 40 acres--that is, about three
+to every 100 acres, two to be set alike for large size and one for
+smaller berries--should be ample in a fair-sized estate.
+
+There are times, however, when it is impossible to pulp Coffee; the
+pulpers may get out of repair, or the weather may be so untoward that
+the berry does not ripen sufficiently, or become too dry for pulping.
+In these cases the berries must first be fermented. The best way to do
+this is to place them in one of the tanks, or if the quantity is too
+small to nearly fill a tank, in an old box or cask, and cover it with
+sacks or grass, and let it remain until it acquires a good warmth;
+then, when the berries in squeezing are no longer slippery, they may be
+taken out and spread in the sun to dry. For two or three nights it need
+not be housed, nor will rain hurt it. When dry, it may be stored for
+curing like parchment Coffee, but must not be mixed with it. To ferment
+the berries by leaving them in a heap on the ground is a bad plan for
+two reasons: First, when fermented in this manner it becomes very wet
+and collects dirt, which, in the after treatment, will affect the color
+of the Coffee. Second, because in a heap the fermentation cannot be
+equalized throughout the Coffee. Pulping may be performed whenever
+possible, as the increased trouble entailed by the latter process is
+not compensated for by the alleged improvement of the flavor and no
+better price is received for it.
+
+
+FERMENTING AND DRYING.
+
+The “parchment” coffee as it comes from the pulper is next submitted
+to a fermentation process for the purpose of removing the saccharine
+matter, without which the beans would not dry. This operation is
+performed in a series of tanks, whose capacity varies with the size
+of the estate, and which may be arranged in squares. The pulpers are
+placed on a platform above the tanks and in such a position that the
+pulped coffee can be run by water into the tanks, which must also be
+so situated that the coffee will always advance by the aid of running
+water and may finally be conveniently conveyed to the drying ground,
+while the water and refuse run off. The amount of cistern accommodation
+necessary for a plantation maybe based on the allowance of one cubic
+foot for each bushel of berries picked in one day. The tanks are seldom
+less than three in number--two receiving cisterns, each large enough
+for the greatest possible daily picking and a third for washing the
+parchment, nearly as large superficially, as the two others combined,
+that is, the “washing” tanks from twelve to fifteen feet long, two
+feet deep and separated by a causeway three and one-half feet wide,
+and the “fermenting” tanks eight by eighteen feet long and two and
+one-half feet deep. These tanks are usually made of brick-work, lined
+with cement or asphalt, but wood is much better because less cold, but
+all should have a slight incline in order to assist the drainage. The
+receiving tanks are provided at the lowest corner with a good-sized
+outlet, fitted with a plug and with a movable sieve of perforated
+zinc or woven-wire, fine enough to keep back the coffee when draining
+off the water, but not so fine as to choke with saccharine scum; the
+receiving cisterns being used alternately. All the coffee pulped in
+one day is allowed to remain in the receiving cistern until a slight
+fermentation has set in; this occurs in from twelve to eighteen hours
+in mild weather, but in cold weather it may take from thirty to forty
+hours and even more. There are two ways of conducting fermentation--the
+dry and the wet--the former consists in allowing the berries to be
+without water, the bottom of the tank being perforated so as to draw
+off the liquid, but by the latter process the tank remains full of
+water. The dry system, however, is the better as long as care is taken
+to turn the mass so that the fermentation shall be equal throughout;
+the presence of water equalizes the fermentation but retards it and
+slightly injures the quality of the coffee. When fermentation is not
+sufficiently prolonged, the beans will assume a yellowish color--called
+“blankety”--and will be difficult to dry, becoming liable to absorb
+moisture at the same time. But when properly fermented the separation
+of the saccharine matters is easily effected in the washing tanks, to
+which the pulped beans and a good supply of water is admitted. The
+washing cistern is provided with a sluice door at the lowest corner,
+this door commonly measuring six inches wide by three inches deep. The
+coffee is meanwhile constantly agitated by a wooden scraper or rake,
+by which the light coffee and refuse matter float and may be skimmed
+off, the dirty water flowing off through a tall cistern provided with a
+grating to catch the skins and stray parchment, while the sound berries
+are placed in draining boxes to remove the excess of moisture and are
+then transferred to the drying ground with the least possible delay.
+But should the climate be uncertain it will be necessary to provide
+for the emergency of a succession of wet days, when drying cannot be
+proceeded with. Parchment coffee may be kept in the undried state
+for two weeks without injury by placing it in a cistern exposed to a
+continuous flow of cold water.
+
+In drying, the berries to be dried are first spread out on a flat
+surface exposed to the heat of the sun. The material forming the
+_terrcino_ (terrace) or drying ground varies greatly in the different
+coffee-producing countries, but most commonly the ground is leveled
+and then covered with a kind of concrete, sometimes asphalt is laid
+down, but, besides being expensive it is not sure in hot climates to
+withstand the heat, and such a surface is liable to crack and give
+way if not carefully drained. A very good and much better plan is to
+lay down coir-matting on ground which has simply been made smooth and
+hard; the advantages of this plan are its cheapness, the ease with
+which extra ground can be requisitioned in case of need, and the use
+of the matting as a temporary covering in case of a sudden shower;
+modifications of this method are to stretch coir or gunny cloth
+across modern frames, or across trays with or without wheels. Shed
+accommodations must always be provided ready for the reception of the
+coffee at any moment, and the beans must be constantly turned over
+and over, either by light rakes or shovels. The drying must also be
+rendered equable and must not proceed too rapidly so as not to crack
+the parchment before the bean is quite dry, for this reason also, the
+coffee should not be exposed too long to a strong sun for the first
+day or so. During the drying it is gathered in each day when the sun
+is hot, but will then continue to dry under cover. Every care must be
+taken to prevent overheating, which may happen by prolonged drying in
+mild weather; rather than permit this the coffee should be returned to
+a tank, and kept washed with running water.
+
+A new method, known as “artificial drying,” has recently been adopted
+in Brazil and other countries, being much quicker and cheaper. An easy
+means of applying artificial heat is by passing an iron pipe, open
+at both ends, through a fire outside the stove and below the level
+of the floor, continuing it into the stove just beneath the floor;
+the heated air, by passing upwards through the coffee, will carry off
+much of the damp. Revolving drying machines are also in use; one of
+the best of these is one introduced originally for drying corn. It
+consists of cylinders into which steam enters and agitators arranged
+so that the coffee is impelled forwards and caught up and rained down
+as the cylinder revolves. The central cylinder works in a steam packet,
+outside which is a light casing of sheet iron, perforated at one end so
+that the air may be drawn through by a fan to assist in the drying and
+carry off the liberated moisture; this machine obviates the necessity
+for respreading the coffee in the terraces before hulling. Three days’
+thorough sunning usually suffices to render the coffee quite dry and
+brittle, in which condition it is known as “parchment coffee,” in which
+state, in many countries, it is sent to port, its further curing being
+left to the shippers, for not only is considerable expenditure in
+buildings and machinery necessary for the purpose, but the experience
+gained by manipulating various lots of coffee will enable those
+who make the subject a special study to bring the sample up to the
+best standard of appearance and keeping properties, but the coffee
+retains its color better if allowed to remain for several weeks in the
+parchment, and its quality continues to improve for months, even years,
+the process being known as “curing;” as, however, protracted curing
+causes great subsequent difficulty in removing, the “silver-skin”
+coffee is never kept in the parchment longer than is compulsory.
+
+
+HULLING AND PEELING.
+
+This operation consists in the removal of the “parchment” and the
+“silver-skin,” after which the beans are again exposed to the sun for
+a period which is difficult to define. Some planters say that they
+should be dried till they resist pressure of the thumb-nail, but there
+is really no infallible test, as no two samples are exactly alike. It
+needs much experience to prevent loss of weight by over-drying, or of
+color by under-drying, but they peel best while still warm. A variety
+of hullers have been tried, but preference is commonly given to the
+old-fashioned edge-runner mill, composed of a circular trough with
+two large wheels revolving in it and suspended about two inches from
+the bottom. The trough is one-half to two-thirds filled with beans,
+which remain until the grinding action of the revolving-wheels has
+separated their skins, when they are let out by a lateral aperture.
+A trough fifteen feet in diameter should turn out at least 1,200
+pounds of marketable coffee an hour, four bushels of good parchment
+coffee yielding 100 pounds clean coffee. The appearance of the coffee
+immediately after hulling is very light colored, but it soon assumes a
+fern-green hue, which it will retain unless exposed to damp, when it
+becomes dingy or mottled-gray, and is classed as “country damaged.”
+
+
+WINNOWING AND SIZING.
+
+The peeled Coffee as it comes from the huller in company with the
+detached skins is submitted to the influence of a fan whose force
+must be so adjusted that it will effectually remove the skins without
+carrying off the Coffee. When the Coffee has been cleaned from
+the skins, it is necessary to separate it into various sizes for
+market, chiefly with the object of rendering the subsequent roasting
+process more equable in effect. Formerly the sizing was performed by
+hand-picking, but it is now the custom to employ a machine called a
+“separator,” which consists of an inclined, revolving cylindrical
+sieve formed of perforated sheet-iron or steel wires, and divided into
+sections of different meshes. The Coffee is fed in at the hopper, which
+is furnished with a regulator and an internal worm for the purpose of
+distributing it equally, while a revolving brush prevents the meshes
+from being choked. Sand and dust pass through the first section and
+fall into the space while the small and broken beans are delivered
+below, the best and largest beans are caught up and the peaberry rolls
+freely out at the end.
+
+
+BUILDINGS AND STORES.
+
+Though there is no necessity for curing the Coffee, and it may be
+hulled at once if desired, the exigencies of climate render a properly
+constructed warehouse one of greatest _desiderata_. The characteristics
+of structure must be, first, dryness combined with security; hence,
+galvanized iron forms the best material. It is generally of two
+stories, the lower floor being sometimes boarded or asphalted, but the
+upper must always be so made so as to admit of free circulation of air
+through the Coffee placed in it. This object may best be obtained by
+laying wire gauze or coir matting over reapers about one inch apart.
+Abundant ventilation must also be provided, and it will be necessary
+to watch for any signs of heating. Immediately on its appearance
+the Coffee must be turned over rapidly. An improved form of Coffee
+structure is that built on what is termed the Clerichew principle, in
+which the floor of the upper story is constructed as in the former
+case, resting on joists running lengthwise in the building. A ceiling
+is provided for the lower story by tacking to the joists cloth which
+has been well soaked in boiled rice water and lime, to render it
+air-tight. Continuous air-passages are thus made beneath the floor.
+About ten feet of one end of the lower apartment are partitioned off,
+and its sides are made as nearly air-tight as possible, and it has no
+ceiling other than the floor above, so that the passages all open into
+it. In an opening in the wall of this chamber a pair of large revolving
+fans are placed, their rapid vibrations drawing a continuous current
+of air from the inside, and therefore through the Coffee itself. In
+this manner dried parchment Coffee can be kept in perfect condition
+without any turning over, and by using heated air on the same principle
+as before Coffee may be housed while still only partially dry and yet
+not suffer from fermentation.
+
+
+PACKING AND SHIPPING.
+
+As soon as the Coffee is sized and graded it is ready for the market.
+Bags are most commonly used, but it is best packed in air-tight casks,
+made from wood, which is not likely to taint the Coffee in any way.
+In shipping Coffee great care is required to prevent its coming in
+contact with any merchandise that may communicate to it a foreign
+flavor or odor. Vessels engaged in the Coffee trade should have
+perforated ventilating tubes from the bottom of the hold, passing
+through the cargo, so as to allow the escape of all steam and gases
+generated during transit; without such an appliance the beans will be
+discolored and classed as “damaged,” an injury which cannot be covered
+by insurance. In well-ventilated ships Coffee loses about one-half per
+cent. in weight but gains in quality during transit; while under bad
+ventilation there will be a gain of one-half per cent. in weight but a
+loss of color, and consequent depreciation in value.
+
+
+COST AND PROFIT.
+
+Here a few remarks on the cost, prospects and profits of coffee
+planting may not be out of place. How much does it require to start on
+safely is frequently asked. From ten to twenty thousand dollars may be
+considered a fair capital. As to what kind of a plantation that can
+be had for these sums is a question that from the shifting nature of
+prices, and the varieties of climates, soils and situations, cannot
+be accurately answered, or with even an approximation to accuracy.
+With regard to the profits of coffee planting the investor may get a
+very large return, a moderate or a small one, and he may even suffer,
+as many who have tried it have done, a considerable loss. No reliance
+whatever can be placed on the estimates so often published, and though
+many of them may be accurate enough as far as they go, assuming that
+everything goes well, good soil, climate, cheap labor, good health,
+and good seasons must be taken into account, in the brilliant reports
+of the returns to be expected in the first few bearing years, usually
+terminating with the assertion that “the profits subsequently to be
+derived will be something fabulous.”
+
+Transport facilities are another important factor and deserving of
+much consideration. In many countries they exceed the cost of growing
+and preparing the crops for market, and it frequently occurs in the
+interior of Brazil, Mexico and other countries, that it does not
+pay to forward the coffee to the markets at the ports of shipment.
+But whatever may be the ascertained advantages in point of soil,
+temperature, moisture and situation, and however bountiful may be
+the yield of the plants, the speculation must always be estimated in
+connection with the cost and vicissitudes with which coffee planting as
+a business is unhappily associated. Anxiety must be inseparable from
+an undertaking exclusively dependent on native labor, and liable to
+be affected at the most critical moment by its capricious commercial
+fluctuations. The crops in most of the coffee-growing countries, when
+saved on the plantation, has either to encounter the risk incident
+to transportation by hand through mountain districts as yet unopened
+by roads, or the chances of deterioration to which it is exposed in
+bullock carts during long journeys to the coast. The real facts being
+that the difficulties in the way of forming accurate agricultural
+statistics are in the coffee-producing countries almost insuperable,
+there being either a tendency to exaggerate or depreciate the yield,
+as it best serves the interests of the cultivators. And again as
+regards coffee in particular, there is no means whatever of estimating
+the product. A great deal being said, but very little known in the
+way a man generally requires to know that he may wish to publish as
+reasonably near the truth. So in going into coffee planting in any
+country it signifies little whether you know what certain plantations
+_have_ yielded or what amount of profits _may_ be expected. One fact
+may be relied on, however, that is, if an estate frequently changes
+hands, it is certainly a bad or indifferent one, if seldom it is sure
+the coffee growing pays well, and further it is not necessary to
+inquire, for hardly any landed investment pays so well as good sound
+coffee property, and the owners are therefore seldom inclined to part
+with it.
+
+The extent of coffee plantations varies from 100 to 300 acres, the
+annual product ranging from 500 to 1,000 pounds per acre of prepared
+coffee, according to location and care bestowed on the plantation.
+The profits also vary with the ruling market price of the coffee at
+time of sale, of labor, transportation and the inscrutable effects
+of the season. But a cost of from $350 to $500 per 100 pounds may be
+considered a fair average; any yield under 300 per acre scarcely paying
+expenses, any over 700 paying a handsome profit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+COMMERCIAL CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION.
+
+
+Coffee in commerce is the seed which grows in the pod or fruit of
+the coffee plant, like the pea or the bean. Geographically, it is
+divided into African, Asian, American and Polynesian coffees, and,
+topographically, into “Mountain,” or upland, and “Plaingrown,” or
+lowland Coffees, while commercially they are generally classified as
+“Mild” and “Strong,” the former comprising in trade the product of all
+countries, with the exception of Brazil. Grown in so many different and
+widely separated countries, provinces, districts and situations, it is
+but natural that the different products should vary materially in size,
+style, color, form, flavor and character, and which also accounts for
+the almost innumerable commercial divisions and subdivisions of names,
+grades and values.
+
+
+AFRICAN COFFEES.
+
+Africa is the original home of coffee, it being indigenous to almost
+the entire Continent; but while it is to be found growing in a wild
+state almost all over the entire of tropical Africa, more particularly
+between the fifth and fifteenth parallels, its cultivation for
+commercial purposes on the “Dark Continent” is very light and partial
+at the present time, although it affords a field of boundless
+development in the future. African Coffees are divided into West and
+East Coast, the former comprising Liberian, Loango, Angola, Benguelan,
+Congo and Natal; the latter including Abyssinian, Egyptian, Zanzibar,
+Mozambique, Nubian, Madagascar, Bourbon and Mauritius.
+
+=Liberian=--Is produced in the Americanized colony known as the
+“Black Republic,” and is principally cultivated in the district
+of Mesurado, on the St. Paul river. It is an extremely large
+dark-brown bean, possessing very marked peculiarities, being
+“concave-convex”--technically termed “Male or pea-berry”--in form; that
+is, round on top, with long, deep furrow extending longitudinally down
+the face, tightly rolled or “folded” in appearance and very hard and
+solid in texture. When roasted and infused the liquor is dark in color,
+heavy in body and from 30 to 40 per cent. stronger in flavor than that
+of any other variety grown, and is considered too strong to use alone,
+but when blended in the proportion of about one to three parts of
+some of the milder growths it makes a fairly smooth and rich drinking
+coffee. The annual production is limited--about 10,000,000 pounds--put
+up in large, coarse bags, averaging 200 pounds, and is principally
+exported to England and the continent of Europe, where it is used
+principally, on account of its ultra strength, for mixing with chicory,
+and sold chiefly in the form of ground coffee.
+
+=Loango=--Also an indigenous variety, is grown in the interior province
+of Encougé, deriving its trade name from the port of shipment. It
+closely resembles Liberian in form and color, but is much smaller in
+size and greatly inferior in quality, and is sometimes termed “African
+pea-berry.” The raw or natural bean is dark-brown in color, light or
+“chaffy” in weight, very brittle and poorly prepared, while the liquor
+is almost black and insipid, if not actually rank or nauseous, in
+flavor, the decoction tasting more like an infusion of char-bones than
+anything else it may be likened to. It is principally shipped to Spain,
+Portugal and other European countries, very little, fortunately, ever
+reaching the United States.
+
+=Angola=--Produced in the Portuguese colony of that name, is medium
+in size, concave in form, light-brown in color, strong and pungent
+in flavor, but lacking in smoothness and aroma. Not being regularly
+cultivated, its production is limited, that grown by the settlers on
+the uplands of the interior being much superior to the wild or native
+sorts.
+
+=Benguelan=--Is another variety of Angola, grown in the adjoining
+province to the south and closely resembles it in size, color and
+general character. Being also limited in supply, it is rarely if ever
+shipped to this country, what is not retained for home consumption
+being forwarded to Lisbon, Madrid and the Canaries.
+
+=Congo=--Is a medium-sized, heavy bean, strong and rich in the cup,
+and, taken altogether, a desirable sort.
+
+=Natal Coffee=--Is a large light-brown bean, closely resembling the
+Liberian product, being grown from that species, but greatly modified
+in body and strength. Coffee culture in Natal is struggling against
+adverse conditions, owing to the spread of the bark disease in that
+colony and for which no cure has been found. This is much to be
+regretted, as the quality of the product is very fair, the demand for
+the article continually growing. Some Coffees are also grown in the
+States of Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, St. Helena and the Cape of
+Good Hope, but, being limited in supply and unknown to commerce, do not
+need description here.
+
+=Abyssinian.=--The Coffee plant and its product have been known
+in Abyssinia from time immemorial, its fruit being used there in
+a _roasted state_, but in _solid form_, for centuries before its
+introduction to the civilized world, receiving its now universal
+name from the district of Kaffa or Caffa, in the southeastern part
+of that country, and becoming the parent-plant of all the numerous
+varieties now to be found on the Red Sea littoral. At the present
+time it is grown there in all its native luxuriance and primitive
+abundance, from the borders of Narla to the banks of the Nile, forming
+the chief wood of the country. It is also cultivated there in almost
+all situations, on plateaus and table-lands, mountain and valley,
+hill and plain, growing as luxuriantly and producing as prolifically
+on low as on upland sites. The bean is small in comparison with the
+average coffee of commerce, but long and narrow in shape, hard and
+“flinty” in texture, and varying in color from a translucent green to a
+yellowish hue, according to its age. In body and flavor it ranks next
+to Mocha, to which coffee it is analogous, and is by many connoisseurs
+preferred to it as being smoother and less heating in effect. It
+is little known to commerce under its true name, being principally
+shipped from Massowah to Aden and Alexandria, where it loses its
+identity, masquerading under the head of “Long-berry Mocha,” and going
+principally to the Mediterranean and other European markets. The annual
+crop is large and the yield excellent, but communication and transport
+facilities being difficult and crude, the bulk of the product does not
+reach the outside world. It is to be hoped, however, that whenever
+this rich country which produces coffee in such wild abundance shall
+be permitted, by civilized man, to enjoy its fertility it will rapidly
+become an article of extensive cultivation and commerce.
+
+=Egyptian=--Comprises the product of the Upper Nile region, and that
+grown around Berber and the Soudan, very little being produced in the
+country itself. Being the product of different districts, they vary
+in size and quality, ranging from small to medium, are palish-green
+in color, flat or regular in shape, and possess superior drinking
+properties; so much so that many of the smaller bean varieties are put
+up in Mocha bales at Alexandria and sold under the name of “Short-berry
+Mocha,” being shipped principally to France and England, where they are
+known to the initiated as “Alexandrian or Egyptian Mochas.”
+
+=Nubian=--Is a small-bean coffee, hard and flinty in texture, oval
+in shape, pale-green in color, heavy in body, and unusually rich in
+flavor. This variety is usually forwarded to Alexandria for conversion
+into a so-called Mocha, seldom finding its way into the American or
+European markets under its legitimate name.
+
+=Zanzibar=--Is medium in size, regular in appearance, full in body and
+pleasing in flavor, but also very limited in quantity. Increased effort
+is now being made, however, by the French, German and Italian colonists
+to increase and extend its cultivation in that country.
+
+=Mozambique=--The product is fairly good, ranking with the average of
+mild coffees, medium in size, greenish in color, heavy and mellow in
+the cup.
+
+=Madagascar=--Grown on the immense island of that name, to the east,
+is a small-bean variety, solid and firm, but shorter and rounder than
+the latter. It is of a pea-green color when first picked, but gradually
+assumes that of a silver-gray as it matures; in body it is round and
+full, in flavor rich and fragrant. The supply of this variety is very
+small when compared with the extent of area that may be utilized for
+its profitable culture in that island, the entire product being chiefly
+retained for home consumption, only small lots occasionally reaching
+the outer world.
+
+=Bourbon=--Is a small, hard and flinty bean, being chiefly mountain
+grown, pale-yellow in color and closely resembling the Arabian product,
+for which coffee it is extensively substituted, large quantities of
+the smaller beans being annually shipped to Aden to be repacked in the
+inimitable Mocha bales and sold as “genuine Aden Mocha.” The larger
+beans are usually exported to France and the continent, where it is
+held in high esteem for its rich, fragrant flavor and aroma, but rarely
+found in the American market unless specially ordered.
+
+=Mauritius=--Like Bourbon is also an island coffee, the average bean
+being medium-sized, heavy and well developed, light-green in color,
+full in body and mellow in flavor, the liquor, in general, comparing
+favorably with that of finest of the mild grades. The smaller beans
+are separated and sold for shipment to Aden for the purpose of
+adulterating, or, what is worse, substituting for Mocha, where it sinks
+its identity, reappearing in the European market as “Short-berry” Mocha
+coffee.
+
+More or less Coffee is also produced in Sofala, Somali, and the Soudan,
+in Usumbara, the Zambesi, Nyassa, Nyanza, and other districts as
+far west as the base of the Kilimanjaro mountains, the total yield
+of which, however, so far as its influence on the world’s supply is
+considered, is insignificant, the export capacity of the whole not
+exceeding 150,000 pounds annually. The entire product of the Eastern
+provinces of Africa taken in connection with the comparatively
+small crops raised on the West coast makes that country contribute
+only between 5,000 to 6,000 tons to the world’s supply, this amount
+including all coffees grown in Egypt and the interior countries of the
+continent of Africa.
+
+
+ASIAN COFFEES
+
+Comprise Arabian, East Indian, Ceylon, Malayan and all coffees grown in
+the Straits Settlements.
+
+
+ARABIAN COFFEE
+
+Is universally but erroneously known to trade as the far-famed
+“Mocha,” as no coffee is or ever was grown there. Mocha itself,
+being comparatively a modern town, which rose with the coffee trade
+to a short-lived prosperity, the term “Mocha” as applied to Arabian
+coffee, being derived solely from the shipment of its product from
+there in former times. The internal disorders of Arabia and the
+efforts of Mohamed Ali to make the coffee trade pass through India
+accelerated its decline, the place being now nothing more than a mere
+village. The shipment of coffee is no longer carried on there, being
+transferred further south to the ports of Aden and Hodeida, yet,
+although, still known to trade as “Mocha,” and notwithstanding the
+fact that Arabian coffee has been popularly and commercially known
+for centuries as Mocha, it never produced any coffee, being situated
+as it is in a sterile plain. Seeing that Arabia is the parent soil
+of most of the coffees of commerce, and comparatively little known
+as a coffee-producing country, it may be interesting to transcribe
+some particulars of the cultivation and trade in the article in
+that country. The Coffee plant is claimed by some authorities to be
+indigenous to Arabia, and by others to be simply exotic, and as having
+been introduced there from Abyssinia, but at what period of the world’s
+history has never been definitely decided. The plant or its product
+is not mentioned in the Koran, was certainly unknown to Mahomet, and
+his contemporaries make no reference to it up to the seventh century,
+although the many commodities and beverages in use among his followers
+in Mecca and Medina during his Calyphate are accurately and minutely
+detailed by his biographers, both Arab and Christian. But while to
+Abyssinia belongs the honor of its first discovery, it is to Arabia
+that the civilized world is indebted, not only for the first knowledge
+of the plant and its virtues, but also for the first plants from which
+it is now so extensively propagated as well as for the first knowledge
+of preparing it in liquid form. Yet, although exotic to Arabia, it
+has been cultivated there for centuries, attaining its most extensive
+distribution and highest standard of production in the province of
+Yemen, a highland country formed by a labyrinth of precipitant hills
+and fertile valleys, the air being pure, and even cold in some parts.
+These mountains are well supplied with water, but no considerable
+rivers find their way from them to the sea, tropical evaporation,
+coupled with the light and porous quality of the soil, drying up the
+torrent beds: nor do any natural lakes exist there. Artificial pools
+and reservoirs have, however, been constructed, in which water is
+preserved all the year round, and are numerous in the district.
+
+In the province of Yemen, where the best Mocha coffees are produced,
+the plant is cultivated in both situations, upland and lowland, that
+raised on the latter being greatly inferior to that cultivated on the
+former sites. The best being that grown on the mountain slopes under
+the greatest difficulties and natural disadvantages of climate, soil
+and site, the small gardens, for they cannot be called plantations,
+being situated on terraces ranged one above the other, forming an
+amphitheatre on the mountain slope and literally covering its sides
+from almost base to apex. The plant is cultivated throughout more than
+half these upland districts, the finest qualities of the berry being
+produced on the western slopes of the mountains in the neighborhood
+of Bulgosa and Sanaar, the capital of the province, at elevations
+estimated at 5,000 feet above sea-level. The soil in these situations
+is composed chiefly of basaltic columns, the detached rocks forming
+grand objects of landscape, especially where cascades of water rush
+from their summits. Indications of volcanic action, long since extant,
+abound; basalt formations comprising a considerable portion of the soil
+in the most favored gardens of the coffee-bearing districts, while in
+others it is composed of jurassic rock, basalt-granite patches also
+occurring in many of them. The basalts are of great utility to the
+inhabitants of this region, the columns, which are usually separated,
+serving as steps where the ascent is difficult, and as walls to
+support the gardens of coffee trees, which are principally situated on
+the steep declivities of the mountain sides, and although requiring
+the well-diffused heat of an equatorial climate and a rich soil for
+its most successful and profitable growth, it is in this region and
+under these great disadvantages and peculiarities of soil, climate
+and situation--hot, sandy and stony--that the far-famed Mocha coffee
+obtains its finest, richest and most valuable developments, and to
+which its superior excellence is attributed.
+
+The gardens are arranged on rocky terraces, situated one above the
+other, the slopes being densely covered and close together and are
+watered from large reservoirs built upon the heights above them, into
+which spring water is collected and sprinkled in a novel and ingenious
+manner, being first conducted to the top terrace and then allowed to
+fall gradually from one terrace to another, where the plant and shade
+grow so thick together that the sun’s rays can hardly penetrate among
+the branches. The plants yield ripe fruit twice a year and frequently a
+third crop is gathered; the produce of the latter is, however, greatly
+inferior to that of the previous ones. The cultivation and preparation
+of coffee in Arabia are also of the simplest and most primitive kind.
+When the berries have been gathered they are carefully and assiduously
+picked over and separated by hand by experienced pickers and sorters.
+So constant and frequent is this selecting and separating process
+carried on, that a graduation almost as regular as the degrees upon a
+map may be discerned in the grades and qualities of Mocha coffee. The
+operations of hulling and cleaning being performed with the utmost
+seriousness and scrupulous exactness, reminding one of the diligence
+ascribed to diamond searchers and gold hunters, when sorting the
+torrent sands for the minute but precious treasure.
+
+The coffee is dispatched by caravan from the interior to the ports of
+Aden and Hodeida at almost every season of the year, but principally
+in February, March and April, the export consisting of crude and
+prepared beans; the former is dried in the husk, and is termed by the
+Arabs “Jaffal coffee.” The dealers are chiefly Arabs, who frequently
+barter English manufactured goods for the article, the producers
+seldom attending the seaport markets. The principal coffee dealers at
+the shipping ports being Arabs from Hadramant, Syrians, Armenians,
+Bhuddists, Brahmins and Musselmans from Hindustan, who also trade
+in drapery and other English goods, which they send through their
+agents in the interior to pursue the aforesaid system of barter for
+the coffee. There are, however, three or four Anglo-Indian firms in
+Hodeida, and one or two American houses in Aden, who deal in coffee
+on their own account. Before reaching the harbor of Aden, from which
+port the coffee intended for the aristocracy of Alexandria and
+Constantinople is chiefly shipped, the beans are sifted and re-sifted
+by the Arab merchants _en route_, the best being retained for their
+own use; the less generous, flattened, opaque and whitish beans alone
+reaching their destination, the last stage seldom conveying the
+genuine article except on rare occasions, and only then by previous
+arrangement, personal influence or interest. That intended for the
+Syrian and Persian markets is forwarded by caravan from Jaffa and
+Beyrouth under the same conditions, as whenever mere sale and traffic
+is concerned, substitution of an inferior quality or an adulteration
+equivalent to a substitution is frequently resorted to in the
+storehouses of Aden, and the other points from which it is forwarded,
+until whatever Mocha coffee intended for the general European or
+American markets is no more the real offspring of the Yemen plant than
+the logwood preparations of a fourth-rate wine resembles the pure
+libation of an Oporto vineyard.
+
+Arabian coffee, like that of all other countries, though one in name
+is manifold in fact. Geographically they are classified as Yemen and
+Tehama, but are known to trade almost universally as “Mocha” coffee,
+from being at one time all shipped from that port; but since the
+opening of the Suez Canal, the bulk of the crop is now shipped from the
+ports of Aden and Hodeida.
+
+=Yemen Mocha=--Is grown on the mountain slopes surrounding the towns
+of Bulgosa, Sanaar and the valley of the Oudien, and constitutes the
+true Mocha coffee, which is rarely if ever exported, being consumed
+chiefly within the limits of Arabia itself; very little, so little,
+indeed, of this variety finds its way west of Constantinople that it is
+almost inappreciable. Nor, indeed, do the latter always get the best or
+purest, Arabia, Syria, Persia and Egypt consuming over two-thirds of
+the limited product of the Yemen hills, the remainder being reserved
+for the Turkish and Armenian æosophagi, from which fact it is sometimes
+termed the “Aristocrat of Coffees.”
+
+The true “Mocha” or Yemen bean is exceedingly small, hard, round,
+and symmetrical in form, regular and uniform in general appearance,
+of a translucent, olive-green color when new, but assuming a rich
+semi-transparent yellowish hue with age. It is perfectly clean, being
+entirely free from stems, stones, chaff and all other extraneous
+matter. When fresh roasted it exhales a pleasing if not delicious odor,
+not even approached by that of any other variety grown or known; the
+liquor is heavier in body than that of Java, but creamy and rich, and
+the flavor fragrant and aromatic to an eminent degree. The superior
+excellence attributed to this particular variety of Mocha coffee is
+said to be due to two causes, first to the extreme dryness of the
+climate, hard granitic nature of the soil, and second to the fact that
+the berries are never picked, but allowed to fall from the trees of
+their own accord when ripe, and then allowed to dry naturally, after
+which they are gathered and hulled by the simplest and most primitive
+methods, which process of drying cannot be pursued in countries where
+the rainfall is great, as sudden showers spoil the crop if left
+unprotected. While others claim that the high reputation which it so
+long held in the European markets, is not to be ascribed to either
+superior cultivation or improved stock, but to the fact that the
+coffee was formerly shipped to India, and thence by circuitous routes
+to Europe, so that it was generally two to three years old when it
+reached its destination, all coffees improving with age and keeping.
+Still growing as it does high up on the sandy terraces of the Yemen
+hills, sparse of leaves, gaunt and stunted, as becomes a plant of the
+desert as well as from its condensed vitality, it appears difficult
+to understand the aromatic pungency of its small berries, a quality
+that has never been even approached by any achievement of scientific
+cultivation.
+
+=Tehama Coffee=--Is grown in the low, level sandy plain of that name,
+extending from the Red sea littoral to the base of the Yemen hills,
+formed by the arc of their curve, and reaching from the province of
+Hejaz in the north down as far as Aden on the southern extremity of the
+peninsula. As might be expected from its geographical situation towards
+the coast, it is an exceedingly hot, dry and sandy region, being only
+of moderate fertility, the soil being composed of an agglomeration
+of coral debris. The rains are periodical, sometimes flooding the
+plantations, and hardly drying up through the year, the coast being
+indented with several small harbors. The coffee produced in this
+district--like all plain-grown or lowland coffees--is greatly inferior
+to the mountain product of Yemen. The bean is small, irregular,
+immature and chaffy, having a gnarled or shriveled appearance, greenish
+in color when new but assuming a yellowish hue as it dries. Being only
+imperfectly cured it frequently contains fragments of hull, fibre and
+small stones. It is invariably “quakery” when roasted, and in body and
+flavor is inferior to the average run of what are known in trade as
+“mild coffees.” Yet, though not a palatable coffee when drunk alone,
+it makes a fairly fragrant infusion when combined with a Preanger
+or other good Java. It is principally shipped from Hodeida, now the
+second considerable port in the Red sea, from which it is known to
+trade as “Hodeida Mocha,” and in contradistinction to that shipped
+from Aden, and known as “Aden Mocha.” At Hodeida the coffee is sold in
+the custom house, whither it is brought from the interior. The Hodeida
+dealers also receiving large quantities of Malabar, Bourbon and other
+small-bean varieties to mix with or substitute for the original sort.
+
+
+OTHER VARIETIES.
+
+There are several other varieties known to trade and sold as Mocha
+coffee, but having little or no relation to it. Among these are:--
+
+=Lechia.=--Shipped from a small port to the north of Hodeida and from
+which it derives its trade name. It is very inferior in quality,
+roasting and drinking poorly, and on the whole not a desirable sort.
+
+=Djebelli.=--Which is imported into Aden from the African coast, and is
+a mountain-grown coffee possessing valuable cup qualities.
+
+=Berberah.=--Also an African coffee recognized by its large and
+tapering bean, heavy body and rich infusion, and used principally for
+mixing with or substituting for genuine Mocha coffee.
+
+=Havar.=--Another variety of Mocha coffee known to trade as “Havar”
+or “Hazar,” which comes from the south African coast of the Red sea,
+is being recently shipped from Aden. The bean is long and pointed,
+greenish in cast, and solid in structure; it roasts and drinks
+exceedingly well, being preferred by many connoisseurs to the true
+Mocha bean.
+
+=Mussowah=--Is an Abyssinian variety, previously described, deriving
+its trade name from being shipped from that port on the African coast
+of the Red sea.
+
+=Egyptian Mocha.=--In Alexandria, Mocha coffee is imitated by the
+substitution of small-bean African varieties, principally produced
+in Berber, Nubia, Somali and the interior of the Soudan, which
+are carefully picked over and assorted by hand, the larger beans
+being separated from the smaller, the better to adapt them to their
+respective markets, being usually shipped to France and other
+continental European countries.
+
+Arabian or “Mocha” Coffee is put up in large grass-mat
+bales--containing two smaller packages termed “quarters” or four
+termed “eights”--distinctive in shape and material, being made of a
+coarse, grassy substance and sewn with a fibrous ligature that becomes
+excessively hard and tough as it seasons. The exports, the amount of
+which it is difficult to determine owing to the fact that there is no
+real custom-house control in the country, consists of about 8,000,000
+to 10,000,000 pounds only, about half of which only is pure Mocha, the
+product being so badly manipulated and so extensively substituted with
+other coffees of foreign origin and inferior quality.
+
+
+EAST-INDIAN COFFEES.
+
+Unlike tea, coffee was not introduced into India by European
+enterprise, and even in the present day its cultivation there is
+largely followed by the natives only. The Malabar coast has always
+enjoyed a direct commerce with Arabia, and at an early date in the
+world’s history gave many converts to Islam, one of whom, Baba Bouden
+by name, is said to have gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca and to have
+brought back with him “seven coffee-berries,” which he planted on the
+hill range of Mysore and which is still called after him, and which,
+according to local tradition, occurred about two centuries ago. The
+shrubs thus said to be sown lived on, but their systematic cultivation
+did not spread until the beginning of the present century. While
+another account states that the coffee-plant was first introduced into
+India, on the Malabar coast, by the Arabs themselves, as far back as
+1740, yet no official mention is made of the plant or its product
+in that country up to 1822, when its cultivation as a curiosity was
+first began in the Wynaad district, another plantation being formed
+later in the adjoining district of Manjarabad. The Baba Bouden
+range, in the State of Mysore, also witnessed the first opening of
+a coffee plantation by an English planter in 1840, the success of
+this experiment leading to the extension of coffee cultivation in the
+neighboring districts of Madras and Malabar. In 1840, a plantation
+was also started in Manautoddy, and in 1842 it was found growing well
+in Belgaum. From 1842 to 1860, however, the enterprise made but slow
+progress, but since the latter date it has spread with great rapidity
+along the whole line of the Western Ghauts, clearing away the primeval
+forest and opening up a new era of prosperity to the laboring classes
+in that country, its cultivation for commercial uses increasing at a
+most remarkable rate.
+
+Coffee at the present time in India is grown all along the summits and
+slopes of the Western Ghauts from the northern limits of Kanura south
+to Cape Comorin, the chief centres of production being located in the
+Presidencies of Madras, Mysore, Malabar, Coorg and Travancore, attempts
+being also made to introduce the plant into the Bengal district of
+Chittagong and the northern districts of Nepaul, the Punjaub and
+British Burmah, the cultivation extending within the past few years to
+the Shevaroy hills in the Salem district as well as to the Neilgherry
+and Pulmey mountains in Madras, the slopes adjacent to Octacamund being
+literally covered with coffee plantations on every side. In India,
+after the berries, or “cherries,” as they are called there, have been
+harvested, they are cured in one of two ways, one of which is to pulp
+them in the soft state, the coffee being known as “Cherry-dried,” while
+by the other they are dried first and the pulp removed by a huller.
+Where the latter method is adopted, they are spread upon terraces
+and there kept until complete desiccation takes place, the coffee
+prepared in this manner being known as “thick-hull” or “sun-dried”
+coffee. They are classified in trade as “Malabar,” “Mysore,” “Wynaad,”
+“Tellicherry,” “Coorg,” “Neilgherry” and “Travancore,” grading
+commercially in the order named.
+
+=Malabar=--Produced on the western slopes of the Ghaut mountains,
+is a small, hard, whitish bean, closely resembling a Bourbon, being
+frequently shipped to Aden for substitution or conversion into Mocha
+coffee. It is full in body, high in color and rich in flavor,
+particularly when old, ranking high commercially in the European
+markets, where it is principally disposed of.
+
+=Mysore=--Is a mountain coffee grown on the slopes of the Eastern
+Ghauts, and, like all mountain-grown coffees, is large or bold in
+style, bluish-green in color, hard and solid in texture, heavy in
+body, but apt to be somewhat “grassy” in flavor when new, mellowing
+considerably, however, with age. It commands a higher price in the
+English market than Java, not on account of its intrinsic worth, but
+from the fact that English merchants favor the products of their own
+colonies to the prejudice of all others.
+
+=Wynaad=--Is simply a Malabar coffee, grown in the interior of that
+province, and deriving its trade-name from the district of growth, and
+possessing the same intrinsic qualities of body, color and flavor,
+being heavy, rich and fragrant in the cup.
+
+=Tellicherry=--Is another variety of Malabar, deriving its commercial
+cognomen from the port of shipment, but is generally conveyed to the
+coast for curing, and is classed commercially with it, being used for
+the same purpose of mixing or substituting for Mocha.
+
+=Coorg=--Is a plain-grown or lowland coffee, large and flat in
+appearance, dark-greenish when new, but becoming a dull-white with
+age, and while regular and uniform in the roasted state is apt to be
+“quakery.” The liquor is thin and flat in the cup, while the flavor is
+somewhat “mawkish” to the taste.
+
+=Neilgherry=--Although a mountain coffee, seems to be an exception to
+the general character of this variety, for while the bean is fairly
+large in size and uniform in appearance, it is usually moist and soft
+in substance, losing heavily in the roast, and yielding a flat, almost
+insipid liquor.
+
+=Travancore=--Grown in the extreme South, is a lowland variety having
+an average-sized, flat, but whitish bean, soft or “spongy” when new,
+but becoming light and brittle as it dries. It is invariably “quakery”
+in the roast, thin and watery in the cup, and lacking in even an
+approach to fragrance.
+
+=Burmah Coffee=--Is a comparatively new variety to commerce, being only
+recently introduced, and very limited in supply to the present. The
+bean is fairly large and regular in form, greenish in color and soft
+in texture in the natural state, tough or “leathery” when roasted, and
+wild or “grassy” in the infusion--defects due to its newness, which
+may, however disappear in the later crops. A very large portion of the
+surface of Burmah is admirably adapted for the cultivation of fine
+coffees, but it still remains in its primeval state of unproductive
+jungle, owing to the entire absence of natural energy on the part of
+the natives, who have been described as the laziest under the sun. At
+the present time, however, the government is making liberal offers
+to Europeans and others who understand the art of coffee-planting in
+order to develop the industry in that country; such settlers being
+offered free grants of land in the celebrated Tavoy district, the only
+conditions being the cost of survey and demarcation.
+
+India coffees are classed in the English market as “Bold,” “Middling”
+and “Small,” the bulk of the small-bean Mysore, Malabar and Wynaad
+being shipped to Aden and Alexandria, where they are repacked and sold
+as Mocha. The average quantity and value of the coffee product of India
+is about 40,000,000 pounds, valued at $75,000,000, fully one-half of
+which is retained for home consumption, the balance being shipped to
+England and France, which are the two next largest consumers of India
+coffee, although in both countries it is subject to excessively heavy
+duties. The average product per acre is only about 350 pounds, but the
+drought having affected the plantations would of itself sufficiently
+account for the diminished exports if the leaf disease and borer did
+not also help to keep down the yield.
+
+
+CEYLON COFFEES.
+
+The history of coffee cultivation in the island of Ceylon is one
+fraught with interest and full of instructive lessons, which, since
+the year 1845, has assumed a position of great and ever-increasing
+importance. Although coffee is claimed to have been an article of
+growth and export from Ceylon even as far back as the time of the
+Portuguese, it only grew wild there without any attempt at cultivation.
+Small patches of it were to be found around the Kandyan villages,
+growing in wild luxuriance, the berries being gathered before they
+were ripe and imperfectly cured, seldom possessed much flavor, they
+were but lightly esteemed as an article of commerce. Its systematic
+cultivation was first commenced in 1824, by Sir E. Barnes, the then
+governor, who hoped by his example to introduce coffee planting by
+Europeans into the island. Up to 1834, however, public attention does
+not seem to have been occupied with the industry, but in that year
+the falling off in supplies from other countries brought capitalists
+into the field, and when, in 1836, the duty in England was reduced to
+six pence per pound, a great impulse was given to coffee planting in
+Ceylon. During that and the following year about 7,000 acres of the
+finest lands were purchased for the purpose, until, at the end of a
+few years, it became a matter of notoriety that the soil and climate of
+Ceylon were capable of producing coffee equal in value to most kinds
+then grown, when the influx of capital from England for investment in
+this new branch of industry became simply enormous. In 1840, nearly
+10,000 acres of mountain forest were felled and planted in coffee,
+and in an exceedingly short space of time the sale of crown-lands for
+coffee culture averaged 40,000 acres per annum. The mountain ranges
+on all sides of the district of Kandy became speedily covered with
+plantations, the great valleys of Ambogamoa, Doombera, Kotmalie and
+Pusilawa were occupied by speculators, others settling in the steep
+passes of Neurailla and penetrating the Ouvah and Badulla districts,
+coffee-trees quickly blooming on every solitary hill, even up to and
+around the very base of Adam’s peak. The first ardent adventurers
+pioneering their way through pathless woods, living in log-cabins
+whilst felling the forest and making their preliminary preparations
+for planting, until, in a few years, the paths by which they came
+were converted into roadways and their cabins replaced by comfortable
+“bungalows.” The coffee cultivation mania in Ceylon, however, reached
+its climax in 1845, when the governor, council, military, judges,
+civil servants, and even the clergy penetrated the hills in their mad
+haste to become purchasers of crown lands for coffee growing. The East
+India Company’s officers crowded to Ceylon to invest their savings in
+coffee lands, capitalists from England at the same time arriving by
+every vessel, the bulk of the emigrants as a class being more than
+ordinarily aristocratic, and who, if not already opulent, were still in
+haste to become more so. So dazzling was the prospect that expenditure
+was unlimited, its profusion being only equalled by the ignorance
+and inexperience of those to whom it was intrusted; five millions
+sterling being sunk in the “Coffee craze” in less than as many years.
+The rush for coffee lands at this period in Ceylon was only paralleled
+by the movement towards the gold mines of California and Australia,
+but with this painful difference, that the wild enthusiasts in Ceylon
+instead of thronging to disinter were hurrying to bury their gold, for
+in the very midst of their visions of riches a crash suddenly came
+which awakened the victims to the reality of their ruin. The financial
+panic of 1845 in England rapidly extended its destructive influences
+to Ceylon; remittances ceased, credit failed, prices fell, and the
+first announcement on the subsidence of the turmoil was the doom of
+protection and the withdrawal of the distinctive duty which had so
+long screened the British coffee plantations from competition with
+those of Java and Brazil. The consternation thus produced in Ceylon
+was proportionate to the extravagance and hopes that were blasted,
+coffee plantations being forced into the market, and many sold off for
+a twentieth part of the outlay incurred in forming them, while others
+that could not be sacrificed at any price were abandoned and allowed
+to return to their natural jungle. For over three years the enterprise
+appeared paralyzed, the ruined disappeared and the timid retreated,
+but those who, combining judgment with capital, persevered, succeeded
+eventually, not alone in restoring energy to the enterprise, but in
+imparting to it the prudence and experience gleaned from former similar
+disasters. Still, the crisis, had it not been precipitated by the
+calamities of 1845, must have ensued eventually, from the indiscretion
+of the previous period; and the healthy condition which coffee planting
+appears to have attained at the present day in Ceylon results from
+the correction of the errors then committed; and it is no exaggeration
+to state that there is not a single well-established principle now
+governing the management of the plantations and the conduct of the
+proprietors that was not preceded by a directly opposite policy in 1845.
+
+Since the explosion of this second edition of the “South-sea bubble”
+in Ceylon, the island has made rapid strides in coffee growing, the
+mountain forests have been replaced by extensive plantations, of which
+there are at the present day no less than 1,000 under cultivation,
+yielding an average annual crop of nearly 80,000,000 pounds exclusive
+of that raised by the natives. Observation has also since discerned
+the true tests of soil, climate and aspect, former delusions as to
+high altitudes have been exploded, unprofitable districts avoided
+and unproductive localities abandoned. And in lieu of the belief
+that the coffee tree, once rooted, would continue ever after to bear
+crops without further attention or manure, and flourish perennially
+in defiance of weeds and neglect, every plantation is now tended like
+a garden, and the soil enriched artificially in proportion to the
+produce it bears, expenditures also being reduced within the bounds of
+discretion. An acre of forest land can now be purchased for one-tenth
+of what it cost in 1844, and though the extravagant prices and the
+still more extravagant expectations of that period have been entirely
+dissipated, coffee planting at the present day in Ceylon under careful
+supervision, promises as sound an investment as moderate enterprise can
+hope for. Systematic coffee cultivation is almost exclusively confined
+to the hill region, which embraces the districts of Kandy, Pusilawa,
+Doombera, Kotmalie and Ambogama, although irregular native gardens are
+to be found everywhere in the southwestern portion of the island, even
+close to the seashore. The favorite and most productive elevation is,
+however, between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above sea-level, but in a few
+exceptional cases plantations descend almost to the foot of the hills,
+others being situated nearly 6,000 feet above. While native gardens,
+sometimes bearing good crops, may be met with along the coast actually
+at sea-level; in such instances, however, the gardens are limited in
+extent, and are generally richly manured and well watered during the
+dry season.
+
+The principal coffee-producing zone of Ceylon of the present day is
+chiefly situated in what is known as the Gampola district, in which the
+scientific cultivation of coffee was first attempted, and the point at
+which the great roads converge connecting the rich coffee districts of
+Doombera, Kotmalie and Pusilawa with the ports of Kandy and Colombo.
+The soil and situation of the Gampola district have proved so favorable
+to the growth of the coffee-plant that there is hardly one of the
+magnificent hills seen from it that has not been taken possession of
+by planters, the plantations being situated chiefly in the mountain
+ranges on all sides of it. Ceylon coffees are classified commercially
+as “Native,” “Plantation,” “Liberian” and “Mountain” or “Mocha,” the
+latter being nothing more than a small-bean plantation coffee usually
+separated.
+
+=Native.=--What is known to commerce as “Native Ceylon” is principally
+produced in the district of Ouvah by native growers, from which fact it
+derives its trade-name. Being a plain-grown or lowland coffee, the bean
+is large and flat in style, greenish, moist and “flabby” when first
+picked, but becoming almost white, broken and “chaffy” as it dries. It
+is a poor “roaster,” being invariably “quakery,” weak and thin in the
+infusion, and devoid of any distinctive flavor or aroma in the cup.
+
+[Illustration: DRYING COFFEE ON THE PATIO OR TERRACE.]
+
+=Plantation=--Derives its trade-name from its being systematically
+cultivated in regularly-laid-out plantations, by scientific methods
+under intelligent management, and is without doubt one of the finest
+varieties grown, ranking high commercially for its intrinsic value. The
+raw or natural bean is large, bold, symmetrical and exceedingly well
+developed, of a light bluish or translucent-green tint or cast, very
+regular and invariably uniform in general appearance. It roasts even
+and handsomely, as fine, if not more so, than any variety known, while
+in the infusion it is rich and strong, but smooth and creamy in body,
+fragrant and aromatic in flavor; an equal quantity of this variety
+yielding a heavier-bodied and richer liquor than that of the finest
+Java, but will not be quite as high in flavor.
+
+=Liberian-Ceylon=--Is produced from a transplant of the Liberian
+species, which, owing to the destruction caused by the “leaf disease”
+on the Ceylon plantations, has been introduced to that island, on
+account of its being considered much stronger, hardier and better able
+to withstand disease than the native trees, but while it was found
+specially adapted to the plains and low-lying situations, it would
+not bear so well on the upland or mountain slopes. A hybrid species
+was at length evolved, the product of which is known to trade as
+“Ceylon-Liberian,” the bean of which in the natural state is not quite
+as large as that of the parent plant, not as convex in shape, the
+color being paler, bordering on a rich yellow instead of brown, while
+the infusion though not as heavy in body or dark in color, is much
+smoother and more palatable, the too-heavy properties of the original
+being greatly modified by climatic and other causes.
+
+=Ceylon-Mocha=--Is a small bean, mountain-grown, coffee, very even
+and uniform, usually separated from the regular plantation variety.
+The raw or unroasted bean is of a steel-blue or silvery-grey color,
+according to age, exceedingly rich in liquor and fragrant in flavor,
+and considered by some experts to be equal in drinking qualities to any
+variety grown, being frequently shipped to Aden for substitution or
+mixing with Mocha coffee.
+
+Ceylon coffees are usually packed in casks and in hogsheads (except
+Native, which is put up in bags), the former weighing 400 and the
+latter 1,000 pounds, and shipped to England, where it commands a high
+price, relatively, and where they are graded as No. 1 (largest);
+2 (medium); 3 (small), and “Triage,” or common, but generally as
+“Plantation” and “Native” in the American market. In 1880 it was
+estimated that the capital invested in coffee culture amounted to over
+$70,000,000, a notable increase having taken place since that year,
+there being at the present time some forty districts on the island
+in which coffee culture is carried on for commercial uses. While the
+native product is usually calculated to extend over 50,000 acres,
+which, however, varies very much, according to the character of the
+season, the prices obtained, and the cheapness of money. The annual
+exports are about 80,000,000 pounds, giving an average yield from old
+and new plantations of a little over 400 pounds per acre.
+
+
+MALAYAN COFFEES
+
+Include the products of the islands of Java, Sumatra, Celebes, the
+Sunda and many other of the smaller islands of the Malayan Archipelago.
+
+
+JAVA COFFEES.
+
+Java is a generic term applied to all coffees grown in the Eastern
+Archipelago, and is almost a synonym for coffee. While the coffee
+plant, which is only known in Java by its European appellation and
+its intimate relation with European despotism, was first introduced
+into that island by the Dutch at the close of the seventeenth century,
+and has ever since remained one of their chief articles of exclusive
+monopoly. The labor by which it is planted and its produce collected
+is included among the oppressions or “forced services” of the natives
+at inadequate rates. Previous to the year 1808 the cultivation of
+coffee in Java was principally confined to the Sunda districts, there
+being, up to that year, but few plantations comparatively in the
+eastern districts, the product of which they were capable of yielding
+not amounting to one-tenth of the whole. But under the rapacious
+administration of the Dutch East India Company and government the
+cultivation of coffee has usurped the soil of almost the entire island,
+otherwise destined for yielding the subsistence of the people, the
+cultivation of all other products being made subservient to it and the
+withering effects of a government monopoly, extending their influence
+indiscriminately throughout every province and district in the island.
+In the Sunda districts particularly each native family is compelled
+to care for 1,000 coffee plants, and in the eastern districts, where
+new and extensive plantations are being formed from time to time
+in soils and situations in many instances by no means favorable to
+its profitable culture, 650 plants is the prescribed allotment. No
+negligence can be practised in the performance of this duty, the
+whole operations of planting, picking and pulping being conducted
+under the immediate superintendence of the government officials, who
+select the sites where the new plantations are to be formed, seeing
+that they are preserved from weeds and rank grasses and overseeing its
+selection and removal to the “go-downs” or warehouses when prepared.
+Under this system the Sunda districts are estimated to yield an
+annual produce of 100,000 piculs, and it was at one time calculated
+that the young plantations of the eastern districts, when they should
+come into full bearing, would produce an equal quantity, but in the
+latter section many of the plantations had been formed on ill-judged
+sites, the natives being also averse to the new and additional burden
+which this increase of cultivation imposed upon their labor. Had the
+system been persevered in or enforced by a despotic authority, it is
+questionable whether the quantity anticipated in the above estimate,
+or even one-half of it, would have been obtained from the eastern
+districts. The Sundas living in an island and mountainous country,
+and having been long accustomed to the hardships of coffee culture,
+are less sensible of its pressure than the rest of their countrymen,
+time and habit having reconciled them to a system of servitude, which
+was at first revolting to them, and a state of slavery, which the
+philanthropist laments as degrading, is scarcely felt to be even a
+grievance by themselves. Instances, however, are not wanting in which
+the usual measure of exaction having been surpassed they have been
+awakened to a sense of their wretchedness, a government of colonial
+monopolists, eager only for profit, and heedless of the sources from
+which it is derived, subjecting its native subjects to privations and
+distresses, the recital of which shock the ear of humanity. In brief,
+the system of coffee culture in the island of Java has sometimes been
+so severely exacted that, together with the other constant and heavy
+demands made upon them by the government authority on the native labor
+of the country, that they deprived the unfortunate peasants of the time
+necessary to raise food for their own support, many thus perishing by
+famine, while others fled to the mountains, where, raising a scanty
+subsistence in patches, or often dependent for it upon the roots of the
+forest, they congratulated themselves on their escape from the reach
+of their oppressors; numbers of these people, with their descendants,
+remaining in these haunts to the present time. In their annual
+migrations they frequently pass over the richest lands, which still
+remain uncultivated, awaiting their return to till it, but they prefer
+their wild independence and precarious subsistence to the horrors of
+being again subjected to forced servitude and forced deliveries at
+inadequate compensation.
+
+In the Java highlands the tree yields fruit for a period of twenty
+years, while on the plains or lowlands it seldom attains a greater age
+than nine or ten, bearing only during six or seven of these, the fruit
+being larger comparatively, but the flavor less as a general rule.
+About the end of the rainy season such plants as have not thriven are
+replaced by others and the plantations cleared, this latter operation
+in well-managed plantations being generally performed from three to
+four times in the year, the tree being never topped or pruned, but
+universally allowed to grow in all its native luxuriance. In this state
+it often, in favored situations, reaches a height of sixteen feet,
+and plants eight inches broad have been frequently procured from the
+trunks. The average product of a coffee tree in Java is not estimated
+at much more than 1¹⁄₄ pounds, but there are instances on record where
+as much as from twenty to thirty pounds have been yielded by a single
+plant in a season. Again, in Java there does not appear to be any
+fixed or certain season for the plant to arrive at maturity, as in the
+Western countries, the gathering usually commencing in June or July,
+and it is not until late in the following April that the entire crop
+is delivered to the go-downs. The picking season in general, however,
+consists of three pickings or crops of which the first or “roor-pluk,”
+which is small, begins in February, the second or “main-pluk” in May
+or June, when the heaviest portion is gathered. It is also termed the
+“full-pluk,” from being the most abundant of the season the third
+or “after-pluk,” being what is left to open on the trees, may be
+considered more of a gleaning, as it is merely a general sweep of
+the fallen berries. When the berries become of a dark crimson color
+they are plucked off one by one with the assistance of a light bamboo
+ladder, the greatest care being taken not to shake off the blossoms
+which still remain on the tree or to pluck the unripe fruit. The women
+and children of the country usually do the picking, the men attending
+to the heavier work around the plantations. Attached to every village
+near which there are coffee plantations of any extent, there is a
+“drying-house,” to which the newly-gathered coffee is carried and where
+it is placed on hurdles about four feet from the floor, under which a
+slow wood-fire is kept up during the night; the roof is opened in the
+mornings and evenings to admit the air, the berries being frequently
+stirred meanwhile to prevent fermentation. As the excessive heat of
+the sun is considered prejudicial, the roof of the “drying-house” is
+closed during mid-day, this operation being continued until the husk is
+thoroughly dried. The coffee dried in this manner is generally small,
+sea-green or grayish in color and is supposed to acquire a peculiar
+flavor from the smoke, although it does not appear that any particular
+kind of wood is used as fuel. On the other hand, when the coffee is
+dried in the sun the bean becomes of a pale yellowish color, is larger
+in size, specifically lighter in weight and more pungent in flavor than
+the former. The most common method of pulping in Java among the natives
+is to pound the berries when dried in a bag made of buffalo hide, care
+being taken not to break or mutilate the beans. A mill of the most
+elementary construction is, however, sometimes used for the purpose,
+but is said not to answer as well. When the operations of pulping and
+cleaning are completed the coffee is then put in bags and baskets and
+stood on raised platforms until the period of delivery arrives, when it
+is carried to the “go-downs” or storehouses, sometimes by men but more
+generally on the backs of buffaloes and mules in strings of from 1,500
+to 2,000 at a time. In the Sunda district there are three principal
+depots for receiving the coffee from the cultivators--Chikan, Karang
+and Buitzenorg. From Buitzenorg it is either sent direct to Batavia by
+land in carts or by way of Linkong, whence it is forwarded in boats by
+the Chidana river, while from Chikan the coffee is sent in boats down
+the river Chitaram and thence along the sea-coast to Batavia, where
+it is received into extensive warehouses and from which it is in turn
+generally exported to the European and American markets.
+
+Up to a very recent period almost all coffee in Java was cultivated
+by the natives under supervision of the Dutch government, which had
+a monopoly of the product, deriving an enormous revenue from its
+cultivation. Under this system, each family was compelled to cultivate,
+pick, dry, hull and deliver the coffee at the nearest government
+warehouse for transport to the port of shipment, the natives being
+allowed but a small percentage of the crop as compensation for their
+labor in many instances, but more generally the government placing a
+figure so low as to enable it to sell the coffee at an enormous profit,
+and also deducting again a heavy duty from the gross price paid to the
+growers, thereby deriving an almost fabulous revenue from this system
+of cultivation.
+
+It is difficult to state what recompense the native cultivator
+of coffee receives in Java for his services and his product, the
+complicated system of accounts which prevails there seem only
+calculated to puzzle or mystify the investigator and allow the Dutch
+commissary to derive an income of from eighty to one hundred thousand
+dollars per annum at the expense of the government by whom he is
+employed, on the one hand, and that of the natives whom he oppresses,
+on the other. Latterly, however, it has been directed that the
+cultivators should receive, on delivery at the government storehouses,
+“three rix-dollars (copper) for each “mountain” picul (225 pounds) of
+coffee, being very little more than one dollar per hundred, while this
+same coffee has frequently been sold in Batavia, within fifty miles
+of the spot where it was raised, at twenty dollars per hundred, and
+has been seldom sold in the European or American markets at less than
+twenty cents per pound. It is, also, difficult to fix the exact rate at
+which the coffee might be produced under the free system, but that it
+can be raised for exportation at ten dollars per hundred with profit is
+beyond doubt. The price paid the natives, however, is deemed liberal
+by the Dutch government, though in many cases it has to be transported
+over sixty miles of an almost impassible country, where two men are
+required to carry a hundred pounds of coffee on their shoulders and
+at an expense of labor which one would suppose at least equal to the
+remuneration.
+
+All the available mountain slopes on the island of Java are literally
+covered with coffee plantations, owned and operated by the Dutch
+government, which assigns to each Javanese family the cultivation
+and care of from 600 to 1,000 trees under severe penalties, the
+natives being compelled to deliver their crops, hulled and cleaned,
+to the nearest government stores at the end of the harvest, accepting
+in return whatever price the government is pleased to put on it.
+Considerable coffee is, however, cultivated by the natives themselves,
+independently of that raised directly for the government, being chiefly
+grown along the borders of the government plantations and other
+unused patches, as well as along the fences around their farms, being
+generally raised in the shade; the berry of some of this coffee attains
+a high excellence rivalling if not actually excelling the government
+product in many instances.
+
+A considerable portion of the peasantry having--as already
+observed--been long accustomed to the cultivation of coffee, it is
+owing to their skill and experience that the coffee owes its excellence
+as much as to any direct knowledge, superintendence or interference of
+the Dutch officials, who derive their information from the natives,
+having little more to do than occasionally ride around the plantations
+with a pompous suite, keep the accounts and examine the coffee, as it
+is received from the cultivators. The plantations are generally laid
+out in squares, the distances between the plants varying according to
+the fertility of the soil, that is, in a soil not considered fertile,
+a distance of six feet is preserved, and in each interval is planted a
+“dadap” tree for the purpose of affording shade to the plants; while in
+a rich soil where the plant grows more luxuriantly, fewer shade trees
+are required and the plants are placed at greater distances from each
+other. But in Java, a certain degree of shade appears to be necessary
+at all times to the health of the coffee plant, especially during its
+earlier stages, and in low situations, for which purpose the dadap tree
+is found to be better calculated for affording this protection than any
+other kind in the country, it being a common saying on that island that
+“where the dadap flourishes, there also will flourish coffee.” But it
+must not be inferred from this that they are always constant or even
+necessary companions, for in the highlands many of the most flourishing
+plantations are to be observed with but very few dadaps in the vicinity.
+
+Coffee is cultivated for commercial use in all of the twenty-two
+residencies into which the island is divided, including Bantam,
+Batavia, Bezoeki, Bagelen, Banjoewanjie and Banjoemas, Cheribon,
+Japara, Kadoe, Kediri and Krawang, Madioen, Rembang, Preanger,
+Probolingo, Passoeren and Pekalongan, Soerabaya, Soerakarta and
+Djokjakarta, Bali, Timour, Malang and Samarang, each of which
+residencies or districts containing from five to fifty plantations,
+by which they are further distinguished. In trade they are generally
+divided into “Government” and “Free Coffees,” the free cultivation
+being now permitted in the residencies of Bantam, Cheribon and many
+other of the Eastern districts. And, as with the coffees of all other
+countries, the product of the different districts of Java varies
+considerably in quality and value, many of them possessing a richness
+and mellowness not approached by that of any other country; others,
+again, being so inferior that were it not for the fact of being grown
+on that island they would not be deserving of the name.
+
+=Bantam and Batavia=--Are medium-sized, yellowish in color, regular
+and uniform in appearance, roasting and drinking exceeding well, being
+generally clean and free from quakers.
+
+=Bagalen and Bezoeki=--Are rather bold and plump in style, rich yellow
+in color, solid and compact in form, full in body and fragrant in
+flavor, ranking with the best of the Java growths.
+
+=Banjoewanjie and Banjoemas=--While not plentiful sorts, rarely coming
+to this market, being principally shipped to Holland, where they
+are much appreciated for their great strength and rich flavor, are
+medium-sized, heavy and round in body, creamy and fragrant in the cup.
+
+=Cheribon and Japara=--Are rather light in weight and color, inclined
+to be “chaffy” in the natural state and “quakery” in the roasted, but
+nevertheless yield a pleasing and palatable liquor on infusion.
+
+=Kadoe and Kediri=--Are small, hard-bean coffees, approaching brown,
+and usually good drinkers, being a favorite in the European market,
+where they rank high commercially.
+
+=Rembang and Krawang=--Rank next to Kadoe in general cup qualities, but
+are somewhat irregular in the raw state, roasting and drinking well,
+however.
+
+=Preanger and Probolingo=--The soil of these districts being
+pre-eminently adapted for the cultivation of fine coffees, they are
+noted for their products. The bean is round, full and well developed,
+high-yellow in color, but assuming a rich-brown with age, firm and
+regular in style, rich, mellow and creamy in liquor, fragrant and
+aromatic in flavor, rivalling the best product of Arabia itself.
+
+=Passoeren and Pekalongen=--Rank next to Preanger, being usually brown,
+regular and uniform, full in body, round in flavor and as a general
+rule very fragrant, particularly when the crop is good.
+
+=Madioen and Soerabaya=--Belong to the yellow-bean class, and are
+rather light in weight and body but pleasing and agreeable in the cup,
+approximating to a fine Cucuta Maracaibo in form, liquor and general
+characteristics.
+
+=Soerakarta and Djokjakarta=--Are among the best of the Java growths,
+large, heavy and well-developed in bean, handsome and attractive in the
+roasted state, yielding a rich golden-yellow liquor, creamy in body and
+aromatic in flavor.
+
+=Bali and Timoor=--Are grown on the small islands to the south of Java,
+and though fair in size and quite brown in color, are nevertheless
+deceptive in roasting and drinking qualities.
+
+=Malang and Samarang=--Are light in weight and in color, somewhat
+chaffy in the natural state and “quakery” in the roasted, thin, flat
+and flavorless in liquor.
+
+
+OTHER VARIETIES.
+
+=Old Government Java=--Is a trade term applied to coffee grown and
+stored under the supervision of the officers of the Dutch government,
+and in contradistinction to that raised by the natives, but is now
+an almost obsolete term. It is produced principally in the Preanger
+district, where the greatest care and attention is bestowed on its
+cultivation and curing, its cultivation never being entirely entrusted
+to the natives; the primary object of the government officials being
+to improve the berry and enhance its value to the exclusion of
+increased quantity. After being picked and cured, it is stored in
+“go-downs” or storehouses for a number of years, frequently seven,
+before being offered for sale, the go-downs being erected expressly
+for the purpose, being open at the sides so as to admit the sun and
+air in order to mature and season the coffee, which, like wine,
+improves with age, the bean assuming with time a dark-brown color and
+the flavor becoming richer and more mellow by the development of the
+volatile or essential oil contained in the beans. By prolonged keeping
+in the raw state it is found that the richness of any seeds in this
+peculiar oil is increased, and with increased aroma the coffee yields
+a blander and more mellow beverage. Stored coffees, for this reason,
+lose weight at first with great rapidity, sometimes as much as 8 per
+cent. having been found to dissipate in the first year of keeping, 5
+per cent. in the second and 2 per cent. in the third; but such loss
+of weight is more than compensated for by the improvement in quality
+and consequent enhancement of value. Old Government Java is for this
+reason celebrated for its superior excellence, and justly deserving of
+its high repute. Latterly, however, the term has been indiscriminately
+used and applied to all Java coffees of a brown color, irrespective of
+age, grade or district of production and has thereby ceased to possess
+any real significance as implying any extra merit or superiority over
+the average run of Java coffees. The natural bean of the true Old
+Government Java Coffee is large, round and well developed, of a rich
+brown color, exceedingly regular and uniform in general appearance and
+entirely free from defects of any kind, while the infusion is round and
+heavy in body, creamy, mellow and fragrant in flavor, surpassing in
+general “cup qualities” that of any other variety grown. All coffees
+raised under the supervision of the government are disposed of through
+the agency of the “Netherlands’ Maatschappy,” or Trading Company, at
+the periodical (quarterly) auction sales held in Batavia or Amsterdam,
+the sales occurring in the months of March, June, September and
+December. It is offered for sale only in limited quantities--from one
+to two hundred picul lots--no purchaser being permitted to buy more at
+a single bidding, the prices varying at each sale, being regulated by
+the quantity offered and the number of orders received by the agents
+or brokers to buy, so that parties purchasing two or more lots cannot
+calculate what the average cost will be until the sale is ended.
+
+=Plantation=--Or “Private Growth Javas,” are so termed from being grown
+on plantations owned and operated by private or individual planters,
+and in contradistinction to that raised under government supervision.
+Being grown from selected seed, under the best agricultural conditions
+and scientific cultivation, it produces a quality of coffee that cannot
+be surpassed for size, style, color, regularity and general intrinsic
+merit. It is also marketed differently from the government system,
+being disposed of by contract or tender, that is, as soon as the
+quantity and quality of the crop can be estimated, the planters issue
+a circular letter or note to the principal firms of Batavia and to the
+representatives of European and American houses, informing them of the
+facts and soliciting bids for the entire crop. Proposals are received
+and the coffee sold to the highest bidder; but if, according to the
+planter’s views, the offers are too low, he claims the right to reject
+them and hold the coffee for a better market. If accepted the coffee is
+carefully picked over, assorted and transported to the shipping port
+by the planter and delivered in bulk, the purchaser furnishing his
+own bags and marks, the coffees being of such high repute and quality
+they sell high, there being great competition to obtain them. Many
+of these plantations were in existence prior to the introduction of
+the government monopoly system, or are situated on the estates of the
+native princes, who have been permitted to retain some portion of their
+sovereign privileges.
+
+=Liberian-Java=--Is the product of a transplant of the Liberian species
+introduced into the island about ten years ago, where it was found to
+prosper well and vigorously; a great demand springing up for its seed,
+the cultivation increasing and yielding a bean much larger than that
+produced by the parent plant, full and well developed, yellow to brown
+in color, concave in form and closely resembling “Padang” in liquor and
+flavor.
+
+=W.I.P.=--Or “West India Prepared” Java is so termed from being
+pulped and prepared by the “Washed” or West India process, being also
+known to trade as “Blue-bean Java.” The raw bean is bold, regular and
+bluish-green in color, hard and solid in substance, heavy, rich and
+flavory in liquor. Some authorities, however, contend that this new
+process is detrimental to the coffee, claiming that by the old or
+“dry-hulled” method the bean retained all the properties of the coffee
+to a much greater degree, whereas by the new process, considerable of
+the active principle (caffeine) is carried off in the washing.
+
+=Loeke or “Tiger-cat Java”=--Is a variety of Java coffee highly prized
+for the intrinsic merits imparted to it by a peculiar process. It is
+composed simply of the undigested beans which have passed through the
+intestinal canal of the “Loeke,” a small species of tiger found in
+Java, which, climbing the trees, selects the ripest and richest of the
+berries, feeds on them, swallowing both pulp and beans, the latter
+being left in the jungle and afterwards collected by the natives. It
+is analogous to the “Monkey coffee” of Brazil and the “Jackal coffee”
+of India, the excellent qualities of which is due to the chemical
+process which the beans undergo in the stomach of the animal that has
+stolen them, the appreciation of such stercoraceously deposited beans
+by the natives being an undoubted fact. The bean is large and bold, but
+whitish in color, heavy, round and creamy in body, exceedingly fragrant
+and aromatic in flavor and not excelled by that of any coffee grown or
+known to commerce.
+
+At the time of shipment all Java coffees are of a light-green shade
+unless--as in the case of government and other coffees--they have been
+previously stored for the purpose of seasoning or to await a better
+market. During the long voyage through the tropics the bean gradually
+changes to a deep-yellow, and finally to a dark-brown, particularly
+if the voyage be materially lengthened, as it frequently is; the
+darker the color becomes the more valuable the coffee on arrival. This
+distinctive feature being characteristic of Java coffees only, no
+other variety acquiring this color except by artificial means. Color
+is the standard of value and the principal consideration in appraising
+its price in the American market, there being a wide difference made
+in the values of “Pale,” “Yellow” and “Brown” Java coffees in favor
+of the latter. As stated before, by being stored for a certain length
+of time, Java coffees improve in quality, the bean becoming browner
+and the flavor more mellow, probably in the same manner as wine. The
+moisture evaporates from the bean and the aciduous, astringent taste,
+of the young, new bean is entirely dissipated and lost by the process,
+which, by becoming thoroughly dry and seasoned, enhances its value
+commercially. Yet color cannot always be taken as an indication of
+age or genuineness, as much of the coffee offered under the head of
+Brown Java at the present time is nothing more than Malang and other
+varieties “sweated,” and colored by a steaming process or artificially
+faced with a preparation of kaolin or soapstone. Again if this feature
+of turning brown with time, were always an indication of age, it may
+be taken for granted that “Brown Javas,” possessed finer roasting and
+drinking qualities, than the “Light” or Yellow-bean varieties, but
+it is an acknowledged fact that this brown color, even when natural,
+neither adds or detracts from its value in the cup. Practically the
+demand for “Brown Java” coffee is but an American caprice, enhancing
+its commercial value from two to three cents per pound beyond its
+intrinsic worth; this caprice being also directly responsible for
+the immense amount of other so-called Java coffees that are annually
+sweated and colored to imitate or counterfeit the naturally colored and
+genuine kinds. While in Europe the yellow-colored coffees are preferred
+to the brown, being quite as good, if not superior, to them, and less
+liable to manipulation.
+
+Java coffees are packed for export in bags containing one picul
+(133 pounds) when intended for the European markets, and in mats of
+one-half picul for the American, the latter style being preferred in
+this country. In the European markets they are classed as “Green,”
+“Pale-green,” “Greenish” and “Extra-green” when new, but as “Yellow,”
+“Dark-yellow,” “Light-brown” and “Brown” when old, grading in the
+order named. While in the United States they are generally classed as
+“Light,” “Yellow” and “Brown,” according to color, the packages being
+usually marked with the initials of the importer, underneath which is
+a letter or letters denoting the district or plantation where grown.
+The average annual production is about 100,000,000 pounds, of which
+30,000,000 pounds is produced on private plantations.
+
+
+SUMATRA COFFEES.
+
+Sumatra known to the Arabians as _Srimata_ (“the happy”), lies to the
+northwest of Java, being separated only from it by the narrow Sunda
+strait, and is much richer in products than the latter island. The
+coffee-plant was first introduced into Sumatra from Java, by the Dutch,
+in the latter part of the eighteenth century, but its cultivation made
+little or no progress on that island until about the year 1800, when
+measures were taken by the government to promote and stimulate its
+production there, since which period there has been a rapid increase
+in its output. The system of coffee cultivation is nearly identical
+with that in Java, each native family being furnished with seed by
+the government on condition that they keep in good bearing order not
+less than 650 trees, the crop, “if up to standard,” being purchased
+by the government, that is, _taken_, at an arbitrarily _fixed_ price.
+The coffee, after being inspected and accepted, is stored in go-downs
+or warehouses adjacent to the districts of growth, until a sufficient
+quantity has been collected, when it is transported to the ports of
+Padang or Benkoolen, where, after being duly advertised, it is sold
+at auction, under the immediate supervision of the officers of the
+Dutch government, the sales being held quarterly during the months
+of March, June, September and December, as in Batavia and Amsterdam.
+Latterly, however, the cultivation of coffee in Sumatra has been
+further encouraged by the government leasing or selling coffee-lands
+to independent planters, the product of such plantations being termed
+“Free coffee,” in contradistinction to that raised with restrictions by
+the natives, such coffees being sold only by tenders, as in Java.
+
+Like Java, Sumatra is geographically divided into a number of
+districts politically termed “Residencies,” under Dutch control, the
+coffee-producing districts comprising Painan, Padang, Palembang,
+Ankola, Ayerbanjies and Mandheling, grading relatively in the order
+named.
+
+=Painan=--Is a medium-sized bean brownish in color, hard, solid and
+regular in appearance, generally clean and well prepared, and though
+fairly heavy in body and pungent in flavor is yet devoid of the
+mellowness and fragrance which characterize Sumatra sorts in general,
+but is still superior in many respects to a number of the Java growths.
+
+=Padang=--Known to trade generally as “Interior” from being raised in
+a somewhat desultory manner by the natives on government lands, in
+the Padang plateau or highlands of the interior, which furnishes the
+largest quantity. Padang or Interior coffees are not, as a rule, as
+stylish or uniform as the other district growths, owing to careless
+cultivation and the primitive methods of preparation in use by the
+natives. Yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks, Interior coffees
+frequently comprise invoices rivalling in roasting and drinking
+qualities many of the regularly cultivated district coffees, and at all
+times far outrank the average of the Java product. The raw bean as a
+rule is of fair proportions, but very irregular in general appearance,
+fairly uniform, and though lacking in the style and finer qualities of
+the plantation grades, is nevertheless strong, rich and fragrant in the
+cup, possessing a characteristic flavor entirely their own.
+
+=Palembang=--Differs from Padang both in size, style, color and drink,
+being smaller in bean, lighter in color, but stronger and more pungent
+in liquor, and not, as a general rule, as highly valued, except when
+the crop is good.
+
+=Ankola=--Ranks among the finest of the Sumatra sorts in point of size,
+color and general character, the natural bean being round, full and
+firm, rich dark-brown in color, bright and mellow in liquor, and very
+fragrant if not aromatic in flavor, and much superior in every respect
+to the best of the Java growths, excepting alone that produced in the
+Preanger district.
+
+=Ayerbanjies=--Is closely allied to Ankola in all its leading features
+of size, color, structure and character, being classed commercially as
+on an entire parity with it, commanding the same price, and frequently
+substituted for it when the former is scarce or difficult to obtain.
+
+=Mandheling=--Is without exception the finest of the Sumatra products,
+and is valued high commercially, not alone for its undisputed intrinsic
+merits, but also on account of the comparatively small amount produced,
+forming only about ten per cent. of the entire product of the island.
+The bean is much larger, almost as large as Liberian, of a rich dark,
+natural-brown color, round, full, well developed and symmetrical in
+form, very stylish and attractive in the roasted state, and equalling,
+if not positively surpassing, the much-vaunted Old Government Java
+itself.
+
+=Lahat=--Is another of the Sumatra varieties, but not deserving of
+being classed with them. Being of lowland growth, the bean, while
+large, is flat in shape, whitish in color, and chaffy in substance,
+approaching a Malang in general contour. It is invariably “quakery” in
+the roast, flat in liquor, insipid in flavor, or more correctly, almost
+devoid of “cup” qualities.
+
+Sumatra coffees, in general, possess a peculiarly characteristic flavor
+in the raw or natural state, described by some dealers as “musty,”
+but claimed to be acquired in transit through the tropics, the coffee
+sweating in the hold of the vessel during the long voyage. Certain
+it is, however, that this mustiness, or whatever it may be termed,
+enhances rather than detracts from the value or flavor of the coffee.
+And, more singular to add, Sumatra forms nine-tenths of the coffee
+imported and sold in the United States under the head of Java, being
+preferred to the latter by the American dealers in general, on account
+of its usually dark-brown color and distinctive “musty” flavor. The
+annual product, like that of all other countries, varies materially
+from various and obvious causes, both in quantity and quality, the
+average annual export being about 20,000,000 pounds, of which the
+United States takes upwards of 75 per cent., the product of “Free” or
+private plantation coffee forming about one-fifth of the annual yield.
+It is packed in grass mats, and shipped from the port of Padang, when
+purchased for account in the United States, and from Benkoolen, in the
+north, when intended for the European market.
+
+
+CELEBES COFFEES
+
+Are grown in the Dutch island of that name, situated to the northeast
+of Java, the coffee plant being introduced there from Java as far
+back as 1750, but except where Dutch influence was felt little or no
+attention was paid to it by the native races until about 1822, when
+it was discovered by the Dutch rulers that the soil of the mountain
+sides was admirably adapted to the cultivation of fine coffees and a
+system established which stimulated the native chiefs to foster the
+industry and undertake the management of coffee plantations. A law was
+subsequently enacted by the Dutch government, however, compelling the
+native princes to direct the total annihilation of the cultivation
+of coffee in their dominions and to secure by treaty with them the
+destruction and confiscation of all coffee found in the hands of the
+natives. The island is divided into thirteen districts, in nearly all
+of which more or less coffee is produced. The principal coffees being
+known to commerce as Menado, Bonthyne and Macassar.
+
+=Menado=--Produced in the district of Minnahassa situated in the
+extreme north of the island, is not only the finest grown on that
+island, but, also excels the best products of both Java and Sumatra.
+The bean is uniformly large and regular, of a rich dark-yellow color,
+solid and heavy in weight, magnificent in the roast, creamy and
+aromatic to a high degree in the cup. It is claimed to possess the
+“highest standard of excellence,” no other variety containing the same
+all-round qualities of size, style, color, liquor, flavor and aroma to
+the same extent. The supply, however, is very limited, and is generally
+shipped to Holland, where it commands a price in accordance with its
+merits, but rarely reaching the United States.
+
+=Bonthyne=--Is medium in size, flat in form, reddish in color, inferior
+in roast and flavor, and not a desirable sort by any means.
+
+=Macassar=--Is the poorest of the Celebes sorts, closely resembling
+Lahat and Malang, and on a parity with them in appearance, character
+and value.
+
+=Singapore Javas.=--What are known to commerce as “Singapore Java
+Coffees” are not produced on that island, which, although lying
+directly in the coffee zone, produces little or no coffee, except
+small quantities of the Liberian species, which has recently been
+introduced there. 90 per cent. of the coffee shipped from Singapore
+is chiefly composed of the products of Bali, Timour, the Mollucas and
+smaller Sunda islands, its position making it the only _entrepot_
+for the commerce of the entire archipelago. The coffees are usually
+small in size, reddish in color, irregular in grade and inferior in
+quality, being generally produced from wild or carelessly cultivated
+plants, and also possessing a peculiar spicy or “peppery” flavor, said
+to be contracted from being imported with cargoes of pepper, but more
+probably from being grown in the vicinity of pepper plantations in the
+Spice islands. Formerly these coffees were marketed under their true
+titles, but as their character became known they were palmed off as
+Padang and other district Javas, to the detriment of the latter.
+
+The systematic cultivation of the Liberian species of coffee was
+commenced about ten years ago in Siam, Malacca and many of the smaller
+islands of Malaysia, where it was found to prosper so well at first
+that the demand for Liberian seed became very great. But after a
+fair trial it does not seem to have been a great success, what little
+is produced in these new districts being generally classed as “Jahore
+Liberian” coffee.
+
+
+POLYNESIAN COFFEES
+
+Embrace Phillipine, Borneo, Guinea, Fijian, Samoan, Hawaiian,
+Australian, New Zealand, and other islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
+
+=Phillipine Coffees.=--Opinions differ as to whether the coffee plant
+is indigenous to the Phillipine Islands or only exotic there, some
+authorities declaring that it was first brought there by Spanish
+priests from the Malay. Others again claiming that the plant was found
+in a wild state in the island of Luzon prior to its introduction,
+but that the natives, being ignorant of its properties, allowed the
+fruit to decay on the trees. Be this as it may, coffee thrives there
+remarkably well, the product possessing a peculiarly rich flavor, for
+which it is highly esteemed on the continent of Europe, and, although
+it is by no means well prepared or uniform, the worst grades bring
+a higher price there than the Java growths, the value on the spot
+exceeding the current rates for the latter in the foreign markets, and
+is generally classed as “Luzon,” “Manilla” and “Zamboango,” from the
+ports of shipment.
+
+=Luzon=--Is a small-bean variety, hard and flinty in texture, rich
+and aromatic in the infusion, but poorly or indifferently cleaned or
+prepared, for which causes it is not as well appreciated as it deserves.
+
+=Manilla=--Is principally produced on the islands of Indan, Laguna,
+Batangas and Cavité, its price on the spot varying from twenty to
+twenty-two dollars per picul. The bean is medium in size, regular in
+form, and pale-green in color, perfect in roast and aromatic in flavor.
+
+=Zamboango=--Comes chiefly from Mindano and the southern islands
+generally. The bean is much larger than that of Manilla,
+yellowish-white in color, but somewhat flabby in texture, and
+containing much extraneous matter, being poorly prepared, while the
+liquor is thin, flat and apt to be wild or “grassy” in flavor.
+
+Recently the natives have planted patches of coffee in the islands
+of Cebu and Bohol, small quantities of which have appeared in the
+European markets, some also being secured from the islands of Yligan
+and Amboyana. The area of land under coffee cultivation in the
+Phillipines, and the amount of coffee raised annually is not definitely
+known, as the plantations are widely scattered over the islands of the
+archipelago, but is usually estimated at about 10,000,000 pounds. The
+largest plantations are situated in the province of Batangas in the
+island of Luzon, but considerable coffee is also produced independently
+by the natives in small plots which they sell to speculators, who hold
+it until they make up a fair-sized shipment, collected in this manner,
+from the neighboring islands. The increase in production, however, has
+been marked during the past five years, from about 10,000,000 pounds in
+1888, to over 16,000,000 pounds in 1893, about 6,000,000 pounds coming
+direct to this country, the remainder being taken by Spain, France and
+Continental Europe generally.
+
+=Borneo Coffee.=--The Liberian plant has been recently introduced
+into Borneo on a small scale, where it has been found to thrive well
+but producing a bean greatly modified in size, color and flavor of
+the original species. It is much smaller, not as convex or brown, but
+smoother and more pleasing, if anything, in the drink.
+
+=Guinea Coffee.=--Rapid strides are being made in the cultivation of
+coffee in New Guinea, the product ranking with the average of the mild
+grades of the older countries.
+
+=Samoan Coffee.=--The coffee plant has been in existence here for some
+years, and though thriving luxuriantly, and the soil and climate being
+well adapted, it has never been scientifically treated, and as a
+consequence is not as yet an article of commerce.
+
+=Fijian Coffee.=--Some coffee of fair quality was exported from these
+islands as early as 1877, the industry making but little progress there
+since that time, notwithstanding the fact that the islands possess
+abundant facilities for the production of a superior variety. Several
+of the most wealthy and enterprising planters are now, however, engaged
+in its cultivation, and it is expected soon to become one of the chief
+exports of those islands. The bean is medium sized, green in color, as
+with all new coffees, and, owing to improper curing, somewhat grassy in
+flavor.
+
+=Hawaiian Coffee.=--Coffee has been cultivated in Hawaii and other
+islands of that group with considerable success for many years
+past, although the production has varied greatly there. The first
+plantations formed in the island were only a few feet above sea-level,
+to which fact is attributed the failure or rather slow progress of the
+industry there. New plantations at higher elevations have recently
+been established, from which better returns are expected. They are
+classified, and known to trade as Puna, Hilo, Kona and Hamakua, of
+which Kona is the finest, the others varying in size, color and flavor.
+The exports have declined from 415,000 pounds in 1870, which in 1885
+fell to as low as 1,675 pounds, but for 1892 it had again increased to
+13,000 pounds, the total exports since 1881 amounting to 215,782 pounds.
+
+=Australian Coffee.=--Coffee has been found to prosper well in
+Queensland, a yield of over 600 pounds per acre being obtained there
+so far and selling in Brisbane at twenty cents per pound, the smaller
+farmers finding it paying better than corn or potatoes. Efforts are
+also being made to introduce the industry into New Zealand and other of
+the Antipodean colonies. This list does not by any means exhaust the
+possible spots or sections in Polynesia where coffee is or may be grown
+with the greatest advantage, touching only the chief centres of the
+industry, and as suggesting some eligible sites for the extension of
+the planting enterprise. Fair quantities of coffee being also produced
+in the Hebrides, Society, Friendly and many other of the island groups
+in the South Pacific Ocean.
+
+
+AMERICAN COFFEES.
+
+As previously stated, the history of the first introduction of the
+coffee plant into the American continent is as romantic as it is
+interesting. In 1714 the magistrates of Amsterdam presented to Louis
+XIV a specimen of the coffee tree, which was carefully nursed in one
+of the botanic gardens of Paris, until it eventually yielded fruit. In
+1717 the French king sent several of the shoots from it to the island
+of Martinique in care of one De Clieux, an officer in the French naval
+service. The voyage being long and stormy, the ship’s crew were reduced
+to a short allowance of water; for lack of which essential all but one
+of the young plants died. De Clieux to save this remaining slip shared
+with it his own scanty allowance, eventually succeeding in bringing
+it safely to its destination. From this single plant thus heroically
+preserved, according to De Tour, was propagated the numerous varieties
+now to be found in the West Indies, Mexico, Central, and the northern
+countries of South America. And where, notwithstanding the fact that
+Coffee is indigenous to the Old World it has evidently found its true
+habitat in the New, its production at the present being many times
+greater than in the East; its cultivation also constantly and immensely
+increasing there.
+
+The climatic and topographic conditions of the American continent are
+pre-eminently adapted to the cultivation of fine coffees, the great
+mass of coffee lands, consisting of an elevated plateau formed by an
+expansion of the Cordilleras from which terraced slopes descend with a
+more or less rapid inclination towards both the Atlantic and Pacific
+oceans. This vast tract comprises one of the richest and most varied
+zones of the world, for while its geographical position secures to
+it a tropical vegetation, the rapid differences of elevation which
+characterize it afford it the advantages of more temperate climates,
+thus combining within its borders an almost unparalleled exuberance and
+multiplicity of natural products, lands favorable to the cultivation
+of coffee being found not only on the entire Andean range but also on
+its sea and land slopes from Mexico to Paraguay. While in addition to
+these immense stretches of mountain range, the plant is also found to
+flourish in the numerous valleys and plains of the interior of the
+continent, and wherever the great tablelands of the Cordilleras are
+sufficiently depressed to reach the level of tropical vegetation.
+
+American Coffees are geographically divided into Mexican, West Indian,
+Central and South American, and, as with the products of the Old World,
+the commercial divisions and subdivisions of the numerous varieties are
+based rather on the districts of production and the ports of export
+than upon any great material difference in the appearance or even
+quality of the various kinds produced.
+
+
+MEXICAN COFFEES.
+
+It is also a fact not generally known to Americans that at our very
+doors there exists the climatic conditions and capacity for the
+production of all the coffee that is required for consumption in
+the United States, the area adapted to the cultivation of coffee in
+Mexico being almost illimitable, and bounded only by the extent of
+land brought under cultivation. Its suitability as a coffee-producing
+country has been tested by more than fifty years of experience, and
+that it has not heretofore assumed first place in point of production,
+exportation, and the rank to which the merit of its product entitles
+it, is to be attributed to the same causes that have so long retarded
+its other agricultural and commercial developments. But while coffee is
+chiefly produced for export only in the States of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca,
+Michacoan, Colima, Chiapas, Jalisco and Tabasco, excellent coffee is
+also grown on the plains of the interior as far north as Sinaloa,
+as well as in the coast States from Yucatan to Tamaulipas. They are
+commercially classified as Oaxaca, Cordova, Urupuan, Tepic, Tabasco,
+Soconusco and Caracolillo, varying materially in size, style and
+quality.
+
+=Oaxaca=--Is a “Sierra,” or mountain coffee, large, bold and blue when
+new, but bleaching with time. It is one of the best of the Mexican
+varieties, being regular in roast, heavy in body, strong and rich in
+flavor and aroma.
+
+=Cordova.=--Grown in the State of Vera Cruz, is usually a large
+yellow-bean coffee, from which fact it is sometimes termed “Mexican
+Java.” It makes a handsome roast, yielding a round, full liquor,
+approaching to that of a fine Maracaibo or medium Java.
+
+=Urupuan=--Produced in the State of Michacoan is also a mountain grade,
+rather small in size, greenish-blue in color but somewhat irregular in
+appearance, not being well prepared. In flavor it is, however, high
+and fragrant, approximating most to that of a Plantation Ceylon.
+
+=Tepic=,--or “Mexican Mocha,” grown in the State of Jalisco is claimed
+to be a transplant of the Arabian berry, which has by careful and
+scientific cultivation been so improved in flavor and aroma as to
+rival, if not actually excel, the product of the parent plant. The
+natural bean is exceedingly small, hard and “flinty” in texture,
+steel-blue in color, faultless in roast, rich and creamy in body and
+highly aromatic in flavor. The supply being limited it is rarely
+exported, being principally consumed in the district of production,
+where it commands a very high price, selling on the spot for as much as
+one dollar per pound.
+
+=Tabasco=--Is a coast-grown coffee cultivated in the hot, moist
+low-lands of the Campeachy gulf, and is the poorest of the Mexican
+varieties. The bean is of a sickly-green hue, medium in size, and moist
+or “spongy” in substance, bitter and astringent in flavor, and taken
+altogether a most undesirable sort for any purpose.
+
+=Soconusco=--Produced in Chiapas, close to the rich coffee lands of
+Guatemala is another high-grade coffee, ranking among the finest of
+the Mexican varieties. It is a large, mature bean, varying in color,
+according to age, from a bluish-green to a pale-yellow, full and round
+in body, ripe and mellow in flavor as a rule.
+
+=Colima=--Raised on the west coast is a medium-sized bean, flat in
+form, fairly solid, but varying in color from greenish to pale, even
+in roast, rather round in liquor and pleasing in flavor, and generally
+shipped to the Pacific States.
+
+=Caracolillo=--or “Mexican pea-berry,” is a concave-convex bean, grown
+on the new wood at the end of branches of trees that are pruned year
+after year; but though not confined to any particular species, such
+trees yield almost entirely male or pea-berry coffee, being the only
+instance on record, and is considered the fanciest grade grown in
+Mexico.
+
+Mexico possesses more and better coffee lands than many other countries
+where it is now extensively grown, a small proportion of which only
+are under cultivation. The popularity of the product increases as it
+becomes better known, besides being the nearest and most accessible
+coffee producing country to the United States, the largest and best
+coffee market in the world. More attention is now being directed to
+the cultivation of coffee in Mexico, however, by both natives and
+foreigners than has ever before been given to the industry in that
+country. Native Mexicans are quietly, but steadily laying out new
+coffee plantations or enlarging and reviving old ones and many large
+tracts of land adapted to the growth of coffee have recently been
+purchased there by foreigners with that object. But while Mexico
+practically has no limit to her production of coffee, yet the average
+annual exports amounts only to about 10,000,000 pounds, the bulk of
+which is shipped to France, where it is graded as “Verde,” or Green,
+and “Blanco,” or White, the United States receiving the largest
+proportion of the remainder.
+
+
+WEST INDIAN COFFEES.
+
+The West India Islands at the beginning of the present century were
+noted for the extensive quantity and excellent quality of their coffee
+product, ranking at that period with the largest coffee-growing
+countries of the world. Its cultivation has rapidly and materially
+declined there in recent years, still continuing to do so at a
+disproportionate rate; the decrease since the emancipation of the
+negroes almost amounting to abandonment. But while commonly attributed
+in a great measure to the ravages of the blight, already described, it
+is more evidently traceable to social influences and a faulty system of
+cultivation. Latterly, however, attempts are being made to restore the
+industry to something like its former importance by new and improved
+methods of culture, so that it remains to be seen what art can do to
+combat the difficulty. They are classified in trade as Cuban, Jamaica,
+Haytian, San Domingo, Porto Rico, Trinidad, Dominica, Martinique and
+Guadeloupe.
+
+=Cuban=--Though at one period one of the largest coffee-producing
+countries in proportion to its size, yielding nearly 50,000,000 pounds
+annually, Cuba now ranks lowest in the scale, not raising sufficient to
+supply the home demand, its cultivation being replaced in that island
+by that of sugar and tobacco. The districts most noted for the richness
+and excellence of their coffees are situated on the Sierra Maistra
+range, in the vicinity of Vuelta Abajo, as well as in the districts
+of Alquizar and San Marcos, and from the fact that these latter are
+among the oldest coffee-producing sections on the island, their product
+bears a high reputation for fragrance and excellence. But the coffee
+grown in the mountain district of Guantanamo is now considered the
+finest, its cultivation there being on the increase, while decreasing
+rapidly in the former districts. The bean of what little is produced on
+that island is large in size, whitish in color and peculiar in form,
+somewhat resembling a “male” or pea-berry. In roast and drink it is
+superior to many of the mild grades, with which it is usually ranked.
+
+=Jamaica=--The coffee plant was first introduced into Jamaica in 1730,
+a special act of Parliament being passed in that year to encourage
+and foster its cultivation. The island is famous for the production
+of fine coffees, those grown on the regularly conducted plantations
+rivalling the best products of any country. It is divided into two
+kinds, “Blue Mountain” and “Plain-grown,” the latter being graded
+commercially as “Ordinary” in contradistinction to the former, which
+is always choice. “Blue Mountain Jamaica” is a bold, well-developed
+bean, bluish almost translucent in cast, very solid and attractive in
+style and appearance, and developing a characteristic peculiarity, that
+of opening and exposing a whitish hull or silver-skin down the furrow
+when roasted, while the liquor is heavy, round, full and rich, fragrant
+and aromatic to a high degree. It is packed for export in barrels and
+large casks, the bulk of the choicer grades being compulsorily exported
+to England, where it commands a higher figure relatively than Java and
+other equally fine coffees. Nearly all the coffee plantations on the
+Island of Jamaica being mortgaged to London brokers and dealers, the
+contracts containing a clause or stipulation compelling the planter to
+dispose of their crops through the holders, who, by the harsh terms of
+the contract, not only secure the best of the product and the interest
+on the money advanced but also the commissions or profits on its sale.
+
+“Ordinary” or plain-grown Jamaica is a large, whitish, flat and
+broken-bean coffee, moist or spongy in the raw state, and invariably
+stony and hully, being imperfectly cleaned. The roast is usually either
+“quakery” or “niggery,” the liquor is strong, almost to rankness, and
+apt to be “wild” or “grassy” in flavor, more particularly when new,
+approximating close to a Travancore or Native Ceylon, to which coffees
+it bears a striking resemblance in character and value. It is put up in
+large coarse bags, averaging about 200 pounds, and shipped principally
+to the United States.
+
+=Haytian Coffees.=--Coffee is claimed to have been first introduced
+into this island by wild fowl, being steriocaceously deposited
+there after the manner of Monkey, Jackal and Tiger-cat coffees. Its
+systematic cultivation was first begun there about 1740 by the French,
+the industry flourishing during the French _régime_, but rapidly
+declining after the island passed under native rule. It is cultivated
+there now by natives exclusively, principally in the districts of
+Jeremie, Jacmel and Gonaives, by which terms it is more familiarly
+known to commerce. They are generally large, flat, white and broken in
+appearance, invariably stony and stemy, being but crudely cultivated
+and prepared for market. Yet, notwithstanding these defects, they are
+elegant roasters, yielding an excellent liquor, full of snap and rich
+in flavor, but owing to its indifferent treatment its commercial value
+is reduced far below its intrinsic worth. The coffee itself being
+mild and pleasant, added to its low price, would commend it to many
+consumers were it but properly cleaned and graded. Usually all of it
+received into this country is reshipped to France, Belgium and Germany,
+where it is picked over by hand, the consumers in these countries not
+being as exacting as regards cleaning and grading as in this country.
+The production of coffee in Hayti has fallen from over 80,000,000
+pounds in 1789 to less than 50,000,000 at the present time, although
+the island offers an excellent and extensive field for the industry,
+which, it is hoped, will be taken advantage of as soon as the country
+devotes its energies more closely to the improvement of its internal
+affairs and the encouragement of capital.
+
+[Illustration: HULLING COFFEE.]
+
+=San Domingo=--Known to trade as “Cape,” is grown on the same island
+to the west of Hayti, and approximates very closely in size, style
+and color to ordinary Jamaica--so much so that it is frequently
+substituted and sold in lieu of it. Its cultivation being also
+principally conducted by natives, who are so indifferent to its proper
+preparation for market--machinery being employed only to a very limited
+extent--that most of the product is shipped in a stony and otherwise
+dirty condition, thus reducing its value commercially far below its
+intrinsic worth.
+
+=Porto Rico=--Is grown chiefly in the province of Ponce, small
+quantities being also produced in the districts of Arecibo, Mayaguez
+and Aguadilla. The bean is regular and well formed, but varying in
+color from yellow to greenish, the quality is fairly good, and though,
+not well known in the American market is much valued in Spain and the
+European markets generally.
+
+=Dominica=--Known to trade as “Souffriere,” from the district of
+growth, is a peculiarly shaped bean, said to be produced from Mocha
+seed, but much inferior to the product of the parent plant. From
+the effects of Negro emancipation and the coffee blight, the annual
+production of Dominica has fallen from over 2,000,000 pounds to almost
+nominal.
+
+=Trinidad=--The coffee export from Trinidad is only about 25,000 pounds
+yearly, yet there is scarcely any part of the island where coffee
+culture may not be profitably undertaken, particularly in the districts
+of Aripo and Maracas, where the conditions are unsurpassed. Both
+the Arabian and Liberian species are grown there, the product being
+commercially divided into “Large” and “Small” and generally shipped to
+Spain.
+
+=Martinique.=--Although originally introduced into the New World
+through Martinique, which island was for a long time celebrated for
+the quantity and quality of its coffee, it produces very little
+comparatively at the present day. In fact, barely sufficient to supply
+the home demand, the excess going to France, where it is highly
+esteemed for its intrinsic merits. The bean is exceedingly small, hard
+and flinty, somewhat resembling that of a Mocha, bluish-gray in color,
+heavy and round in body, pungent and piquant in flavor, and grading
+with the finest of the milder sorts.
+
+=Guadeloupe.=--More or less coffee is produced in Guadeloupe and
+other of the smaller islands of the Antilles, but chiefly to supply
+the home demand, and, with the exception of the former, are almost
+entirely unknown to commerce. It is grown principally in the districts
+of Bonfleur and Hatrant, what little is exported being shipped to
+France, where it is valued high commercially for its superior drinking
+qualities. A century ago the island exported nearly 8,000,000 pounds,
+being now reduced to less than 500,000. The total annual production
+of the entire West India Islands not exceeding 90,000,000 pounds at
+the present time, but strenuous efforts are being made to increase the
+product.
+
+
+CENTRAL AMERICAN COFFEES.
+
+Coffee forms the principal staple of the Central American States, the
+soil and climate being eminently adapted to the cultivation of fine
+coffees, but, as in all other countries, the best grades are produced
+on the upland or mountain slopes. In some of these countries, however,
+the most primitive system of cultivation and elementary methods of
+preparing are still in use, while in others, notably Guatemala, the
+most improved modern machinery is employed. They embrace Guatemala,
+Nicaragua, San Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica coffees.
+
+=Guatemala=--Produces the finest, ranking in intrinsic merit with
+that of any variety grown--more particularly that grown in the now
+famous Coban district, in Vera Paz, which rivals, if it does not
+actually excel, all other varieties in size, style, roasting and
+drinking qualities. The average bean is large, bold and symmetrical
+in form, of a translucent blue cast, and exceedingly handsome in
+general appearance, making a perfect roast, yielding a rich brown
+liquor, sparkling and aromatic in the cup. The next best coffees in
+Guatemala are those grown in the “Costa Chica” and “Costa Grande,” a
+prolongation of the chain of mountains crossing the southern boundary
+of Mexico. The production of coffee has more than doubled in Guatemala
+in the past ten years, the price during the same period being more
+than quadrupled. The total product for 1892 was over 700,000 quintals,
+representing a total value of 16,000,000 dollars. The extraordinary
+high price of coffee now ruling has led to a transformation of the
+country, small land-owners who heretofore realized from their crops
+scarcely sufficient for working expenses, now find themselves with
+considerable capital, with which they improve and enlarge their
+plantations. These results have led to unbridled speculation, large
+companies being formed there for still increasing the area and yield of
+coffee, every speculator and small trader who has been enabled to save
+a little money, abandoning his former occupation, turning his attention
+to coffee growing. This condition may last as long as the present high
+prices of coffee continues, but a reaction may occur at any time,
+when complete ruin will be the natural consequence to the suddenly
+increased number of producers, of which the reflex cannot be but felt
+in the economic conditions of the country. Land which was but a few
+years ago uninhabited, has been suddenly converted into smiling and
+well-cultivated coffee plantations, towns and villages long in decay
+have risen around them as if by magic and are steadily increasing in
+wealth. New roads to facilitate transportation to the ports are being
+constructed, commercial transactions are multiplied, the revenue of
+the country is increasing, public credits re-established on a sounder
+basis, and what was but a short time ago a poor, declining and almost
+ruined State has been suddenly, by the cultivation of coffee, converted
+into a rich and prosperous commonwealth.
+
+=Nicaragua=--Is a medium-sized regular-formed bean, solid and heavy
+in the hand, greyish-yellow in color, what is technically termed
+“foxy,” and a smooth roaster. The drinking qualities, however, are only
+fair, the liquor, while heavy, being devoid of snap and fragrance,
+approximating more to a Rio in flavor.
+
+=Salvador=--Is allied to Nicaragua in appearance and character, and
+classed the same, but possesses much finer roasting and drinking
+properties. The natural bean of the finer grades is, if anything,
+better developed and more uniform, while the poorer ones are very
+uneven, broken and “mottled” in appearance; the liquor thin in body and
+lacking aroma.
+
+=Honduras=--Is a yellowish, heavy-bean coffee, assuming a rich straw
+color with age, and having an attractive appearance in the hand. As a
+general rule it roasts even and smooth, becoming a rich brown color
+when parched; the liquor, while thin, gives out a pleasant odor,
+resembling that exhaled by cocoa or chocolate, said to be acquired from
+being grown in close proximity to cocoa plantations.
+
+=Costa Rica=--Is one of the most deceptive coffees grown, the raw bean
+being large and bold in style, a rich pea-green in color, uniform and
+shapely; but is invariably what is termed “hidey,” which is in reality
+due to the soil in which it is grown, and, while it makes an almost
+perfect roast, is “grassy” and bitter in the infusion, particularly
+when roasted for any length of time, it becomes sour and unpalatable,
+making its purchase at all times risky.
+
+
+SOUTH AMERICAN COFFEES
+
+Comprise Venezuelan, Colombian, Equador, Bolivian, Guiana, Peruvian,
+Paraguayan and Brazilian, small quantities being also produced in Chili
+and Argentina.
+
+
+VENEZUELAN COFFEES.
+
+The chief coffee-producing districts of Venezuela lie in a central
+division, having Caracas and Valencia as a base, with the ports of La
+Guayra and Puerto Cabello as shipping points, the district surrounding
+the Lake of Valencia being one of the most productive coffee countries
+in the world in the quantity and quality of its product. They include
+La Guayra, Caracas, Maracaibo, Curaçoa and Angostura coffees.
+
+=La Guayra=--Also known as “Coro” and “Port,” or Puerto Cabello, from
+the ports of shipment, varies in size from small to medium, and from a
+pale to a dark-green in color. It is usually graded on a parity with
+Rio, to which coffee it most approximates in roast and drink, it being
+frequently polished and sold as such, particularly when Rios are
+scarce, and, although classed as a “Mild coffee,” develops more or less
+of a Rio flavor in the cup.
+
+=Caracas=--Is of two kinds--_Trilliado_ Milled or “dry-hulled” and
+_Descerazado_ (Washed) or “wet-hulled”--from the different methods
+employed in pulping and preparing for market. The former is a
+yellowish, medium-sized bean, regular and uniform in the natural state,
+but apt to be “quakery” in the roasted, and only fair in the drink.
+While “Washed Caracas,” on the other hand, is bold and bluish in
+color, opening at the furrow when roasted like a Mountain Jamaica or
+Plantation Ceylon, exceedingly heavy and rich in body and fragrant in
+flavor, and may be classed as one of the best varieties grown.
+
+=Maracaibos=--Consist of five different varieties or grades--Cucuta,
+Merida, Bocono, Tovar and Trujillo--district terms, ranking in the
+order named, “Cucuta” being, when the season is favorable, one of the
+best coffees grown, grading with many of the products of Java itself.
+The raw or natural bean of the finer grades is large, round and solid
+in substance, deep, rich-yellow in color, approximating to that of
+the best yellow-bean Java sorts in style, appearance and drink. While
+“Merida” is a mountain-grown coffee, large, bold and bluish in color,
+frequently excelling “Cucuta,” particularly when the crop is good, and
+possessing a full ripe liquor with round full body and distinctive
+flavor very pleasing to the average consumer.
+
+“Bocono,” “Tovar” and “Trujillo,” are inferior grades to the above,
+small and gnarled in the natural state, generally stony and broken,
+“quakery” and shriveled when roasted, light in liquor, but smooth and
+pleasing in flavor withal, making good useful coffees for blending
+purposes. Maracaibo coffees are packed in Sisal-hemp bags averaging 130
+pounds, and principally shipped to the United States, where they are
+held in high esteem for their many excellent qualities, the regular
+grades of Cucuta being marked “C” under the importers’ initials, and
+the choicer grades “C C.” Merida is indicated by the letter “M” in the
+same manner, Bocono by “B,” Tovar by “T” and Trujillo by “To.” But
+owing to the too common practice of substituting and repacking indulged
+in by unscrupulous dealers, these distinguishing marks cannot always be
+relied on with any certainty.
+
+=Curaçoa=--Is a small, yellowish, shriveled or shrunken bean coffee,
+evidently immature or blighted in growth from some unknown cause. It is
+generally “quakery” in the roast, but yields a not disagreeable liquor
+in the cup, making a valuable variety in combination to reduce cost.
+
+=Angostura=--Is a large, flabby, yellowish bean variety, shapely in
+form but light and “chaffy” in substance, and invariably “quakery” when
+roasted, the liquor being thin, watery and almost flavorless.
+
+Venezuela supplies about one-tenth of all the coffee consumed in
+the United States, the total imports being in round numbers about
+60,000,000 pounds per annum, and growing steadily.
+
+
+COLOMBIAN COFFEES.
+
+The coffee-producing districts in Colombia are situated chiefly in
+the departments of Boyaca, Santander and Cundamarca, these three
+departments having an area of over 160,000 square miles, of which
+nearly one-half is adapted to the cultivation of some of the finest
+varieties of coffee grown. The possibility of this extensive area
+promises a future supply of almost six times the amount consumed in the
+United States; in fact, coffee-growing in Colombia, like Mexico, has
+no limit except that caused by the lack of labor and capital to work
+it. They are known in trade as Ocana, Bogota, Panama, Savanilla and
+Bucaramanga.
+
+=Ocana.=--While bold in bean and regular in form, inclining to a
+yellowish in color, is still light in weight and thin in body,
+approaching that of a Trujillo Maracaibo in flavor, with which coffee
+it is usually graded.
+
+=Bogota=--Is a mountain-grown coffee, raised on the western slopes of
+the Andes. It is usually a large and well-developed bean, bluish-green
+and very uniform in general appearance, solid, compact, and faultless
+in the roast. The liquor is heavy, full, round and fragrant in flavor,
+comparing favorably with Caracas, Jamaica, Guatemala and Plantation
+Ceylon in general style and character.
+
+=Savanilla=--Is a large, light and “spongy” bean coffee, brittle
+and chaffy in the roast, devoid of body and almost flavorless. It
+closely approximates to a Native Ceylon or Angostura in appearance and
+character, with which coffees it is commercially classed.
+
+=Panama=--Is comparatively a new variety, recently produced on the
+isthmus, and like all new productions immature in appearance. It is
+of the average size, greenish in color, but moist and spongy in the
+natural state, and as yet but poorly prepared. The liquor is heavy
+and strong almost to rankness, possessing a grassy or uncooked taste,
+defects, it is claimed, that will be overcome in time when its
+cultivation and preparation is better understood there.
+
+=Bucaramanga=--Known to trade as “Bucaramanga Maracaibo,” ranks among
+the finest of the South American varieties, being large and bold in
+style, solid and weighty in substance, perfect in roast, heavy, round
+and full in liquor, fragrant and aromatic in flavor, the finest grades
+being superior to many of the Java sorts. The department of Chinqui in
+the interior of Colombia also offers a good field for coffee culture,
+the fine lands along the slopes of the mountain ranges being admirably
+adapted for the purpose. The annual product is about 20,000,000 pounds,
+going chiefly to the United States and France.
+
+=Equador Coffees=--Include Cuenca, Tacunga and Machala, but are
+generally classed under the name of “Guayquil,” being shipped from that
+port and consumed principally on the Pacific coast, but are limited in
+production, little being left for export after the home demand has been
+supplied. They range from medium to large in size, are somewhat bold
+in style, hard and flinty in texture, pale to greenish in color, and
+only fairly uniform, being rather imperfectly prepared, but roast and
+drink well, nevertheless, yielding a light-brown liquor, full in body
+and fairly fragrant in flavor. Increasing attention is being given to
+coffee cultivation in Equador, the produce of the new districts being
+of good quality. The exports from Guayquil average about 1,000,000
+pounds per annum, but in some years the crop is entirely spoilt by
+heavy rains, the yield being inferior in quality and so low in quantity
+as not to suffice for local needs.
+
+=Bolivian Coffees=--Are comparatively new to commerce and bid fair
+to become popular sorts in time, when their cultivation and methods
+of properly preparing are better understood in that country. They
+are produced principally in the provinces of Yungas and Mapin, small
+quantities being also grown in the other provinces. The finest kind is
+that cultivated in the valley of Yungas, which though small in size
+and pale in color possesses a peculiarly rich and delicate flavor,
+commanding a very high price relatively. The product, however, is
+limited, only about 300,000 pounds per annum, or equal to one-fourth
+the entire supply. The product of Mapin is much larger in size,
+greenish in color, but not near as rich in flavor, bringing a much
+less price, the annual product being three times greater. Bolivian
+coffees in general produce an intoxicating effect, this peculiar action
+being as yet unaccounted for, but is claimed by some authorities to
+be acquired from being grown in the immediate vicinity of the cactus
+plant, from which _pulque_ is distilled, the coffee plant being of such
+a sensitive and absorbent nature that it readily acquires any foreign
+flavor within range. Whether this claim is correct or not has not as
+yet been ascertained, but certain it is that what is known as Singapore
+coffee usually tastes of spices, Honduras of cocoa and Costa Rica of
+what is called, for want of a more applicable term, “hide,” but which
+is in reality due to the presence of oxide of iron in the soil.
+
+=Guiana Coffees.=--Known to trade as “Surinam,” “Demerara” and
+“Cayenne,” from the ports of shipment, are produced in the French
+and Dutch colonies of South America. But although the cultivation of
+coffee was introduced into these countries about the same period as to
+Martinique, its cultivation there has made but little progress, the
+total production being limited in supply, and going chiefly to the
+mother countries.
+
+=Peruvian Coffee.=--Coffee grows luxuriantly on the mountain slopes
+of Peru, the crops often being so heavy as to necessitate artificial
+support for the branches, yet the export from Mollendo, the shipping
+port, amounts only to about 16,000 pounds per annum. It ranges in size
+from medium to bold, varying in color from bluish to yellow, roasting
+and drinking with the average of other South American sorts.
+
+=Paraguayan Coffee.=--The total production of coffee in Paraguay is
+exceedingly small in comparison with what might be grown there under
+more favorable circumstances, little or no attention being given to its
+cultivation, owing to lack of labor and capital, and notwithstanding
+that it offers a fine field for its more extensive growth.
+
+
+BRAZILIAN COFFEES.
+
+Brazil being the most extensive coffee-growing country in South
+America and the largest producer of coffee in point of quantity of
+any country in the world needs more than a passing notice in this
+work. The gigantic extent to which its production has been carried
+there, the enormous, almost fabulous, amount of capital invested in
+its cultivation, the multitude of people employed in its preparation
+and handling, including the quantity of shipping employed in its
+transportation invests it with great importance. One must have been
+an eye-witness of the immense bustle occasioned by the coffee trade
+of Rio and Santos, must have observed the feverish excitement and the
+unprecedented rapidity with which it is prepared, transported, bagged,
+unbagged, mixed, rebagged, loaded, marketed and shipped before he can
+form any conception of the extent of the coffee industry in Brazil.
+
+In 1718 the Dutch colony of Surinam began to introduce and cultivate
+coffee in Guiana from plants received from Java, and in 1722 De la
+Motte, the French Governor of the adjoining colony of Cayenne, having
+business in Surinam, contrived by an artifice to bring away with him
+from there a small coffee plant, which in 1725 had produced many
+thousands which were distributed among all the French colonies on the
+mainland, its propagation extending to Para in 1732, the first coffee
+plantation formed in Brazil being commenced in that province a few
+years later. Its cultivation, however, made but little progress there
+until about 1767, when its cultivation was still further extended to
+the province of Maranhao, where it soon increased rapidly under a more
+careful and systematic management. In 1774 a Belgian monk named Molke
+procured some coffee plants from a prosperous plantation in Maranhao,
+which had previously been obtained from Surinam, and planted them in
+the garden of the Capucin monastery of Adjuda, then situated in what
+is now the centre of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The plants prospered
+so well, and he becoming convinced of their importance as a valuable
+acquisition to the industries of the country that he established a
+plantation in the vicinity for its more systematic cultivation. Joachim
+Bruneo, the then Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, perceiving the valuable
+benefits that would result from its more extensive cultivation,
+distributed seeds and plants raised on Molke’s plantation among the
+religious institutions and planters of the country, recommending and
+encouraging its cultivation among them, but it was not until 1800
+that Brazilian coffee came to be so highly valued in the markets of
+the world. In that year a planter named Dr. Lecesne, expelled by the
+revolution from San Domingo, settled near Rio and introduced the
+latest improved methods of cultivating the coffee plant into that
+country. From these simple and unostentatious beginnings has grown the
+now enormous coffee industry of Brazil, which at present produces
+more coffee than all the other countries in the world combined; it
+being calculated that upwards of 1,500,000 acres of land are under
+coffee culture there, containing nearly 600,000,000 trees, hundreds of
+millions of dollars of capital being invested in its culture, sale and
+transport. The cultivation of coffee in Brazil now extends from the
+banks of the Amazon to the southern province of Sao Paulo, and from the
+coast to the western limits of the country, the plant seeming to find
+the requisite conditions of soil and climate in almost every part of
+this vast region, and nearly everywhere giving an abundant yield. Its
+chief zone of production for commercial purposes, however, is chiefly
+confined to the coast provinces of Bahia, Ceara, Rio Janeiro, Sao
+Paulo, Minas Geraes and Espiritu Santo.
+
+In Brazil it was formerly the custom to propagate the coffee plant
+by slips or “shoots” cut from the older plants on the plantations,
+but at present it is more generally grown from the seed, as in the
+Eastern countries. The seeds are sown in nurseries planted with
+advanced stalks of the mandioca, which serve to shade the sprints
+while young and tender from the extremes of heat and cold alike, but
+are gradually thinned out as the growth of the young plants advance,
+the nursery at this period resembling a young plum thicket. When the
+plants have reached a height of from eighteen to twenty-four inches,
+they are transferred to the plantations and planted from six to ten
+feet apart, according to the district and conditions. As a general
+rule a crop is not expected until four years after setting out the
+young plants, unless when the plants are from eighteen months to
+two years old before transplanting, in which case a partial crop is
+obtained at the end of the third year. Nearly all over the Brazilian
+coffee zone the plantations extend with the greatest regularity, as
+far as the eye can reach, presenting a most attractive and pleasing
+effect, some _fazendas_ (plantations) having as many as 350,000 trees,
+others again having as low as 30,000, but all averaging from 500 to
+800 trees to the half _fanegada_ (acre), the average annual produce
+of each tree ranging from one to seven pounds of prepared coffee, or
+about one to one and a half pounds per picking of cleaned coffee. The
+plantations situated on high lands and exposed to the east being the
+most productive, but prospering equally well in the lowland districts,
+although the product is much inferior in quality and flavor. The
+trees are grown in lines and squares, the face of the country in the
+coffee-growing districts being undulating and hilly, a plantation
+of coffee being at every season of the year an object of beauty and
+interest. The leaves are perennially bright and polished, resembling
+those of the laurel when in full bloom, but of a much darker green in
+color, the flowers or blossoms of the purest white, growing in tufts
+along the top of the branches, and blooming so suddenly that in the
+morning the trees look as if snow had fallen on them in flaky wreaths
+during the night, their jasmine-like perfume being powerful enough
+to be oppressive, but lasting only for a single day, being succeeded
+immediately by branches of immature green and the dark-crimson hull of
+the ripe berries--resembling cherries in their brilliancy and size--and
+following each other in quick succession, which added to the thick
+foliage of the trees presents altogether a magnificent spectacle.
+
+In Brazil the coffee trees continue to bear from fifteen to twenty
+years, but it is found necessary to the healthy development of the
+plants to keep the ground in good condition, and when the interspaces
+are not cultivated with other plants--principally corn and beans--as
+is usually the custom, it is annually cleared around the roots, a
+compost of dead leaves and coffee-hulls being placed about them.
+In some districts--notably Sao Paulo--many of the trees have been
+producing continuously for twenty-five years, still presenting a
+vigorous appearance and yielding an average each year, while others
+that had attained an age of thirty-five years were cut off within
+eighteen inches of the ground, and two years later put forth new
+branches, presenting all the appearance of thriving trees, bearing
+fruit like much younger trees. This is a new and interesting feature
+in the management of the old trunks of coffee trees, one having the
+advantage of new growth being secured in one-half the time it could
+be obtained from seedlings, as even should these stumps require to
+be dug around and manured frequently, it is much more preferable
+and profitable to the trouble, expense and uncertainty connected
+with the raising of new plants from seed, and certainly presents
+greater advantages over the latter method. In Brazil the picking is
+latterly--since the abolishment of slavery--done by contract with
+the _fazendon_, or proprietor, who only requires the services of the
+pickers to gather the berries from the trees, for which labor they are
+paid what is considered to be one-half the value of the crude coffee
+that is gathered by them. The estimate placed upon an _alquerie_
+(bushel) of crude berries being about seventy-five cents, which, unless
+the crop is good, ordinary hands do not gather more than two bushels
+per diem; yet, again, when the crops are large, an industrious and
+skillful picker can average from five to eight bushels without effort.
+The berries are picked by hand, the ground being raked clean under
+the trees previous to picking, an immense, broad, flat receptacle
+of bamboo being placed underneath the trees, the berries that fail
+to fall into this being carefully swept up from the clean, smooth
+ground and emptied into it until filled, when it is carried to a point
+convenient to the roadside and emptied in piles, from which the coffee
+is afterwards hauled in ox-carts to a large building known as the
+_terreiro_ or drying-yard. Picking commences in April, and is continued
+almost uninterruptedly until November, and after the coffee is gathered
+it is carted just as it comes from the plantations, mixed with leaves,
+stalks and stones to the drying-house and spread out on the terraces,
+large smooth, concrete pavements, to dry in the sun until the berries
+become black and crisp, after which they are “hulled” or cleaned by one
+of two methods: one the old or “Monjola process,” and the other the new
+or “Despolpodor” process.
+
+Brazilian coffees are known to commerce as Bahia, Ceara, Capatinea,
+Rios, Santos and Maragogipi.
+
+=Bahia=--Is a small, uneven greenish bean, very inferior in style and
+appearance, usually “stemmy” and stony and thickly interspersed with
+black or immature beans, and is usually branded “S” or “S S.” The roast
+is poor, irregular and quakery, the liquor thin and grassy or unripe in
+flavor.
+
+=Ceara=--Resembles Bahia somewhat in general character, being poorly
+prepared and very unsightly in the natural state, the body and flavor
+being still more inferior.
+
+=Capatinea=--Grown in the province of Espiritu Santo, but also known to
+trade as “Victoria” from the port of shipment, is a large whitish, soft
+and flabby bean coffee, quakery in the roast and watery and flavorless
+in the cup.
+
+=Rio Coffees=--Are almost too well known to need description; the bean,
+however, varies widely in size and color, ranging from small to large,
+and from dark green to light yellow, being known to trade as “Light,”
+“Dark” and “Golden.” They are heavy in body, possessing a flavor and
+aroma peculiarly distinct from that of all other coffees, and which is
+so marked in degree as to be readily detected by the most inexpert,
+excepting “Golden Rio” which, aside from its rich color, possesses a
+markedly pungent liquor and pleasing flavor.
+
+=Pole-cat Rio=--Is a very dark, almost black bean coffee, which,
+although muddy and dark in liquor, is nevertheless much appreciated by
+many coffee drinkers.
+
+=Liberian Rio=--Grown from Liberian plants in Brazil, is little thought
+of, producing little, and that irregularly. The fruit also requires
+special machinery to prepare it, the husk being too thick and leathery
+to pass through the regular machines.
+
+=Rio Hache=--Though frequently classed with Rio coffees, as a matter
+of fact is not grown in that country, but in Colombia. The bean is
+yellowish-brown in color, light in weight and liquor, and somewhat
+mawkish in flavor. Like all other coffees, Rios improve with age, and
+with time lose their harsh flavor, which becomes greatly modified
+by storing, disappearing altogether in from three to four years,
+particularly when kept in an even temperature.
+
+=Santos Coffees=--Produced in the adjoining province of Sao Paulo,
+but deriving its trade-name from the port of shipment, ranges from
+small to large in size and from green and yellow to a full white in
+color according to its maturity, it is an immensely popular sort among
+American consumers as well as in Europe, having more than doubled in
+consumption in recent years. It is fast supplanting the milder growths
+of other countries, the finer grades being frequently substituted for
+Maracaibo, and even Java, by unprincipled dealers. While many of them
+roast “quakery,” they are nevertheless almost invariably smooth and
+pleasing in liquor and flavor.
+
+=Red-bean Santos=--Grown in the Campinas district, is medium in size
+and reddish in color--a peculiarity derived from the soil, which is
+composed of _terra rocha_ (red earth)--and is claimed to be richer and
+more flavory than either the white or yellow bean varieties.
+
+=Mocha-seed Santos=--Is a small-bean variety, grown from Bourbon seed
+or transplants, and is fast becoming a very popular sort. It is shipped
+principally to France, where it masquerades under the name of Mocha,
+thereby diminishing the demand for this favorite sort in proportion to
+the amount distributed.
+
+=Maragogipi=--Which was discovered in the province of Bahia some years
+since, is claimed to be an indigenous variety and is called after the
+district where it was first found. The bean is as large as Liberian,
+but flat in form and varies in color from a very light to a dark-green,
+but while heavy and full in body and fair in quality, it is yet lacking
+in all the essentials of a fine coffee, disappointing the great
+expectations at one time formed of it.
+
+
+OTHER BRAZILIAN VARIETIES.
+
+=Cafe des Aguas=--Is so termed from blossoming in the rainy season, and
+which has the effect of stunting and deforming the beans. The bean is
+oblong in shape and imperfectly formed, while the liquor is thin and
+watery and devoid of flavor.
+
+=Cafe Vermelho=--Is the regular “Red-berry” species, and is so named to
+distinguish it from a new variety said to have been recently discovered
+and termed
+
+=Cafe Amarello=--Or “Yellow-berry,” recently found in the district of
+Botucatu, and is so called because the ripe berry is yellow instead
+of red. It is superior to the ordinary sort, not on account of any
+difference in the size of the bean, but according to the chemical
+analysis of experts, who claim that it is much richer in caffeine.
+
+=Brazilian Java.=--Extensive plantations of Java coffee plants have
+lately been formed in Brazil as an experiment, but does not produce
+such heavy and regular crops as in the original soil.
+
+=Goyaz Coffee=--Is a wild species, discovered a few years ago in the
+province of Goyaz, but is little thought of by planters or dealers,
+being wild and grassy in flavor.
+
+In Brazil the planters generally forward their crops to a _Commissario_
+or factor at the shipping port, who acts as their agent, the coffee
+being received in varying lots and conditions from different growers,
+no uniformity being observed in the kind of bag or quantity. The
+commissarios again disposes of it to the _Ensaccaderes_, who are the
+actual buyers at first hands, and who store it in large warehouses,
+where it is graded and bagged, and stored until required for shipment
+to the foreign markets. The sacks of coffee being piled on either side,
+each being numbered and further distinguished by some special mark or
+brand. At the present time many commissarios have the coffee weighed
+as they sell it, but sales between the commissarios and ensaccaderes
+are never concluded in Rio without the assistance of a _Corretor_ or
+broker, while in Santos, where the exporter buys his coffee direct
+from the commissario, it is sold mostly without the intervention of a
+broker, the terms of payment being fixed at thirty days.
+
+Brazilian coffees are generically classed in the Rio and Santos markets
+as “Highland” and “Lowland” and are graded as Superior or “Choice,”
+Primera or “First,” Primera boa or “Good first,” Primera regular or
+“Regular first,” Primera ordinaria or “Ordinary first,” Segunda or
+“Second,” Segunda boa or “Good second,” and Segunda ordinaria or
+“Ordinary second.” Importations are generally in “Cargoes” divided into
+“Invoices” or “Lines,” designated by letters. An invoice consisting
+of a number of “Chops” denoted by figures, each chop varying from the
+other in quality, size and color. In the American market the coffee
+is subdivided into six grades, known to trade as “Fancy,” “Choice,”
+“Prime,” “Good,” “Fair,” “Ordinary” and “Common,” the first four grades
+being further distinguished by the terms “Light,” “Medium” and “Dark,”
+and by prefixing the term “Strict” or “Strictly” correct selections of
+each grade may be secured.
+
+There is no standard grade, nor is it possible to establish one,
+owing to the changes made by time in the appearance of the coffee,
+which causes the different grades to vary with the size, color and
+quality of the coffee and the condition of the market on arrival. On
+an active and rising market the coffee that on a steady market would
+be denominated only “Fair,” suddenly becomes “Prime” or “Good,” and on
+a dull or declining market may be classed as “Ordinary.” The following
+constitutes the different grades as they are generally accepted on this
+market:--
+
+=Fancy Rio or Santos=--Is large, bold and uniform in size and color,
+free from all imperfections, and attractive in style and appearance.
+
+=Prime=--Is very clean and regular in size and color, but deficient in
+the rich, pleasing appearance of the former.
+
+=Good=--Is acknowledged as the average or “Standard” grade, and ranges
+from clean to strictly clean, and is uniform in bean and color.
+
+=Fair=--Is only moderately clean, containing some black or broken beans
+and other slight imperfections.
+
+=Ordinary=--Is irregular in size and color, and unsightly in
+appearance, containing much black beans and other extraneous matter.
+
+=Common=--Is the poorest grade, and is generally full of black and
+broken beans, stems, hulls and chaff, having no definite color, and
+very unsightly in general appearance. On the Coffee Exchanges they are
+graded numerically from No. 1 to No. 10, No. 7, or “Low ordinary,”
+being adopted as the “Standard grade,” upon which all transactions are
+based. In point of quantity Brazil heads the list of coffee-producing
+countries, its annual product ranging from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 bags
+of 130 pounds each, 75 per cent. of which is exported to the United
+States, the remainder going chiefly to Europe.
+
+
+OTHER VARIETIES.
+
+=Pea-berry Coffees=,--Also known to trade as “Male-berry” and
+“Pearl-bean,” are concave-convex in form and may belong to any
+variety, from Rio to Java. Their peculiar shape being accounted for as
+follows: Each _perfect_ coffee _berry should_ contain two oval seeds
+or _beans_ placed facing each other in the fruit or pod, but it most
+frequently occurs that only one _seed_ will form in it, the other
+becoming abortive. The _one_ forming receiving all the nourishment of
+the investing coats, forces itself against the dividing membranes and
+encountering no opposition naturally develops into a larger bean, which
+in the process of growth assumes a shape different from that of the
+regular or “flat bean” of commerce.
+
+=Cherry-dried Coffee=--Is a term applied in the East to coffees cured
+by the old or sun-dried process. After the berries have been harvested
+they are spread out on “patios” or terraces exposed to the sun’s rays
+for a period covering from six to eight weeks, or until they are
+thoroughly dried, before being pulped and hulled. Meanwhile they are
+raked and turned over once a day during the drying period, in order to
+prevent heating and fermentation, and at night heaped up and covered
+over with matting or other material to protect them in case of rain,
+and from the heavy dews, until the process is completed, after which
+they are pulped and hulled by crushing in a mill.
+
+=Washed Coffees=--Are so termed from being prepared by the new or West
+India process, by which the coffee is pulped immediately after being
+picked, the berries being placed in a large vat and the pulp soaked
+off. The coffee in the parchment left in the vat is kept in constant
+motion by agitation with a kind of rake or shovel to wash it well, the
+water being constantly changed also while the washing continues, to
+remove the _débris_ with which the coffee charges the water, the coffee
+sinking, while the pulp, blighted berries and other extraneous matter
+such as stems and leaves are floated off by the water, after which the
+beans are again washed and spread out on mats to dry. By this method
+the coffee must be crushed the same day, otherwise it will ferment and
+the flavor be greatly injured.
+
+=Triage=--Is composed chiefly of dead or decayed beans, which are
+invariably sour, bitter and black, being entirely destitute of the
+active principle of coffee, containing no aroma and invariably injuring
+and detracting from any coffee in which they may be mixed--as they
+usually are--no matter how small the quantity used.
+
+=Screenings=--Are composed of the dust, chaff and mutilated beans
+separated from the regular grades of coffee in the process of milling,
+and drink well according to the variety or grade from which they are
+obtained, but are generally roasted, ground and mixed with chicory, and
+sold in package form.
+
+=Skimmings=--Are usually composed of that portion of the cargo stowed
+in the bottom or sides of the vessels in which it is imported, or of
+the storehouse sweepings after the regular coffee has been delivered.
+A greater or less portion of all cargoes are found damaged by dampness
+or bilge-water during the voyage, thus staining and discoloring the
+coffee, rendering it mouldy or musty. The strained and damaged bags
+are emptied and the tainted coffee “skimmed” off, milled, rebagged and
+sold under the head of “Skimmings.” They are generally branded “G. S.”
+(Good skimmings), “G. L. S.” (Good light skimmings), “G. D. S.” (Good
+dark skimmings), “F. S.” (Fair skimmings), and “S. S.” (Store or ship
+sweepings). Notwithstanding their origin many of those coffees roast
+and drink exceedingly well, but great care must be exercised by the
+dealer in selecting them, as they may taste of the bilge-water or be
+mixed with coal, iron, chips and other extraneous substances.
+
+=United States Coffee=--The Department of Agriculture at Washington
+has recently issued a circular relative to the possibility of coffee
+culture in some of the Southern States, in which it is led to believe
+that the soil and climatic conditions of Texas, Florida and Lower
+California will be found suitable to the profitable cultivation of
+coffee. It is also claimed that a species of wild coffee has been
+discovered in the two latter States, and that in California seed has
+been planted obtained from Costa Rica with satisfactory results. A
+coffee planter from Guatemala has recently been investigating the soil
+and climate of San Bernardino in Lower California with a view to the
+introduction of coffee culture in that section. The conditions there,
+it is stated, are very favorable for its profitable production, and he
+has offered to invest capital in a company to be organized to start the
+industry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+ROASTING AND GLAZING.
+
+
+Coffee undergoes essential chemical changes in the process of roasting.
+In the raw or natural state the coffee-bean is tough and horny in
+structure and entirely devoid of the appearance, character and peculiar
+aroma that so distinguishes it in the roasted condition, and by which
+it is best known to the public. The testa or investing membrane of the
+raw bean has a layer of long cells with a peculiar pitted structure,
+containing a crystaline substance chemically termed _Caffeine_, and
+another known as _Caffeic_, or tannic acid, while the inner substance
+consists of an assemblage of vesicles of an angular form, the cavities
+of which include in the form of little drops a considerable quantity of
+a highly aromatic oil technically termed _Caffeone_, on the presence
+and amount of which the fragrance and active principles of the coffee
+depends, and by which its commercial value in the roasted state is
+estimated. The existence of this “coffee oil” makes itself known in
+a striking manner by roasting; being driven out of the beans by the
+intense heat, it is partially volatilized and, together with other
+products of the roasting, produces the characteristic aroma peculiar
+to roasted coffee, an odor possessed by no other known substance. In
+the operation of roasting the beans swell up and open at the furrow
+by the liberation of the gases within their substance, their weight
+decreasing, but volume increasing in proportion to the extent to which
+the operation is carried, developing the aromatic oil and liberating
+at the same time a portion of the caffeine from its combination with
+the caffeic or tannic acid. The amount of this aromatic oil contained
+in coffee varies from 8 to 13 per cent. at least, one-half of which is
+lost by evaporation during the roasting process, so that it may prove
+a paying experiment to attempt to collect it, especially in large
+establishments where large quantities of coffee are roasted and several
+pounds of this valuable oil are dissipated daily, which would no doubt
+find a ready market at a good profit for the making of liqueurs, or
+medicinal use.
+
+Before being roasted coffee also contains from 6 to 8 per cent. of
+sugar, which after roasting is reduced to as low as 1 per cent. and
+sometimes even to zero, from which it would appear that the description
+of sugar (cane) present in the raw coffee suffers destruction during
+roasting, which, however, is not the case, as in the process of
+roasting the saccharine matter in the raw bean is converted into
+caramel. A change in the fat of the raw coffee is also brought about by
+the roasting, for where ether extracts only some four to five parts of
+fat from the raw coffee beans, it readily extracts double that quantity
+from the roasted beans. So striking is this fact that Von Bibra has
+even credited the roasting process with the production of fat, whereas
+the action is only mechanical in bursting the fat-cells of the raw
+bean, thereby rendering the fat accessible to the solvent action of the
+ether.
+
+The operation of roasting also tends to make coffee soluble in boiling
+water, as when raw coffee is perfectly exhausted by means of boiling
+water, it yields up only 25 per cent. which passes into solution, while
+roasted coffee, on the other hand, when completely exhausted by means
+of boiling water yields readily upwards of 40 per cent. of soluble
+matter, proving that in actually using coffee as a beverage, we are not
+in the habit of making anything like a complete extraction, as only
+some 10 to 12 per cent. of the active principles of the coffee passes
+into the liquid.
+
+The modern appliances for the roasting of coffee are numerous and
+labor-saving to a great extent, many of them are, however, calculated
+only to enhance the appearance of the bean, while others enable the
+roaster to obtain almost to perfection the full development of the
+aromatic properties of the coffee. Coffee is roasted for commercial
+purposes and domestic use in a large sheet-steel or malleable-iron
+cylinder mounted on a hollow axle, so as to revolve over a brisk fire
+and allow the gases generated during the torrefaction to escape. The
+surface of the cylinder is perforated with a number of small holes
+for the purpose of allowing the vapor arising from the coffee in the
+process of roasting to pass off readily, and through the interior runs
+laterally four ridges, the object of which is to toss it about in all
+directions, causing it to pass from end to end, and diffuse a uniform
+heat to every part of the coffee in order to make the “roast” even
+and regular in appearance. This cylinder is again encased in a frame
+brick-work at the bottom of which is built a coal fire well distributed
+so as to heat all portions of the cylinder at the same time during
+the operation. On the outer head it has a small opening through which
+the operator occasionally inserts a “tryer” to enable him to note the
+progress made as the process advances, the cylinder being also so
+arranged that it can be drawn from over the fire when it is required to
+either fill or empty it through a slide or hopper in the centre. It is
+operated by steam-power, revolving slowly but regularly, and having a
+capacity of from 25 to 300 pounds.
+
+After roasting, the coffee is run off into a large wire-bottomed box
+termed a “cooler,” to the end of which is fitted a powerful fan or
+“blower” used for forcing cold air through the hot beans and preventing
+the volatile oil from exuding, the coffee being thoroughly agitated
+during the process, the hulls, chaff and stems being removed meantime
+to a large extent by the fan and sieve. Thirty-five to forty-five
+minutes is usually the time consumed in the operation, the former
+for a “Light” and the latter for a high or “Dark” roast, the entire
+process of roasting, cooling and rebagging occupying about one hour.
+In roasting, coffee loses in weight from 12 to 16 per cent., according
+to the age and nature of the coffee under treatment and the extent
+to which the operation is carried, the average, however, being 14
+per cent. for old and well-seasoned coffee, which accounts for the
+relatively higher price--three to six cents per pound--of roasted
+coffees, according to the price green and the loss per cent. in
+roasting. But, it at the same time increases in bulk--100 volumes of
+raw coffee yielding from 150 to 160 volumes of roasted--that is, two
+pints of raw beans will yield three pints roasted. It also loses from
+1 to 2 per cent. more in the warm months of summer than in the damp
+months of winter, for which reason it should not be roasted as high
+in the former season as in the latter, owing to its greater tendency
+to sweat and absorb the higher temperature, thus causing the volatile
+oil to exude, and dissipate and impart an astringent taste to the
+infusion. When coffee is roasted light-brown, or until it assumes a
+pale-chestnut color, the loss is from 13 to 14 per cent. the quantity
+of extract obtained from such roast by means of boiling water ranging
+from 20 to 21 per cent. of the weight, while the loss in weight of the
+extract will be much larger if the roasting process is continued until
+the color becomes dark-brown or black by over-roasting. New, moist
+and light coffees lose a larger percentage than old, dry and solid
+ones, the average being about 14 per cent. The operation of roasting
+coffee is one of the greatest exactness, amounting almost to an art,
+perfect roasting requiring not alone skill and judgment but experience
+and constant practice, as not only the style, strength and flavor but
+also the commercial value of the coffee depends upon the operator
+deciding when it is properly parched or roasted. It is also one of a
+crucial nature, for equally by insufficient as well as by excessive
+roasting, much of the aroma of the infusion is lost, the beverage under
+either of these circumstances being neither agreeable to the palate or
+exhilarating in its influence. The operator, for these reasons, must
+judge of the exact amount of heat required for the adequate roasting of
+the different varieties, which, while variable, the range of roasting
+temperature proper for roasting the various grades is only very narrow.
+In a modern, well-equipped coffee-roasting establishment, the coffee is
+handled almost exclusively by machinery, being fed into the cylinder
+from hoppers, emptied into the cooler from the cylinder and from thence
+into the bins by drafts of air through tubes or pocket-elevators, so
+that the coffee is scarcely once handled during the entire process.
+
+The entire art of coffee roasting may be summed up in the following
+sequence: (1) Starting the machinery in motion. (2) Starting a brisk
+fire with enough coal for a single roast. (3) Putting in the coffee
+before the cylinder becomes too hot. (4) Opening the draft and keeping
+up a brisk fire during what is termed the steaming period. (5) When the
+beans begin to crackle and the steam changes into an aromatic vapor,
+rake the fire well, put on sufficient coal to make the next roast and
+shut off the draft. (6) Empty the coffee from the cylinder into the
+cooler and cool off rapidly, then sift and pack. If a light color is
+required roast quickly, if a dark, slowly. The exact time for a perfect
+roast under these rules depend to a great extent on the size of the
+cylinder, the quantity of coffee to be roasted, the amount of heat
+and the color desired, the average ranging from 30 to 40 minutes. The
+addition of a little water to the coffee when it begins to crackle in
+the cylinder, will cause the beans to swell up, liberate the chaff and
+make the process safer by extinguishing any sparks that may by accident
+occur in the cylinder. It also preserves the aroma longer to some
+extent when used in moderation, but will not, as is sometimes claimed,
+protect it from atmospheric influences, but on the contrary makes it
+more liable to such influences, particularly when used in excess.
+
+When the beans begin to crackle the revolutions of the cylinder are
+increased for a short time in order to prevent them from scorching or
+burning, a bluish vapor is emitted at the same time, which indicates
+that the coffee is nearly if not quite roasted. At this stage the
+operator pours on the coffee a quantity of water to prevent it from
+burning, the rapid evaporation from which reduces the intense heat and
+causes the beans to burst open and swell up to about double in size.
+The use of a little lard at this juncture will impart to the beans a
+smoother, glossier and more attractive appearance. The addition of
+water in the roasting of coffee is not, as is generally supposed,
+intended to increase its weight--unless when used to excess--as the
+intense heat converts it into steam which rapidly passes off in the
+air, many old roasters contending that coffee cannot be properly
+roasted without the use of some water. In the proper roasting of
+coffee a strong, well-distributed heat extending the entire length of
+the cylinder is imperative. The cylinder should never be allowed to lie
+empty over the fire for any length of time or become too hot before
+the coffee is put in, as the beans will become mottled or “specked” if
+poured in while in that condition, thus detracting from the appearance
+and value of the roasted coffee.
+
+An experienced roaster can readily discern when the coffee is properly
+roasted, by the light bluish vapor arising from the coffee, as well
+as by the smell of the aromatic principle developed as it evaporates
+from the cylinder at this stage of the operation, without even once
+examining it during the process. A perfect “light roast” should be
+free from specks and other blemishes, of a cinnamon-brown color,
+even, uniform and oily in appearance, much depending on the amount of
+this latter property developed in the process, imparting as it does
+a pleasanter and more agreeable aroma as the quantity is increased,
+making the liquor blander and more mellow in the cup. While a perfect
+high or “dark roast” when required should be of a deep chestnut or
+chocolate-brown color, oily and free from all burnt or scorched beans,
+as the latter, no matter how few the number, invariably spoil the
+flavor of the coffee in the infusion, irrespective of its fineness or
+value. Over-roasting dissipates the active principle (Caffeine) to
+which the coffee owes its refreshing and stimulating properties while
+under-roasting imparts to the infusion a raw, uncooked, grassy or
+astringent flavor by not properly developing it. So that the finest
+grades of coffee when imperfectly roasted--that is, be under or
+overdone--yield an inferior liquor to the poorer grades when properly
+roasted. As stated before, coffee contains a crystaline substance
+termed caffeine (identical with the theine of tea), which is volatile
+in its nature, and every care must be taken to retain this principle
+in the coffee, for which reason the beans should be roasted only until
+they are of a pale-brown color; again, if they are roasted too dark
+this essential property is destroyed.
+
+The proper cooling of coffee after roasting is also an operation of
+great importance. If the coffee has been properly roasted and the
+beans well developed, it must be cooled quickly to prevent them from
+becoming too dark-colored or mottled in appearance. When the coffee has
+been cooled and cleaned it is then packed, the operations of roasting,
+cooling and rebagging occupying altogether about one hour.
+
+In France and other European countries it is the custom to roast
+coffee in small quantities, so that the whole “charge” is well under
+the control of the operator during the process, while in this country
+large roasts are the rule, in dealing with which much difficulty is
+experienced in producing uniform torrefaction as well as in stopping
+the process at the proper moment. A novel method for roasting coffee
+in use in France is to put it in an iron globe, suspended over a brisk
+fire, and containing a tubular shaft perforated with holes smaller than
+the beans, through which passes the vapor generated from the coffee in
+the process of roasting and issuing out of either end of the shaft or
+axis of the globe. As these openings are small, but a limited amount
+of the vapor escapes, thus confining the aroma within the globe and
+securing the retention of the volatile or essential element of the
+coffee to a greater degree than is possible by the cylindrical method
+of roasting. When the globe is filled and suspended over the fire
+an iron cap is placed over it so as to completely surround it, but
+leaving an intervening space between it of about three inches, the
+object of which is to secure the full power of the heat, which being so
+confined circulates completely around the globe, the retention of the
+vapor under this high pressure preserving to a still greater degree the
+aroma of the coffee. The application of the heat by this method is very
+uniform, while the motion of the globe distributes the beans equally
+about the interior and thus removes any possible chance of scorching.
+
+The roasting process also usually develops in many coffees more or
+less whitish beans, technically termed “quakers” but more properly
+“blights,” being in reality blighted or immature beans, which, having
+ripened to an extent on the tree and after obtaining a certain growth
+cease to draw further nutriment from it, thus failing to develop into
+healthy fruit. These peculiar beans detract considerably from the
+value of the coffee, and cannot always be detected in the natural
+state except by experts and others accustomed to the constant handling
+of raw coffee, but in the roasted condition their real character is
+unmistakably shown, presenting as they do a yellowish-white color,
+totally devoid of the moisture, oil and flavor so characteristic of the
+healthy bean. They exist to a much greater extent in some varieties
+more than others, most notably in lowland and coast-grown coffees--in
+mild grades more than strong--the only kinds most unaffected being
+mountain-grown and “washed” coffees, the blighted beans in the latter
+rising to the surface in the process of washing and carried off by the
+water. Some authorities contend that these “blights” or “quakers” in
+coffee instead of being, as might be naturally expected, detrimental
+or injurious to its drinking qualities really improve it by softening
+or mellowing what may otherwise prove to be a harsh or astringent
+flavor, thereby rendering it smoother and more palatable. Such a claim
+is simply preposterous, as the said beans are entirely devoid of any
+of the properties distinguishing coffee, possessing neither caffeine
+or caffeone, the two principal constituents of coffee, and an infusion
+prepared exclusively of “quakers” will be found to resemble more
+closely, in flavor and aroma, a decoction made from roasted peanuts
+than anything else it may be likened to.
+
+Raw coffees are distinguished in commerce by the names of the
+countries, districts, localities, plantations in which they are grown
+or from the ports of export, and it is found that the produce of each
+particular country and respective district maintains a fairly constant
+and distinctive flavor and character of its own. While in the roasted
+state this distinctive character disappears, the process of roasting
+largely destroying these distinguishing features of raw or green
+coffee, making it very difficult for any but experts to determine from
+its appearance when once roasted its kind or origin. After coffee has
+been once roasted it should be kept in air-tight bins and sold or used
+as fresh-roasted as possible, as after the process the aroma constantly
+escapes, thereby losing its strength and fragrance rapidly on exposure
+to the oxydizing influences of the atmosphere. Neither should it be
+exposed in damp or humid weather, as it constantly absorbs moisture
+which makes it tough and difficult to grind, or placed in the vicinity
+of any foul or foreign odors, the porous and sensitive nature of the
+roasted bean making it liable to absorb such flavors, for which reason
+wooden and freshly-painted bins should never be used to hold roasted
+coffee, as it readily absorbs the wood and paint flavors, which become
+very pronounced in the infusion.
+
+
+GLAZING.
+
+It has been the custom for some years back to coat or glaze coffee
+with certain gluey or starchy compounds, ostensibly to protect the
+beans from the oxydizing influences of the atmosphere, preserve the
+aroma and clarify the liquor in preparation, each roaster and dealer
+having a different compound for the purpose. It is most generally
+composed of various glues, moss and other starchy substances and is
+usually prepared by placing the materials composing the compound in a
+cask, vat or tank filled with boiling water conveyed through pipes or
+by injecting steam, thoroughly stirring it at the same time until it
+is mixed to the requisite consistency. After the solution is prepared
+it is applied to the coffee while hot, generally in the cylinder
+while revolving, which diffuses the material and imparts an even and
+uniform coating to the coffee, adhering and hardening as it cools.
+But the claims made by roasters and others who coat or glaze coffee,
+that large quantities of eggs are used exclusively in the preparation
+of the glazing compound is simply absurd, as is also the claim that
+it is resorted to for the purpose of closing the pores, to protect
+and retain the aroma and for self-settling purposes. The real object
+being to conceal defects, disguise low grades and damaged coffees,
+as well as to add weight and color to light, chaffy and “quakery”
+coffees, the process adding all the way from 5 to 10 per cent. to the
+weight, according to the nature of the coffee and the character of
+the substance used; light, chaffy-bean coffees absorbing more of the
+material than the hard and solid ones, while the softer and rougher the
+bean the more it improves in appearance by the process.
+
+What is known as the “Egg-glaze” is prepared from eggs alone, mashed
+and applied after the coffee has been first cooled, and then baked
+on by means of a hot blast, when it forms a hard, transparent shell,
+protecting the coffee until it is ground and ready for use; and also
+serving to clarify the liquor in the pot after infusion. Another
+composed of one part gum arabic dissolved in water, to which is
+added four parts starch, with sufficient water to make it limped,
+the whole being boiled for upwards of twenty minutes, and which is
+best accomplished by inserting a small pipe of live steam from the
+boiler into the compound until it is reduced to the consistency of
+cream; then, after stirring well, it is poured on the coffee while
+in the cylinder as it revolves, or it may be spread over it while in
+the cooler, if proper care be taken to diffuse it well. Still another
+excellent compound for glazing coffee is prepared from one part Irish
+moss, one part gelatine, one part isinglass, one ounce sugar and two
+dozen eggs, the first three ingredients being first boiled in water,
+then strained and applied as in foregoing formula. For the purpose of
+imparting a lustrous aspect to roasted coffee, a liquid has recently
+been invented, the composition of which is so far unknown. It has a
+specific gravity of 0.868 at 15 degrees, burning with a sooty flame and
+leaving no fixed residue. It absorbs no iodine when treated, and is but
+little affected by chromic acid or concentrated sulphuric acid, taking
+only a slight color when treated with the latter. It is clear and oily
+in appearance, but entirely free from color, taste, or smell, and mixes
+in all proportions with petroleum, from which fact it would appear to
+be nothing more than a highly purified petroleum oil, in which case it
+must be classed among the illegitimate additions to roasted coffee.
+
+
+GRINDING.
+
+The process of grinding the roasted bean is also one that requires
+more attention than is generally bestowed on it. Coarse-ground coffees
+require protracted boiling in order to extract its full strength, and
+too much boiling is fatal to the production of good coffee in the cup.
+But, on the other hand, it may be ground too fine, so that just to what
+degree of fineness it should be ground depends in a great measure on
+the method of preparing it for use.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ADULTERATION AND DETECTION.
+
+
+In commerce coffee is to be met with in three conditions--Raw or
+unroasted, Roasted and Ground--and, as may be inferred, it is in the
+latter condition that it is most liable to the chief adulterations,
+so that with the raw and simply roasted coffee the public analyst
+will have very little to do, his services being principally required
+in dealing with ground coffee alone. But at the same time it is also
+subject to much manipulation and sophistication in the two first
+conditions also, scarcely any dietic article being so persistently
+adulterated. From the time of picking and preparing coffee for market
+until it finally reaches the table of the consumer, there is probably
+no article of diet subjected to more or as many forms of manipulation,
+sophistication, substitution and adulteration as coffee. The producer
+mixes one variety with another, the refuse of the old and inferior with
+the new and choice, while the commission agent at the shipping ports
+manipulates it again by changing the grade or altering the quality by
+running one grade with another in order to complete his consignment.
+Again, on its arrival in the consuming countries it is frequently
+emptied out of the original packages, separated or run together as
+required, the bags turned inside out, and the marks altered in order
+to conceal any stained or damaged in transit. All “bilge-water”
+or otherwise damaged coffee being picked over, the musty beans set
+aside, milled or cleaned, rematted or rebagged as the case may be, and
+eventually sold as sound, but which no process of roasting or glazing
+can eradicate. But while almost all varieties pass through more or
+less manipulation or substitution, from the producing to the consuming
+countries, it does not always follow that it is detrimental to the
+coffee.
+
+
+RAW OR GREEN COFFEES.
+
+=Rios=--Are most subject to sophistication by altering the color
+from light to green and dark to meet the demand for each particular
+kind, the light Rios being converted into dark by the application
+of a preparation of “bone black,” and into yellow or golden by the
+use of chromate of lead, or into green by a combination composed of
+both compounds. This dangerous and iniquitous practice is resorted to
+in order to cater to the prejudices of dealers and consumers in the
+different sections of the country for “Light,” “Dark,” “Green” and
+“Golden Rios,” as the case may be. The cosmetic is best detected by the
+simple process of washing in a little warm water and rubbing with a dry
+towel, exposing the natural color of the bean, whatever the original
+may be, or by cutting the bean in half and seeing if the color runs
+through.
+
+=Maracaibos=--In the raw or natural state are principally substituted
+with large, white-bean Santos, Savanilla, San Domingo, Mexican,
+Salvador or other Central American coffees as well as by transferring
+the lower into high-grade bags. While La Guayras are usually polished
+or “soapstoned,” and converted into Rios when the finer grades of the
+latter are scarce or high.
+
+=Javas=--Are generally either substituted, mixed, sweated or colored
+artificially. In the first case any large, whitish, yellowish or
+brownish variety, such as Maracaibo, Savanilla and Santos is used
+for the purpose or mixed with it in the natural state, and can only
+be detected by a familiar knowledge of the genuine bean. The lower
+and paler grades of Java, such as Lahats and Maccassars are usually
+“colored” or “sweated” for the purpose of imparting an aged appearance
+or the so much desired brown color, other spongy-bean coffees that
+easily absorb, and retain the coloring matter being frequently
+subjected to the same processes. While the higher grades are more often
+substituted one for the other by changing the mats, such as replacing
+a Preanger with a Timour, an Ankola with Padang or Singapore. When
+simply colored as before described the washing it with a little water
+and rubbing with a dry towel will expose the cosmetic, or better still
+by cutting the suspected bean open with a sharp pocket-knife, examining
+it through; if not of the same color to the core it is undoubtedly
+doctored. Another method, when the coffee is mixed with Savanilla or
+other light bean coffee, is to place a sample of the suspected coffee
+on top a vessel of water, in which case the hard, solid-bean Java
+will sink to the bottom and the light-bean substitute float on top.
+“Sweated” Javas are browned by placing any fair-sized, light-colored
+variety such as Lahat, Maccassar, ordinary Jamaica or Savanilla in
+a zinc or iron-lined room or case surrounded on all sides by pipes,
+through which steam passes and subjecting them to an intense heat,
+the process causing the--whatever little volatile oil this class
+of coffee contains--to exude and impart a dark, muddy-red color to
+the beans. This sophistication is best detected by the unnatural,
+repulsively reddish color produced by the process, by their light
+weight and irregular, unsightly appearance in the hand as well as by
+their nauseous, almost sickening flavor, developed by the volatile oil
+and the zinc, and which is evidently prejudicial to the health of the
+consumer.
+
+=Mocha Coffee.=--Probably there is no single variety of coffee grown
+more generally counterfeited or adulterated than Mocha in the raw or
+unroasted state, owing to its limited supply and high commercial value.
+In addition to the manipulation and substitution which it undergoes
+at the ports of export, by the addition or substitution of small-bean
+Wynaad, Malabar, Ceylon, Bourbon and other African varieties annually
+shipped to Aden for the specific purpose of conversion into Mocha,
+that it has become a difficult matter to determine what is true Mocha
+and what is not. The substitutes are first separated from the regular
+crops and then carefully picked over and assorted by hand, the better
+to adapt them to their respective markets, and then packed in the
+unique and peculiar packages which distinguish the true article from
+all others. It had at one time been considered as next to impossible to
+tamper with or imitate these packages without detection, composed as
+they are of a coarse vegetable material, sewed with a fibrous substance
+that becomes excessively hard and tough by age; but modern ingenuity
+has found a way in the countries of consumption to cut this “Gordian
+knot,” first by a process known to the initiated as “stove-piping,”
+by which a portion of the genuine coffee is run out of the original
+package with an iron tube resembling a “coffee tryer,” inserted at one
+end of the bale and a spurious article composed of some small-bean
+variety, such as Santos, Maracaibo or Guatemala, poured in its place
+and the puncture closed up. Another ingenious method is to soften the
+fibrous cord of which the withes are made, and with which the bales
+are sewn, by a process known as “steaming,” by which they are softened
+and drawn out, the bales being easily opened entire and the contents
+substituted by the introduction of one or other of the same class of
+coffees already mentioned, and even by small-bean Rios, particularly
+when the former kinds are high or difficult to procure. These glaring
+forms of adulteration and substitutions practiced in Mocha coffee may
+be readily detected by a comparison of the mixture or contents with a
+sample of the genuine bean, which is invariably small, round, uniform
+and symmetrical, varying in color from a rich olive-green cast, almost
+translucent when new, and a bright-yellowish hue when old, being at the
+same very clean, and attractive in the hand. While the adulterants and
+substitutes are much larger, more irregular and varying in size, style,
+form and color, from a dark or grass-green to a pale white, according
+to the age and nature of the coffee used.
+
+There has recently been discovered another and very ingenious coffee
+fraud, in which the raw beans look quite natural, but yield no coffee
+liquor on infusion. On close inspection these spent or exhausted beans
+resemble artificial coffee beans composed of baked dough colored, but
+a microscopical examination disproves this supposition. The beans are
+genuine coffee beans, but the cells show a remarkable freedom from
+caffeine and the oil of coffee, indicating that they had been steeped
+in water, so that on the microscopical examination being supplemented
+by a chemical analysis, the result showed that almost every valuable
+property of the coffee had been removed from the beans, evidently for
+medicinal purposes or the manufacture of some extract of coffee, after
+which they are re-dried and disposed of to roasters and unscrupulous
+dealers as sound coffee. The beans of such coffee look quite natural,
+but on close inspection are found to be tough and light, yielding
+a watery and flavorless liquid on infusion. A patent has also been
+recently obtained the purpose of which is to impart to coffee beans
+by a summary operation the properties and characteristics possessed
+by coffee which has been stored and kept under favorable conditions
+for a comparatively long period of time. The process of maturing or
+“aging” the coffee consisting in spreading out the raw beans in a thin
+layer between alternate layers of damp bags or other textile material
+first by sprinkling a number of bags with water, and piling them one on
+top of the other until they have all become uniformly moistened, then
+spreading out one of the bags and laying on it a dry bag upon which is
+placed a layer of green coffee, another dry bag being placed over it
+and a damp bag on that again, and so on to any desired height. The pile
+of bags and coffee thus formed is then compressed in order that the dry
+bags may absorb the moisture from the damp bags and also become damp,
+thus maintaining the coffee beans in their confined space until the
+desired maturing or aging effect has been produced.
+
+
+ROASTED COFFEES
+
+Are chiefly sophisticated by mixing or substituting lower with
+high-grade coffees, and by coating or glazing the beans with some
+obnoxious compounds as previously described. Many of the so-called
+Javas and other high-sounding-name coffees now in the market so
+much vaunted and extolled being nothing more than combinations of
+Santos, Maracaibo and other medium grades, some of the most reputable
+consisting merely of Santos and Java in the proportions of 40 per
+cent. of the former to 60 per cent. of the latter. The distinguishing
+features of the raw or natural bean being largely altered in the
+process of roasting, making it a difficult matter for any but experts
+to detect this most common form of adulteration, an acquaintance with
+the original flavors of the different varieties being the only sure
+means of detection.
+
+[Illustration: WASHING COFFEE.]
+
+Some years since, there was invented a bean resembling that of roasted
+coffee, made from dyed plaster of paris, which was intended for
+admixture with coffee, and at the present time a far more dangerous
+fraud is being perpetrated in the already too wide field of coffee
+adulteration. It is that of a bogus or artificial bean, resembling
+that of whole roasted coffee, which, on analysis, proves to be largely
+composed of wheat flour, mixed with a glutinous compound of cracker
+dust, paste and molasses, moulded in the form of the true coffee bean
+of commerce and flavored with a weak solution of caramel or chocolate.
+These spurious coffee beans are not, however, intended to supply in
+themselves a beverage which from any similarity of appearance, taste
+or effect might form a substitute for coffee and cannot therefore be
+regarded as such, but are intended solely as an adulterant of whole
+roasted coffee. It is readily detected by close inspection in the hand,
+but still more so in the cup, tasting as it does more like a decoction
+made from burnt dough and molasses. When dissolved in boiling water
+it yields a blackish, muddy liquor akin to slop, leaving a thick,
+greasy residue in the bottom of the vessel. The custom of coating or
+“glazing,” now so much in vogue among roasters and dealers, may also
+be classed among the many, but milder forms of adulteration, which,
+though ostensibly claimed to protect the pores of the coffee from the
+oxydizing influences of the atmosphere, preserve its aroma, and at the
+same time clarify the infusion, is in reality, in nearly all cases,
+resorted to for the purpose of disguising or concealing the defects
+of artificially-colored, stained, damaged and immature or “quakery”
+coffees, or for adding an extra weight of from 5 to 6 per cent. to it.
+
+
+GROUND COFFEES
+
+Are subject to the most extensive adulterations, all being more or less
+sophisticated or adulterated in one form or another, chief among which
+is that of the admixture of the roasted and ground roots of Chicory,
+Dandelion, Carrot, Parsnip, Beet and other leguminous vegetables.
+Peas, Beans, Rye, Rice, Wheat, Barley and various other cereal grains,
+including the seeds of the broom, fenugreek, iris and acorn. These
+various roots and seeds, with many more similar substances, have
+not only been used as adulterants, but under various high-sounding
+names several of them have been introduced as substitutes for coffee.
+But so far not a single one of them have either merited or obtained
+any success as such, their sole effect being to bring coffee into
+undeserved disrepute as a pleasing and agreeable beverage with the
+public.
+
+
+SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS.
+
+Among the numerous substitutes and adulterants in use for coffee may be
+mentioned first:--
+
+=Rye Coffee.=--Prepared from roasted rye and a little butter ground
+fine, and put up in packages.
+
+=Rice Coffee.=--Made from roasted rice in the same manner as the former
+and considered a very good substitute.
+
+=Malt Coffee.=--A preparation made from malt, which is first soaked
+in water at 40 degrees and dried in a coffee roaster until the grains
+assume a glossy-brown color is used as a substitute for the coffee of
+commerce, the finished product, when ground and infused, is claimed to
+be a passable coffee substitute.
+
+=Currant Coffee.=--Manufactured from the seeds of that fruit, washed
+out of the cake left in making currant wine, then roasted and ground,
+but principally used as an adulterant.
+
+=Gooseberry Coffee.=--Prepared from the seeds of that fruit in the same
+manner and used as an adulterant also.
+
+=Holly Coffee=--Is made from the berries of the common holly, roasted
+and moistened with a little lemon juice.
+
+=Acorn Coffee=--Is prepared from acorns, deprived of their shells,
+husked, dried and roasted in the same manner as regular coffee.
+
+=Sassafras Coffee.=--Manufactured from the fruit or root of that plant,
+or from the bark, cut up, dried and roasted, the decoction being very
+wholesome, and a specific for skin diseases.
+
+=Beechmast Coffee.=--Made from the roasted and ground roots of the
+beechmast, and also claimed to be very wholesome.
+
+=Beet-root Coffee.=--Principally used as an adulterant; is prepared
+from the yellow beet-root, sliced, dried in an oven and ground with
+genuine coffee.
+
+=Almond Coffee=--Is made from either rye or wheat, roasted with almonds
+and a very small quantity of cassia buds, making a very good substitute.
+
+=Bean Coffee=--Is prepared from ordinary horse-beans, roasted along
+with a little honey and burnt sugar, a small quantity of cassia buds
+being frequently added when removed from the fire, the whole being
+stirred until cold.
+
+=German Coffee=--Is chiefly made from chicory roasted and ground fine,
+and used either as a substitute or an adulterant of the regular coffee
+of commerce.
+
+=Coffee-pulp Coffee.=--In Arabia the pulp of the berries, which
+constitutes about twenty per cent. of the prepared coffee, is dried
+and shriveled up by a method peculiar to Arabia. This product is known
+by the distinct name of _Kishr_, a decoction of which forms the common
+beverage of the poorer Arabs.
+
+=French Coffee.=--What is known and celebrated as “French Coffee” is
+made from a mixture of coffee and caramel, which must be packed in
+tins, as otherwise the hygroscopic properties of the caramel will cause
+it to absorb moisture, and thereby run to decomposition.
+
+=Pelotas Coffee=--Is also prepared from ground acorns and sold under
+the name of Pelotas, but is exceedingly dark in liquor, wild and
+insipid in flavor.
+
+=Corsican Coffee=--Is made from the roasted seeds of the Knee-holly,
+and used extensively on that island as a substitute for the regular
+coffee of commerce.
+
+=Egyptian Coffee=--Is prepared from the common Chick-pea roasted,
+ground and mixed with genuine coffee in equal parts, being more of an
+adulterant than a substitute.
+
+=Mesquite Coffee.=--It has been recently claimed that a species of
+coffee may be produced from the “Mesquite plant” found growing in wild
+abundance in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, but so far no positive
+results have been reported.
+
+=Dandelion Coffee.=--The root of the Dandelion, first dried, roasted
+and ground, is also extensively used as a substitute for coffee, and is
+claimed by many physicians to be much preferable to chicory for that
+purpose, its infusion, decoction and extract being frequently employed
+as a tonic and aperient, especially in disorders of the liver and
+digestive organs.
+
+=Spent Coffee=--Prepared from “exhausted” coffee grounds which are
+dried and re-atomized by the transforming hand of modern chemistry, put
+up in shiny packages under seductive titles, and from which the deluded
+and over-confiding consumer endeavors to extract a desired beverage.
+
+=Mussenda Coffee.=--A patent has recently been granted in France, the
+object of which is to substitute the berry of the _Mussenda_ plant
+for the various substances now used for mixing with ground coffees,
+by which the berries are roasted with the coffee in any desired
+proportions, usually from ¹⁄₃ to ²⁄₃ Mussenda, or ³⁄₄ coffee to ¹⁄₄
+Mussenda. During the roasting process a small quantity of Caramel is
+added to improve the flavor, the compound being then ground and put
+up in cans, possessing at least one good recommendation, that of not
+containing any injurious properties.
+
+=Canada Peas=--Which is the most extensive form of adulteration, are
+first roasted in the same manner as coffee, but requiring a much
+longer time and more care, as the shell of the pea does not assume a
+coffee-color until the inside is overdone, and must be judged by the
+inside appearance, being brittle and a little darker when broken than
+coffee, but when ground they are dry and dusty, on which account they
+make an excellent compound with chicory, keeping it from forming into
+lumps and making it assume a uniform color. Wheat, rye or barley may be
+substituted or added to this compound without affecting it, the method
+of treatment being identical. There being but little aroma to protect
+and none to save, the virtue of this compound lies altogether in the
+healthy properties of the cereal used, not in the flavor of the liquid.
+
+=Essence of Coffee=--Is simply an article of manufacture, containing
+no coffee, but intended for use with coffee for the purpose of
+imparting color and as a clarifying agent. It may be prepared at will
+from any cereal before named, bread raspings or burnt cracker dust,
+but is chiefly composed of carbonized corn, that is, corn roasted
+to blackness. The material from which it may be prepared is first
+roasted, ground fine and spread out thinly over a large surface, and
+then covered with burnt sugar or molasses while boiling hot, the whole
+forming a large cake, which when thoroughly cooled is broken into
+pieces and reground in an iron mill until reduced to a dust, after
+which it is put up in packages or barrels for use in coffee. It is also
+used extensively as an adulterant in ground coffee, and when made from
+good stock it is not objectionable, possessing excellent coloring,
+sweetening and clarifying properties.
+
+=Coffee-leaf Coffee.=--A decoction made from the leaves of the coffee
+shrub has long been used in the Eastern Archipelago, and has more
+recently been introduced among the coolies of southern India, and a few
+years since attracted considerable notice, being recommended as a new
+article of import to become a cheap substitute for tea. There seems
+to be no doubt that coffee leaves contain the principle caffeine in
+sufficient abundance for the making of a valuable beverage, but the
+presence of an unpleasant senna-like odor militates greatly against its
+popularity as a regular drink, and there exists also the difficulty
+that of depriving the tree of its foliage damages the crop of berries
+and injures the tree itself. On berry-producing trees therefore only
+the leaves obtained in the ordinary pruning operations would be
+available, and these would seem to yield so small a supply as not to be
+worth the cost of collection, while growing the shrubs for the leaves
+alone would be a very questionable undertaking. Yet there appears to be
+no valid reason why in the event of the berry crop failing a portion at
+least of the leaves might not be gathered and prepared in the form of
+coffee if any means can be invented for removing the objectionable odor.
+
+=Whey Coffee=--Another very novel substitute for coffee is prepared
+of whey from milk, which is evaporated down in open vessels or vacuum
+pans until most of the water is driven off and a thick paste remains.
+During the process the whey is kept constantly stirred, the stirring
+being continued until the pasty mass becomes cold, when it is rolled
+into cakes and dried at a temperature of boiling water, after which it
+is broken up and moulded into pieces about the size and form of coffee
+beans. The next operation is that of roasting, which is more preferably
+performed by first mixing them with an equal quantity of raw coffee,
+the roasting process thus turning the whey-paste beans into a rich
+brown color, which on cooling are ground with another percentage of
+coffee. The compound yields a pleasant and agreeable beverage and may
+find some use as a harmless if not really nutritious ingredient in the
+lower priced coffee preparations.
+
+In Brazil and other South American countries the fruit of the Wax
+palm is used extensively as a substitute for coffee, being very rich
+in caffeine and possessing nutritious properties, while recently a
+substitute for coffee has been introduced to England and the continent
+of Europe under the name of “Mochara,” which is simply a preparation
+made from ripe figs, roasted and pulverized, which is sold at about
+half the price of coffee. Another illustration of the modern craze
+for replacing every genuine article by an inferior substitute is to
+be found in the announcement of a company to work a recent patent
+for making coffee out of dates. In New Zealand the berries of the
+_Coprosma_ have been proposed as a coffee substitute, while the seeds
+of the _Cassia_ have been lately imported into England from the river
+Gambia and sold there under the name of “Negro Coffee.” But although
+such substitutes and admixture are demanded, yet it appears to be
+impossible to replace coffee altogether, all the elaborate attempts
+made by the French chemists during the wars in the early part of this
+century being unsuccessful in providing any approximate substitute for
+coffee.
+
+=Kola-nut Coffee.=--The diminishing production of coffee in Java,
+Ceylon, and other countries of East Indies has given rise to the
+suggestion that the cultivation of the Kola-nut as substitute for
+coffee should be undertaken, which not only as a stimulant, but as an
+article of food, possesses the essential properties of coffee, and is
+even said to be richer in the active principle, _caffeine_. Heretofore
+this product has been raised chiefly for medicinal purposes only, but
+its acceptability as a stimulating and nutritious beverage is rapidly
+growing, possessing as it does a high value, because of its power of
+enabling men to sustain great effort as well as to endure long fasting.
+It is fast finding a place in commerce in the same order as that
+held by coffee, the beverage being called at the present “Kola-nut
+Coffee,” but the term “Kolatina,” has recently been proposed as more
+appropriate for the decoction, and to which there can be no reasonable
+objection. The beverage prepared from the Kola nut resembles that
+made from coffee, and is both pleasant and agreeable, and for persons
+troubled with weak indigestion “Kolatina” is found to be better adapted
+than either tea or cocoa. This is the bean which Stanley speaks in
+several of his works on African exploration as possessing much greater
+sustaining power than either tea, coffee, or cocoa; the natives, he
+states, carry these beans in their pockets and eat them during long
+marches. The beans are first ground and put up in packages, with
+directions for making the infusion, one teaspoonful being sufficient
+for a cup of Kolatina. A concentrated essence is also made from the
+beans, and an acerated drink called “Kola champagne,” very agreeable to
+the taste and recommended by physicians.
+
+=Chicory=--The common root of the Endive or “Succory” plant, as used
+along with coffee was originally a Dutch practice dating back to over
+a century ago, but for many years after the nature of Chicoried coffee
+was kept a profound secret by the Dutch dealers until 1801, when the
+secret was first disclosed. The fact that for over a hundred years it
+has been successfully used as a substitute for and recognized addition
+to coffee, while in the meantime innumerable other substances have been
+tried for the same purpose and abandoned indicates that it must be
+agreeable, if not beneficial, to many constitutions besides imparting
+to coffee additional color, body and pungency, and may, by acting as
+a sedative, tonic and diuretic, modify its stimulating and exciting
+effects, and is at least in very general, almost universal, use at
+the present time. It is extensively cultivated in Belgium, Holland,
+France, Germany and other European countries, being principally
+prepared from the old, stout and white roots of the plant, which
+after washing are sliced into small pieces, and kiln-dried, in which
+condition it is usually sold to the chicory roasters, by whom it is
+parched or burned, until it assumes a deep-brown color, after which it
+is ground, the fine dust being separated from the coarse and granulated
+parts. In its external characteristics it closely resembles ground
+coffee, but is entirely destitute of its pleasing and aromatic odor,
+neither does it possess any trace of the alkaloid--caffeine--which
+give their peculiar virtues to coffee, tea and other diet drinks. It
+occupies a peculiar position, however, since very many coffee consumers
+deliberately prefer an admixture of chicory with coffee to the pure
+article alone, notwithstanding that it is entirely devoid of the
+essential oil for which coffee is so valued. Differing diametrically
+in their botanical nature and chemical composition as well as in their
+physiological properties and action. Again, coffee is the fruit of a
+tree, while chicory is the root of a herbaceous plant, and it is a
+well-established fact that of all parts of either vegetables or plants
+the fruit and seeds possess the most active and nutritious properties.
+This is no doubt due to their being freely exposed to the influence
+of light and air--agencies which invariably promote chemical changes
+in the plant itself and so effect the elaboration of those complex
+organic substances on which the activity of all plants depends. While
+on the other hand it is manifest that, as roots are concealed from
+these powerful agencies, they cannot be richly endowed with active
+properties, there being but few roots containing either alkaloid or
+volatile oil--the properties which give to coffee its unique virtues.
+The distinction therefore between the properties of the seeds and
+roots of plants in general is very important, and especially so in
+the case of coffee and chicory, the infusion of the latter being
+heavy, black, mawkish and entirely destitute of aroma; that of the
+former being light, rich, fragrant and refreshing. Coffee containing
+three active principles: caffeine, volatile oil and tannin, chicory
+possessing no such analogous constituents. Coffee exerting very marked
+and highly important physiological effects of a beneficial character in
+the human system, while there is not a single proof that chicory exerts
+any one of these effects, it being very questionable, in the contrary,
+whether the properties it does possess are not really injurious.
+None of these or analogous principles are to be found in any of the
+substitutes or adulterants of coffee, so that the latter cannot possess
+a single one of the peculiar and beneficial properties of coffee, being
+simply a deception on the stomach of the consumer.
+
+Chicory contains neither _caffeine_ nor essential oil like coffee, and
+is neither exhilarating nor pleasant in taste, while on some persons
+it acts as an irritant and purgative. Some so-called coffees contain
+large quantities of it, even to the extent of 95 per cent., which it
+would be more correct to call such a mixture “adulterated chicory,”
+rather than coffee, which term it seems entitled to only as a matter
+of courtesy, chicory being in its turn also subject to adulteration
+in many forms, two very common adulterants being beet-root and
+mangel-wurzel. As to the nutrition possessed by chicory, it contains
+only about one-half the nitrogenous substances of coffee and even that
+quantity in no way benefits the consumer, as these substances are
+insoluble in water and are wasted in the infusion. It has been proved
+also that even the chicory itself is extensively adulterated, as all of
+the substances found in adulterated coffee have also been discovered
+in ground chicory. Viewed under a magnifying glass the component
+fibres and elementary structures of the different substances used in
+the adulteration of coffee present peculiarities and characteristics
+that enables the experienced observer to identify without difficulty
+the particular substitute or adulterant employed. The principal
+adulterant, chicory, being readily distinguished by the size, form,
+and ready separation of the component cells of the nut, as well as by
+the presence of an abundance of spiral vessels of a dotted form. Whole
+roasted beans, peas and cereals may be best detected by the respective
+size, form, texture and other characteristics of the starchy granule,
+of which such substances are chiefly composed.
+
+In minute structure true coffee is so distinct from all other vegetable
+substances that it is readily recognizable by means of the microscope,
+and as the roasting process does not destroy its distinguishing
+peculiarities, microscopic examination forms the readiest method of
+determining the genuineness of any suspected sample. The true coffee
+bean consists of an assemblage of vesicles or cells, angular in
+form, which adhere so firmly together that they break up into pieces
+rather than separate into distinct and perfect cells. And, again, by
+microscopical, physical and chemical tests the purity of coffee can
+be still further determined with perfect certainty. The mixture of
+chicory with coffee is best detected by the aid of the microscope,
+the structure of both which they retain after torrefaction being very
+characteristic and distinct. The granules of coffee remain hard and
+angular when steeped in water, to which they communicate but little
+color, while chicory on the other hand by swelling up and softening
+imparts a deep brown color to the water, the specific gravity of
+chicory being also much lighter than that of coffee.
+
+All of the pseudo patent or proprietary ground coffees, put up in
+bulk or packages, and recommended to the consumer by high-sounding,
+seductive names and attractive labels, which are annually palmed off
+in such vast quantities, consist of nothing more than a combination of
+these adulterants with genuine coffee. So much so that it may be safely
+said that wherever grinding is done it may be safely set down that
+more or less adulteration is practised, the ground coffee being put up
+in packages or in bulk form. The average basis for the compound being
+composed of the following proportions to every 1,000 pounds: chicory,
+100; rye, 200; peas, 400; coffee, 200, and other substances 100 pounds.
+
+According to some English chemists, coffee is adulterated in that
+country, outside of chicory, with such substances as roasted peas,
+beans, carrots, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, acorns, beets, lupins
+and even fragments of the baked livers of oxen and horses. To such an
+extent is the practice carried there, that it is next to impossible to
+procure a pound of pure coffee there at almost any price. The evil also
+flourishes to a great extent in this country, but with the exception
+that nothing worse than roasted rye, peas, beans and cereal grains are
+chiefly used for its adulteration. With regard to the propriety of
+selling chicory with coffee, it may be stated that while it certainly
+is not right to sell a mixture of coffee with chicory under the name
+of pure coffee, and unreasonable to compel the manufacturer or vender
+to specify approximately the proportion of chicory contained in the
+mixture, this latter is especially desirable, inasmuch as chicory
+is far cheaper than coffee, and it is, therefore, necessary to
+protect the public against having chicory palmed off on it for pure
+coffee. According to the best authorities, coffee, when pure, is a
+most valuable ingredient of our food, owing to its agreeable flavor,
+pleasing odor and refreshing and gently stimulating properties, which,
+if not absolutely necessary, is at least a most desirable constituent
+of our daily dietary, and any one that deprives it of its true
+qualities by adulteration or substitution inflicts an injury more or
+less grave on the public health, because the adulterants are _claimed_
+not to be poisonous--that is, directly--but only indirectly injurious.
+The offense is thought little of, and never punished in this country,
+with the result that the nefarious practice is rather encouraged
+than repressed. So that, in considering the many evils of coffee
+adulteration, we must not overlook the fact that coffee is not only
+a beverage, but also a drug, antagonistic in action to the _alkaloid
+morphia_, as well as to other alkaloids of like nature, so that in
+cases of poisoning its adulteration may lead to the failure of medical
+treatment, even to the extent of the loss of life.
+
+The operation of roasting also tends to make coffee soluble in boiling
+water, as when Raw coffee is perfectly exhausted by means of boiling
+water it yields up 25 per cent. which passes into solution, while
+Roasted coffee, on the other hand, when completely exhausted by means
+of boiling water, yields up 39 per cent. of soluble matter. These
+figures appear rather high, as in actually using coffee as a beverage
+we are not in the habit of making anything like a complete extraction,
+only some 10 to 12 per cent. of the coffee passing into the liquid.
+From these the facts it will be perceived that the chemical character
+of coffee provide fairly satisfactory criteria for the recognition of
+many species of adulteration, the absence of starch alone in genuine
+coffee offering in itself a character which enables the analyst to
+at once deal with the whole class of possible adulterants, including
+many species of grain, while the absence of more than traces of sugar
+in Roasted coffee can likewise be turned to excellent account inasmuch
+as Chicory contains no starch, but is highly saccharine even after
+roasting, the percentage of sugar in Roasted coffee ranging from 0.0
+to 1.1, while in Roasted chicory the quantity of sugar ranges from 12
+to 18 per cent. The proof of this character is best made by the aid of
+the copper-reduction test, for which purpose a standard solution of
+copper is required, which may be prepared by dissolving 34.65 grams
+of crystalized sulphate of copper in 200 C.C. of water and adding to
+it 173 grams of double tartrate of potash and soda, with 400 C. C.
+of a solution of caustic soda, the whole being subsequently diluted
+with water so as to occupy a litre. The standard solution of copper
+made in this manner is of such a strength that 10 C. C. are reduced
+by .050 grams of grape sugar, the best method of using this solution
+being to take a known volume of it, say 10 C. C. accurately measured
+out, and dilute it with three or four times its volume of boiling
+water and then dropping into the boiling copper solution, which is to
+be added, until the point is just reached when the copper solution is
+exhausted, and as the reduction of the copper-salt to the state of
+red sub-oxide of copper progresses, the precipitate will accumulate,
+and at the same time the blue color will fade from the solution. The
+last delicate reading is finally effected by half of the reduction
+between the ferro-cyanide of potassium and copper solutions, for which
+purpose a little of the liquid is filtered, acidified slightly with
+acetic acid and tested with a drop of the solution of the ferro-cyanide
+of potassium. In this triturate, as in all like cases, a rough and
+rapid estimation is first made, and then a second operation when
+the quantity is approximately known to make a delicate and careful
+reading of the exact point. Thus if 100 parts of coffee when infused
+yield sensibly more than 1 per cent. of sugar, then the presence of
+chicory or other adulterant may be strongly suspected and a rough
+calculation of the quantity made. The fact that coffee extract is
+devoid or almost devoid of sugar, while many of the other natural
+products yield saccharine extracts, makes itself manifest in many ways,
+and the specific gravity also of equal quantities of an infusion of
+coffee being very much lower than the specific gravity of an infusion
+of chicory and the other principal substances used in the adulteration
+of ground coffee. Chicory also possessing greater coloring power than
+coffee, for which reason this character may be rendered available in
+the testing of coffee, as not only does chicory color water more deeply
+than coffee, but it colors it with greater rapidity, the oil contained
+in the coffee hindering the solution of the coloring matter by the
+water, whereas chicory, which contains no oil, imparts its coloring
+matter to water with great readiness. All of which tends to render the
+color-test, when properly applied, the easiest and most available for
+the detection of chicory or other substances in coffee.
+
+What is known as the “Ash test,” is as follows: Pure coffee when
+incinerated or burned, yields about 4 per cent. of ash on an average,
+while the ash of chicory and other adulterants used in coffee amounts
+to between 5 and 6 per cent. of the residue, the ratio of soluble to
+insoluble ash being inverted when dissolved in water thus:--
+
+    Ash of Coffee.      Ash of Chicory.
+  Soluble,      3.24  Soluble,      1.74
+  Insoluble,    0.76  Insoluble,    3.52
+
+From this analysis it will be observed that the average ash of coffee
+when incinerated is about 4 per cent., 3.24 of which is soluble in
+water, and 0.76 insoluble, more than half of the entire ash consisting
+of potash in combination with carbonic and phosphoric acids. Magnesia
+amounting to about 8 and lime to about 4 per cent. of the whole, while
+it is claimed that soda and silica are entirely absent from coffee ash,
+great stress being laid on this circumstance. The ash of chicory, on
+the other hand, which is the main adulterant of coffee, amounts to 5.06
+when incinerated, 1.74 per cent. of which only is soluble in water, and
+3.32 insoluble, being almost an inversion of figures and from which it
+may be easily understood why the examination of the ash alone would
+suffice to distinguish between coffee and chicory, and from which
+it may readily be determined, an examination of the ash test alone
+sufficing to distinguish pure coffee from the adulterated compounds.
+
+Another unerring test, known as the “Color test,” is to prepare a
+saturated solution of common salt and mix a small quantity of the
+coffee to be tested with ten times its weight of the solution in a
+test-tube at least three quarters of an inch in diameter, shaking it
+repeatedly so that the coffee may be thoroughly wetted, and then allow
+the tube to stand for half an hour. Next, closely observe the color of
+the liquid and the quantity of coffee floating on the surface as well
+as the amount deposited in the tube. If the color be a very pale amber
+and almost all of the coffee floats on top, the sample may be assumed
+to be pure, but if of a decidedly dark-yellow or brownish hue, it
+clearly indicates the admixture of chicory or some similar adulterant,
+in which case there is also a larger deposit for the reasons already
+stated. This deposit increases and the color of the brine grows darker
+in proportion to the extent of the impurity in the coffee, as with
+the addition of only 30 per cent. of chicory the brown color is very
+marked, so that with a still larger percentage of the adulterant it
+becomes correspondingly darker.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+BLENDING AND PREPARING.
+
+
+By the combination of different varieties of coffee much better results
+are sometimes obtainable than when one variety is used alone, but in
+the mixing or blending of two or more kinds together, several points
+have to be studied, such as the age, grade, body, flavor, appearance,
+and affinity of the coffees to be combined. The public taste for
+certain flavored coffees, like that of tea, being an acquired one, it
+behooves the dealer to first study and learn the taste of his customers
+before catering to it.
+
+The successful blending of coffees may be easily accomplished if only
+a fair knowledge of the merits and general character of the coffees be
+possessed by the dealer; but tastes differ so widely that it is next to
+impossible to give any fixed formulas for any specific combinations.
+For this reason the following blends are only given for the purpose of
+conveying some idea as to what coffees assimilate best in combination
+and also ascertain what body, strength and flavor is required by the
+customer or customers before preparing the combination; but a taste
+for any fairly good blend of coffees may be cultivated in the customer
+with time. And as no definite formulas can be given for combining
+two or more varieties of coffee, the dealer must study the taste and
+requirements of his trade, noting its peculiarities and experimenting
+with it until he has discovered a combination that will suit or please
+a majority of his customers which, having once found, he should adhere
+to strictly, by being always careful to select, as nearly as possible,
+the same grades of coffee, and keeping them up to the same high and
+uniform standard.
+
+Though not generally admitted, the testing of coffee is much more
+difficult and requires more experience than that of tea, inasmuch as
+the sample of tea is all ready to have the water applied to it, while
+the sample of coffee is presented in the raw or natural state and
+must not only be roasted properly and ground before being tested, but
+must also be roasted as precisely as the other samples with which it
+is to be compared, in order to determine its exact value. To smell
+or taste correctly requires a knowledge of all the properties and
+characteristics of the article under consideration, as these senses
+convey to the mind their impressions, so that if the mind can analyze
+the cause and effect, the senses of smell and taste act in consonance
+with the sense of reason. It is thus obvious that to be an expert
+judge of either tea or coffee requires a thorough knowledge of the
+different varieties and grades of both, and what the most desirable
+qualities of each are. It is also further necessary that the dealer
+should be well aware of what characteristics and blending of flavors
+his customers prefer. Having carefully selected, tested, and purchased
+his coffee, the next important thing is to so roast or have it roasted
+as to best develop the drinking qualities, which, as stated before, is
+a more important and essential process than the hulling and curing of
+it, though frequently underestimated by the average dealer, as many
+otherwise good coffees are injured irreparably by improper roasting.
+
+Owing to the wide difference in the age, weight and texture of coffees
+they should never be blended in the raw or natural state, as old
+and dry coffees require a shorter time to roast than new and moist
+ones, the same rule applying to what are known in trade as “mild” and
+“strong” coffees, as one will be but half roasted or roasted only when
+the former is roasted or burned, thus imparting to the combination
+a raw, uncooked or burned flavor, as the case may be. The best way
+is to roast or have roasted the coffee intended for the blend in
+different cylinders, then mix and cover them up tightly immediately
+after roasting, in order that the differing characters and flavors
+may exchange and assimilate freely while the pores are still open to
+receive them.
+
+
+ROASTED COFFEE BLENDS.
+
+=No. 1.=--(Low-priced). May be made from a fair Rio and Santos,
+low-grade Maracaibo or other mild sort, in the proportions of half and
+half, or, when three or more varieties are used, in equal quantities.
+
+=No. 2.=--(Medium). Is composed of equal quantities of a large
+white-bean Santos and Cucuta Maracaibo or other standard mild growth,
+the whole being strengthened by the addition of one part choice Rio, if
+considered too weak in body.
+
+=No. 3.=--(Choice). When a really rich, smooth, mellow beverage
+is desired a combination, composed of one-third Arabian Mocha and
+two-thirds Preanger Java will yield the desired results. While a liquor
+equally as good, if not more popular, may be obtained from equal
+parts of Cucuta or Merida, Maracaibo, Aden, Mocha and Preanger Java,
+particularly when fresh roasted.
+
+For a good coffee the most common practice is to blend a Padang Java
+and a Cucuta Maracaibo, or large, yellow, old-bean Santos in the
+proportions of 40 pounds of the former to 60 of either, or both the two
+latter, the combination answering well for a straight coffee, and for
+which it may be safely sold. In fact, one of the most popular so-called
+finest Javas in the market to-day is composed of these three varieties,
+the addition of the Santos improving the combination, as it lends to it
+the essential quality which is lacking.
+
+
+GROUND COFFEE BLENDS.
+
+In ground coffees the appended specimen blends are given to illustrate
+how they are mixed, rather than as laying down any fixed formulas, and
+are recommended as being at least non-injurious, if not positively
+wholesome.
+
+=No. 1.=--Composed of 20 pounds roasted rye, 20 pounds chicory and 20
+pounds ground coffee makes a fairly drinkable compound, when a cheap
+coffee is required.
+
+=No. 2.=--A good medium grade may be prepared of 10 pounds rye, 20
+pounds chicory and 20 pounds coffee. These proportions may be altered
+at pleasure, but care must be taken to at all times have the rye in
+excess of the chicory and to thoroughly mix and grind the component
+parts together. The dry dust of the rye quickly absorbs the moisture
+of the chicory and will also prevent the mill from becoming clogged in
+grinding.
+
+=No. 3.=--Better still in the proportions of 15 pounds rye, 10 pounds
+chicory and 10 pounds good, mild coffee, the component parts of which
+may be still further varied to suit the price and taste of the customer
+and to which may be added any of the other ingredients with which
+coffees are mixed, except corn or beans, but it must be borne in mind
+that only the best grade of coffee must be used in the blend, as what
+may otherwise be a good combination may be utterly spoiled by the
+introduction of a tainted, stained, damaged or hidey coffee.
+
+But the best and safest of all substances for mixing or blending
+with coffee with the object of reducing its cost is chicory and rye,
+containing as they do a large percentage of saccharine, which in the
+process of roasting becomes carameled, thus imparting to the compound
+the flavor of coffee to a much greater extent than any other substitute
+known and for which reason it lends itself to the purpose more readily
+than any other vegetable substance. Again, it is not injurious to
+health, while at the same time it gives up its extractive matter
+easily, thus improving the extract yielded by poor coffee and imparting
+a dark color to the decoction such as can only be produced by three
+times the weight of pure coffee. It has one great defect, however, that
+of easily absorbing moisture, becoming hard and lumpy on exposure to
+the atmosphere, more particularly when ground fine.
+
+
+PREPARING FOR USE.
+
+The methods of preparing for the table are almost as numerous as the
+countries in which it is grown, and as much of the beneficial influence
+which it undoubtedly exerts depends in a great measure on its proper
+preparation. This question has given rise to such a maze of psuedo
+chemical subtleties and mechanical devices that it is difficult to
+arrive at any fundamental common-sense rule for its most perfect
+production in the cup. The two principal objects to be sought for in
+the proper preparation of coffee as a beverage are: (1) To obtain the
+greatest amount of strength and aroma, without extracting any of
+its astringent properties, and (2) to produce a rich, transparent,
+nut-brown liquor, free from all cloudiness and grounds. The first
+requisite in securing these results is that the article be purchased
+_pure_ and _fresh roasted_ in the bean and ground personally a short
+time previous to preparing for the table, for if roasted too long
+prior to its use the beans lose much of their strength and aroma,
+becoming tough and difficult to grind. This latter defect, however,
+may be remedied in part by reheating in a pan or oven for some minutes
+previous to being ground and infused.
+
+The usual methods of preparing coffee for use as a beverage are: (1) By
+Infusion or drawing; (2) By Decoction or boiling, and (3) By Filtration
+or distillation.
+
+=Infusion=--or “drawing”--is accomplished by first making the
+water boil and then putting in the ground coffee, the vessel being
+immediately removed off the fire and allowed to stand quietly, in the
+same manner as tea, on the stove or range for about ten minutes, in
+order to more fully extract its properties. The coffee is ready for use
+by this method when the powder swimming on the surface sinks to the
+bottom on slightly stirring it. This process yields a very aromatic
+beverage, but one containing very little of the extract or stimulating
+properties.
+
+=Decoction=--or “boiling”--is the custom in the East, and generally
+yields an excellent coffee. The ground coffee is put in the vessel with
+cold water and placed on the fire, where it is allowed to boil for a
+few seconds, care being taken not to allow it to overboil. If boiled
+too long by this method the aromatic properties are volatilized, and
+while the coffee will be rich in extract it will be poor in aroma.
+
+=Filtration=--or “distilling”.--By this process the coffee is prepared
+in a “percolator,” in which the ground coffee is compressed between
+two metallic diaphragms, so arranged as to permit the water to filter
+through it slowly. This method often, but not always, yields a cup of
+good coffee, as when the pouring of the boiling water over the ground
+coffee is done slowly the drops in passing come in contact with too
+much air, the oxygen of which makes a change in the aromatic particles,
+often destroying them entirely. The extraction also is incomplete, for,
+instead of 20 per cent. the water by this process dissolves only from
+10 to 15 per cent., the balance being lost by evaporation, while by the
+other methods more than half the valuable parts of the coffee remain in
+the grounds and is entirely lost.
+
+It is contended by many experts and connoisseurs that to obtain the
+full aroma of coffee without extracting its astringent properties, it
+must in all cases be prepared as an infusion with boiling water, that
+is, “drawn” in the same manner as tea, or simply allowed to reach the
+boiling point after infusion, but no more. While others, among whom
+is Baron Liebig, maintain that by simple infusion alone much of the
+valuable soluble principle in the coffee remains unextracted, being
+eventually thrown out with the grounds. To avoid this unnecessary
+waste, it is suggested that the grounds of the coffee once used by
+infusion should be preserved, boiled and the liquor resulting therefrom
+be used for infusing a fresh supply. By this method it is claimed that
+the substantial properties of the previously infused coffee, and the
+aroma of the new are obtained together in the fresh infusion. In many
+French households the coffee grounds are utilized by distillation for
+economy’s sake, hot water being poured over them, which, after passing
+through, is preserved in a bottle and used as an extract. In fact,
+this is claimed to be the method adopted in making the finest French
+coffee.
+
+The best method under these circumstances is a combination of the
+second and third, in which the usual quantities of both coffee and
+water are to be retained, a tin measure containing half an ounce of
+roasted coffee beans being generally sufficient for two small cups
+(or one large breakfast cup) of coffee of moderate strength, or four
+ounces for eight small cups or four large ones. With three-quarters
+of the coffee to be prepared after being ground, the water is made
+to boil in ten or fifteen minutes, after which the other quarter is
+put in, and the vessel immediately withdrawn from the fire, tightly
+covered over and allowed to stand for five or six minutes. In order
+that the powder on the surface may fall to the bottom more readily,
+it is meantime stirred round, and after the deposit takes place the
+coffee may be poured off, being then ready for use. But in order to
+separate the grounds more completely, the coffee may be passed through
+a clean muslin cloth, but generally this operation is not necessary,
+being frequently prejudical to the pure flavor of the beverage.
+By this process the first boiling gives the strength, the second
+adding to the flavor without extracting its astringent properties,
+it does not, however, dissolve more than one-fourth of the aromatic
+substances contained in the roasted coffee. The beverage, when ready
+for use by this process, ought to be of a rich brownish-black color,
+semi-transparent, somewhat resembling chocolate thinned with water.
+
+Coffee may be prepared in any kind of vessel, tin cup, iron pot,
+earthen pitcher or regular coffee-pot, but the utensil, whatever it
+may be, must be thoroughly clean before using. When prepared in a tin
+cup or iron pot first heat the ground coffee in the vessel and pour
+on boiling water or milk when the coffee is sufficiently heated, and
+stir with a spoon for one minute, then allow to stand by the fire where
+it will keep hot, without boiling, for another minute and stir again
+and then let stand to settle for two minutes, after which it is ready
+for use, care being taken when pouring out not to disturb the grounds.
+But, if a pitcher be used, it must be first heated with boiling water
+and allowed to stand in a warm place to infuse for at least ten minutes
+before serving.
+
+There are so many different varieties of coffee and such a wide
+dissimilarity of tastes, that it is almost next to impossible to
+suggest the special kind of coffee to select for use, even for the
+average consumer, the same difficulty also applying to what constitutes
+the requisite quantity. Many old-time coffee-drinkers prefer a strong,
+dark, or, as they term it, “an old-fashioned Rio.” Others like a good
+Maracaibo, or other fine, mild grade, such as Ceylon, Jamaica and
+Guatemala; in fact, these are the most popular grades and the choice
+of the majority of consumers, not only on account of their intrinsic
+merits, but also on account of price. For an exceedingly fine coffee,
+however, the best results are obtained from a combination of true
+Java and genuine Mocha, mixed in the proportions of two-thirds of
+the former to one-third of the latter, _fresh roasted, fresh ground
+and fresh made_; while, with regard to quantity, one, two and three
+tablespoonfuls to each pint of water is recommended, according to the
+number to be served and the strength required.
+
+The degree of strength is altogether a matter of taste, two ounces,
+or four heaping tablespoonfuls, of pure, ground coffee, made with
+absolutely boiling water, will yield a full quart of average strength,
+making a pleasant and well-flavored breakfast coffee. But for four
+persons a tea-cup of finely-ground coffee--the finer, the better--will
+be required, to be served as soon as made, as the infusion rapidly
+deteriorates by standing too long.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Ethiopia and Southeastern Africa, where its virtues were first
+discovered and where it has been in use for centuries prior to its
+introduction to civilization, it is used in a _solid_ form, being first
+roasted, crushed and mixed with fat or grease, rolled into balls and
+eaten. The natives claiming that one of these balls will support them
+for an entire day, and preferring it so prepared to a meal of bread or
+meat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While the Arabs, to whom the civilized world is indebted not only for
+the first knowledge of the plant and its product, but also for the
+first knowledge of preparing it in liquid form, prepare it for use in a
+porous earthenware pitcher first set in hot ashes until all moisture is
+evaporated and the vessel is well heated, after which freshly roasted
+and pounded coffee is put in and a little salt added, both being heated
+thoroughly. Boiling water is then poured on, the vessel covered and
+allowed to rest in the hot ashes until it settles before serving. A
+decoction known as _Kishr_ is also made there from the dried pulp of
+the berries, which is prepared by bruising or pounding the raw pulp
+with stones and putting it in boiling water, contained in an earthen
+pan placed over a slow fire. Ground cardamons and a little cinnamon or
+ginger is next added to the decoction, after which it is allowed to
+simmer for half an hour before using.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Turkey, where it is regarded as the national beverage, it is
+prepared by first grinding the roasted beans exceedingly fine, almost
+as fine as flour, and put in a pot in which cold water is poured
+and placed on the fire until it heats up to almost the boiling point
+and then, served without the addition of either milk or sugar. But
+when only a single cup of coffee is wanted, the requisite quantity is
+measured into a small, long-handled brass coffee pot, made expressly to
+hold one or two cups, as the case may be, and water enough poured on
+to fill the vessel, which is set on live coals until it heats up to,
+but not beyond, the boiling point and then served in a tiny cup without
+straining or otherwise settling the grounds.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While in Egypt, which is also proverbial for the excellence of its
+coffee, it is prepared by first grinding the beans fine, as in Turkey,
+and adding an equal quantity of sugar to it, pouring on boiling water,
+and placing the vessel over the fire until it is thoroughly boiled,
+but removing and allowing it to cool occasionally between times until
+it becomes black and rather thick, in which state it is served. Coffee
+thus prepared will be found very rich and strong, too much so for
+the average taste, but dark, frothy-tipped, and, taken altogether, a
+delicious beverage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Java, Sumatra and other Eastern coffee-growing countries the natives
+make a beverage from the leaves of the coffee plant, the leaves
+containing a large percentage of the active principle--caffeine. They
+first roast and cure the leaves after the manner of tea, and prepare
+them by infusion the same as tea, the natives preferring the liquor
+from the leaves to that produced from the roasted beans.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Dutch settlers in South Africa not only use coffee at all meals
+but at all times, the coffee-pot being always on the fire ready for
+any visitors and friends who may call. In preparing it they use two
+kettles, boiling the water in one and pouring it on the coffee which
+has been previously placed in the other; the water is then poured back
+and forth several times, a little cold water being finally added to
+settle the grounds just before serving.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Mexico the coffee is roasted, ground and prepared at the same time;
+the beans are roasted as required and pounded fine in a bag or coarse
+cloth, and immediately transferred to the pot, boiling water is then
+poured on and milk added to it, after which it is allowed to simmer or
+boil slowly for about three minutes. But in some instances the milk is
+added as served, a third of a cup of coffee, or less, and the balance
+in hot milk being the customary proportions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Cuba, where the most delicious coffee obtainable anywhere is to
+be found, the beverage is prepared by first half filling a coarse
+flannel bag with finely pulverized roasted coffee and suspending it
+from a nail or hook over the pot or other vessel. Cold water is next
+poured on the bag at intervals until the entire mass is well saturated,
+when the first drippings which have fallen into the receptacle are
+poured again over the bag until the liquid becomes almost thick and
+very black. One teaspoonful of this novel extracted liquid placed in
+a cup of boiling milk will yield a draught of coffee that is simply
+deliciousness itself--a nectar fit for the gods. In Cuba this flannel
+bag hangs day and night on the wall, the process of pouring on the cold
+water and allowing it to drip being almost ceaseless in its operation,
+all classes, ages and conditions offering and drinking coffee there as
+freely as the Chinese do tea or as we do water.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Coffee constitutes the almost exclusive or “national beverage” of
+the people of Brazil, particularly in the regions where it is most
+grown. It is made thereby first roasting, as in this country, in small
+roasters, but more frequently in iron pans, very high and dark, and is
+prepared for use by grinding or pulverizing the beans very fine, almost
+as fine as flour, and putting it in a muslin or woolen bag placed in
+a pot or other vessel upon which boiling water is poured, and allowed
+to infuse for about fifteen minutes. The entire strength is thus
+extracted, the Brazilians almost universally preferring their coffee
+strong and “black,” that is, without milk, for which reason larger
+quantities are also used.
+
+Many connoisseurs maintain that the roasting of coffee is best done
+at home, as no doubt it is, all risk of adulteration and stale coffee
+being avoided by this method.
+
+So to avoid all risks the consumer should purchase the coffee in a
+whole state and grind it personally; but any suspected sample of ground
+coffee may be tested by the following simple and practical experiments:
+(1). Note whether the ground coffee hardens or “cakes” when pressed
+between the fingers, if so, the coffee is evidently adulterated, most
+probably with chicory; (2). Place a small sample of the suspected
+coffee on top of water in a wineglass, and if part floats and part
+sinks it is undoubtedly adulterated either with chicory, roasted
+cereals or other analogous substances; (3). If the cold water in which
+a sample of the ground coffee has been placed becomes deeply colored
+it is an evidence of the presence of some roasted vegetable substance;
+(4). But to more definitely detect the presence of chicory or other
+foreign substances in ground coffee, put a teaspoonful of the suspected
+sample on the surface of a glass of cold water. If it floats for some
+time, scarcely coloring the water, it is _pure_ coffee, but if part
+sinks and imparts a reddish-brown tint to the water as it falls to the
+bottom of the glass, it is adulterated with either chicory, rye, peas
+or other analogous matter. Or again, place a spoonful of the coffee
+in a white bottle of cold water and shake well for a few moments,
+and if the sample is pure it will rise to the top, scarcely coloring
+the water, but if adulterated it will sink and discolor the fluid
+for the following reason: The pure coffee being enveloped in an oily
+substance prevents the grounds from absorbing the water, while the
+adulterant being devoid of this feature quickly absorbs the water, and
+thus becoming heavy sinks and discolors the fluid to a greater or less
+extent according to the proportion used; (5). Spread out on a piece of
+glass or other smooth surface a little ground coffee and moisten it
+with a few drops of water, and pick out by means of a needle the small
+particles. If these particles are of a soft consistence the coffee is
+undoubtedly adulterated, as the particles of the coffee-seed or bean
+are hard and resisting in nature and do not become soft or pliable even
+after prolonged immersion in water. These simple methods will usually
+suffice to detect the ordinary forms of adulteration, but to determine
+the character and extent of the adulteration science and chemistry must
+be resorted to, for which purpose the use of a microscope will prove
+the most reliable and powerful auxiliary as a means of detection. The
+appended formulas are given as showing the different methods by which
+coffee is or may be prepared to suit the varying tastes of different
+consumers, which after testing, one may be selected for permanent
+adoption.
+
+=1.= Put the requisite quantity of finely-ground coffee in a granitized
+vessel and pour on sufficient cold water to just cover it and allow
+to stand over night in a moderately warm position. Put it in the pot
+next morning, pour in absolutely boiling water and allow to heat to
+the boiling point and set back from the fire to prevent ebullition.
+By this method the full strength of the coffee will be obtained and
+the delicate aroma preserved without the extraction of its bitter and
+astringent properties.
+
+=2.= To prepare coffee by filtration without the aid of an urn or
+French coffee-pot. Put finely-ground coffee in a thin muslin bag and
+place in an ordinary utensil, first heating the vessel thoroughly and
+pour on briskly boiling water slowly around the bag, so as to permit
+it to absorb and saturate the coffee effectually and extract its full
+strength, after which allow it to stand and settle without boiling.
+
+=3.= Another excellent method, known as the “Cold-water process,” is to
+mix the finely-ground coffee with the white of an egg and sufficient
+cold water to just cover the mass, stirring it well meantime; next,
+pour in about one-third of cold water required for the infusion and set
+the vessel on the range where it will heat gradually to the boiling
+point; just as soon as it approaches the boiling point add another
+third of cold water and repeat until it again reaches the boiling
+point, then pour on the balance of cold water and allow it to come to
+the boiling point again. After which remove and let stand where it
+will simmer for a few minutes and settle, which may be hastened by
+the addition of a little more cold water; but if in a hurry, boiling
+water may be used instead of cold by this method also, but the cold
+water extracts more fully the active and refreshing principles of the
+coffee without its deleterious properties making a stronger and richer
+infusion than the boiling water, as more of the strength and aroma is
+carried off in the vapor arising from the use of the latter.
+
+=4.= A quick, convenient and economical method for producing a cup of
+good coffee is to first heat some freshly-roasted and finely-ground
+coffee--an ounce to each quart of water--in a pan over a brisk fire and
+fill a muslin bag with it, then so arrange as to suspend it midway in
+the pot, and pour on absolutely boiling water slowly, so as to allow it
+to trickle through the bag. After which allow it to stand for about ten
+minutes where it will keep hot without boiling, and serve with milk and
+sugar. But the simplest, most rapid and effective method is to place
+about two ounces of ground coffee in a stew or saucepan, and set it on
+a bright fire, stirring the coffee meantime with a spoon until quite
+hot, and then pouring over it a pint of briskly boiling water, covering
+it over closely for five minutes and passing it through a thin muslin
+cloth, warming the liquid again before serving.
+
+=5.= For the “ideal cup of coffee,” take one part genuine Arabian
+Mocha and two parts finest Java; roast each separately and blend well
+together, and grind fine immediately before preparing. Fill an ordinary
+tea-cup two-thirds full of the coffee, with one raw egg and shell.
+
+Place the whole in a strainer or percolator and pour on one quart of
+briskly boiling water, then let stand for about ten minutes where it
+will keep hot without boiling, and serve with cream and sugar to suit,
+or, better still, with hot milk. But should a vessel without a strainer
+or percolator be used let the infusion boil up once, and pour in a
+cup of cold water, after which let it stand for at least five minutes
+to thoroughly settle, and you have a beverage brown, creamy, rich,
+fragrant and delicious.
+
+A most convenient, simple and inexpensive method of roasting coffee by
+families, travelers or others desiring to roast their own coffee is to
+put the requisite quantity--usually about a quarter of a pound--in a
+thin glass flask or bottle placed over a charcoal fire and shaking it
+well during the process until completed. The non-conducting power gives
+this material an advantage over the metal, the coffee being less liable
+to burn in it and the coffee can be better observed and regulated
+during the progress of the process. But a simple iron pan may also be
+used effectively for the purpose, if care be taken to keep the coffee
+constantly agitated with a wooden knife or spoon, as a single burnt
+bean will impair the aroma, and stopping the operation as soon as the
+beans begin to crackle and assume a light-brown color. Before grinding
+put the roasted beans in an iron pan or plate and place on the range to
+heat until the aroma developed in the coffee by the roasting operation
+perfumes the room, after which grind in an ordinary mill and prepare
+according to any of the foregoing recipes.
+
+Many consumers connect the idea of the strength of coffee with a dark
+or black color and fancy their coffee to be thin and weak if it does
+not possess such color. This is entirely erroneous, as good, pure
+coffee is never so, the dark color being imparted by means of a little
+burnt sugar or other ingredient. The true flavor of pure coffee is
+so little known to some persons that many who drink it for the first
+time doubt of its goodness because it tastes of the natural flavor,
+forgetting that coffee which does not possess the flavor of coffee
+is not coffee at all, but an artificial concoction, for which many
+other things may be substituted at pleasure. Hence it is that if to
+the vile decoctions made from chicory, carrots and beets be added the
+slightest quantity of pure coffee, such persons fail to detect the
+difference, and which also accounts for the enormous diffusion of such
+substitutes and adulterants; such mixtures with an empirical taste
+most people fancy to be coffee. Another error of frequent occurrence
+in the preparation of coffee for the table, and which results probably
+from the habit of tea-making, is that of using too little coffee in
+proportion to the quantity of water. More coffee in proportion should
+be used than tea, that is, for a full pint of the infusion an ounce to
+an ounce and a half of coffee, that being about the proper proportions
+for a beverage of average strength.
+
+=Café de Paris=--Or “French Coffee” is most generally prepared by
+mixing a cupful of finely-ground coffee with a raw egg and shell in a
+quart of cold water and placing the pot over a brisk fire, occasionally
+stirring it until the boiling point is reached, after which set the
+vessel aside to simmer for a few minutes, then pour on a cupful of cold
+water and allow to stand for eight or ten minutes before serving, using
+cream and sugar to suit.
+
+=Café au Lait=--or “French Breakfast Coffee” is made by grinding two
+tablespoonfuls of coffee for each cup required, and packing solidly
+in a regular French filtering coffee-pot, pouring on boiling water
+and passing it from two to three times through the coffee-pot. When
+serving, boiling milk in equal quantity or to suit the individual
+taste is poured into the cup from a separate vessel, after which it is
+sweetened to suit. The French usually mix chicory with their coffee,
+particularly when used in the form of _café au lait_. For this form,
+add half tablespoonful of powdered chicory to two tablespoonfuls of
+ground coffee, and after thoroughly mixing, pour on boiling water and
+pass twice through the coffee-pot before serving.
+
+=Café Noir.=--A black “after-dinner coffee,” is prepared by adding four
+ounces of freshly-ground strong coffee to a quart of absolutely boiling
+water and allowing it to stand until it reaches the boiling point,
+meantime passing it twice or thrice through the coffee-pot before
+serving.
+
+=Café au Crême=--Is prepared by the addition of boiled cream to clear,
+strong, fresh-made coffee and allowing to infuse or draw together from
+fifteen to twenty minutes.
+
+=Café Glacé.=--To every six cups of freshly-made coffee add one egg
+with cream, and sweeten well, then mix thoroughly and place in a
+refrigerator until frozen to the consistency of cream.
+
+=Café Demi-tasse=--Is a beverage prepared after the manner of _Café
+Noir_, but sweetened to a much greater extent, and to which is added
+Cognac, Kirsch, or some other liqueur, but when taken with a small
+glass of liqueur it becomes a _Café Gloria_.
+
+=Café Capucin=--Is merely another name for _Café au lait_, served in a
+glass instead of a cup, while “Mazagran” is coffee served with water
+instead of milk, the coffee which is prepared exactly the same as
+Demi-tasse is served in a tall, narrow glass or goblet, a decanter of
+cold water being served with it, the consumer diluting to suit.
+
+=Café à la Russe=--Like “Tea à la Russe” is simply strong, black
+coffee, prepared after the manner of _Café au lait_, to which a squeeze
+or slice of lemon is added before drinking.
+
+=Coffee à la Hollandaise=--Is prepared in a vessel composed of two
+detached parts, the lower one answering as a reservoir and the upper
+as a filter; the bottom being perforated with small holes, and over
+which is placed a piece of flannel to cover it entirely. The requisite
+quantity of finely-ground coffee is placed in the filter and firmly
+pressed down, cold water being next slowly poured over it, after which
+it is allowed to stand until all the water has percolated through it
+into the reservoir beneath; the passing of the water occupying at least
+four hours, extracting the full strength and flavor of the coffee in
+that time. The vessel is high and narrow, so as to retard as much
+as possible the passage of the liquid, but large enough to hold the
+requisite quantities of both coffee and water at the same time and to
+avoid the necessity of an additional supply of water.
+
+=Vienna Coffee.=--The famous Vienna Coffee is prepared in a somewhat
+complicated contrivance, resembling a cylinder or urn, fitted with
+a coarse sieve, the water being boiled by means of an alcohol lamp
+underneath. When the water boils the steam passes through a tube and at
+the same time through the finely-ground coffee, which has previously
+been placed loose on the top, but protected by several strainers. A
+glass top attached to the urn enables the cook to observe when the
+coffee is properly prepared, the process securing a perfect infusion of
+the coffee, and at the same time preserving its full aroma and other
+properties.
+
+=Creole Coffee=--Is prepared by distillation, the coffee being first
+roasted until it has assumed a uniformly brown color, after which it
+is covered up and allowed to cool. It is then ground and covered up
+carefully again until ready for use, when the requisite quantity is put
+in a filtered coffee-pot into which it is pressed compactly, a little
+briskly boiling water is then poured on and allowed to filter through
+the coffee, when more boiling water is poured on, the process being
+repeated about every five minutes until ready to serve. The result
+of this process is very strong and rich in extract, which is often
+preserved in a perfectly air-tight jar or other vessel until again
+required for use. A single teaspoonful of which is sufficient to yield
+a rich and creamy cup of the beverage when desired.
+
+=Extract of Coffee=--Is, properly speaking, the true “Essence of
+Coffee.” It is best obtained by distilling one part of pure ground
+coffee with five parts water and keeping them at a temperature of
+209° C. in a very close vessel for about ten minutes, steaming and
+evaporating it at a low temperature in a vacuum pan until reduced to
+one part. Or it may be more conveniently obtained by the Cuban and
+New Orleans methods already described, one spoonful of which yields a
+delicious cup of coffee instantaneously as desired.
+
+It is not too much to state that more than one half of the beverage
+which masquerades and is sold under the name of coffee, is unworthy of
+the appellation and that the majority of the people of this country
+live and die without ever knowing even the true taste of that delicious
+and exhilarating beverage; people being prone to think that they know
+all about coffee without ever studying what special qualities the
+different varieties possess, or the best methods of preparing it. As
+a nation, the American people want the best of everything and expect
+to get it, and a country which expends so many millions of dollars
+annually for coffee, can well afford to study the best methods of
+selecting and properly preparing it. But what avails the best material
+if it be not prepared in such a manner as to develop and extract its
+most volatile, delicate, subtle and refreshing properties, as the
+same properties may be depressing and injurious, or exhilarating and
+beneficial proportionately as they are treated?
+
+A large proportion of housekeepers purchase their coffee already
+roasted, and many more buy it ground, but if bought whole while still
+hot and kept in an air-tight can until required and then ground, the
+improvement in the liquor would amply repay for the trouble expended,
+as much of the fragrance and aroma of the roasted coffee is lost by
+laying too long, there being even a greater loss when the coffee is
+ground for too long a time. But, on the other hand, unless the roasting
+is done very carefully at home, the coffee will not be good, either, as
+a few burnt beans in the roast will invariably spoil the drink. So that
+when careful attention cannot be given to the proper roasting of coffee
+at home, it will be better to purchase it in the whole bean already
+roasted but never ground, using a small mill which can be regulated to
+grind coarse or fine as needed.
+
+To roast coffee at home, put the raw beans about an inch deep in an
+ordinary dripping-pan, which must be perfectly clean, and hold over
+a brisk fire and stir frequently until the beans are sufficiently
+browned. When the coffee becomes a cinnamon-brown, and begin to
+crackle, add one tablespoonful of fresh butter, stirring well at the
+same time, after which remove and place while hot in a can, and cover
+closely, again heating the coffee before or after grinding prior to
+preparing. Or place one pound of raw beans in a broad dripping-pan,
+shaking and stirring it until they begin to brown and crackle, then
+turn the pan from end to end rapidly, until they are evenly colored
+to a cinnamon or chocolate shade. Then place the pan on a table to
+rest, and stir into the coffee the beaten whites of two eggs and a
+tablespoonful of fresh butter, glazing every bean, as this preserves
+the aroma until ground. When cool shake the beans in a small sieve, so
+that they may not stick together, and put them in an air-tight canister
+until required.
+
+[Illustration: SORTING COFFEE.]
+
+A combination of one part Mocha, one part Rio and two parts Java or
+Maracaibo will yield a heavy, rich, strong-flavored coffee, but not
+as smooth and pleasing as if the Rio were omitted, unless for those
+preferring it. In other words, when a smooth and delicate flavored
+beverage is required, use one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java. When
+strong and heavy is desired, use Rio and Maracaibo or temper the former
+by combining it with some of the milder kinds. When a rich, smooth
+beverage is desired, a combination of one-third Mocha and two-thirds
+Java; if a medium, Java and Maracaibo or some other good, mild grade.
+But when a heavy body and strong flavor is required, a blend of Rio
+or Santos and Maracaibo in equal proportions should be made. Good
+Maracaibo being equal to many Javas and is constantly substituted for
+it by unprincipled dealers, both wholesale and retail.
+
+A combination consisting of one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java
+fresh roasted and fresh ground makes an ideal cup of coffee. Two
+tablespoonfuls or one ounce of this blend to each pint of boiling water
+produces a beverage that cannot fail to suit the average taste. But for
+consumers who prefer a heavy-bodied beverage a combination of equal
+proportions of Santos, Caracas and Maracaibo, will be found to yield a
+rich, heavy, pungent and fragrant liquor. These quantities are intended
+for a strong beverage, but where only a moderate degree of strength is
+desired it is best to use only half these quantities of coffee to the
+same quantity of water.
+
+Some recent experiments in Germany confirm the opinion that coffee,
+which is an aid to digestion, should be an infusion and not a
+decoction, for which particular reason alone the after-dinner coffee
+especially should be an infusion, as the _caffeine_ of coffee, which
+is the element most stimulating, is best drawn out by keeping the
+coffee at the boiling point, but without boiling, for a few minutes
+before serving, as prolonged boiling extracts the astringent property,
+tannin. There seems to be, however, a general tendency in favor of the
+filtering process, by which the use of all foreign substances, such as
+eggs, isinglass, hartshorn, codfish and sole-skins, to clear and settle
+it, may be dispensed with altogether.
+
+To make filtered coffee with cold water, put one teacupful of
+finely-ground coffee in a small pan and heat over the fire. Stir
+constantly until hot and then put the hot coffee in the filter of the
+coffee-pot, placing the coarse strainer on top and pour in a cupful of
+cold water by degrees, then cover and let stand for half an hour. Next
+add three cupfuls of cold water, a cupful at a time, and when all the
+water has passed through the filter, pour it out, and pass it again
+through the filter, cover closely and heat it to the boiling point
+before serving. The coffee prepared in this manner will be perfectly
+clear and sparkling in liquor, smooth, rich and fragrant in flavor, or
+mix the coffee with the white of an egg together, then pour one-third
+of the requisite quantity of cold water and set the pot on the range
+where it will heat up gradually until it begins to boil; then add
+another third of cold water, and when it again begins to boil add the
+balance of cold water and allow it to again reach the boiling point;
+remove and let stand for a few minutes to settle before serving. By
+this method boiling water may be used instead of cold if so desired,
+but the use of cold water makes a richer and stronger infusion, as none
+of the aroma of the coffee is lost by evaporation, and the refreshing
+properties are better extracted by the slower process.
+
+Filtered coffee should never be boiled; so that by placing the
+coffee-pot in a vessel of boiling water it keeps the coffee at the
+boiling point, but prevents it from boiling. Coffee made by the
+cold-water process is invariably stronger than when made with boiling
+water, and is, in the opinion of many connoisseurs, much better, so
+that a reduced quantity of coffee will answer. Another advantage of
+using cold water in the filtering process is that the coffee may be
+prepared from it at any time and heated as required; but if to be
+served after dinner it will be better if made with three cupfuls of
+water instead of four.
+
+But no matter what method of preparing is adopted, or what kind of
+vessel the beverage is prepared in, the result will be satisfactory if
+the coffee be pure, good and _fresh roasted_, _fresh ground_ and _fresh
+made_ with _fresh water_, _fresh boiled_ and _fresh served_. But always
+serve with whipped cream or hot milk, heating the milk to the boiling
+point, _but never allow it to boil_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CHEMICAL, MEDICAL AND DIETICAL.
+
+
+In chemical composition the seeds or beans of coffee are complex,
+containing as they do variable proportions of proximate principles. The
+appended analysis represents the average constitution of raw coffee,
+according to M. Payen, and which is accepted as the standard:--
+
+  Constituents.                                 Parts.
+
+  Fat,                                        10 to 13
+  Water,                                            12
+  Caffeine,                                        0.8
+  Cellulose,                                        34
+  Legumen and caseine,                              10
+  Glucose, dextrine and organic acid,               15
+  Caffeone and aromatic oils,                     .002
+  Caffetannate and potassium,                   3 to 5
+  Viscid essential oil (insoluble in water),      .001
+  Ash and other mineral matter,                      6
+  Other nitrogeneous substances,                     3
+
+In addition to the foregoing, Payen also describes some 0.8 per cent.
+of free Caffeine and very small quantities of essential and aromatic
+oils, amounting to about 0.003 per cent. of the coffee, in addition to
+other azotized and saline matter.
+
+In the process of roasting, coffee undergoes certain chemical changes,
+as before roasting it contains from 5.7 to 7.8 per cent. of sugar,
+which is reduced to 1.1, and sometimes even to zero, after being
+roasted, and from which, it would appear, that the description of sugar
+contained in the raw coffee is destroyed by the roasting process to
+which it is subjected previous to using.
+
+
+COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RAW AND ROASTED COFFEES.
+
+  Constituents.        Raw.  Roasted.
+  Ash,                 3.97      5.17
+  Fat,                11.42      8.30
+  Water,               8.26      0.36
+  Sugar,               8.18      1.84
+  Gluten,             10.68     12.03
+  Caffeine,            1.10      1.06
+  Cellulose,          42.36     44.96
+  Extractive matter,  14.03     26.28
+                      -----     -----
+    Total parts,        100       100
+
+In the operation of roasting, the saccharine matter is converted
+into caramel, and a portion of the caffeine is liberated from its
+combination with the caffeic acid, the latter still retaining its
+astringent properties and developing into a bitter, soluble principle.
+A change in the fat of coffee is also undergone in the roasting, as
+ether will extract only from 4 to 5 per cent. of fat from the raw
+bean, while it readily extracts double that quantity from the roasted
+bean. So striking is this fact that Von Bibra goes so far as to claim
+that the roasting process produces fat, but most probably the process
+is only mechanical and not chemical in its action in bursting the
+“fat cells,” and thereby rendering the fat accessible to the solvent
+action of the ether. Roasted coffee is also tolerably rich in nitrogen,
+containing from 2.5 to 3 per cent., but is found to be quite devoid of
+starch. The operation of roasting, in addition, tends to make coffee
+soluble in boiling water, as, when raw coffee is perfectly exhausted
+in boiling water, it will yield only some 25 per cent. of soluble
+matter, while roasted coffee, on the other hand, when completely
+exhausted by means of boiling water, yields as high as 40 per cent. in
+some instances. A chemical analysis of the bean after being roasted
+also shows that it contains 20 per cent. of water and about 60 per
+cent. of cellulose, a substance resembling starch or grape sugar. But
+the agents that especially distinguish coffee from all other substances
+are the Caffeine, Caffeone and Caffeic, each of which constituents
+possess virtues and effects peculiar to itself, and produce, by acting
+in combination, the general effect of coffee.
+
+=Caffeine=--Is the principle to which coffee owes its refreshing and
+agreeable properties. It is an inodorous agent, having a slightly
+bitter taste, and belonging to that group of chemical agents known as
+alkaloids. It is identical with the _theine_ of tea, and also forms
+the characteristic principle of cocoa, maté, the guarana and many
+other plants used by the inhabitants of widely-separated countries,
+on account of their yielding a slightly exciting and refreshing
+beverage and apparently forming a necessary diet for mankind in
+general. Its quantity varies from 0.8 to 1 per cent. in the different
+kinds of coffee, being greatest in Martinique and smallest in San
+Domingo. According to Chandler, pure Caffeine appears in white silky
+needles, having no odor, and containing about 8 per cent. of water
+of crystalization, which it parts with at 150° C., being apparently
+soluble in cold water, but much more so in hot, still less so in
+alcohol and still less in ether, acting as a weak base and dissolving
+in acids from which it may be crystalized by evaporation. When boiled
+with fixed caustic alkalies it decomposes and yields methlamine,
+while heating with basic-hydrates alters it to a stronger base,
+termed Caffeidine, but when boiled with an excess of nitric acid and
+evaporated at a gentle heat gives it a reddish color resembling that
+obtained from minoxide; the addition of a little ammonia making it
+again quite characteristic. Administered in strong doses it causes
+trembling and a kind of intoxication not unlike that resulting from
+alcoholic stimulants, but diminishes the work of organic tissue at the
+same time.
+
+=Caffeone.=--Besides Caffeine coffee contains a volatile or essential
+oil chemically termed Caffeone which, according to some authorities, is
+not present in the raw bean, but is the result of an essential change
+produced in the coffee by the roasting process. It is to this subtle
+and fugitive principle, however, that roasted coffee owes its peculiar
+and fragrant aroma, an odor possessed by no other known substance.
+When chemically separated by ether from the coffee it presents the
+appearance and consistency of cocoa-butter, which in roasting permeates
+the entire bean, but if the heat be too intense or the roasting
+prolonged beyond the proper time, it is entirely dissipated and lost,
+the result being to seriously injure the coffee. And although coffee
+forms part of the daily food of more than half the nations of the
+world, we are still uncertain of the chemical nature, composition and
+effects of these products of roasted coffee, and particularly of this
+“oil of coffee,” one of the most important characteristic constituents
+of the bean. The existence of this coffee oil makes itself known in a
+striking manner by its roasting; being forced out of the bean by the
+intense heat, it is partially volatilized, and together with the other
+products of the roasting, produces the characteristic effects and aroma
+of roasted coffee. In very strong black coffee it is found in oil-like
+drops floating on the surface, the amount in the raw bean varying from
+8 to 13 per cent., at least one-half of which is dissipated and lost
+in the roasting, so that it might prove a paying experiment to attempt
+to collect this oil, especially in large establishments where much
+coffee is roasted, several pounds of this oil being wasted daily which
+might find a ready market at a handsome profit in the manufacture of
+liqueurs. It is best obtained by crushing about 50 pounds of roasted
+coffee in a mortar and then extracting with the aid of ether and
+alcohol. The oil of coffee obtained in this manner is a thick, green,
+almost transparent substance, which deposits after a time a few long
+needles of caffeine, proving that since caffeine is not extracted
+from the exhausted beans by ether, and very little is taken up by the
+alcohol employed, the coffee from which the oil has been extracted
+may be again used for the manufacture of caffeine. The oil becomes
+turbid in about six months from the time of extraction, although
+preserved in hermetically-sealed bottles small groups of crystals
+forming in the middle of the liquid, but slowly settling in the bottom,
+forming a precipitate, which in time forms a cloudy mass of crystals,
+consisting of the solid fatty acids, but the upper layer remaining
+clear and transparent for years, and of a beautiful green color,
+proving that a portion of the coffee oil consists of liquid oleic
+acid. Taken alone, this “oil of coffee” is found to produce a gentle
+perspiration and exhilaration, as well as to stimulate the mental
+faculties, but is claimed to retard, in a marked degree, the process
+of food assimilation, and consequently the waste of tissue matter. It
+also produces an aperient effect on the bowels, while overdoses cause
+sleeplessness and symptoms of sthenic excitement, a condition clearly
+bordering on inflammation.
+
+Experiments made with Caffeine and Caffeone prove that they produce
+different effects on the animal economy, the former exercising a
+sedative and tranquilizing action, being more prolonged in its effect
+than the latter, which acts strongly as a transient stimulant and
+exhilarant. But in the drinking of an ordinary cup of coffee both these
+actions are obtained, the stimulation and exhilaration preceding the
+state of sedation and repose. The essential principle of the coffee,
+however, is the alkaloid caffeine and not the volatile oil caffeone,
+the effects of both constituents being different in time and character.
+The former slows the heart’s action and expends its main force on the
+spinal cord, to which effect is due the shaking hand of the inveterate
+coffee-drinker and the marked tremor which sometimes follows a copious
+drink of coffee when taken on an empty stomach, while the latter
+reduces the arterial tension, thereby allowing a freer flow of blood
+and a more rapid action of the heart, at the same time stimulating the
+brain, rendering the mind clear and promoting wakefulness, being also
+speedier and more transient in effect.
+
+=Caffeic.=--Caffetannate, or “tannic acid,” as it exists in the raw
+bean of coffee possesses an astringent action, which is greatly
+modified in the roasting and neutralized by the aperient properties
+of the Caffeone. A great deal of doubt still exists as to the exact
+agency of this property in coffee, many chemists contending that to it
+the flavor and other properties of the coffee as a beverage is due.
+It is a powerful astringent principle, puckering up the mouth when
+chewed, and is the property to which coffee owes its bitterness when
+boiled or over-infused, but whether it contributes in any degree to
+the exhilarating, satisfying or narcotic action of the coffee has not
+yet been definitely determined. But united, their specific properties
+modified by combination and acting and reacting upon each other, these
+three constituents give to coffee its peculiar properties and effects
+on the human system.
+
+To the chemist, coffee and tea are much the same, their two alkaloids,
+_caffeine_ and _theine_, being to them undistinguishable one from the
+other, each also containing a volatile or essential oil, the difference
+in the taste of which is doubtless due to subtle properties which the
+chemist is so far unable to detect. For this reason the following
+comparative analysis of coffee and tea may be found interesting, as
+showing how closely they are chemically allied:--
+
+  Constituents.     Coffee.  Tea.
+  Water,              12.0    5.0
+  Theine,              0.75   0.5
+  Tannin,              5.    15.0
+  Gluten,             13.0   25.0
+  Wood fibre,         34.0   24.0
+  Volatile oil,       13.0    4.0
+  Gum and sugar,      15.0   21.0
+  Ash or residue,      7.0    5.0
+
+From recent experiments it appears that the quantity of tannin in the
+coffee bean is not over about one-third of that contained in the tea
+leaf and frequently is considerably less, six samples of coffee being
+tested in the same manner as tea for the amount of soluble tannin, and
+steeped in fifty parts of water. Equal quantities of coffee and tea
+were also analyzed and the amount of tannin estimated with the result
+that, on an average, tea yielded nearly four times as much tannin
+than the coffee, which proves that in case of poisoning by alkaloids
+strong tea is better than coffee as an antidote. When used in equal
+quantities tea yields about twice the amount of theine that coffee does
+to the water in which it is infused, but as we use a greater weight
+of coffee than we do of tea in preparing the beverage, a cup of coffee
+of ordinary strength will contain as much theine as a cup of ordinary
+strong tea. While, however, coffee checks waste and is naturally a
+food, the same cannot be said of tea, the specific effect of which is
+to quicken respiration and the vital functions generally.
+
+
+MEDICINAL EFFECTS.
+
+Coffee belongs to the medicinal or auxiliary class of food substances,
+being solely valuable for its stimulating and exhilarating effect upon
+the nervous and vascular system. It produces a feeling of buoyancy and
+exhilaration comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxication,
+but which does not end in the depression and collapse produced by
+the latter. It increases the frequency of the pulse, lightens the
+sensations of fatigue and sustains the strength under prolonged
+and severe muscular exertion. It also contains valuable medicinal
+properties, among which is that of being an anti-soporific, and hence
+most useful in narcotic poisoning. It has also been found to be the
+best stimulant for administration to persons rescued from starvation or
+perishing from intense cold, as ardent spirits when given under these
+conditions often prove fatal. It dispels languor, stupor and lethargy
+and as an antidote is a specific in cases of poisoning by opium and
+morphine.
+
+The early history of coffee informs us of its use among the Arabians
+for its exhilarating as well as its curative powers, being used in
+Mecca and Medina originally for the purpose of overcoming torpor and
+drowsiness by the Mohamedan monks, its exciting and sleep-dispelling
+power tending much to bring it into popular favor in these cities as
+a medicine as well as a beverage. At this early period it was claimed
+that “this liquor purified the blood by gentle agitation, dissipated
+the ill-condition of the stomach and aroused the spirits.” In the
+treatment of spasmodic asthma its utility is well established as
+well as in the cure of whooping cough, cholera infantum and similar
+complaints, being also an excellent preventative against all infectious
+and epidemical diseases. While in hysterical attacks, for which, in
+many instances, the physician can find no diagnosis, coffee has proven
+to be one of the greatest helps.
+
+Fresh-roasted coffee has proven to be an effective dispeller of foul
+gases as well as a valuable disinfectant in the sick-room, or any
+enclosed space where the fumes can penetrate. As an instantaneous
+deodorizer, particularly in the sick-room, where it has no equal,
+possessing wonderful, almost magical power, all foul and noxious
+exhalations being immediately neutralized or dispelled by simply
+passing a chafing-dish of fresh-roasted coffee through the room. As a
+disinfectant fresh-roasted coffee has been invaluable as an absorbing
+agent in purifying the atmosphere of all foul-smelling and offensive
+odors, especially when roasted in the vicinity of the room or place
+to be fumigated. When roasted, and while still hot, if placed on a
+tray or other open vessel in the centre of the apartment, by the time
+it has cooled the surrounding atmosphere will be rendered thoroughly
+pure and sweet. Or, better and more advantageous still, by heating an
+iron fire-shovel red hot and placing a handful of ground coffee on it
+and carrying it around the room or house to be disinfected in this
+condition until it cools. The vapor arising from the coffee so heated
+will meantime have destroyed all disagreeable and noxious odors.
+
+Experiments recently made with roasted coffee in France prove it to be
+one of the most powerful deodorizers yet discovered for the dissipation
+of all noxious odors. As an instance of its great worth in this case, a
+quantity of decomposing meat was hung up in a tightly-closed room and
+a tin pan containing a few handfuls of fresh-roasted and ground coffee
+was placed over a spirit lamp, as the pan became hot and the vapor from
+the coffee filled the room, it was found that the foul smell of the
+decomposed meat was entirely removed, even when standing close up to
+it. While Professor Beer, an eminent Vienna oculist, maintains that the
+vapor arising from pure, hot and fresh-made coffee is very invigorating
+to the eyes, but at the same time attributing many frequent occurring
+cases of affections to the sight to the constant use of chicory,
+as well as to the habitual use of the decoctions prepared from the
+admixtures of chicory and coffee.
+
+Coffee and pepper are highly recommended as a certain specific for
+rheumatism, as well as in many forms of gout. In such cases the proper
+proportions consist of a pint of hot, strong, black coffee, which must
+be perfectly pure, and seasoned with a teaspoonful of _pure_ black
+pepper, thoroughly mixed before drinking, and the preparation taken
+just before retiring. Quite a number of chronic cases of rheumatism
+are reputed on excellent authority to have been cured by a single
+dose of this simple remedy. The greatest care has to be exercised,
+however, that cold is not contracted through the free perspiration
+that follows its use, yet severe colds may also be broken up and
+cured by its administration. Such a simple and convenient remedy is
+certainly worth a trial, as it is, at least, perfectly harmless, and
+makes no demand on the doctor or druggist. Another use for coffee
+medicinally, is in nausea and violent retching, for which purpose a
+strong infusion is prepared and “sipped” slowly while very hot. This
+oftentimes acts effectively alone, but is much more so if a strong
+mustard plaster is applied to the pit of the stomach at the same time.
+Its beneficial effects in extreme alcoholism is already too well
+known for description, but is as yet not fully appreciated in such
+cases, nor as to what extent this otherwise exhilarating and potent
+beverage may be substituted in lieu of spirituous and malt liquors. It
+is positively asserted by men of high professional ability that when
+the system requires a good stimulant, nothing equals a cup of good,
+strong, fresh-made coffee for the purpose, so that those who may desire
+to rescue a drunkard from his bane will find no better substitute for
+alcoholic spirits or malt liquors than strong, fresh-made coffee,
+in the proportions of two ounces of good, pure coffee to one part
+of boiling water, making an excellent tonic beverage, but must be
+administered without the addition of either milk or sugar in these
+particular cases.
+
+It is also positively asserted by those who have tried it that malarial
+and other miasmatic complaints are prevented by drinking a cup of
+hot coffee before venturing out into the morning air, and by many
+eminent physicians it is regarded as almost a specific in typhoid and
+other endemic fevers, so much so that in malarial and intermittent
+fevers it has been used by the best physicians with the happiest
+results, coffee being opposed to malarial and all noxious vapors,
+particularly in alienating and reducing the earlier attacks, and, when
+properly administered in such complaints, it is found superior to the
+sulphate of quinine in many extreme cases, while in that low state of
+intermittent fever as found on the Mississippi and the banks of all
+large rivers, accompanied with torpid liver and enlarged spleen, when
+judiciously prepared and administered it has been found one of the
+safest and most effective remedies. In districts rife with malarial
+and other low fevers the drinking of hot coffee before passing into the
+infected districts will enable persons living in such regions to escape
+all contagion, the nervous system being aroused and the fever germs
+thereby rendered innocuous by the coffee. It is also almost a specific
+for the disease after being contracted when used with lemon juice,
+and is found to be of sovereign efficacy in tiding over any attacks
+of the nervous system in a number of emergencies from whatever cause;
+and in answer to the query so often put, “Does coffee facilitate or
+retard digestion?” it may be observed that it contains several active
+principles, each of which exercises a specific influence on the human
+system, the first and most important of these being the caffeine,
+which raises the activity of the heart, operating in small doses as a
+wholesome stimulus. The second, the caffeone or volatile substance,
+which operates chiefly on the nerves and acting in moderate quantities
+as an agreeable exhilarant, but to which is also attributable the
+fantasies and intoxicant effects so frequently experienced as a result
+of excessive coffee drinking. The third being the caffeic or tannin,
+to which coffee owes its bitter taste when boiled or over-infused and
+which, as is well known, enters into combination with the albumen,
+thereby materially prejudicing its digestibility. These three principal
+properties vary greatly in the quantities extracted according to the
+methods of preparation, so much so that if the coffee be simply infused
+in water at the boiling point and allowed to cool rapidly we get but
+little of the caffeine in the extract, a good deal of the aromatic
+principle and scarcely a trace of the tannin, but by over-boiling and
+prolonged infusion the aroma is dissipated by passing off with the
+steam or vapor arising from it in the process of preparation, more
+caffeine being also extracted, and the longer it is infused or boiled
+the more tannin is dissolved in the liquid. These facts serve to
+confirm the views generally expressed by physicians, that coffee boiled
+or over-infused prejudices its digestibility, while simple infusions
+facilitate it, but its beneficial action in the latter case is now
+proved to be due not to any direct chemical action on the albumen
+present, but indirectly to its action on the nerve-centres of the
+stomach by promoting the secretion of the gastric juices, such action
+being, in other words, physiological and not chemical, as heretofore
+supposed.
+
+With regard to the anti-bilious properties of coffee Dr. Elliott
+states that “We speedily found that patients in hospitals and all
+persons leading sedentary lives must avoid too concentrated food and
+drink abundantly of diluent fluids, that coffee acted on the liver and
+was altogether the best remedy for constipation and what is commonly
+termed a bilious condition, that tea acted in a precisely opposite
+direction, and that not poppies, mandragora nor all the drowsy syrups
+of the East could bring the peace to a sufferer from malarial chill
+that would come of strong coffee, with a little lemon juice added, and
+that strong tea was almost a specific for neuralgia in its simplest and
+most uncomplicated form.” Liebig also calls attention to the fact that
+coffee contains many of the elements which stimulate the flow of bile,
+being a decided laxative, as well as a pronounced diuretic, which is
+confirmed by the fact that the “coffee belt” of the world is also the
+“bilious belt” and the “malarial belt,” as well as the regions where
+noxious germs and suppurative processes most abound. Ample evidence of
+“the fitness of things” in nature, no people understanding better than
+the inhabitants of these tropical countries the value of coffee to
+open the secretions which have been checked by the heat or miasmatic
+influences of such climates. Knowing this, they take full advantage of
+the well-known antiseptic properties of coffee.
+
+It is now more than thirty years since Landarabilco called attention
+to the great value of raw or unroasted coffee in hepatic and nephritic
+diseases; who, after having continued to use the remedy for over a
+third of a century in many hundreds of almost hopeless cases, still
+continues to use it with marked success in the treatment of liver and
+kidney troubles which have persistently resisted all other treatment.
+For such cases, 3 drams (¹⁄₄ oz.) of raw coffee beans are placed
+in a tumbler of cold water--the best results being obtained from a
+combination of Mocha, Bourbon and Martinique coffees in equal parts of
+1 dram each. The infusion is allowed to stand over night, and after
+being properly strained or filtered must be taken on an empty stomach
+the first thing on rising in the morning. This simple remedy has been
+found a sovereign remedy in numerous cases of renal and hepatic colics,
+as well as in diabetes and migraine or nervous headache, which, while
+rebellious to all other treatment for years, readily yielded to the raw
+coffee infusion. It may be here remarked that Bourbon and Martinique
+coffees cannot be had in this country, going exclusively to France, but
+may be substituted by what is known in trade as Bourbon or Mocha-seed,
+Santos, Jamaica and Mocha or almost any other fine mild coffee.
+
+Coffee, like tea, acts powerfully on the respiratory organs, but
+increases the rate of respiration more than tea and also the pulsation;
+while tea, on the other hand, increases the action of the skin, and,
+by lessening the force of the circulation, cools the body, and does
+not cause congestion of any of the mucous membranes, particularly
+that of the bowels. But coffee, by diminishing the action of the skin,
+lessens also the heat of the body, but increases the _vis-a-tergo_, and
+therefore the heart’s action and fulness of pulse, thus exciting the
+mucous membranes. The conditions, therefore, under which coffee may be
+used are different from those suited to the use of tea, and under these
+circumstances better adapted for use among the poor and feeble as a
+dietecal beverage. But, besides accelerating the action of the bowels,
+and, according to Liebig, aiding in the secretion of the bile, it also
+invigorates to a very high degree the ganglionic system of the brain,
+soothing the painful feeling of fatigue and exhaustion, stimulating to
+renewed mental exertion, for which reasons it always has been highly
+appreciated by students and literary people generally. The exhilarating
+and stimulating effect which coffee has on the human organization is
+due chiefly to the characteristic principles which it contains. It
+excites the heart’s action, and, as that organ is feeble in the morning
+and the skin is active, it is best adapted for use at the morning
+meal, its action upon the nervous system being less exciting than
+that of tea. Very strong coffee, however, produces sleeplessness in
+many persons when taken at night, owing to its effects on the heart’s
+action, by retarding that full action of this organ, which is natural
+at night, and so requisite to permit sound sleep, while if only a light
+infusion be prepared and taken at night, these effects are not likely
+to be experienced.
+
+In typhoid and other fevers its action is frequently very prompt
+and efficacious, particularly in the early stages before local
+complications set in. Dr. Guillasse, of the French navy, in a recent
+paper on typhoid fever, states that “Coffee has given us unhoped-for
+satisfaction, for, after having dispensed it, we found, to our great
+surprise, that its action was as prompt as it was decisive. No sooner
+had our patients taken a few tablespoonfuls of it than their features
+became relaxed, and came immediately to their senses, while the next
+day the improvement was such that we are tempted to look upon it as
+a specific against typhoid fever. Under its influence the stupor is
+dispelled and the patient arises from the state of somnolency in which
+he has lain since the invasion of the disease; soon all the functions
+take their natural course, and he enters on convalescence.” His formula
+is to give to an adult two to three tablespoonfuls of strong, black
+coffee every two hours, alternately with one to two tablespoonfuls of
+claret or burgundy wine, a little lemonade or citrate of magnesia, to
+be taken daily, and after a few days quinine in small doses. From the
+fact that malaise or cerebral symptoms appear first, the doctor regards
+typhoid as a nervous disease, and the coffee, acting on the nerves, is
+peculiarly indicated in the early stages, before local complications
+arise. While in extreme cases of yellow fever it has been used
+effectively by many doctors as the main reliance after all the other
+well-known remedies had been administered and failed. In such cases it
+acts by retarding the tissue change, that becoming a conservator of
+force, especially in that state in which the nervous system tends to
+collapse, owing to the blood becoming impure. In such a condition it
+sustains the nervous power until the depuration and reorganization of
+the blood are accomplished, possessing the advantage over all other
+stimulants of inducing to no secondary ill-effects.
+
+As early as 1835, during the cholera epidemic, the physicians of New
+York issued a public manifesto urging the people to abstain from
+beer and other liquors and confine themselves to the exclusive use
+of pure, strong coffee as a beverage, in order to keep the system
+healthy and render it less liable to an attack of the disease, with
+the most beneficial and gratifying results. That they “builded better
+than they knew” has since been conclusively proven by Sudentz, who
+in detailing a series of experiments in which he has determined the
+powerful influence of coffee infusions of varying strength upon
+the growth of the different forms of pathogenic and non-pathogenic
+micro-organisms. The variety of coffee used in these experiments was
+the finest Java--although good and bad coffee was afterwards found to
+effect precisely similar results--the infusions being made by adding
+from 10 to 30 parts of coffee to from 70 to 90 parts of boiling water.
+The coffee was first _freshly_ roasted, ground fine and then covered
+with the boiling water, the infusion thus prepared being placed in
+a closed flask, put in a hot water bath for about ten minutes and
+next filtered through a sterilized filter. The infusion thus produced
+is used in the making of a gelatinous compound, both directly and
+in part, until a nutrient gelatine was prepared from it. With this
+as a “menstruum” the various forms of _fungi_ and other forms of
+micro-organisms were inoculated with the object of determining the
+possibility of their growth or propagation in such a medium, but in
+other cases the organisms were added directly to the coffee alone in
+infusions of varying strength and after different periods of time
+inoculations were made from these infusions into other nutrient
+_media_. By this method he found that the forms of _fungi_ experimented
+with showed more or less growth in the coffee gelatine and that the
+abundance of the growth was in many cases distinctly less than in the
+former _media_. The other organisms which he used for his experiments
+were the _phyogenes aureus_, _prodigiosus_, _erisipelous_, the germ of
+_anthrax_ or splenic fever, the _bacilli_ of typhoid fever and the
+_spirulum_ of Asiatic cholera, all of which and many other forms of
+micro-organisms were greatly influenced in their life and growth by
+exposure to the coffee infusions, some being far more susceptible than
+others, however, the _bacillus prodigiosus_ and _proteus vulgaris_
+being entirely destroyed only after an exposure of four days in a 10
+per cent. infusion, while in a 30 per cent. infusion they were all
+destroyed in one day. The spore of erysipelas was totally destroyed
+after an exposure of one day in a 10 per cent. infusion, the germ of
+splenic fever dying in from one to three hours in a 20 to 30 per cent.
+infusion; while the typhoid _bacilli_ were completely destroyed in a
+5 per cent. infusion after an exposure of three days and in a 30 per
+cent. infusion in from one to two days. While _the microbe of Asiatic
+cholera was easily destroyed in a 1 per cent. infusion after only
+seven hours’ exposure, in a 5 per cent. infusion after four hours and
+in a 30 per cent. infusion after two hours_; the cholera _spirulum_
+being by far the most susceptible of the numerous organisms used in
+the experiments, next to which was the _anthrax bacilli_, except the
+young forms or spores of the latter germs, which perish only in from
+three to four weeks’ exposure. These latter results speak volumes for
+“coffee as a germicide” for anthrax or splenic fever, as the spores
+of this disease are by no means easy to scotch or kill, and after
+these revelations _coffee administered internally or hypodermically
+in some new form or combination of forms, may be eventually used as
+a remedy for all germ-produced diseases_. It must be borne in mind
+by the student or chemist, however, that the antiseptic effects of
+coffee do not depend on its _Caffeine_ so much as on its _Caffeone_ or
+essential oil developed in the roasting of the beans. But aside from
+these experiments, others were also made with decomposing meat soups,
+which were actually swarming with various forms of micro-organisms, the
+results obtained showing that the vitality of the spores contained in
+the fluid was greatly diminished after a short exposure, but was not
+completely destroyed until after an exposure of many days.
+
+It may at first sight seem irrational that a substance which restricts
+tissue-waste should be used for the purpose of quickening certain
+other functions, more especially those of the brain, yet the physical
+activity, mental exhilaration and wakefulness it causes explains the
+liking for it shown by so many men of science, poets, scholars and
+others devoted to thinking. But all of these occupations involve
+increased waste of tissue in the brain as well as of the spinal marrow,
+the very action which coffee is said to restrain, so much so that
+to reconcile these apparent incongruities, it has been maintained
+that coffee does not act primarily as a cerebral stimulant, but only
+secondarily by removing the vascular plenitude occasioned by prolonged
+study, by a full meal, and especially by opium, alcohol, or other
+agents which directly tend to load the brain with blood, so that
+when taken on an empty stomach it does not quicken the functions of
+the brain, but on the contrary renders it dull and inapt for steady
+thought, creating nervousness and general debility and frequently
+causing hemicrania.
+
+During digestion, however, the case is different, particularly if a
+full and stimulating meal has been taken, the mind grows dull and
+sluggish, a tendency to sleep arises, and everything indicates an
+increased amount of blood on the brain, it being in like manner that
+prolonged mental labor produces cerebral plenitude and drowsiness. It
+is this condition apparently which coffee corrects by contracting
+the blood-vessels and thereby relieving the brain of its oppressive
+load of blood. The habit of using coffee at breakfast and after dinner
+is thus explained by the stimulant action which it exerts, not only
+upon the nervous system generally, but more especially on the stomach
+and bowels, there being no doubt that it quickens gastric digestion
+and relieves the sense of plenitude in the stomach, stimulating
+the secretion of bile and augmenting the peristaltic action of the
+intestine, and thereby promoting defecation. While it is quite as
+certain that, used to excess, it paralyzes the digestive function in
+all its stages and leads to further disorders, of which the chief are
+constipation, hemorrhoids and congestion of the liver, but whether
+these effects are to be ascribed to a power in coffee to produce
+contraction of the capillary blood-vessels or not is uncertain, but
+their reality is beyond dispute.
+
+With regard to the injurious effects charged to the abuse of coffee by
+some authorities, it may be said that the consequences of an abuse of
+tea were declared to be similar to that of coffee long before chemistry
+had demonstrated the identity of _theine_ with _caffeine_, when among
+their evil effects were enumerated acidity, heartburn, indigestion,
+tremors, wakefulness, irritability of disposition and depression of
+spirits. Most of these ill-effects are more likely to follow the abuse
+of tea than coffee, if at all, and the spinal symptoms, such as painful
+muscular tension, cramp and persistent wakefulness, are also more apt
+to be produced by tea. In experiments made with a number of selected
+healthy persons, the operation of caffeine has been found to vary
+exceedingly, some being scarcely affected at all, while others by the
+same dose suffered from a full, frequent or irregular pulse, headache,
+trembling limbs, palpitation of the heart, flashes before the eyes,
+roaring in the ears, sleeplessness, phantasms, a sort of intoxication,
+and a subsequent unfitness for all physical and mental labor when
+very large doses were taken. These effects illustrate the danger of
+exceeding due moderation in the use of coffee, showing that it may,
+if abused, tend to develop a morbid condition of the nervous system,
+rendering it peculiarly liable to disease, although in a much less
+degree than either opium or alcohol, its excessive use being much more
+injurious to the spinal than to the cerebral functions.
+
+From these facts it may be advanced by some authorities that an article
+possessing such great powers and capacity for such energetic action
+must be injurious by habitual employment as an article of diet, or at
+least not without some injurious or deleterious properties. But no
+corresponding ill-results or nervous derangements are ever observed
+after its effects have disappeared as are noticed in other narcotics
+and stimulants, the action imparted to the nervous system by coffee
+being natural and healthy in the extreme, in proof of which it has
+been shown that habitual coffee-drinkers generally enjoy good health
+and spirits, some of the longest-lived people having used coffee
+continually from their earliest infancy without experiencing any
+inconvenience, depressing reaction, or other ill-effects such as is
+invariably produced by the use of alcoholic stimulants. There are,
+on the other hand, systems with which it does not agree, as, being a
+stimulant, it may be taken too freely; in such cases it undoubtedly
+produces irregularities in the action of the heart and nervous system.
+But generally it is an unmixed blessing, its beneficial influence
+becoming more apparent as its use penetrates into the lower strata of
+society, taking the place of the various debasing alcoholic beverages.
+
+In addition to its many other virtues, coffee has been found to be an
+excellent barometer, from the fact of its being such a great absorbent.
+On the eve of a rain-storm grinding coffee will be found difficult,
+the bean becoming damp and tough, while when dry weather is indicated
+the process is quite easy. Another method of predicting the weather by
+it is to drop a lump of sugar into a cup of coffee without stirring.
+In a very short time the air contained in the sugar will rise to the
+surface in the shape of bubbles. If the bubbles collect in the middle
+of the cup a fair day will be sure to follow, but if they should
+adhere to the side of the cup, forming a ring of bubbles with a clear
+space in the centre, rain is certain to be near at hand, while if the
+bubbles be neither of these, but scatter irregularly over the surface
+of the liquid, variable weather is indicated by the movement. What
+the scientific explanation of the action of the atmosphere on the
+bubbles so found is not known, but that their indications curiously and
+correctly agree with those of a barometer has been tested and proved.
+
+
+DIETETICAL PROPERTIES.
+
+The human family have, from time immemorial, been addicted to the use
+of warm food and liquids in some form, infusions or decoctions of sage
+and the leaves of other plants being used extensively in Europe for
+the purpose prior to the introduction of tea and coffee. The human
+body demands food or liquid when in an exhausted state, and if they be
+not warm they make an immediate drain on the system for heat before
+it can supply material for combustion, so that the body is taxed for
+heat at a time when it is least fitted for the purpose. It is but
+natural therefore that there should be a craving for warm food and
+drink, and as liquid food, particularly in a cold state, is deficient
+in heat-giving matter, the use of cold liquids is more injurious than
+that of cold solids. The temperature of the human body being 98°, when
+food is taken into the stomach at a lower temperature than that of the
+body, it obstructs the heat from the stomach and surrounding tissues,
+so that when the practice of taking cold food into the body becomes
+habitual, depression occurs and the stomach is disordered. The system
+must therefore make good the heat lost in raising the temperature of
+the cold food--liquid or solid--or else suffer the consequences.
+
+The action of coffee as a diet is directed chiefly to the nervous
+system, producing a warming cordial impression on the stomach, which
+is quickly followed by a diffused and agreeable nervous excitement
+which extends itself to the cerebral function, giving rise to
+increased vigor of the imagination and intellect, this too without any
+subsequent reaction or stupor such as are characteristic of liquor and
+other narcotics. It contains essential principles of nutrition far
+exceeding in importance its exhilarating properties, and is one of the
+most valuable articles of food for sustaining the system in certain
+protracted and wasting diseases, and as compared even with the best
+soups, coffee has a decided advantage and is to be preferred to them in
+many cases. But to rightly understand its function as a food it should
+be used chiefly as an accessory to food, as it aids in the digestion
+and assimilation of the other foods when it is properly prepared--that
+is, by protracted infusion--as when boiled too long the caffeic acid
+or tannin is extracted. The action of this acid in combination with
+the milk and cream being to harden the albumen into an indigestible
+compound, which has been found exceedingly irritating to the delicate
+membranes of the digestive organs and nervous system. Milk and coffee
+act similarly upon the skin and other organs, its use with coffee
+making it a more perfect food than when milk is used with tea. But
+while, like tea, it increases the respiration, yet again, unlike it,
+its effects are not lasting, as by the use of coffee the rate of the
+pulse is increased, and the action of the skin’s pores diminished,
+thereby lessening the quantity of the blood circulating in the organs
+of the body, it distends the veins, but contracts the capillaries,
+thus preventing a waste. According to Professor Johnstone, “Coffee
+arouses, exhilarates and keeps awake, counteracts the stupor occasioned
+by fatigue, disease or opium, allays hunger to a certain extent, gives
+to the wearied increased strength and vigor, and imparts a feeling of
+comfort and repose. Its physiological effects upon the human system
+appear to be, that while it makes the brain more active, it soothes
+the body generally, retards the change and waste of tissue, making the
+demand for food consequently less.
+
+The Gallæ, a wandering nation of Africa, during their incursions, are
+obliged to travel over immense deserts, and being also desirous of
+falling upon the towns and villages of their victims without warning,
+carry nothing to eat with them but the roasted and pulverized beans
+of coffee, which they mix with grease to a certain consistency,
+that will permit of its being rolled into masses about the size of
+billiard-balls, which they keep in leather-bags until required for use.
+One of these balls so prepared supports them for an entire day when on
+a marauding excursion or in active war better than a loaf of bread or a
+meal of meat, claiming that they prefer it to grain or meat because it
+cheered their spirits as well as fed them. Eaten in this manner, coffee
+undoubtedly affords much nourishment, as, according to Payen, it
+contains more than twice the nutriment of soup and three times as much
+as tea. In the liquid state, however, the nitrogeneous or flesh-forming
+properties, being mostly insoluble, they remain in the grounds. For
+this reason coffees lightly roasted possesses the maximum of nutrition,
+strength and aroma.
+
+The Belgian coal miners live and work effectively on a ration of solid
+food less than the French miners, yet perform more labor than the
+latter, the only difference in their food consisting in the Belgians
+receiving a ration of coffee instead of wine, to which is attributed
+their greater endurance. While Jomand states that eight pints of an
+infusion made with six ounces of different kinds of coffee enabled
+him to live for five consecutive days without lessening his ordinary
+occupations, as well as to use more and prolonged muscular exercise
+than he was accustomed to without any other physical injury than a
+slight degree of fatigue and a little loss of flesh. The value of
+hot infusions of coffee under the rigors of an Arctic cold has been
+demonstrated by the experience of all polar explorers, and it has been
+found scarcely less useful in tropical regions, where it beneficially
+stimulates the action of the skin. Captain Parry states that when
+on his Arctic expedition he placed his starboard watch on a diet of
+coffee and the port watch on that of rum, as an experiment, with the
+result that the coffee watch was found to possess a vigor of health and
+activity entirely wanting in that of the other. And many of our own
+troops during the late war declared that they could march longer and
+endure more hardship and exposure under the stimulus of a cup of warm
+coffee--and they got far from the best or purest--than they could under
+an equal quantity of liquor.
+
+But there is still another effect of coffee--that of checking the
+too rapid consumption of nitrogeneous matter in the system--which,
+while not nutritious in itself, yet possesses an indirect nutritive
+value; this result, added to its stimulating character, have made
+it the chosen beverage for breakfast, and therefore the best staple
+supply for both our army and navy. By taking a cup of strong, black
+coffee, without milk or sugar, between two glasses of hot water before
+rising in the morning and at least an hour before breakfast, the
+various secretions are stimulated and the nervous force aroused, so
+that an hour later a hearty meal is enjoyed and the day’s labor begun
+favorably, no matter how the duties of the day and night preceding
+may have drawn upon the system. While another cup at four in the
+afternoon is sufficient to sustain the flagging energies for many
+hours thereafter. In this manner its full effect is best secured,
+but if along with this the proper diet is taken at the proper time,
+the capacity for work will be almost unlimited. Its physiological
+effects upon the human system, so far as they have been investigated,
+appear to be that while it makes the brain more active it soothes
+the body generally, making the waste and loss of tissue slower and
+the demand for food less. It is a mental stimulus of a high order,
+and therefore is as a beverage liable to be abused for that reason.
+Through its influence the student burns the midnight oil to excess, and
+consequently reduces his store of physical force.
+
+The German naturalist Martin relates a case he met with of a horse
+which owed its life to the use of coffee after being in a condition
+considered as incurable. The animal was reduced to a mere skeleton and
+so weak that it could scarcely walk, when infusions of coffee were
+first given it as an experiment, and then some ground coffee mixed
+with honey. In a short time the animal began to improve rapidly,
+eventually becoming better than ever. The same treatment was afterwards
+tried with like success in many similar cases where the horses had been
+over-worked or lost their strength and appetite.
+
+It has been affirmed that coffee and other substances containing the
+alkaloid Caffeine have a direct influence in retarding the waste
+of tissue matter in the human frame, a single cup of the liquid
+prepared from a quarter ounce of coffee, containing from 1.5 to 1.9
+grains of Caffeine in the infused state. The moderation of tissue
+waste attributed to coffee in common with other articles having the
+same general action and in use among different nations, is proven by
+various well-established facts. In its primary operation it agrees with
+those stimulants in exciting mental and muscular activity as well as
+cheerfulness, while in its after effects it does not tend to produce
+narcotism or stupor, only that unsteadiness of mind and of the spinal
+functions which denotes exhaustion.
+
+
+MORAL INFLUENCE.
+
+It has been the custom at frequently-recurring periods for moralists
+and scientists to claim that coffee is injurious to the health of its
+votaries, and many coffee drinkers believing such statements give up
+its use regretfully. That its use or rather its abuse may be injurious
+in some instances cannot be denied, but of all beverages now in use
+the facts and effects prove it to be the least injurious of any and
+all when not indulged in immoderately. Taken in moderation it is both
+a mental and physical stimulant of the most agreeable and pleasant
+nature, being followed by no harmful reaction. It produces contentment
+of mind, allays hunger and bodily weakness, increases the incentive
+and capacity for work, enabling those who use it in bounds to remain
+long without food or sleep, endure unusual fatigue, and preserve
+their cheerfulness and composure, coffee-drinkers as a rule being
+generally cheerful, active and persevering. The truth is that coffee,
+if of a pure kind and properly prepared, is about the pleasantest
+and most innocuous stimulant that can be resorted to, particularly
+after a long worry or severe drain on the emotional or intellectual
+forces. So that if it could be but made to take the place of absinthe,
+champagne and other such beverages the coming race would be all the
+better intellectually and physically for it. Habitual coffee-drinkers
+generally enjoy good health, some of the longest-lived people have used
+it from their earliest infancy without apparent injury or depressing
+reaction, such as is invariably produced by alcoholic stimulants. The
+physiological action of coffee is directed chiefly to the nervous
+system, producing a warm, cordial feeling in the stomach, which is
+quickly followed by a well-diffused and agreeable nervous excitement
+extending itself to the cerebral functions, giving rise to increased
+vigor to the imagination and intellect without causing any subsequent
+stupor or confusion of ideas, such as are so characteristic of all
+other narcotics. It produces contentment of mind, allays hunger, mental
+and bodily weariness, increases the capacity for work, makes man forget
+his troubles and anxieties, enabling those who use it judiciously to
+endure unusual fatigue and remain a long time without food or sleep, as
+well as to preserve their temper and cheerfulness.
+
+The influence which the introduction of coffee has exercised on
+modern morals is on account of its peculiar character, much easier to
+understand than to prove. We know that the discovery of gunpowder
+changed the entire art of war from the equipment of the individual
+soldier to the alignment of an entire army, and thus its influence
+became a palpable fact. But the changes in modern life effected
+by the introduction of coffee belong to the general and concealed
+springs of life; to its motives, rather than to any circumscribed set
+of utterances regarding its facts, and an influence of this nature
+requires the application of a peculiar instrument in order to in a
+measure calculate or even demonstrate it. A doctor may be perfectly
+correct in ascribing a fever to certain atmospheric conditions, but
+without thermometer, barometer or microscope, he can prove absolutely
+nothing. We may be perfectly certain then that the introduction of
+coffee has altered the whole moral atmosphere in which we move,
+but without statistics we are unable to demonstrate the legitimacy
+or correctness of the assumption, and statistics is a scientific
+instrument of much later date than the introduction of coffee.
+
+Observations, however, which in some degree may be of some service
+in arriving at exact figures, are not altogether wanting. It cannot
+be contended that life has become more just and honest, which would
+be the legitimate result of a better education, but it is certain
+that it has become gentler, more uniform and pacific, two results
+which essentially depend on food and occupation. Nor can it be denied
+that it is the increasing demands of reason which awe, superstition,
+bigotry and narrow fanaticism out of our educational system, and not
+this system which spontaneously has endeavored to make everything else
+subservient to reason, and what thus is dimly or vaguely indicated by
+a general view of life, often becomes more striking in many individual
+instances. It is a hazardous, but nevertheless felicitous expression,
+that “if Queen Elizabeth had breakfasted upon coffee and hot rolls,
+instead of beer and bacon, Queen Mary would never had been beheaded.”
+We find in bygone ages a perversity of temper, an impetuosity of will,
+a violence of the passions which has led some moralists to consider the
+later generations of the human race as decreasing in vital force, while
+indeed the phenomenon might be explained as the single result of an
+over-stimulating and too exciting a diet and a lack of temperance. Let
+the people begin to indulge once again in drinking wine, ale or other
+intoxicating beverages at the morning meal instead of tea or coffee,
+and we will soon have the same amount of vital force back again. It
+is not the power of passion which has decreased, but the power of
+restriction which has increased, and a comprehensive consideration of
+historical facts seem to justify the conclusion that this increased
+power of the reason is due as much to a more proper feeding of the body
+as to a better system of education.
+
+The mental exhilaration and physical activity and buoyancy which coffee
+causes explains the fondness which has been shown for it by so many men
+of science, poets, scholars and others devoted to writing or thinking
+at all times, and for which reason it has been styled the “intellectual
+beverage.” Preachers, orators, editors and lawyers finding a cup of
+good coffee the gentlest, most harmless and effective of brain-bracers,
+but it does not appear to be generally known that nearly all men of
+literary habits who exhaust much nerve force use it constantly. It
+supported Voltaire in his old age and enabled Fontenelle to pass his
+hundred years. It was Voltaire who replied, on being informed by his
+physician “that coffee was a _slow poison_,” “Yes, I know it is a _very
+slow poison_; it has been poisoning me for over seventy years;” and
+Sydney Smith who said, “If you want to improve your understanding
+drink coffee; it is the intellectual beverage.” Brady terming it “The
+sovereign drink of pleasure and of health,” and Pope eulogizing it in
+the following lines:--
+
+    “From silver spouts the grateful liquors slide
+    While China’s earth receives the smoking tide,
+    At once they gratify their sense and taste,
+    And frequent cups prolong the rich repast;
+    Coffee!----which makes the politician wise
+    And see through all things with half-shut eyes.”
+
+Howells paying his tribute to it when he says, “This coffee intoxicates
+without exciting, soothes you softly out of dull sobriety, making you
+think and talk of all the pleasant things that ever happened to you.”
+But times have changed since Voltaire, Diderot, Pope and others wrote
+and sang of coffee, jested, reasoned and made themselves immortal
+under its influence; alimentary and not literary is the modern _café_,
+though some can still boast of a _clientèle_ artistic, journalistic,
+or scientific, the commercial element preponderating, but the old
+historic _café_, the _café_ of tradition, where one was sure to find
+some celebrity on exhibition--a poet or a philosopher--may be said to
+be defunct.
+
+From its cordial and gently stimulating effects we may well join in the
+enthusiastic panegyric pronounced on it by an Arabian of old, of which
+the following is a free, but condensed, translation: “O, coffee, thou
+dispellest the cares of the great and bringest back those who wander
+from the paths of knowledge! Coffee is our gold, and in the place of
+its illusions we are in the enjoyment of the best and noblest society.
+Every care vanishes when the cup-bearer presents the delicious chalice
+to our lips. It circulates freely through our veins and will not rankle
+there. Grief cannot exist where it grows and sorrow humbles itself
+before its powers.”
+
+  _Vive la café!_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION.
+
+
+Fifty years ago a supply of 150,000 tons of all kinds of coffee was
+considered sufficient to meet the entire demand of Europe and America
+combined. In 1848, however, these two continents alone consumed upwards
+of 250,000 tons, which had increased in 1868 to 375,000 tons, and in
+1888 to over 700,000 tons, or more than double that of fifty years
+before.
+
+
+TABLE I.
+
+WORLD’S PRODUCTION (ESTIMATED).
+
+                                                                  Weight
+  Countries.                                                    in Tons.
+  Liberia and all other Countries on the West Coast of Africa,    19,500
+  Abyssinia and all other Countries on the East Coast of Africa,  20,000
+  Natal and Cape of Good Hope,                                       300
+  Arabia, Bourbon and Mauritius,                                  15,000
+  British India and Ceylon,                                       30,500
+  Java, Sumatra and Celebes,                                      60,000
+  Bali, Timour and other Islands in the Malayan Archipelago,      10,000
+  Philippine, Fiji and Samoa Islands,                             11,000
+  Sandwich and all other Islands in the South Pacific Ocean,       1,200
+  Cuba and Porto Rico,                                            25,000
+  Hayti and San Domingo,                                          15,000
+  Jamaica and other Islands in the West Indies,                   18,000
+  Mexico and Central America,                                     80,000
+  Venezuela and Colombia,                                         50,000
+  Equador and Bolivia,                                            15,000
+  Brazil and other Countries in South America,                   500,000
+                                                                 -------
+  Grand total,                                                   875,500
+
+Or about 1,800,000,000 pounds per annum, the value of which averages
+over $275,000,000 wholesale, according to its market price at time of
+sale.
+
+
+TABLE II.
+
+WORLD’S CONSUMPTION (ESTIMATED).
+
+                                         Weight
+      Countries.                       in Tons.
+  Asia,                                  40,000
+  Africa,                                25,000
+  Australia,                              5,000
+  Continent of Europe,                  430,000
+  Great Britain and Ireland,             15,000
+  United States and Canada,             275,000
+  Mexico and Central America,            20,000
+  West India Islands,                    15,000
+  Brazil and South American Countries,   40,000
+                                        -------
+    Total,                              865,000
+
+Which shows that, in recent years, the world’s supply has not kept pace
+with the growing demand throughout the civilized world.
+
+
+TABLE III.
+
+Showing the average annual consumption in the United States, imported
+principally as follows:--
+
+  Country.               Tons.  Per Cent.
+  Brazil,              150,000      75.00
+  Venezuela,            20,000       5.00
+  Mexico,               10,000       4.00
+  Central America,       5,000       2.00
+  West India Islands,   10,000       4.00
+  India and Ceylon,      1,000       1.00
+  Arabia and Africa,    10,000       5.00
+  Java and Sumatra,     10,000       4.00
+                       -------     ------
+    Total,             216,000     100.00
+
+[Illustration: BAGGING COFFEE FOR SHIPMENT.]
+
+
+TABLE IV.
+
+Showing where United States receives supplies of coffee from in general
+and the various kinds consumed:--
+
+  Country.                                                  Pounds.
+  Africa,                                                25,000,000
+  Arabia,                                                10,000,000
+  England,                                                5,000,000
+  Holland,                                                5,000,000
+  Germany,                                                  250,000
+  Belgium,                                                   80,000
+  Portugal and Spain,                                       150,000
+  Brazil,                                               400,000,000
+  Canada,                                                       500
+  Mexico,                                                10,000,000
+  Venezuela,                                             35,000,000
+  Colombia,                                              15,000,000
+  Equador and Bolivia,                                    1,000,000
+  West India Islands,                                     5,000,000
+  British and Dutch Guiana,                               1,500,000
+  Malayan Archipelago,                                   25,000,000
+  British India and Ceylon,                               5,000,000
+  Philippine and Pacific Islands,                            10,000
+  Sandwich and other Islands,                                75,000
+  Azores and Cape Verde Islands,                              1,500
+  French Possessions in Africa, Madagascar and Bourbon,       1,500
+                                                         ----------
+    Total importation,                                  600,000,000
+    Total value,                                        $80,000,000
+
+Which, according to the Bureau of Statistics, is about 9 pounds _per
+capita_, valued at $1.15 per head, for every man, woman and child in
+the United States, while it has been ascertained that the consumption
+of coffee has declined in England in the past ten years to less than
+one pound _per capita_ of the population as against an increase in the
+consumption of tea from 6 to 8 pounds.
+
+
+TABLE V.
+
+Showing _per capita_ consumption of the principal countries of the
+world in round numbers:--
+
+  Countries.                    Consumption   Per Capita
+                                  (Pounds).    (Pounds).
+  Asia,                          80,000,000         ----
+  Africa,                        50,000,000          1
+  Australia,                     10,000,000          2
+  Austria,                       10,000,000          2¹⁄₂
+  Belgium,                       50,000,000         10
+  Denmark,                       25,000,000          6
+  France,                       100,000,000          2¹⁄₂
+  Germany,                      180,000,000          5
+  Greece,                         2,000,000          0¹⁄₂
+  Holland,                       70,000,000         14
+  Italy,                         30,000,000          1
+  Switzerland,                   20,000,000          5
+  Russia and Siberia,            15,000,000         ----
+  Sweden and Norway,             35,000,000         10
+  Great Britain and Ireland,     35,000,000          1
+  United States and Canada,     600,000,000          6
+  Mexico and Central America,    35,000,000          3
+  West India Islands,            30,000,000          5
+  South American States,        100,000,000          3
+
+What tea is to the United Kingdom coffee is to the United States, the
+consumption of the latter in this country increasing from 80,000,000
+pounds in 1861 to 116,000,000 in 1871, and to over 400,000,000 pounds
+in 1881, the consumption of coffee, at the present time in this
+country, falling just short of the enormous figures of 600,000,000
+pounds.
+
+The use of coffee has been extending at an enormous rate for the past
+150 years, until at the present day it is found in every civilized
+country and almost every uncivilized country on the habitable globe. It
+has become one of the corner-stones of civilization. As has been well
+said by one writer, it smoothes the troubled soul, heals all family
+feuds, fits one for the annoyances of business, and organizes a truce
+between the man who drinks it and all the troubles and cares of life.
+The United States is without doubt a nation of coffee-drinkers, the
+average annual consumption reaching upwards of 600,000,000 pounds, or
+nearly ten pounds _per capita_ of the entire population.
+
+Up to 1860 there was a wide disparity between the production and
+consumption of coffee throughout the civilized world, the former
+remaining stationary while the latter continued to increase rapidly
+until the civil war, which caused a reduction in this country of
+nearly 200,000 tons per annum, thus re-establishing the relative
+difference between the laws of supply and demand. With the close of the
+rebellion, the United States, however, and a reduction of the duty,
+the consumption again steadily increased, exceeding in a short time
+the increase in the production, causing a steady advance in prices
+from 1869 to 1880, the extreme advance in prices in the latter year
+naturally stimulated and increased production until stocks accumulated
+largely and prices again declined accordingly. During the period
+from 1880-87, planters and dealers suffered greatly, many disastrous
+failures among both classes following as a consequence. The consumption
+meanwhile continued to increase steadily, as did also the production,
+owing to the yield of new plantations previously opened under the
+stimulus of the high prices prevailing in 1880, fair relations between
+the production and consumption being to the present maintained.
+
+The history of tariff legislation on coffee in the United States may
+be summed up in the following sequence: The first duty on coffee was
+levied in 1789, which was 2¹⁄₂ cents per pound. In 1790 this was
+increased to 4 cents, and again to 5 cents in 1794, being retained at
+the latter figure until 1812, when it was increased to 10 cents, owing
+to the increased expenditures of the government, due to the war with
+England. At the close of this war, in 1814, the duty was reduced to 5
+cents per pound, remaining at the latter figure until 1828, when it was
+still further reduced to 2 cents; in 1830, to 1 cent, being removed
+altogether in 1832, and placed for the first time on the free list. No
+tax was again placed on coffee until the beginning of the civil war
+in 1861, when a duty of 4 cents per pound was levied on it, which was
+shortly after increased to 5 cents, at which figure it remained until
+1871, when it was reduced to 3 cents, the duty being entirely removed
+from coffee in 1872, since which year it has remained uninterruptedly
+on the free list.
+
+During the years from 1832 to 1861, when coffee was entered free of
+duty, it ruled lower in price and increased more in consumption than
+it had at any previous period, the _per capita_ consumption increasing
+from three pounds in 1830, to nearly six pounds in 1860, the quantity
+imported into the United States in the latter year reaching nearly
+236,000,000 pounds, being valued at $21,500,000, the three following
+years showing an average annual importation of about 220,600,000
+pounds, valued at $21,000,000. In 1855 fair Rio averaged 11 cents per
+pound; Maracaibo, 12 cents, and Java, 14¹⁄₂ cents; these being the
+three principal then in demand in the American market, while in 1860
+the range was considerably higher and the consumption correspondingly
+less, Rios averaging 13³⁄₄ cents; Maracaibos, 14¹⁄₂ cents; and Javas,
+16¹⁄₂ cents. These prices continuing to advance until 1863-4, when the
+prices of coffee ruled exceptionally high, owing to the war duty of
+5 cents per pound; the figures averaging in 1863 31 cents for Rio, 32
+cents for Maracaibo, and 37 cents for Java, increasing in 1864 to 42¹⁄₂
+cents for Rio, 43 cents for Maracaibo, and 49 cents for Java. From 1864
+to 1880, however, there was a steady decline in the prices of coffee,
+there being at the same time a correspondingly steady increase in its
+consumption. The prices ruling for the three leading kinds of coffee in
+the American market, from 1880 to 1890, is as follows, per pound:--
+
+          Rio.   Maracaibo.   Java.
+  Year.  Cents.    Cents.    Cents.
+  1880    16        16¹⁄₂     23¹⁄₂
+  1881    12¹⁄₂     13        18
+  1882     9³⁄₄     10¹⁄₂     16
+  1883    10¹⁄₂     11        17¹⁄₂
+  1884    11        11¹⁄₄     16¹⁄₂
+  1885     9        10¹⁄₄     15¹⁄₂
+  1886    10³⁄₄     10¹⁄₂     16³⁄₄
+  1887     8¹⁄₂     10        16
+  1888    16¹⁄₂     16¹⁄₂     20
+  1889    19        20        22
+  1890    18        20        22
+
+In many of the years from 1870 to 1880, Java, which is regarded as
+the standard coffee, sold less than Maracaibo; the latter frequently
+selling for less than Rio, which is considered the lowest in the
+scale during the same period. In 1875, however, the imports again
+increased to 300,000,000 pounds, valued at $51,000,000. Taking the
+population in 1856 at 27,000,000 and in 1875 at 42,000,000, it will
+be noticed that the increase in quantity of imports was only 34 per
+cent., 21 per cent. less than the increase of population for the
+same period, while the increase in value was 146 per cent. meantime.
+Figures which serve conclusively to prove that while low prices tend
+to increase consumption, high prices only serve to retard it. About
+1883 new factors in the buying and selling of coffee appeared, coffee
+exchanges been opened in Havre, Hamburg and New York, which created
+large transactions in “options,” some of them becoming enormous in
+their magnitude, and against which considerable quantities of coffee
+must be held, the operations for future deliveries reaching as high as
+22,000,000 bags in 1887. This enormous increase in the transactions of
+that year was due entirely to a short crop report and to the active
+speculation based thereon. The continued increase in consumption and
+the increased demand for stocks held against the trading in options not
+being met by a corresponding increase in the production of the article,
+added to the serious injury to the crops in Java by leaf disease and in
+Brazil by blight, having still further disturbed the relations between
+the established laws of supply and demand.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+TABLE I.
+
+Showing tares, style of package and average weight of the principal
+coffees imported into the United States.
+
+                Style     Average
+                of         Weight
+  Kind.         Package.  Pounds.  Tare.
+  Mocha,        Bales,       160   Actual.
+  Javas,        Mats,         66   1 per cent.
+  India,        Bags,        140   2 per cent.
+  Ceylon,       Bags,        140   2 per cent.
+  Ceylon,       Casks,     1,000   Actual.
+  Jamaica,      Bags,        200   2 per cent.
+  Jamaica,      Barrels,     200   Actual.
+  San Domingo,  Bags,        150   2 per cent.
+  Hayti,        Bags,        150   2 per cent.
+  Mexican,      Bales,       150   2 per cent.
+  Guatemala,    Bags,        140   1 per cent.
+  Nicaragua,    Bags,        140   1 per cent.
+  Honduras,     Bags,        140   1 per cent.
+  Costa Rica,   Bags,        140   1 per cent.
+  Caracas,      Bags,        130   2 per cent.
+  Maracaibo,    Bags,        130   1 per cent.
+  Laguayra,     Bags,        130   1 per cent.
+  Angostura,    Bags,        130   Actual.
+  Colombo,      Bags,        230   1 per cent.
+  Equador,      Bags,        130   1 per cent.
+  Bolivian,     Bags,        130   1 per cent.
+  Brazilian,    Bags,        130   1 per cent.
+
+All other coffees in bags one per cent. and all others in bales and
+barrels actual tare.
+
+
+TABLE II.
+
+Showing relative difference between cost of raw and roasted coffees,
+including cost of roasting (¹⁄₂ cent per pound), and loss by shrinkage
+(15 per cent).
+
+   Raw.   Roasted.
+  10       12 35
+  10¹⁄₄    12 65
+  10¹⁄₂    12 94
+  10³⁄₄    13 24
+  11       13 53
+  11¹⁄₄    13 82
+  11¹⁄₂    14 12
+  11³⁄₄    14 41
+  12       14 71
+  12¹⁄₄    15 00
+  12¹⁄₂    15 29
+  12³⁄₄    15 59
+  13       15 88
+  13¹⁄₄    16 18
+  13¹⁄₂    16 48
+  13³⁄₄    16 67
+  14       17 06
+  14¹⁄₄    17 35
+  14¹⁄₂    17 67
+  14³⁄₄    17 94
+  15       18 24
+  15¹⁄₄    18 53
+  15¹⁄₂    18 82
+  15³⁄₄    19 13
+  16       19 41
+  16¹⁄₄    19 71
+  16¹⁄₂    20 00
+  16³⁄₄    20 30
+  17       20 59
+  17¹⁄₄    20 89
+  17³⁄₄    21 47
+  18       21 76
+  18¹⁄₄    22 06
+  18¹⁄₂    22 35
+  18³⁄₄    22 64
+  19       22 93
+  19¹⁄₄    23 22
+  19¹⁄₂    23 52
+  19³⁄₄    23 82
+  20       24 41
+  20¹⁄₄    24 41
+  20¹⁄₂    24 71
+  20³⁄₄    25 00
+  21       25 30
+  21¹⁄₄    25 59
+  21¹⁄₂    25 88
+  21³⁄₄    26 19
+  22       26 47
+  22¹⁄₄    26 76
+  22¹⁄₂    27 06
+  22³⁄₄    27 35
+  23       27 64
+  23¹⁄₄    27 94
+  23¹⁄₂    28 24
+  23³⁄₄    28 53
+  24       28 82
+  24¹⁄₄    29 12
+  24¹⁄₂    29 42
+  24³⁄₄    29 71
+  25       30 00
+
+For each one-eighth of a cent Raw add one-fifteenth Roasted.
+
+
+TABLE III.
+
+Showing comparative loss in roasting coffee between Winter and Summer
+months of the principal coffees:--
+
+  Months.      Rio.       Java.     Mocha.    Maracaibo.
+             Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.
+  January,      14         16        15          16
+  February,     14         16        15          16
+  March,        14         16        15          16
+  June,         13         15        14          15
+  July,         13         15        14          15
+  August,       13         15        14          15
+
+From which it may be noted that Rio and Mocha lose on an average one
+per cent. less than Java and Maracaibo in both seasons, which is
+accounted for by the greater hardness and solidity of the bean of the
+former over the latter, which are lighter and softer in texture, the
+average loss being 15 per cent. on all coffees.
+
+
+TABLE IV.
+
+Showing comparative weights of Raw and Roasted coffees, after
+sustaining a loss of from 12 to 16 per cent.:--
+
+  Weight raw.                   Weight roasted.
+      Net.     Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.
+                  12         13         14         15         16
+  -----------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
+    50 lbs.       44         43¹⁄₂      43         42¹⁄₂      42
+    55  „         48¹⁄₂      48         47¹⁄₄      46³⁄₄      46
+    60  „         52¹⁄₄      52         51¹⁄₂      51         50¹⁄₂
+    65  „         57         56¹⁄₂      56         55¹⁄₄      54¹⁄₂
+    70  „         61¹⁄₂      61         60         59¹⁄₂      58³⁄₄
+    75  „         66         65¹⁄₄      64¹⁄₂      63³⁄₄      63
+    80  „         70¹⁄₂      69¹⁄₂      68¹⁄₄      68         67
+    85  „         74³⁄₄      74         73         72¹⁄₄      71¹⁄₂
+    90  „         79         78³⁄₄      77¹⁄₂      76¹⁄₂      75¹⁄₂
+    95  „         83¹⁄₂      82¹⁄₂      81¹⁄₂      80³⁄₄      79³⁄₄
+   100  „         89         87         86         85         84
+   105  „         92¹⁄₂      91¹⁄₂      90¹⁄₂      89¹⁄₄      88
+   110  „         96³⁄₄      95¹⁄₂      94¹⁄₂      93¹⁄₂      91¹⁄₄
+   115  „        102        100         99         98         96¹⁄₂
+   120  „        105¹⁄₂     104¹⁄₂     103        102        101
+   125  „        110        108³⁄₄     107¹⁄₂     106¹⁄₄     105
+   130  „        114¹⁄₂     113        112        111        110¹⁄₄
+   135  „        118³⁄₄     117¹⁄₂     116        114³⁄₄     113¹⁄₂
+   140  „        124        121³⁄₄     120¹⁄₂     119        117¹⁄₂
+   145  „        127¹⁄₂     126        124¹⁄₂     123¹⁄₄     121³⁄₄
+   150  „        131¹⁄₄     129³⁄₄     128¹⁄₄     126³⁄₄     125¹⁄₄
+
+
+TABLE V.
+
+Showing cost of Roasted coffee after sustaining a loss of:--
+
+  Cost Raw.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.  Per cent.
+                12         13         14         15         16
+  --------   ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
+  10            11³⁄₈      11¹⁄₂      11⁵⁄₈      11³⁄₄      11⁷⁄₈
+  10¹⁄₂         12         12¹⁄₈      12¹⁄₄      12³⁄₈      12¹⁄₂
+  11            12¹⁄₂      12⁵⁄₈      12³⁄₄      12⁷⁄₈      13
+  11¹⁄₂         13         13¹⁄₄      13³⁄₈      13⁵⁄₈      13³⁄₄
+  12            13⁵⁄₈      13³⁄₄      14         14¹⁄₈      14¹⁄₄
+  12¹⁄₂         14¹⁄₄      14³⁄₈      14¹⁄₂      14³⁄₄      14⁷⁄₈
+  13            14³⁄₄      15         15¹⁄₈      15³⁄₈      15¹⁄₂
+  13¹⁄₂         15³⁄₈      15¹⁄₂      15⁵⁄₈      15³⁄₄      15⁷⁄₈
+  14            15⁷⁄₈      16¹⁄₈      16¹⁄₄      16¹⁄₂      16⁵⁄₈
+  14¹⁄₂         16¹⁄₂      16⁵⁄₈      16⁷⁄₈      17         17¹⁄₄
+  15            17         17¹⁄₈      17³⁄₈      17⁵⁄₈      17⁷⁄₈
+  15¹⁄₂         17⁵⁄₈      17⁷⁄₈      18         18¹⁄₄      18¹⁄₂
+  16            18⁷⁄₈      18³⁄₈      18⁵⁄₈      18⁷⁄₈      19
+  16¹⁄₂         18³⁄₄      19         19¹⁄₈      19³⁄₈      19⁵⁄₈
+  17            19¹⁄₄      19¹⁄₂      19³⁄₄      20         20¹⁄₄
+  17¹⁄₂         19⁷⁄₈      20¹⁄₂      20³⁄₈      20⁵⁄₈      20⁷⁄₈
+  18            20³⁄₈      20⁵⁄₈      20⁷⁄₈      21¹⁄₈      21³⁄₈
+  18¹⁄₂         21         21¹⁄₄      21¹⁄₂      21³⁄₄      22
+  19            21⁵⁄₈      21⁷⁄₈      22¹⁄₈      22³⁄₈      22⁵⁄₈
+  19¹⁄₂         22¹⁄₈      22³⁄₈      22⁵⁄₈      23         23¹⁄₄
+  20            22³⁄₄      23         23¹⁄₄      23¹⁄₂      23³⁄₄
+  20¹⁄₂         23¹⁄₄      23¹⁄₂      23⁷⁄₈      24¹⁄₈      24³⁄₈
+  21            23³⁄₄      24         24³⁄₈      24³⁄₄      25
+  21¹⁄₂         24¹⁄₂      24³⁄₄      25         25¹⁄₄      25⁵⁄₈
+  22            25         25¹⁄₄      25⁵⁄₈      25⁷⁄₈      26¹⁄₈
+  22¹⁄₂         25¹⁄₂      25⁷⁄₈      26¹⁄₈      26¹⁄₂      26³⁄₄
+  23            26¹⁄₈      26³⁄₈      26³⁄₄      27         27³⁄₈
+  23¹⁄₂         26³⁄₄      27         27³⁄₈      27⁵⁄₈      28
+  24            27¹⁄₄      27⁵⁄₈      27⁷⁄₈      28¹⁄₂      28⁷⁄₈
+  24¹⁄₂         27⁷⁄₈      28¹⁄₈      28¹⁄₂      28³⁄₄      29¹⁄₈
+  25            28³⁄₈      28³⁄₄      29¹⁄₈      29³⁄₈      29³⁄₄
+
+To which must be added cost of roasting, ¹⁄₂ cent per pound.
+
+
+TABLE VI.
+
+Showing New York Coffee Exchange point card, and giving decimal value
+of 5 points to one cent per pound on 250 bags coffee (32,500 pounds),
+which is the smallest transaction:--
+
+  Points.           Difference.
+  05,                 $16 25
+  10,                  32 50
+  15,                  48 75
+  20,                  65 00
+  25,                  81 25
+  30,                  97 50
+  35,                 113 75
+  40,                 130 00
+  45,                 146 25
+  50,                 162 50
+  55,                 178 75
+  60,                 195 00
+  65,                 211 25
+  70,                 227 50
+  75,                 243 75
+  80,                 260 00
+  85,                 276 25
+  90,                 292 50
+  95,                 308 75
+  100 (one cent),     325 00
+  105,                341 25
+  110,                357 50
+  115,                373 75
+  120,                390 10
+  125,                406 25
+  130,                432 50
+  135,                438 75
+  140,                455 50
+  145,                471 25
+  150,                487 50
+  155,                503 75
+  160,                520 00
+  165,                536 25
+  170,                552 50
+  175,                568 75
+  180,                585 00
+  185,                601 25
+  190,                617 50
+  195,                635 75
+  200 (two cents),    650 50
+
+No. 7 (low ordinary) is adopted as the “standard grade,” and is taken
+as a basis for all operations, but a grade comparing with any of
+the ten numbers may be substituted at their approximate values when
+delivered is insisted on and No. 7 cannot be had. The brokerage for
+buying and selling is 4 cents per bag, and the original margin $1.00
+per bag, the smallest transaction allowed being 250 bags and the market
+fluctuation ⁵⁄₁₀₀ cents per pound.
+
+
+TABLE VII.
+
+Showing method for converting Rio and Santos quotations into United
+States currency, including freight charges at 40 cents and 5 per cent.
+per bag marine insurance. One month’s charges in New York, at 2 per
+cent. discount, $4.80, equaling the pound sterling at 60 days sight.
+
+  Market Price   Rio Rates of Exchange on London
+   in Rio per   (equivalent in cents per pound).
+   10 Kilos.    21_d_      21¹⁄₂_d_    22_d_
+     .000       12¹¹⁄₁₀₀   12³⁹⁄₁₀₀   12⁶⁷⁄₁₀₀
+     .200       12⁵⁶⁄₁₀₀   12⁸⁵⁄₁₀₀   12¹⁴⁄₁₀₀
+     .400       13⁰¹⁄₁₀₀   13³¹⁄₁₀₀   13⁶¹⁄₁₀₀
+     .600       13⁴⁷⁄₁₀₀   13⁷⁷⁄₁₀₀   14⁸⁹⁄₁₀₀
+     .800       13⁹²⁄₁₀₀   14⁴⁰⁄₁₀₀   14⁵⁶⁄₁₀₀
+     .000       14³⁷⁄₁₀₀   14⁷⁰⁄₁₀₀   15⁰³⁄₁₀₀
+     .200       14⁸²⁄₁₀₀   15¹⁶⁄₁₀₀   15⁵¹⁄₁₀₀
+     .400       15²⁷⁄₁₀₀   16⁶²⁄₁₀₀   15⁹⁸⁄₁₀₀
+     .600       15⁷²⁄₁₀₀   16⁰⁹⁄₁₀₀   16⁴⁵⁄₁₀₀
+     .800       16¹⁸⁄₁₀₀   16⁵⁵⁄₁₀₀   16⁹²⁄₁₀₀
+     .000       16⁶³⁄₁₀₀   17⁰¹⁄₁₀₀   17⁴⁰⁄₁₀₀
+
+Fractional equivalents to be added if necessary, each ¹⁄₄ _d._ in
+exchange being equivalent to about 1 per cent. Bases for freight
+differences to be added or deducted at rate of 5 cents and 5 per cent.
+per bag--.04 cents per pound, to which must be also added commission
+for buying in Rio or Santos, but if the coffee should be wanted for
+sale on the Exchange no addition need be made.
+
+
+TABLE VIII.
+
+For converting London quotations into U. S. currency, including cost,
+insurance, freight, one month’s charges in New York and 2 per cent.
+discount.
+
+  Market Price in London  London Rates of Exchange at 60 days,
+      per 112 pounds.        equivalent in cents per pound.
+
+        Shillings.          $4 80        $4 85        $4 90
+
+           50              $11 43       $11 54       $11 65
+           51               11 63        11 78        11 89
+           52               11 89        12 00        12 12
+           53               12 11        12 23        12 35
+           54               12 34        12 46        12 58
+           55               12 53        12 69        12 81
+           56               12 73        12 91        13 04
+           57               13 02        13 14        13 27
+           58               13 23        13 38        13 51
+           59               13 48        13 60        13 75
+
+The best and most rapid method of reducing the cost of coffee in Brazil
+to United States currency is, however, to multiply the price by the
+rate of exchange ruling at the time of purchase. The result will be in
+English pence, which is converted into American gold in the regular
+way at the existing rate of London exchange. Another method by which
+a result accurate enough for all practical purposes may be obtained
+is to multiply the price by the rate of exchange, and then deducting
+one-fourth of the amount so obtained, first getting the free-on-board
+charges in Rio or Santos, to which must be added the cost of freight
+and other charges.
+
+
+TABLE IX.
+
+Showing the average value for each year from 1846 to 1878, inclusive,
+for fair to prime Rio coffee, cargo price in gold, “in bond,” in New
+York:--
+
+  Year.  Value.
+  1846    7.44
+  1847    7.34
+  1848    6.63
+  1849    7.37
+  1850   10.91
+  1851    9.44
+  1852    8.85
+  1853    9.76
+  1854   10.48
+  1855   10.47
+  1856   11.04
+  1857   11.15
+  1858   11.08
+  1859   11.66
+  1860   13.74
+  1861   12.31
+  1862   15.22
+  1863   16.39
+  1864   16.22
+  1865   15.95
+  1866   13.86
+  1867   12.23
+  1868   10.5
+  1869   11.00
+  1870   11.33
+  1871   12.91
+         16 48
+  1872   -- --
+         17 27
+  1873   19.99
+  1874   21.08
+  1875   18.87
+  1876   18.21
+  1877   18.45
+  1878   15.58
+  1879   14.87
+  1880   15.12
+  1881   12.23
+  1882    9.77
+  1883   10.36
+  1884   10.92
+  1885    9.01
+  1886   10.33
+
+Coffee was admitted free up to the first of August, 1861, when an
+import duty of four cents a pound was levied. In January, 1862, the
+duty was raised to five cents a pound; and this continued to 1870, when
+the duty was reduced to three cents a pound. On the first of July,
+1872, the impost was removed, and coffee was admitted to duty free
+once more. In the above table, it will be observed that the highest
+point was in 1874, after the impost had been removed, when it was 21
+cents. This was about the same as in 1863 and ’64, with the duty of 5
+cents added; but this, it will be remembered, is an average for the
+years alluded to for fair to prime, but during the year there was often
+fluctuations, and prime, as circumstances demanded, brought a very high
+price, as in some instances it touched at or near 25 cents, when of
+course all other coffees were proportionally large.
+
+
+TABLE X.
+
+Showing fluctuations in the coffee market from 1850 to 1867, inclusive.
+
+  Year.    Pounds.
+  1850   131,640,000
+  1851   177,760,000
+  1852   291,344,000
+  1853   172,898,000
+  1854   175,780,000
+  1855   206,250,000
+  1856   214,104,000
+  1857   168,916,000
+  1858   246,510,000
+  1859   219,010,000
+  1860   173,844,000
+  1861   194,656,000
+  1862    87,406,000
+  1863    78,562,000
+  1864   107,052,900
+  1865   125,708,000
+  1866   157,146,000
+  1867   199,760,000
+  1868   219,212,400
+  1869   238,653,800
+  1870   275,895,400
+  1871   310,956,800
+  1872   266,866,600
+  1873   264,666,600
+  1874   272,608,600
+  1875   301,727,800
+  1876   295,039,800
+  1877   297,523,600
+  1878   213,830,000
+  1879   396,391,600
+  1880   390,188,500
+  1881   411,633,200
+  1882   467,504,400
+  1883   449,002,400
+  1884   490,468,000
+  1885   530,127,400
+
+It will be seen that the consumption increased to 1858, and gradually
+declined to 1863, when it touched the lowest point. Since that time it
+has increased nearly seven-fold, but while the quantity imported or
+consumed has increased beyond our power to fully realize the amount in
+figures, it is curious to consider the varied values of coffee under
+the many peculiarities of circumstances for the past thirty-six years.
+
+
+TABLE XI.
+
+SHOWING HOW COFFEE IS IMPORTED.
+
+_Pro Forma Invoice of 1,000 Bags of Coffee, of 60 Kilos. each, Shipped
+from Rio de Janeiro or Santos to the United States._
+
+  1,000 bags coffee of 60 kilos. each
+  =net 10 kilos. 60,000, @ 6$350 per
+  10 kilos.,                            [1]Rs. 38:100$000
+
+  1,000 empty bags @ 700 reis,                    700$000
+                                           -------------- Rs. 38:800$000
+
+  Export duty on kilos. 60,000 @ 502
+  rs. per kilo. = Rs. 30,120$000 @ 13
+  per cent.,                               Reis 3:915$600
+
+  Harbor-master (Capatazias) fees, 60
+  rs. per bag,                                     60$000
+
+  Brokerage, 50 rs. per bag,                       50$000
+
+  Shipping expenses (at 220 rs. = Rs.
+  220,000), sample, tins and box (Rs.
+  25$000), freight on same (Rs. 2$000),
+  consul’s certificate (included in
+  sample, tins, etc.), cablegram (Rs.
+  100$000), stamps, petties, etc.
+  (included in sample, tins and box),             347$000
+                                           --------------      4:372$600
+                                                          --------------
+                                                              43:172$600
+  Commission for buying, 2 per cent.,                            863$450
+                                                          --------------
+                                                              44:036$050
+  Bill brokerage and stamps, ³⁄₈ of 1 per cent.,                 165$760
+                                                          --------------
+                                                         Reis 44:201$810
+
+[1] 1,000 réis = 1 mil-réis = 54¹⁄₂ cents, U. S.
+
+
+TABLE XII.
+
+SHOWING CONVERSION OF BRAZILIAN INTO AMERICAN CURRENCY.
+
+  Amount of pro forma invoice,              Reis 44:201$810
+      At 21¹⁄₂d. exchange at Rio,                  £3,959 15
+      $4.84¹⁄₂--¹⁄₈ per £ sterling,                           $19,161 00
+
+  Charges accruing in the United States:--
+
+    Freight per steamer to New York,
+    40c. per bag and 5 per cent.
+    primage,                                        $420 00
+
+    Marine insurance, 1 per cent. less
+    30 per cent.--⁷⁄₁₀ net, on $21,672
+    or invoice and £ value @ $5.50,                  151 70
+
+    Banker’s commission for credit =
+    ³⁄₄ of 1 per cent. on $19,161,                   143 72
+
+  Bill stamps in London (nil).
+
+    Labor at vessel, 4c. per bag;
+    storage, one month, @ 4c.;
+    weighing, 3¹⁄₄c.; fire insurance,
+    1¹⁄₄c. per bag; delivery
+    (lighterage), 4c. per bag = 16¹⁄₂c.
+    per bag,                                         165 00
+
+    Petty charges, _i. e._, sampling,
+    sewing, custom fees, etc., on bags,
+    per bag, 3¹⁄₂c.; approximate for
+    skimming of quality,----bags
+    @  ; furnishing new bags,                         35 00
+
+    Cables at New York,                                5 00
+                                                  ---------       920 42
+                                                              ----------
+        Cost of 1,000 in store,                               $20,081 42
+
+
+
+
+  Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+  Unusual, inconsistent, erroneous and archaic spelling, hyphenation,
+  punctuation, grammar, typography, etc. have been retained, except as
+  mentioned under Changes below. Many non-English words and phrases
+  and geographical, proper and scientific names in particular contain
+  typographical or other errors.
+
+  Page 74, alumnia (2x): possibly an error for aluminia.
+
+  Page 132, ...crops of which the first or “roor-pluk,” which is
+  small...: probably an error for “voor-pluk,” (pre-picking).
+
+  Page 292, table: the entry for 17¹⁄₂ is not present in the source
+  document.
+
+  Page 296, table VII: presumably the bottom 6 rows in column 1 should
+  read 1.000, 1.200, ..., 2.000.
+
+  Page 297, Table IX: the values for 1872 may represent the two
+  values 16.48 and 17.27 (before and after the removal of the impost
+  respectively).
+
+  Page 298, Showing fluctuations in the coffee market from 1850 to
+  1867, inclusive: the data given continue through 1885.
+
+  Page 300, table entry Petty charges ... bags @  ; furnishing new
+  bags: the price per bag is missing in the source document.
+
+
+  Changes made:
+
+  Illustrations were moved out of text paragraphs.
+
+  Minor obvious punctuation and typographical errors have been
+  corrected silently.
+
+  Page 31: ...climatic conditions favorable to its production has
+  been found... changed to ...climatic conditions favorable to its
+  production have been found....
+
+  Page 46: ...the latter being claimed to be analagous... changed to
+  ...the latter being claimed to be analogous....
+
+  Page 86: ...when about two weeks’ old... changed to ...when about two
+  weeks old....
+
+  Page 95: An easy meany of applying artificial heat... changed to An
+  easy means of applying artificial heat....
+
+  Page 135: ...at least equal to the renumeration changed to ...at
+  least equal to the remuneration.
+
+  Page 139: Stored coffees, for this reason, loses weight... changed to
+  Stored coffees, for this reason, lose weight....
+
+  Page 142: ...the bean graduing changes to a deep-yellow... changed to
+  ...the bean gradually changes to a deep-yellow....
+
+  Page 143: ...by becoming throughly dry and seasoned... changed to
+  ...by becoming thoroughly dry and seasoned....
+
+  Page 177: ...Rios improve with age, and with time loses their harsh
+  flavor... changed to ...Rios improve with age, and with time lose
+  their harsh flavor....
+
+  Page 210: ...coffee leaves contain the principle coffeine... changed
+  to ...coffee leaves contain the principle caffeine....
+
+  Page 213: ...innumerable other substances has been tried... changed
+  to ...innumerable other substances have been tried....
+
+  Page 217: ...patent or proprietory ground coffees... changed to
+  ...patent or proprietary ground coffees....
+
+  Page 232: A decoction known as Kishre... changed to A decoction known
+  as Kishr... as elsewhere.
+
+  Page 271: ...it should be used chiefly as an accessary to food...
+  changed to ...it should be used chiefly as an accessory to food....
+
+  Page 295, table: repeated entry 150, 487 50 deleted.
+
+  Page 296, table VIII, bottom row: 1360 changed to 13 60.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79274 ***