Coffee 
 
 ITS HISTORY CLASSinCAnON AND DESCRIPnm 
 
 Joseph M. Walsh 
 

 University of California Berkeley 
 
 JOSEPH M. BRANSTEN 
 COFFEE & TEA COLLECTION 
 
 Acquired in memory of 
 
 Joseph M. Bransten 
 
 N6DIRLANMWE 
 
 HANDEL-MAAT8CHAPFU. 
 BiBLIOTHEEK. 
 
Coffee Tree and Berries. 
 
COFFEE 
 
 its- 
 
 History, 
 Classmcation and Description 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH M. WALSH, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 TEAi ITS HISTORY AND MYSTERY. 
 
 THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 CHICAGO, TOBONTa 
 
COPYRIGHTED, 1894, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH M. WALSH, 
 
 All Rights Reserved. 
 
OH^r^TEH I, 
 
 i^arTmIT xxisxoRir. 
 
 'HE 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 transpor- 
 tation, 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, how- 
 ever, like that of Tea, is involved in considerable ob- 
 scurity, the almost total absence of any historical fact 
 being only compensated for by an unusual profusion of 
 legendary and conjectural statements, or by purely mythi- 
 cal 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 occa- 
 sion, 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 
 lound among the Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs, 
 
 1 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 jsastern 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, 
 pubhshed in 1678, informs us that "The Gallae 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 con- 
 sistency 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 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 Abbe 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. Tradi- 
 tion 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. Pre- 
 paring an infusion from the berries of the plant indicated. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 pecuhar 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 5 
 
 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 Mahom- 
 etans, 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 author- 
 ity of the government to check, if not to entirely sup- 
 press, 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. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 From Syria the use of the " benign potation," as it was 
 then termed, reached Cairo about 15 lo, 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 dehvered 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 moUahs, 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 dis- 
 missing 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 molesta- 
 tion through Egypt, the beverage being received in 
 Damascus in 1530, and in Aleppo a few years later, with- 
 out 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 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 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 vahd cause for divorce." But in Con- 
 stantinople, 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 patron- 
 ized as before. But though religious superstition thus 
 readily gave way to the seductive influences of sensitive 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 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 ad- 
 vantage 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 govern- 
 ment, 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. 
 
 INTROOXJCTIOIV INTO ETJUOPE, 
 
 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 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 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 Ger- 
 man physician and traveler, upon his return from an 
 extended tour through Syria, in 1573. The first scien- 
 tific account of the plant being that given by Alpinus, 
 an Italian naturalist, in his Medicina Egyptorium, pub- 
 lished 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 161 5, 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 162 1, 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 
 
lO INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 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 167 1 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 " Hon," 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 imme- 
 diately 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 ;^ 1 5,000 yearly. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. II 
 
 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 com- 
 pelled to relinquish the business. About 1675 an enter- 
 prising Frenchman, Ettienne d'Alep, fitted up spacious 
 apartments in the Rue des ItaHenes, with Oriental mag- 
 nificence for the purpose of catering to the public taste 
 for coffee. This Cafe 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 Cafe Procope 
 in particular becoming immortalized from its being 
 patronized by Voltaire, Moliere, Bolieau, Fontaine and 
 other Encyclopedists, while another, the Cafe de la 
 Regence, became the Mecca of chess players. In a brief 
 period these coffee-houses had increased to nearly three 
 hundred in Paris alone, the Cafes eventually becoming 
 dangerous rivals to the Cabarets,- finally becoming the 
 cradle of the modern clubs, it being in one of these coffee- 
 houses the Cafe Procope that Camille DesmouHns 
 was wont to deliver his stirring addresses. But, as in the 
 East, at first, coffee here again met with considerable 
 opposition. Madame Sevigne 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 
 
12 INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 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 jour- 
 nal of Thomas Rugg, dated September 22, 165 1, coffee 
 was then sold in a hquid 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 
 dX that time. The same year a newspaper advertisement 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 1 3 
 
 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 after- 
 noon." 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, direct- 
 ing 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 Eng- 
 land, 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 countiy. Long antedating news- 
 papers, 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 wis- 
 dom, have been uttered over steaming cups of Mocha, 
 
14 INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 Many of these London coffee-houses afterwards be- 
 came famous as the resorts of celebrated men. It was 
 at " Will's Coffee-house," in Covent Garden, that Dryden 
 and Addison, Steel and Davenant, Gary and Pope, 
 met with other luminaries, while others frequented " But- 
 tons " ; 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 min- 
 gled 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, event- 
 ually 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. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. IS 
 
 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 sup- 
 press 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 deliver- 
 ance 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 consump- 
 tion of coffee was found to be a heavy tax, which, while 
 restricting honest trade, opened up a channel for exten- 
 sive smuggHng operations. 
 
1 6 INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 
 
 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 Cafe 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 some- 
 what 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 Hquid 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 pre- 
 sented 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 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 1 7 
 
 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 cours t of a few centuries has a berry, until 
 t'"en 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 relig- 
 ious fanaticism, nor had it to encounter much opposition 
 from political jealousy, except for a brief period in Eng- 
 land, 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 obstruc- 
 tions. Yet, still, in common with other important neces- 
 saries of life, it has never attained to the natural state 
 of " unrestricted competition." 
 
OHiVI^'TKl^ II. 
 
 OEjooieA.p*n:iOi\.i:^ rn^oc^i^iiBuarxopa 
 
 ^'^HE Coffee plant, although now so widely and ex- 
 I l*^ tensively grown and cultivated in both hemi- 
 spheres, 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 enterpris- 
 ing commercial nations of Europe, which founded 
 colonies in the tropics can be so inattentive to the value 
 and importance of such an acquisition." Whether act- 
 ing 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 impos- 
 sible within the range of a single chapter. Originally a 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 native of Southeastern Africa the coffee plant has been 
 widely distributed, successfully cultivated and prop- 
 agated in regions and countries geographically apart 
 and in districts widely differing in climatic and topo- 
 graphic conditions, and as having been found to endure 
 greater extremes of climate, variations in soil and situa- 
 tion 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 neigh- 
 boring settlements to sell to the white traders. The 
 Portuguese colonists of Principe and Sao Thorne, cul- 
 tivate 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 advan- 
 tage of there, the natives of these countries, unlike those 
 further south, ignoring the properties of its fruit. 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 21 
 
 It is cultivated in Natal and on the Zambesi river as 
 well as in Usumbara, opposite to Zanzibar, which pre- 
 sents 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 Killi- 
 manjaro, 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 com- 
 paratively insignificant, the export capacity of the latter 
 countries not exceeding 800 tons annually. The total 
 product of the eastern provinces of Africa taken in con- 
 nection 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, Burgo- 
 master 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 
 
2 2 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 seeds of the Coffee tree from Arabia and endeavor to 
 cultivate them in that settlement." Although its intro- 
 duction 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 propa- 
 gated 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 hun- 
 dred 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 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 23 
 
 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 1 880 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 admiirably 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. 
 
24 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 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 excel- 
 lent quality was produced, notwithstanding these ob- 
 stacles, 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 occupa- 
 tion 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 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 25 
 
 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 Can- 
 tonese, European and Australian planters for this pur- 
 pose, 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 Euro- 
 peans and thrives remarkably well, while the Malays 
 state that it is grown extensively by the Dyaks of the Pon- 
 tianak river for the use of that settlement, but its culti- 
 vation on an extensive or systematic scale has not been 
 encouraged, the government not wishing to create a com- 
 petition 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 pro- 
 tect 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 
 
26 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 past where it is found to flourish luxuriantly, proving 
 the suitability of the soil and cHmate, 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 impor- 
 tant 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 Aus- 
 tralia 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, sev- 
 eral of them having recently sold to the merchants of 
 Brisbane some of their product as high as 20 cents per 
 pound. This Hst does not by any means exhaust the 
 possible sections in the South Pacific where Coffee culti- 
 vation has been tried with great advantage, but simply 
 touches upon some of the chief centres adapted to the 
 enterprise. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 27 
 
 The history of the first introduction of the coffee plant 
 into the new world is as romantic as it is interesting. In 
 the year 17 14 the French king, Louis XIV, was pre- 
 sented 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 17 17, 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 unfa- 
 vorable, 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 
 
28 INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 
 
 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 itsoon 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 planta- 
 tion 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 recom- 
 mending 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. 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 29 
 
 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 1 8 18 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 
 
3 INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 
 
 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 exporta- 
 tion 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 Guatamala 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 Cali- 
 fornia with that object in view. Reported results to the 
 Agricultural Department in Washington from these distri- 
 butions 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 
 
INTRODUCTION INTO AMERICA. 3I 
 
 ^ I ' ' ""^ 
 
 topographical conformation of that part of the State is 
 most unfavorable for its commercial cultivation. Again, 
 in the extreme southern part of California climatic condi- 
 tions favorable to its production has 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 conge- 
 nial 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 Hemi- 
 sphere, 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. 
 
OH^VI^^:^!^ III. 
 
 y^HIS now important and valuable article of food was 
 I y\ known to the early inhabitants of Ethiopia, where 
 its virtues were first discovered and used, as Bim, 
 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 Per- 
 sians, 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 south- 
 eastern Abyssinia, where it is to be found growing in wild 
 abundance, even at the present day, whence its botanical 
 name, Coffea, adopted by Linnaeus 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 Pentayidria of Linnaeus and the family Riibicece, 
 although by others it is placed among the Cinchonaceces 
 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 
 
34 BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FORM. 
 
 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 cultiva- 
 tion 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 cut- 
 ting 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 pick- 
 ing 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 resem- 
 bling those of the Portuguese laurel, continuing three 
 years, and possessing slightly tonic and stimulating pro- 
 perties. 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, 
 
BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FORM. 35 
 
 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 evanes- 
 cent 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 meri- 
 dian sun, the color deepening not regularly but by crim- 
 son 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 membra- 
 neous parchment. The Epicarp or outer-skin of the 
 
:^6 BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FORM. 
 
 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 suc- 
 culent, sweet and palatable matter, closely enveloping the 
 seeds, fi-equently eaten by the pickers. Another sub- 
 stance, 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 surround- 
 ing 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 
 
SUB-VARIETIES. 37 
 
 the Embryo. The first of these structures, that is, the epi- 
 carp, 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 bjr its tough, leatherly nature, 
 acts as an effectual protection to the delicate structures con- 
 tained 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 t 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 oppo- 
 site ; 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. 
 
 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 Occiden- 
 talis. While admitting but one genus, the difference in 
 
38 
 
 SUB-VARIETIES. 
 
 size, appearance and product being attributed by them 
 to a variation in soil, climate and methods of cultiva- 
 tion, 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. 
 
 Coffea Arabica, 
 
 Or "Arabian Coffee plant," is the best-known species, 
 being an evergreen, partaking more of the nature of 
 
SUB-VARIETIES. 39 
 
 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 down- 
 wards 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, disap- 
 pearing quick, but rapidly followed by the fruit spring- 
 ing 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 i ,cx)0 to 4,000 feet above 
 sea-level between the latitudes of 1 5 north and 1 5 south, 
 but its cultivation may be extended for commercial pur- 
 poses to 36 north and 30 south in latitudes where the 
 temperature does not fall below 55; still the most favor- 
 able 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, 
 
40 
 
 SUB-VARIETIES. 
 
 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 Austral- 
 asia, furnishing almost the whole of the coffees of 
 commerce. 
 
 Coffea Libericay 
 
 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 culti- 
 vated 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 
 
SUB VARIETIES. 4I 
 
 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, averag- 
 ing 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 
 
42 SUB-VARIETIES. 
 
 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 cli- 
 mate. 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 gen- 
 uine 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 w^ell in low alti- 
 tudes, 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, Cey- 
 lon, 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 atten- 
 tion of planters generally. 
 
SUB-VARIETIES. 
 
 43 
 
 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, com- 
 ing into full bearing much sooner than either of the fore- 
 going 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 
 
44 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 berry, style of bean, strength and flavor, it is a species 
 to be recommended. 
 
 There are numerous other varieties of the Coffee plant^ 
 closely allied, but still markedly distinct from the fore- 
 going 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 : 
 
 GofTea Mauritiana. Found on the island of Mauri- 
 tius, and evidently belonging to the Arabian species, yet 
 claimed by LaMarche 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 unaccount- 
 ably negligent with respect to its specific character, 
 having retained the description given by Linnaeus 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 value- 
 able or stimulating properties so characteristic of those 
 of the true Coffee plant. 
 
 Coffea Fanenlato. 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. 
 
 GofTea Racemora. A species found in a wild state 
 on the east coast of Africa, and in a state of cultivation 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 in the vicinity of Zanzibar. It is a small, upright, tree- 
 like plant about six feet high, heavy in foliage and flow- 
 ering, but devoid of fragrance and barren of fruit. 
 
 Coflfea 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 analagous to the 
 true Coffee plant, and is extensively grown on the island 
 of Tamai, and many others cultivated principally for 
 their seeds. 
 
OHA^I^O^E^I^ T\r. 
 
 
 y^HE principal points which determine the value of 
 I 1"^ a location for the successful and profitable culti- 
 vation of Coffee are: (i) 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, accord- 
 ing to country and locality, shelter from wind being per- 
 haps of the most paramount importance, and which should 
 not be sacrificed for a richer soil, as the latter can be arti- 
 ficially supplied much quicker than the former. 
 
 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 
 
48 SOIL AND CLIMATE. 
 
 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 prin- 
 cipally 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 choco- 
 late 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, arid 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 magne- 
 sia and the oxides of soda, potash and manganese, includ- 
 ing carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric acids. The pre- 
 ponderance of one or more of these natural divisions, 
 
SOIL AND CLIMATE. 49 
 
 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 Hght 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 culti- 
 vation 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 sur- 
 face, which sHdes from the greasy clay, launched, as it 
 
50 SOIL AND CLIMATE. 
 
 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 im- 
 portance 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 suf- 
 ficient 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 arti- 
 ficial, 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 
 
SELECTING LAND. 
 
 51 
 
 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 Hne, but only in situations 
 where the temperature does not fall below 55 at any 
 time. 
 
 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 com- 
 bined 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 pre- 
 cisely 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 
 
52 SELECTING LAND. 
 
 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 essen- 
 tially 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 com- 
 pleted 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 
 
SITUATION AND ASPECT. 53 
 
 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 con- 
 sidered 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 chmates shade is indispensable, as in 
 wet or damp districts Coffee cannot be grown to advan- 
 tage 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 jnoist or humid ones. 
 
 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 
 
54 SITUATION AND ASPECT. 
 
 is preferable at all times, it is not essential under all 
 conditions, this general principle being subject to modifi- 
 cations from such causes as local peculiarities of climate, 
 abundance of forest shade and methods of special cul- 
 tivation. Many plantations situated at sea-level are 
 generally overshadowed by thickets of dense foHage, 
 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 regulat- 
 ing 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 be- 
 tween 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 dif- 
 ference is observable in the coffee plants grown on these 
 situations, those on the northern slopes being full of 
 
SITUATION AND ASPECT. 55 
 
 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. 
 
56 SHELTER AND SHADE. 
 
 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 SH:il.I>E. 
 
 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 
 
SHELTER AND SHADE. 57 
 
 from " lug worm " or any other blight that may be preva- 
 lent 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 hkely 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. Some- 
 times artificial shelter is erected, but is considered too 
 costly to find general favor ; indeed, in moderately shel- 
 tered situations, staking, combined with low topping, 
 ought to be sufificient 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 cultiva- 
 tion 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 
 
58 CLEANING AND BURNING. 
 
 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 con- 
 servation 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. 
 
 CL.EA.1VI1VG A.ISri> BUPtlVIlVO. 
 
 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 other- 
 wise 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 pit- 
 ting " the land beforehand, by which means the surface 
 
LINING AND MARKING. 59 
 
 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 advan- 
 tages 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. 
 
 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 : (i) 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 par- 
 allel 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 
 
6o ROADING AND DRAINING. 
 
 stakes, and the small stakes are put in where the mov- 
 able 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 per- 
 fectly regular, and instead of making any deviation where 
 stumps or other obstacles occur, the rope is laid over 
 them and the corresponding plant omitted. 
 
 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 fif- 
 teen, 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 encir- 
 cling 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, 
 
LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 6 1 
 
 may be greatly lessened by plowing them up and plant- 
 ing 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 con- 
 tinuous open trenches are cut in parallel Unes 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, espe- 
 cially 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. 
 
 IL.A.YI]VO OUT THE IVXJRSERY. 
 
 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 watch- 
 ing 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 
 
62 LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 
 
 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, how- 
 ever, strongly recommend the former plan, as by check- 
 ing the growth of the plants the young roots become 
 hardened and better abJie, wnen finally planted out in 
 
LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 63 
 
 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 plant- 
 ing. 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 eigh- 
 teen 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 morn- 
 ing 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 
 
64 LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 
 
 carried or rolled off the ground and not, as is too com- 
 monly 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 im- 
 ported 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 
 
LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 6 c; 
 
 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 
 earher ; 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 ten- 
 der, 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, 
 
66 LAYING OUT THE NURSERY, 
 
 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 appear- 
 ance 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 
 midv^ay 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. 
 
DISTANCES OF PLANTS, 67 
 
 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 cli- 
 mate. But on these points a planter must, in a great 
 m^easure, rely upon his own judgment, and these sugges- 
 tions are mainly intended to caution the planter against 
 fixing on any arbitrary distance as being the best. 
 
 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 lo x 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^ '/ feet will be about 
 1,000; 6-^6, 1,200; 6x5, 1,450; 5x5, 1,750; 5x4, 
 2,150; and 4x5, 2,700. The advantages to be gained in 
 
68 HOLING AND PITTING. 
 
 wide planting are that field labor is faciliated and the 
 shrubs grow larger, the disadvantage being that more 
 room is left for weeds. 
 
 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 imple- 
 ment commonly used for this purpose is a kind of grub- 
 bing-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. 
 
 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 plant- 
 ing, 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 
 
PLANTING AND PICKING. 69 
 
 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 neces- 
 sary 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 condi- 
 tions 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 
 
70 DIBBLING AND STAKING. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 : (i) 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, 
 
SUPPLYING VACANCIES. 7 1 
 
 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. 
 
 Every precaution should be taken to guard against 
 failures, as "supplies," as they are called, will seldom, if 
 ever, (3o 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 desir- 
 able 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 
 
72 CATCH-CROPS. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
CATCH-CROPS. 7J 
 
 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 benefitted 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. 
 
74 MANURES AND MANURING. 
 
 It is commonly said that Coffee is an unusually ex- 
 haustive crop, but the exhaustion of the soil consequent 
 upon Coffee culture is only the result of the peculiar con- 
 ditions 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 manur- 
 ing will prove highly beneficial, and even necessary in 
 almost all cases after the first or two. But it is impos- 
 sible 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 bene- 
 fit of the nitrogenous principles, but its use in a tropical 
 climate must be governed by caution. Thoroughly fer- 
 mented coffee pulp is also a useful manure, but it is only 
 half as valuable as dung and costs more to apply, it 
 
MANURES AND MANURING. 75 
 
 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 man- 
 ures, 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 constitu- 
 ents 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. Phos- 
 phates 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. 
 
76 MANTTRES AND MANURING. 
 
 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 pur- 
 pose alone, and which are, in many instances, stall-fed 
 with grass and oil-cake. But in many of the coffee-grow- 
 ing 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 im- 
 portant of fertilizers for coffee. This form, mixed with 
 the pulp of the coffee is a popular one on many planta- 
 tions. 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 
 
MANURES AND MANURING. 77 
 
 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 man- 
 uring is sometimes supplemented by other methods of 
 improving the soil, one of which is to loosen it by driv- 
 ing 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 
 
78 WEEDING AND PRUNING. 
 
 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 rub- 
 bish 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. 
 
 By " weeding," on a Coffee plantation, is meant the 
 eradication of every plajii which, is not being intentionally 
 cultivated. The operation is performed in different ways, 
 according to the nature of the soil. On Hght soils and 
 sloping situations hand-weeding is much the best. The 
 laborer is provided with a pointed stick to help in getting 
 
V/EEDING AND PRUNING. 79 
 
 ap 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 inter- 
 vals, 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, 
 wili 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 
 m all medium situations, as regards soil and exposure. 
 
80 WEEDING AND PRUNING. 
 
 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 deter- 
 mined 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. 
 
 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 oi 
 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 
 
^ 
 
 n 
 
WEEDING AND PRUNING. 8l 
 
 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 
 
8'>, WEEDING AND PRUNING. 
 
 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 with- 
 out injuring the bark. From the primaries spring 
 secondary branches in pairs, and at very short intervals. 
 AD 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 concen- 
 trate 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 
 
ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 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 blos- 
 som-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 m^anure, 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 tlie first year, 
 and trimming out about half the remaining wood in the 
 second year. 
 
 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 
 
84 ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 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 effi- 
 cient 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 
 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 Vasa- 
 tux^ 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 fall- 
 ing. 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. 
 
ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 85 
 
 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 plan- 
 tations. It has been identified as the Xycotrechen qtia- 
 dmepes, 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, Mar- 
 tinique, Mexico, and all down the Atlantic coast of 
 South America. It is caused by the larvae of a moth 
 scarcely half an inch long, named Cotnistana 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. 
 
86 ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 The majority of the eggs are deposited, but are dor- 
 mant 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 larvae 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 cov- 
 ered with the young insects and coated with a black, 
 soot-like powder, which renders the tree easily dis- 
 cernible 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, pro- 
 duces 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 turpen- 
 tine, in about equal quantities. The white bug is a dis- 
 tinct species of insect, known as Fsedococais adombrum, 
 and is a small, flat, oval iiiirect, about one-sixteenth of an 
 inch long, covered witl/. a white down or fur, having par- 
 allel' ridges running /icross 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 
 
ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 87 
 
 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, LecuiniimLin 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 
 larvae 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 larvae 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 
 
88 ENEMIES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 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 down- 
 wards 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. 89 
 
 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 ot 
 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 ofl" its stalk and never 
 stripped off"; the cherries as picked are dropped into a 
 small bag about eighteen inches square, suspended fi-om 
 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 
 
90 PULPING AND PREPARING. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 prepara- 
 tion contemplated. But the site selected for the works 
 should be as near the centre of the plantation as is com- 
 patible with securing a patch of open, airy ground to 
 v/hich a good stream of water can be brought. The first 
 requisite building should be the " pulping-house," com- 
 prising 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 
 
PULPING AND PREPARING. 9 1 
 
 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 liklihood of complete stop- 
 page 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. 
 
pa FERMENTING AND DRYING. 
 
 There are times, however, when it is impossible to 
 pulp Cofifee ; 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 
 Cofifee, 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 man- 
 ner it becomes very wet and collects dirt, which, in the 
 after treatment, will afifect the color of the Cofifee. 
 Second, because in a heap the fermentation cannot be 
 equalized throughout the Cofifee. Pulping may be per- 
 formed whenever possible, as the increased trouble en- 
 tailed by the latter process is not compensated for by the 
 alleged improvement of the flavor and no better price is 
 received for it. 
 
 The " parchment " cofifee as it comes from the pulper 
 is next submitted to a fermentation process for the pur- 
 pose 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 il^at the pulped cofifee can be run 
 
FERMENTING AND DRYING. 9.] 
 
 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 planta- 
 tion may be 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 fermenta- 
 tion 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 
 
94 FERMENTING AND DRYING. 
 
 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 agi- 
 tated 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 pro- 
 vided with a grating to catch the skins and stray parch- 
 ment, 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 
 nece$sary 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 
 
FERMENTING AND DRYING. 95 
 
 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 tem- 
 porary covering in case of a sudden shower ; modifica- 
 tions 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 meany 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 dry- 
 ing machines are also in use ; one of the best of these is 
 one introduced originally for drying corn. It consists of 
 
96 HULLING AND PEELING. 
 
 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 cylin- 
 der 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 prop- 
 erties, 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 pro- 
 cess 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. 
 
 This operation consists in the removal of the "parch- 
 ment " 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 
 
WINNOWING AND SIZING. 97 
 
 by over-drying, or of color by under-drying, but they 
 peel best while still warm. A variety of huUers 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 lOO 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." 
 
 WIIVIVOWIIVG A]VI> SIZIIVO. 
 
 The peeled Coffee as it comes from the huller in com- 
 pany with the detached skins is submitted to the influ- 
 ence of a fan whose force must be so adjusted that it will 
 effectually remove the skins without cariying 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 subse- 
 quent 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 in- 
 ternal worm for the purpose of distributing it equally, 
 
98 BUILDINGS AND STORES. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 stoiy 
 by tacking to the joists cloth which has been well soaked 
 in boiled rice water and lime, to render it air-tight. Con- 
 tinuous air-passages are thus made beneath the floor. 
 About ten feet of one end of the lower apartment are par- 
 titioned 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 
 
PACKING AND SHIPPING. 99 
 
 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. 
 
 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 gener- 
 ated 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-ventil- 
 ated 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 A]Vr> 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 
 
loo . COST AND PROFIT. 
 
 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 kw 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 de- 
 serving 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 for- 
 ward 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 in- 
 separable 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 
 
COST AND PROFIT. 
 
 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 agri- 
 cultural statistics are in the coffee-producing countries 
 almost insuperable, there being either a tendency to ex- 
 aggerate 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 signi- 
 fies 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 lOO 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. 
 
OH-^r^TEH ^. 
 
 XZON JA.ND DEZSCRIPXXOrOr. 
 
 y^^OFFEE in commerce is the seed which grows in 
 1 I I the pod or fruit of the coffee plant, like the pea 
 ^iJ/ or the bean. Geographically, it is divided into 
 U 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 sub- 
 divisions of names, grades and values. 
 
 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 
 
 103 
 
I04 AFRICAN COFFEES. 
 
 present time, although it affords a field of boundless de- 
 velopment 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, possess- 
 ing 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 I0,000,C>CX) 
 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 Encouge, 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 
 
AFRICAN COFFEES. I05 
 
 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 Hke 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 resem- 
 bles it in size, color and general character. Being also 
 hmited 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 quahty of the product is 
 very fair, the demand for the article continually growing. 
 
Io6 AFRICAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 com- 
 parison with the average coffee of commerce, but long and 
 narrow in shape, hard and " flinty " in texture, and vary- 
 ing 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, mas- 
 querading under the head of " Long-berry Mocha," and 
 going principally to the Mediterranean and other Euro- 
 pean 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 
 
AFRICAN COFFEES. I07 
 
 not reach the outside world. It is to be hoped, how- 
 ever, 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, how- 
 ever, 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, green- 
 ish in color, heavy and mellow in the cup. 
 
Io8 AFRICAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 coflee 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 bean's 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 pur- 
 pose 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, 
 
ASIAN COFFEES. 109 
 
 Nyanza, and other districts as far west as the base of the 
 Killimanjaro mountains, the total yield of which, how- 
 ever, so far as its influence on the world's supply is con- 
 sidered, 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 con- 
 nection 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. 
 
 Comprise Arabian, East Indian, Ceylon, Malayan and 
 all coffees grown in the Straits Settlements. 
 
 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 dis- 
 orders 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 
 
no ARABIAN COFFEE. 
 
 parent soil of most of the coffees of commerce, and com- 
 paratively 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 indige- 
 nous 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 men- 
 tioned in the Koran, was certainly unknown to Ma- 
 homet, and his contemporaries make no reference to it 
 up to the seventh century, although the many commod- 
 ities 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 hquid form. 
 Yet, although exotic to Arabia, it has been cultivated 
 there for centuries, attaining its most extensive distribu- 
 tion 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 Hght 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 con- 
 structed, in which water is preserved all the year round, 
 and are numerous in the district. 
 
ARABIAN COFFEE. 
 
 In the province of Yemen, where the best Mocha cof- 
 fees are produced, the plant is cultivated in both situa- 
 tions, 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. Indi- 
 cations 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 prin- 
 cipally 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 success- 
 ful 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 
 
ARABIAN COFFEE. 
 
 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, how- 
 ever, 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 assid- 
 uously 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 grad- 
 uation 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 
 
ARABIAN COFFEE. II3 
 
 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, Syri- 
 ans, 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, flat- 
 tened, 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 for- 
 warded 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 vine- 
 yard. 
 
 Arabian coffee, like that of all other countries, though 
 one in name is manifold in fact. Geographically they 
 
114 ARABIAN COFFEE. 
 
 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 Con- 
 stantinople 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 seosophagi, 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 vari- 
 ety 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 
 
ARABIAN COFFEE. II5 
 
 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 rain- 
 fall 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 con- 
 densed 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 scien- 
 tific 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 ex- 
 tremity of the peninsula. As might be expected from its 
 geographical situation towards the coast, it is an exceed- 
 ingly 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 flood- 
 ing 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 
 
Il6 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 or lowland coffees is greatly inferior to the mountain pro- 
 duct of Yemen. The bean is small, irregular, immature 
 and chaffy, having a gnarled or shriveled appearance, 
 greenish in color when new but assuming a yellow- 
 ish 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 fra- 
 grant 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 con- 
 tradistinction 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. 
 
 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. ^ 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. II7 
 
 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 con- 
 noisseurs 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. 
 
Il8 EAST-INDIAN COFFEES. 
 
 Unlike tea, coffee was not introduced into India by- 
 European enterprise, and even in the present day its cul- 
 tivation 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 planta- 
 tion 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 1 840, 
 a plantation was also started in Manautoddy, and in 1842 
 it was found growing well in Belgaum. From 1842 to 
 i860, 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 
 
EAST-INDIAN COFFEES. II9 
 
 prosperity to the laboring classes in that country, its cul- 
 tivation for commercial uses increasing at a most remark- 
 able 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 Presi- 
 dencies of Madras, Mysore, Malabar, Coorg and Travan- 
 core, attempts being also made to introduce the plant into 
 the Bengal district of Chittagongand the northern districts 
 of Nepaul, the Punjaub and British Burmah, the cultiva- 
 tion 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-JiuU" or "sun-dried" 
 coffee. They are classified in trade as " Malabar," 
 * Mysore," " Wynaad," " Tellicherry," " Coorg," " Neil- 
 gherry" 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 
 
I20 EAST-INDIAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 con- 
 siderably, 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 
 
EAST-INDIAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 low- 
 land 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 CoflFee 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 under- 
 stand 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 ot 
 the coffee product of India is about 40,000,000 pounds. 
 
122 CEYLON COFFEES. 
 
 valued at ;^75,ooo,ocX), 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. 
 
 The history of coffee cultivation in the island of Cey- 
 lon 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. Al- 
 though 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 
 
CEYLON COFFEES. 1 23 
 
 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 1 0,000 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 Ambo- 
 gamoa, 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, mili- 
 tary, judges, civil servants, and even the clergy pene- 
 trated the hills in their mad haste to become purchasers 
 of crown lands for coffee growing. The East India Com- 
 pany'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 
 
124 CEYLON COFFEES. 
 
 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 
 tlie 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 ^^ 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 protec- 
 tion 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 con- 
 sternation 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 
 
CEYLON COFFEES. 1 25 
 
 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 i,ooo 
 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, chmate 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 atten- 
 tion 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. Sys- 
 tematic coffee cultivation is almost exclusively con- 
 fined to the hill region, which embraces the districts of 
 Kandy, Pusilawa, Doombera, Kotmalie and Ambogama, 
 
126 CEYLON COFFEES. 
 
 although irregular native gardens are to be found every- 
 where 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 planta- 
 tions 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, how- 
 ever, 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 cul- 
 tivation 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 favor- 
 able 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 commiCrcially as " Native," 
 ** Plantation," " Liberian " and ''Mountain" or "Mocha," 
 the latter being nothing more than a small-bean planta- 
 tion 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 bepoming almost white, broke*! 
 
CEYLON COFFEES. I27 
 
 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. 
 
 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, rank- 
 ing 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 gen- 
 eral 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 fi-om 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 yel- 
 low instead of brown, while the infusion though not as 
 
128 CEYLON COFFEES. 
 
 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. 
 
 Geylon-Moclia Is a small bean, mountain-grown, 
 coffee, very even and uniform, usually separated from the 
 regular plantation var'sty. 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 con- 
 sidered 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. I 
 (largest) ; 2 (medium) ; 3 (small), and ^' Triage," or com- 
 mon, 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,ooo,ooo, 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 ot 
 the season, the prices obtained, and the cheapness oi 
 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. 
 
 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. 12Q 
 
 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 cultiva- 
 tion 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 Com- 
 pany 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 beirg 
 
130 JAVA COFFEES. 
 
 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 pre- 
 served 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 bear- 
 ing, 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 per- 
 severed 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 coun- 
 trymen, time and habit having reconciled them to a sys- 
 tem 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 sur- 
 passed 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 priva- 
 tions 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 
 
JAVA COFFEES. I3I 
 
 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, rais- 
 ing 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 descend- 
 ants, 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 independ- 
 ence 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 dur- 
 ing six or seven of these, the fruit being larger compara- 
 tively, 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 i ^ pounds, 
 but there are instances on record where as much as from 
 twenty to thirty pounds have been yielded by a single 
 
132 JAVA COFFEES. 
 
 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 gen- 
 eral, 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 glean- 
 ing, 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 con- 
 sidered 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 
 
JAVA COFFEES. 1 33 
 
 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 ber- 
 ries 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 com- 
 pleted 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 store- 
 houses, 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 culti- 
 vators Chikan, Karang and Buitzenorg. From Buit- 
 zenorg 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 exten- 
 sive 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 cultiva- 
 tion. 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 
 
134 JAVA COFFEES. 
 
 of shipment, the natives being allowed but a small per- 
 centage of the crop as compensation for their labor in 
 many instances, but more generally the government plac- 
 ing 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 deriv- 
 ing an almost fabulous revenue from this system of 
 cultivation. 
 
 It is dif^cult 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-doUars (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, difBcult 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 
 
JAVA COFFEES. I35 
 
 and at an expense of labor which one would suppose at 
 least equal to the renumeration. 
 
 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 experi- 
 ence 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 accord- 
 ing to the fertility of the soil, that is, in a soil not con- 
 sidered 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 
 
136 JAVA COFFEES. 
 
 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 befng 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, Banjoe- 
 wanjie 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 contain- 
 ing 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, Cheri- 
 bon 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. 
 
JAVA COFFEES. I37 
 
 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 dis- 
 tricts 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. 
 
138 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 Passoeren and Pekalongen Rank next to Prean- 
 ger, 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, yield- 
 ing 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 " quak- 
 ery " in the roasted, thin, flat and flavorless in liquor. 
 
 Old Government Java Is a trade term applied to 
 coflee grown and stored under the supervision of the 
 officers of the Dutch government, and in contradistinc- 
 tion to that raised by the natives, but is now an almost 
 obsolete term. It is produced principally in the Prean- 
 ger district, where the greatest care and attention is 
 bestowed on its cultivation and curing, its cultivation 
 never being entirely entrusted to the natives ; the pri- 
 mary object of the government officials being to improve 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. 1 39 
 
 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, loses 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 ol 
 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 indis- 
 criminately 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 devel- 
 oped, 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. 
 
140 OTHER VARIETIES, 
 
 All coffees raised under the supervision of the govern- 
 ment are disposed of through the agency of the ** Nether- 
 lands' 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 ot 
 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 con- 
 tradistinction to that raised under government super- 
 vision. Being grown from selected seed, under the best 
 agricultural conditions and scientific cultivation, it pro- 
 duces 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 care- 
 fully picked over, assorted ar>d transported to the shipping 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. I4I 
 
 port by the planter and delivered in bulk, the purchaser 
 furnishing his own bags and marks, the coffees being oi 
 such high repute and quality they sell high, there being 
 great competition to obtain them. Many of these plan- 
 tations 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 oi 
 the Liberian species introduced into the island about ten 
 yearo ago, where it was found to prosper well and vigor- 
 ously ; 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, how^ever, con- 
 tend 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 intes- 
 tinal canal of the " Loeke," a small species of tiger found 
 
142 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 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 appreci- 
 ation 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. Dur- 
 ing the long voyage through the tropics the bean gradu- 
 ing 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 val- 
 uable 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 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. 14^ 
 
 entirely dissipated and lost by the process, which, by 
 becoming throughly 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 soap- 
 stone. 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(i33 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 
 
'i44 SUMATRA COFFEES. 
 
 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 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 fur- 
 nished 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 ol 
 growth, until a sufficient quantity has been collected, 
 when it is transported to the ports of Padang or Ben- 
 koolen, 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 
 
SUMATRA COFFEES. 1 45 
 
 coffee-lands to independent planters, the product of such 
 plantations being termed " Free coffee," in contradistinc- 
 tion 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 colot', 
 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 gen- 
 eral, 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 prepara- 
 tion 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. 
 
146 SUMATRA COFFEES. 
 
 Falembang 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. 
 
 MandheliDg 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 
 
CELEBES COFFEES. 1 47 
 
 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 char- 
 acteristic 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. 
 
 Are grown in the Dutch island of that name, situated 
 to the northeast of Java, the coffee plant being intro- 
 duced 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 
 
I 45 CELEBES COFFEES. 
 
 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 subse- 
 quently enacted by the Dutch government, however, 
 compelling the native princes to direct the total anni- 
 hilation 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. 
 
POLYNESIAN COFFEES. 
 
 149 
 
 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 archi- 
 pelago. 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 tirst that the 
 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 "J^hore Liberian " coffee. 
 
 Embrace Phillipine, Borneo, Guinea, Fijian, Samoan, 
 Hawaiian, Australian, New Zealand, and other islands 
 in the South Pacific Ocean. 
 
150 POLYNESIAN COFFEES. 
 
 Fhillipine Coffees. Opinions differ as to whether 
 the coffee plant is indigenous to the Fhillipine 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 gener- 
 ally 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 Cavite, 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 some- 
 what 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. 
 
POLYNESIAN COFFEES. I5I 
 
 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 scat- 
 tered over the islands of the archipelago, but is usually 
 estimated at about 10,000,000 pounds. The largest plan- 
 tations 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 neigh- 
 boring 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 exist- 
 ence here for some years, and though thriving luxu- 
 riantly, and the soil and climate being well adapted, it 
 
152 POLYNESIAN COFFEES. 
 
 has never been scientifically treated, and as a conse- 
 quence 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 indus- 
 try making but little progress there since that time, not- 
 withstanding 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 consider- 
 able success for many years past, although the produc- 
 tion 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 pro- 
 gress 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 pros- 
 per well in Queensland, a yield of over 600 pounds 
 per acre being obtained there so far and selling in Bris- 
 bane at twenty cents per pound, the smaller farmers 
 
AiMERICAN COFFEES. 153 
 
 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. 
 
 As previously stated, the history of the first introduc- 
 tion of the coffee plant into the American continent is as 
 romantic as it is interesting. In 17 14 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 17 1 7 the French king sent several of the shoots from 
 it to the island of Martinique in care of one DeClieux, an 
 ofificer 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. DeClieux to save this remain- 
 ing slip shared with it his own scanty allowance, event- 
 ually succeeding in bringing it safely to its destination. 
 From this single plant thus heroically preserved, accord- 
 ing 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 
 
154 MEXICAN COFFEES. 
 
 times greater than in the East ; its cultivation also con- 
 stantly and immensely increasing there. 
 
 The climatic and topographic conditions of the Ameri- 
 can continent are pre-eminently adapted to the cultiva- 
 tion of fine coffees, the great mass of coffee lands, con- 
 sisting 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 vegeta- 
 tion, the rapid differences of elevation which character- 
 ize 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 de- 
 pressed 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 divi- 
 sions 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. 
 
 :ivi:e^3::ioa.:v oofm^e>e>. 
 
 It is also a fact not generally known to Americans that 
 at our very doors there exists the climatic conditions 
 
MEXICAN COFFEES. 155 
 
 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, Micha- 
 coan, 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 classi- 
 fied as Oaxaca, Cordova, Urupuan, Tepic, Tabasco, Soco- 
 nusco 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 hand- 
 some 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 
 
S56 MEXICAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 cuhivation 
 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 sup- 
 ply 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 coflee 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 
 coflee lands of Guatemala is another high-grade coflee, 
 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. 
 
 Golima 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. 
 
WEST INDIAN COFFEES. I57 
 
 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 accessi- 
 ble coffee producing country to the United States, the 
 largest and best coffee market in the world. More atten- 
 tion 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 
 Vv'ith 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. 
 
 The West India Islands at the beginning of the present 
 century were noted for the extensive quantity and excel- 
 lent quality of their coffee product, ranking at that period 
 with the largest coffee-growing countries of the world. 
 
158 WEST INDIAN COFFEES. 
 
 Its cultivation has rapidly and materially declined there 
 in recent years, still continuing to do so at a dispropor- 
 tionate 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 cul- 
 tivation. Latterly, however, attempts are being made to 
 restore the industry to something like its former impor- 
 tance 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, yield- 
 ing 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 dis- 
 tricts. 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. 
 
WEST INDIAN COFFEES. I59 
 
 Jamaica The coffee plant was first introduced into 
 Jamaica in 1730, a special act of Parliament being passed 
 m 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 com- 
 pulsorily 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 "nig- 
 gery," 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 
 
l6o WEST INDIAN COFFEES. 
 
 Native Ceylon, to which coffees it bears a striking resem- 
 blance in character and value. It is put up in large 
 coarse bags, averaging about 200 pounds, and shipped 
 principally to the United States. 
 
 Haytian Coflfees. Coffee is claimed to have been first 
 introduced into this island by wild fowl, being sterioca- 
 ceously deposited there after the manner of Monkey, 
 Jackal and Tiger-cat coffees. Its systematic cultiva- 
 tion was first begun there about 1740 by the French, the 
 industry flourishing during the French regime, 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 improve- 
 ment of its internal affairs ai;id the encouragement of capital. 
 
WEST INDIAN COFFEES. l6l 
 
 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 dis- 
 tricts 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 unsur- 
 passed. Both the Arabian and Liberian species are 
 grown there, the product being commercially divided 
 into " Large " and " Small " and generally shipped to 
 Spain. 
 
Ct- CENTRAL AMERICAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 com- 
 mercially 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 pro- 
 duction 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. 
 
 OE:iVTIA.I:v A.I^E^KtIOA.IV OOFM^E5E^. 
 
 Coffee forms the principal staple of the Central Ameri- 
 can 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, 
 
CENTRAL AMERICAN COFFEES. 163 
 
 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 aver- 
 age 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 transforma- 
 tion 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, aban- 
 doning 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 
 
164 CENTRAL AMERICAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 transporta- 
 tion 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, declin- 
 ing 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, approxi- 
 mating 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, assum- 
 ing 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 ; 
 
VENEZUELAN COFFEES. 1 65 
 
 the liquor, while thin, gives out a pleasant odor^ resem- 
 bling 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, par- 
 ticularly when roasted for any length of time, it becomes 
 sour and unpalatable, making its purchase at all times 
 risky. 
 
 Comprise Venezuelan, Colombian, Equador, Bolivian, 
 Guiana, Peruvian, Paraguayan and Brazilian, small quanti- 
 ties being also produced in Chili and Argentina. 
 
 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 coun- 
 tries in the world in the quantity and quality of its product. 
 They include La Guayra, Caracas, Maracaibo, Curagoa 
 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, 
 
l66 VENEZUELAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 pre- 
 paring 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," particu- 
 larly 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 
 
COLOMBIAN COFFEES. 1 67 
 
 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 indi- 
 cated 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. 
 
 CuraQoa 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 sub- 
 stance, 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. 
 
 ooi-rOAi:]Br^?\.::v ooim^e^e:^. 
 
 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 
 
1 68 - COLOMBIAN COFFEES. 
 
 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, Hke 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 Mara- 
 caibo 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, Guate- 
 mala 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 Na- 
 tive 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 
 
COLOMBIAN COFFEES. 1 69 
 
 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 depart- 
 ment 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 i, 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 com- 
 merce and bid fair to become popular sorts in time, 
 
170 COLOMBIAN COFFEES. 
 
 when their cultivation and methods of properly preparing 
 are better understood in that country. They are pro- 
 duced 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. 
 
BRAZILIAN COFFEES. ^71 
 
 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 cir- 
 cumstances, little or no attention being given to its cul- 
 tivation, owing to lack of labor and capital, and notwith- 
 standing that it offers a fine field for its more extensive 
 growth. 
 
 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 ship- 
 ping 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. 
 
 Ini 7 1 8 the Dutch colony of Surinam began to introduce 
 and cultivate coffee in Guiana from plants received from 
 
172 BRAZILIAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 bene- 
 fits 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 coun- 
 try, 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 
 
BRAZILIAN COFFEES. 1 73 
 
 enormous coffee industry of Brazil, which at present pro- 
 duces 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 west- 
 ern 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 com- 
 mercial 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 transplant- 
 ing, in which case a partial crop is obtained at the end of 
 the third year. Nearly all overthe Brazilian coffee zone the 
 
174 BRAZILIAN COFFEES. 
 
 plantations extend with the greatest regularity, as far as 
 the eye can reach, presenting a most attractive and pleas- 
 ing 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 \i2}S fane- 
 gada (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 undulat- 
 ing 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 power- 
 ful enough to be oppressive, but lasting only for a single 
 day, being succeeded immediately by branches of imma- 
 ture 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 magni- 
 ficent 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 
 
BRAZILIAN COFFEES. I75 
 
 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 con- 
 tinuously 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 advan- 
 tage 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 fre- 
 quently, it is much more preferable and profitable to the 
 trouble, expense and uncertainty connected with the rais- 
 ing of new plants from seed, and certainly presents greater 
 advantages over the latter method. In Brazil the pick- 
 ing 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 alqiierie (bushel) of crude berries 
 being about seventy-five cents, which, unless the crop is 
 good, ordinary hands do not gather more than two bush- 
 els per diem ; yet, again, w^hen the crops are large, an 
 industrious and skillful picker can average from five to 
 eight bushels without effort. The berries are picked by 
 band, the ground being raked clean under the trees pre- 
 vious to picking, an immense, broad, flat receptacle of 
 
I'je BRAZILIAN COFFEES. 
 
 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 char- 
 acter, 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. ) 
 
BRAZILIAN COFFEES. 1*77 
 
 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 loses 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 Ameri- 
 can consumers as well as in Europe, having more than 
 
y^g OTHER BRAZILIAN VARIETIES. 
 
 doubled in consumption in recent years. It is fast sup- 
 planting 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 propor- 
 tion to the amount distributed. 
 
 MaragOgipi Which was discovered in the province 
 of Bahia some years since, is claimed to be an indige- 
 neous 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 qual- 
 ity, it is yet lacking in all the essentials of a fine coffee, 
 disappointing the great expectations at one time formed 
 of it. 
 
 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. 
 
OTHER BRAZILIAN VARIETIES. >79 
 
 I ! . . .I -I. ^ IM_^ ^'' V4 
 
 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 com- 
 missarios again disposes of it to the Ensaccadcres, 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 con- 
 cluded 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 
 
y9o OTHER BRAZILIAN VARIETIES. 
 
 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." Importa- 
 tions 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 anc 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 estab- 
 lish one, owing to the changes made by time in the ap- 
 pearance 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 consti- 
 tutes 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 attrac- 
 tive in style and appearance. 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. l8l 
 
 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 un- 
 sightly 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 appear- 
 ance. On the Coffee Exchanges they are graded numeri- 
 cally from No. i to No. lo. 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. 
 
 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 
 't)erfect 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 
 
12 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 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. Mean- 
 while they are raked and turned over once a day during 
 the drying period, in order to prevent heating and fer- 
 mentation, 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 pre- 
 pared 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 
 debris 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. 
 
OTHER VARIETIES. I&i 
 
 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, con- 
 taining 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 accord- 
 ing 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 damp- 
 ness 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 exer- 
 cised 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 Agricul- 
 ture at Washington has recently issued a circular rela- 
 tive to the possibility of coffee culture in some of the 
 
1 84 OTHER VARIETIES. 
 
 Southern States, in which it is led to beheve that the 
 soil and climatic conditions of Texas, Florida and Lower 
 California will be found suitable to the profitable cultiva- 
 tion 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 sec- 
 tion. 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. 
 
on^\.i^arK>*^ v^i 
 
 ^P^OFFEE undergoes essential chemical changes in 
 11 * the process of roasting. In the raw or natural 
 state the coffee-bean is tough and horny in struc- 
 ture 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 assem- 
 blage 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, togetherwith 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 
 
l86 ILOASTING AND GLAZING. 
 
 their substance, their weight decreasing, but volume 
 increasing in proportion to the extent to which the opera- 
 tion is carried, developing the aromatic oil and liberating 
 at the same time a portion of the caffeine from its 
 combinaticii with the caffeic or tannic acid. The 
 amount of this aromatic oil contained in coffee varies 
 from 8 to 1 3 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 fron 6 to 8 
 per cent, of sugar, which after roasting is reduced to as 
 low as I 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 roast- 
 ing, which, however, is not the case, as in the process of 
 roasting the saccharine matter in the raw bean is con- 
 verted 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 produc- 
 tion 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, 
 
ROASTING AND GLAZING. 187 
 
 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 any- 
 thing hke a complete extraction, as only some lO 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 ap- 
 pearance 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 
 
1 88 ROASTING AND GLAZING. 
 
 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 i 
 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 pro- 
 cess of roasting, cooling and rebagging occupying about 
 one hour. In roasting, coffee loses in weight from 1 2 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 rela- 
 tively 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 TOO 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 i 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 percent. the 
 quantity of extract obtained from such roast by means 
 of boiling water ranging from 20 to 21 per cent, of the 
 
ROASTING AND GLAZING. 1 89 
 
 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 great- 
 est 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 varie- 
 ties, which, while variable, the range of roasting tempera- 
 ture 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: (i) 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 
 
190 ROASTING AND GLAZING. 
 
 * " 
 
 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 extin- 
 guishing 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 some- 
 times claimed, protect it from atmospheric influences, 
 but on the contrary makes it more liable to such influ- 
 ences, 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 pre- 
 vent 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 
 
ROASTING AND GLAZING. J01 
 
 roasted without the use of some water. In the proper 
 roasting of coffee a strong, well-distributed heat extend- 
 ing 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 cin- 
 namon-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 refresh- 
 ing 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, 
 
J92 ROASTING AND GLAZING. 
 
 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 cus- 
 tom to roast coffee in small quantities, so that the whole 
 "charge" is well under the control of the operator dur- 
 ing 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 
 
ROASTING AND GLAZING. I93 
 
 / ' 
 
 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 unmis- 
 takably 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 
 
t94 ROASTING AND GLAZING. 
 
 prove to be a harsh or astringent flavor, thereby ren- 
 dering 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 prin- 
 cipal 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 distin- 
 guishing features of raw or green coffee, making it very 
 difficult for any but experts to determine from its appear- 
 ance 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 oxydiz- 
 ing 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. 195 
 
 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 influ- 
 ences 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 gener- 
 ally composed of various glues, moss and other starchy 
 substances and is usually prepared by placing the mate- 
 rials 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 exclu- 
 sively 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 ; hght, 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. 
 
196 GLAZING. 
 
 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 arable dissolved 
 in water, to which is added four parts starch, with suffi- 
 cient water to make it limped, the whole being boiled 
 for upwards of twenty minutes, and which is best accom- 
 plished by inserting a small pipe of live steam from the 
 boiler into the compound until it is reduced to the con- 
 sistency 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 com- 
 pound 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 lus- 
 trous 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. 197 
 
 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 boil- 
 ing 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. 
 
CHJVF^E>I^ \riT. 
 
 
 V N commerce coffee is to be met with in three condi- 
 II tions 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, substitu- 
 tion 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 
 
200 RAW OR GREEN COFFEES. 
 
 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 roast- 
 ing or glazing can eradicate. But while almost all varie- 
 ties pass through more or less manipulation or substitu- 
 tion, from the producing to the consuming countries, it 
 does not always follow that it is detrimental to the coffee. 
 
 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 prac- 
 tice 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 maybe. 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 princi- 
 pally substituted with large, white-bean Santos, Savanilla, 
 San Domingo, Mexican, Salvador or other Central Ameri- 
 can 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. 
 
RAW OR GREEN COFFEES. 20I 
 
 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 sus- 
 pected 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 Hght-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 
 
202 RAW OR GREEN COFFEES. 
 
 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 adulter- 
 ated than Mocha in the raw or unroasted state, owing to 
 its limited supply and high commercial value. In addi- 
 tion to the manipulation and substitution which it under- 
 goes 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 con- 
 sidered 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 sub- 
 stance 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 
 
RAW OR GREEN COFFEES. 203 
 
 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 
 ingenuous 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 arti- 
 ficial 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 
 
204 ROASTED COFFEES. 
 
 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 opera- 
 tion the properties and characteristics possessed by coffee 
 which has been stored and kept under favorable condi- 
 tions for a comparatively long period of time. The pro- 
 cess 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 pro- 
 duced. 
 
 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 combina- 
 tions 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 
 
ROASTED COFFEES. 20$ 
 
 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 adultera- 
 tion, an acquaintance with the original flavors of the 
 different varieties being the only sure means of detection. 
 Some years since, there was invented a bean resem- 
 bling that of roasted coffee, made from dyed plas- 
 ter 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 
 
2o6 GROUND COFFEES. 
 
 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. 
 
 Are subject to the most extensive adulterations, all" 
 being more or less sophisticated or adulterated in one 
 form or another, chief among which is th^t of the admix- 
 ture of the roasted and ground roots of Chicory, Dande- 
 lion, Carrot, Parsnip, Beet and other leguminous vege- 
 tables. 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 unde- 
 served disrepute as a pleasing and agreeable beverage 
 with the public. 
 
 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 sub- 
 stitute. - 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 207 
 
 I - . . 
 
 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 com- 
 mon 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 man- 
 ner 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. 
 
2o8 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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 ber- 
 ries, which constitutes about twenty per cent, of the pre- 
 pared coffee, is dried and shriveled up by a method 
 peculiar to Arabia. This product is known by the dis- 
 tinct name of Kishr^ a decoction of which forms the com- 
 mon 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. 
 
 Felotas Coffee Is also prepared from ground 
 acorns and sold under the name of Pelotas, but is exceed- 
 ingly 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, Ari- 
 zona and New Mexico, but so far no positive results have 
 been reported. , 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 209 
 
 Dandelion Coffee. The root of the Dandelion, firs*: 
 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 trans- 
 forming hand of modern chemistry, put up in shiny pack- 
 ages under seductive titles, and from which the deluded 
 and over-confiding consumer endeavors to extract a 
 desired beverage. 
 
 Mussen,da 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 sub- 
 stances now used for mixing with ground coffees, by 
 which the berries are roasted with the coffee in any 
 desired proportions, usually from }^ to ^ Mussenda, or 
 ^ coffee to 3^ 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 excel- 
 lent compound with chicory, keeping it from forming 
 
2IO SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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 treat- 
 ment 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 manufac- 
 ture, containing no coffee, but intended for use with 
 coffee for the purpose of imparting color and as a clarify- 
 ing 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 adulter- 
 ant in ground coffee, and when made from good stock it 
 is not objectionable, possessing excellent coloring, sweet- 
 ening 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 intro- 
 duced among the coolies of southern India, and a few 
 years since attracted considerable notice, being recom- 
 mended 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 coffeine in sufficient 
 abundance for the making of a valuable beverage, but 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 2H 
 
 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 prefer- 
 ably performed by first mixing them with an equal quan- 
 tity of raw coffee, the roasting process thus turning the 
 whey-paste beans into a rich brown color, which on cool- 
 ing 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 
 
212 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 coffee, being very rich in caffeine and possessing nutri- 
 tious 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 prep- 
 aration made from ripe figs, roasted and pulverized, which 
 is sold at about half the price of coffee. Another illus- 
 tration 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 substi- 
 tute, while the seeds of the Cassia have been lately im- 
 ported 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 culti- 
 vation of the Kola-nut as 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 com- 
 merce in the same order as that held by coffee, the 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 213 
 
 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 " Suc- 
 cory " 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 has been 
 tried for the same purpose and abandoned indicates that 
 it must be agreeable, if not beneficial, to many constitu- 
 tions 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 
 
214 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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 caffe- 
 ine which give their peculiar virtues to coffee, tea and 
 other diet drinks. It occupies a peculiar position, how- 
 ever, 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. 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 215 
 
 The destinction 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 constitu- 
 ents. Coffee exerting very marked and highly important 
 pysiological 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 princi- 
 ples are to be found in any of the substitutes or adulter- 
 ants 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 
 
2l6 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 substances found in adulterated coffee have also been dis- 
 covered 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 par- 
 ticular 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, micro- 
 scopic examination forms the readiest method of deter- 
 mining 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 mix- 
 ture 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 d^ep brown color to the water, 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 21 7 
 
 the specific gravity of chicory being also much lighter 
 than that of coffee. 
 
 All of the pseudo patent or proprietory ground coffees, 
 put up in bulk or packages, and recommended to the 
 consumer by high-sounding, seductive names and attrac- 
 tive 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, lOO; rye, 200; peas, 400; coffee, 
 200, and other substances 100 pounds. 
 
 According to some English chemists, coffee is adul- 
 terated in that country, outside of chicory, with such 
 substances as roasted peas, beans, carrots, turnips, pars- 
 nips, 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 im- 
 possible 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 
 
2l8 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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 substi- 
 tution inflicts an injury more or less grave on the pubHc 
 health, because the adulterants are claimed not to be 
 poisonous that is, directly but only indirectly inju- 
 rious. The offense is thought little of, and never pun- 
 ished 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 poison- 
 ing its adulteration may lead to the failure of med- 
 ical 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 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 2I9 
 
 the analyst to at once deal with the whole class of pos- 
 sible 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 inas- 
 much as Chicory contains no starch, but is highly sac- 
 charine even after roasting, the percentage of sugar in 
 Roasted coffee ranging from o. o. to i. i, 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 sul- 
 phate 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 volumeof boiling water and then dropping 
 into the boiling copper solution, w^hich 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 read- 
 ing 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 
 shghtly with acetic acid and tested with a drop of the 
 solution of the ferro-cyanide of potassium. In this tri- 
 turate, as in all like cases, a rough and rapid estimation 
 
220 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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 lOO parts of 
 coffee when infused yield sensibly more than i per cent, 
 of sugar, then the presence of chicory or other adulter- 
 ant maybe 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 adultera- 
 tion of ground coffee. Chicory also possessing greater 
 coloring power than coffee, for which reason this charac- 
 ter 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 con- 
 tained 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 readi- 
 ness. 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 
 
SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 221 
 
 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 ot the entire ash consisting of potash in com- 
 bination 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 examina- 
 tion 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 sur- 
 face 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 indi- 
 cates the admixture of chicory or some similar adulter- 
 ant, 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 
 
222 SUBSTITUTES AND ADULTERANTS. 
 
 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. 
 
OHr^^i^ODEM^ \riir. 
 
 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 im- 
 possible to give any fixed formulas for any specific com- 
 binations. For this reason the following blends are only 
 given for the purpose of conveyinf^ some idea as to what 
 coffees assimilate best in combination and also ascertain 
 what body, strength and flavor is required by the cus- 
 tomer 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 
 
224 BLENDING AND PREPARING. 
 
 experimenting with it until he has discovered a com- 
 bination that will suit or please a majority of his cus- 
 tomers 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 cor- 
 rectly 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 knowl- 
 edge 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. 
 
ROASTED COFFEE BLENDS. 225 
 
 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 immedi- 
 ately after roasting, in order that the differing characters 
 and flavors may exchange and assimilate freely while the 
 pores are still open to receive them. 
 
 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 strength- 
 ened by the addition of one part choice Rio, if con- 
 sidered 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. 
 
226 GROUND COFFEE BLENDS. 
 
 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. 
 
 oioi:rivr> ooi^i^ede^ :BrvE5:ivr>. 
 
 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 whole- 
 some. 
 
 No. 1. Composed of 20 pounds roasted rye, 20 pounds 
 chicory and 20 pounds ground coffee makes a fairly drink- 
 able 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 com- 
 ponent 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 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 227 
 
 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 com- 
 bination 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 percent- 
 age 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. 
 
 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 prepara- 
 tion. 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 prepara- 
 tion of coffee as a beverage are : ( i ) To obtain the greatest 
 amount of strength and aroma, without extracting any 
 
228 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 2ind fresh roasted in the 
 bean and ground personally a short time previous to pre- 
 paring 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: (i) 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 contain- 
 ing 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. , 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 229 
 
 Filtration or '' distilling". By this process the cof- 
 fee 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 pass- 
 ing 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 incom- 
 plete, for, instead of 20 per cent, the water by this pro- 
 cess 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 boil- 
 ing 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 result- 
 ing 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 dis- 
 tillation for economy's sake, hot water being poured over 
 them, which, after passing through, is preserved in a bottle 
 
230 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 com- 
 bination 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 pre- 
 pared 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 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 23 1 
 
 first heat the ground coffee in the vessel and pour on boil- 
 ing 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 boil- 
 ing 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 Hke a 
 good Maracaibo, or other fine, mild grade, such as Cey- 
 lon, Jamaica and Guatemala ; in fact, these are the most 
 popular grades and the choice of the majority of con- 
 sumers, 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 table- 
 spoonfuls to each pint of water is recommended, accord- 
 ing 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 
 
232 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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. 
 
 if. :^ "i/L if. if. T)f. 
 
 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 earthen- 
 ware 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 Kishre 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 bever- 
 age, it is prepared by first grinding the roasted beans 
 exceedingly fine, almost as fine as flour, and put in a pot 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 233 
 
 in which cold water is poured and placed on the fire until 
 it heats up to almost the boiling point and thea served 
 without the addition of either milk or sugar. But when 
 only a single cup of coffee is wanted, the requisite quan- 
 tity 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 fo, 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 excel- 
 lence 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. 
 
234 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 In preparing it they use two kettles, boiling the water in 
 one and pouring it on the coffee which has been pre- 
 viously 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. 
 
 ^ :^ ^ Hfi il/c ili: 
 
 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 re- 
 ceptacle 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 delicious- 
 ness 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. 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 235 
 
 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 there by first 
 roasting, as in this country, in small roasters, but more fre- 
 quently 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 adul- 
 teration 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: (i). Note 
 whether the ground coffee hardens or " cakes " when 
 pressed between the fingers, if so, the coffee is evi- 
 dently 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 
 
236 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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, ryCj 
 peas or other analogous matter. Or again, place a spoon- 
 ful 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 adul- 
 terated it will sink and discolor the fluid for the following 
 reason : The pure coffee being enveloped in an oily sub- 
 stance 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 adul- 
 terated, 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 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 237 
 
 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 e^g 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 gradu- 
 ally 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; butifirt a hurry, boiling water maybe 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. 
 
2-^8 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 mid- 
 way 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. 
 
 6. 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 imme- 
 diately 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 boil- 
 ing, 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 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 239 
 
 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 fore- 
 going 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 decoc- 
 tions 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; 
 
240 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 prob- 
 ably 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. 
 
 Cafe de Paris Or " French Coffee " is most gen- 
 erally 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 boiHng 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. 
 
 Cafe au Lait or " French Breakfast Coffee " is made' 
 by grinding two tablespoonfuls of coffee for each cup 
 required, and packing so^dly in a regular French filtering 
 coffee-pot, pouring on boiling water and passing it from 
 two to three times through the coffee-pot. When serv- 
 ing, boiHng milk in equal quantity or to suit the individ- 
 ual 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 ca/e au lait. For this form, add half table- 
 spoonful 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. . 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 24I 
 
 Cafe Noir. A black " after-dinner coffee," is pre- 
 pared by adding four ounces of freshly-ground strong 
 coffee to a quart of absolutely boiling water and allow- 
 ing it to stand until it reaches the boiling point, mean- 
 time passing it twice or thrice through the coffee-pot 
 before serving. 
 
 Cafe au Creme 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. 
 
 Cafe Glace. 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. 
 
 Cafe Demi-tasse Is a beverage prepared after the 
 manner of Ca/e 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 Cafe Gloria. 
 
 Cafe Capuem Is merely another name for Cafe au 
 lait, served in a glass instead of a cup, while " Mazag- 
 ran" 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. 
 
 Cafe a la Russe -Like " Tea a la Russe" is simply 
 
 strong, black coffee, prepared after the manner of Cafe ati 
 
 lait, to which a squeeze or slice of lemon is added before 
 
 drinking. 
 
 _ 
 
 Coffee a la HoUandaise Is prepared in a vessel 
 
 composed of two detached parts, the lower one answer- 
 ing as a reservoir and the upper as a filter ; the bottom 
 
242 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 pre- 
 pared in a somewhat complicated contrivance, resem- 
 bling a cylinder or urn, fitted with a coarse sieve, the 
 water being boiled by means of an alcohol lamp under- 
 neath. 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 pre- 
 serving 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 com- 
 pactly, a little briskly boiling water is then poured on and 
 allowed to filter through the coffee, when more boiling 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 243 
 
 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 bever- 
 age 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 
 
244 PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 
 hquor 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 care- 
 fully 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 pur- 
 chase 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 fre- 
 quently 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 choco- 
 late 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 
 
in 
 
 i 
 
 P 
 
 
 safe 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 ^^^^H^^ii^ ^^^^Ck^^ 
 
 ^^^^^ 
 
 
 
 ^K^^^^^'^ 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 245 
 
 preserves the aroma until ground. When cool shake the 
 beans in a small sieve, so that they may not stick to- 
 gether, and put them in an air-tight canister until 
 required. 
 
 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 quan- 
 tities 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 
 
24^ PREPARING FOR USE. 
 
 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 ele- 
 ment 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 &'g^ 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 
 
PREPARING FOR USE. 247 
 
 refreshing properties are better extracted by the slower 
 process. 
 
 Filtered coffee should never be boiled ; so that by plac- 
 ing 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. 
 
OH^^I*^E>ie TJS:. 
 
 ll N chemical composition the seeds or beans of coffee 
 ^ are complex, containing as they do variable pro- 
 portions 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, lo 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 quan- 
 tities of essential and aromatic oils, amounting to about 
 0.003 P^^ 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 i.i, and 
 
250 CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 
 
 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 ANALiYSIS 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, i.io 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 develop- 
 ing 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 
 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 25 1 
 
 f 
 
 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. 
 
 Gafifeine 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, mate, 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 i 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 1 50 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 
 
252 CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 
 
 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 intoxica- 
 tion not unlike that resulting from alcoholic stimulants, 
 but diminishes the work of organic tissue at the same 
 time. 
 
 Caflfeone. Besides Caffeine coffee contains a volatile 
 or essential oil chemically termed Cafifeone which, accord- 
 ing 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 con- 
 sistency 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 con- 
 stituents 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 
 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 253 
 
 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 trans- 
 parent 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, 
 
254 CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 
 
 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 exhilara- 
 tion 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. 
 
 Gaffeic. 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 bever- 
 age is due. It is a powerful astringent principle, puck- 
 ering 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 
 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 255 
 
 acting and reacting upon each other, these three con- 
 stituents 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 con- 
 taining 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 consider- 
 ably 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 
 
25*5 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 exhila- 
 ration comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxica- 
 tion, 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 res- 
 cued 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 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 257 
 
 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 dis- 
 peller 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. 
 
258 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 Experiments recently made with roasted coffee in 
 France prove it to be one of the most powerful deodor- 
 izers 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 medi- 
 cinally, is in nausea and violent retching, for which purpose 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS, 259 
 
 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 substi- 
 tute 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 excel- 
 lent 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 ende- 
 mic 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 ad- 
 ministered it has been found one of the safest and most 
 
26o MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 effective remedies. In districts rife with malarial and 
 other low fevers the drinking of hot coffee before pass- 
 ing into the infected districts will enable persons living 
 in such regions to escape all contagion, the nervous sys- 
 tem 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 vola- 
 tile 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 intoxi- 
 cant effects so frequently experienced as a result of exces- 
 sive 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 preju- 
 dicing 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 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 26 1 
 
 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 digesti- 
 bility, while simple infusions facilitate it, but its bene- 
 ficial 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, man- 
 dragora 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 con- 
 tains 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 
 
262 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 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 {}( 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 I 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 migraime 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, 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 263 
 
 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, 
 
264 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 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 table- 
 spoonfuls of strong, black coffee every two hours, alter- 
 nately with one to two tablespoonfuls of claret or bur- 
 gundy 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 indi- 
 cated 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 admin- 
 istered 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 accom- 
 plished, possessing the advantage over all other stimu- 
 lants of inducing to no secondary ill-eflects. 
 
 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 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 265 
 
 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 conclu- 
 sively 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 
 oi fungi and other forms of micro-organisms were inoc- 
 ulated 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 dif- 
 ferent periods of time inoculations were made from these 
 infusions into other nutrient media. By this method he 
 found that the forms o^ 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 
 
266 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 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 proieus vulgaris being entirely destroyed 
 only after an exposure of four days in a lO 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 v^^x^ completely destroyed in a 5 percent, 
 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 i per cent, 
 infusion after only seven hours' exposure ^ in a 5 per cent, 
 infusion after four hours and in a jo 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 adminis- 
 tered 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 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 267 
 
 were also made with decomposing meat soups, which were 
 actually swarming with various forms of micro-organ- 
 isms, 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 pur- 
 pose of quickening certain other functions, more espe- 
 cially 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 cere- 
 bral 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, par- 
 ticularly 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 
 
268 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 
 
 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 aug- 
 menting the peristaltic action of the intestine, and there- 
 by promoting defacation. 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 
 
MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 269 
 
 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 ner- 
 vous 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 authori- 
 ties 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 im- 
 parted 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, depres- 
 sing 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. 
 
27 DIETETICAL PROPERTIES. 
 
 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 move- 
 ment. 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. 
 
 The human family have, from time immemorial, been 
 addicted to the use of warm food and Hquids 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 sup- 
 ply material for combustion, so that the body is taxed for 
 heat at a time when it is least fitted for the purpose. It 
 
DIETETICAL PROPERTIES. 271 
 
 is but natural therefore that there should be a craving 
 for warm food and drink, and as liquid food, partic- 
 ularly 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 hquid or soHd 
 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 subse- 
 quent 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 accessary 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 
 
272 DIETETICAL PROPERTIES. 
 
 been found exceedingly irritating to the delicate mem- 
 branes 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, ex- 
 hilarates and keeps awake, counteracts the stupor oc- 
 casioned 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 GalljE, 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 consist- 
 ency, 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 pre- 
 pared 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 
 
DIETETICAL PROPERTIES. 273 
 
 nourishment, as, according to Payen, it contains more 
 than twice the nutriment of soup and three tinies as 
 much as tea. In the liquid state, however, the nitroge- 
 neous 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 per- 
 form more labor than the latter, the only difference in their 
 food consisting in the Belgians receiving a ration of coffee 
 insteadof wine, to which is attributed their greater endur- 
 ance. 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. Cap- 
 tain 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. 
 
274 DIETETICAL PROPERTIES. 
 
 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 b'^gun 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 gen- 
 erally, 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 stu- 
 dent 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 Hfe 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 
 
MORAL INFLUENCE. 275 
 
 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 suc- 
 cess 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 unsteadi- 
 ness of mind and of the spinal functions which denotes 
 exhaustion. 
 
 It has been the custom at frequently-recurring periods 
 for moralists and scientists to claim that coffee is injuri- 
 ous to the health of its votaries, and many coffee drink- 
 ers 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 con- 
 tentment of mind, allays hunger and bodily weakness, 
 
276 ^ MORAL INFLUENCE. 
 
 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 cheer- 
 fulness 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 stimu- 
 lant 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 cheerful- 
 ness. 
 
 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 
 
MORAL INFLUENCE. 277 
 
 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 pecuhar 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 occu- 
 pation. 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 
 
278 MORAL INFLUENCE. 
 
 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 moral- 
 ists 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-stimu- 
 lating 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 con- 
 clusion 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 buoy- 
 ancy 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 find- 
 ing 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 
 
MORAL INFLUENCE. 279 
 
 Smith who said, " If you want to improve your under- 
 standing 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 cafty though 
 some can still boast of a clientele artistic, journalistic, or 
 scientific, the commercial element preponderating, but the 
 old historic cafe^ the cafe 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 dis- 
 pellest 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 
 
28o MORAL INFLUENCE. 
 
 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 cafe / 
 
OHivn^E^i^ x:. 
 
 
 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 com- 
 bined. 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. 
 
 WORIiD'S PRODUCTION (ESTIMATED). 
 
 Countries. Weight in Tons. 
 
 Liberia and all other Countries on the West 
 
 Coastiof 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 
 
 Bah, 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, bo,ooo 
 
 Venezuela and Colombia, 50,000 
 
 Equador and Bolivia, 15,000 
 
 Brazil and other Countries in South America, . 500,000 
 
 Grand total, &7SS<^ 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Or about 1,800,000,000 pounds per annum, the value 
 of which averages over ;^27 5, 000,000 wholesale, according 
 to its market price at time of sale. 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 WORLD'S CONSUMPTION (ESTIMATED), 
 
 Countries. Weight 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 i.oo 
 
 Arabia and Africa, 10,000 5.00 
 
 Java and Sumatra, ...... 10,000 4.00 
 
 Total, 216,000 100.00 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 283 
 
 TABLE IV. 
 
 Showing where United States receives supplies of coffee from 
 in general and the various kinds consumed : 
 
 Country. Pounds. 
 
 Africa, 35,000,000 
 
 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 
 
 Phihppine 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 ^oViVi6.?> per capita, valued at ;^i.i5 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. 
 
284 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 TABLE V. 
 
 Showing per capita consumption of the principal countries of 
 the world in round numbers : 
 
 Countries Consumption Per Capita 
 
 countries. (Pounds). (Pounds). 
 
 Asia, 80,000,000 
 
 Africa, 50,000,000 i 
 
 Australia, 10,000,000 2 
 
 Austria, 10,000,000 2^ 
 
 Belgium, 50,000,000 10 
 
 Denmark, 25,000,000 6 
 
 France, 100,000,000 lYz 
 
 Germany, 180,000,000 5 
 
 Greece, 2,000,000 oyi 
 
 Holland, 70,000,000 14 
 
 Italy, 30,000,000 I 
 
 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 i 
 
 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 1 86 1 to 
 116,000,000 in 1 87 1, and to over 400,000,000 pounds in 
 1 88 1, 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 un- 
 civilized country on the habitable globe. It has become 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 285 
 
 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 up- 
 wards of 600,000,000 pounds, or nearly ten pounds per 
 capita of the entire population. 
 
 Up to i860 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 accord- 
 ingly. During the period from 1880-87, planters and 
 dealers suffered greatly, many disastrous failures among 
 both classes following as a consequence. The consump- 
 tion 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, 
 
286 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 which was 23^ 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 expendi- 
 tures of the government, due to the war with England. 
 At the close of this war, in 18 14, 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 I 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 i860, the quantity 
 imported into the United States in the latter year 
 reaching nearly 236,000,000 pounds, being valued at 
 ;^2 1,500,000, the three following years showing an 
 average annual importation of about 220,600,000 pounds, 
 valued at ^21,000,000. In 1855 ^^i^ ^^^ averaged 11 
 cents per pound; Maracaibo, 12 cents, and Java, 14^ 
 cents ; these being the three principal then in demand 
 in the American market, while in i860 the range was 
 considerably higher and the consumption correspond- 
 ingly less, Rios averaging 13^ cents ; Maracaibos, 14^ 
 cents; and Javas, 16^ cents. These prices continuing 
 to advance until 1863-4, when the prices of coffee ruled 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 a? 
 
 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 4254 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: 
 
 Year. 
 1880 
 1881 
 1882 
 1883 
 1884 
 1885 
 1886 
 1887 
 1888 
 1889 
 1890 
 
 Rio. 
 Cents. 
 
 Maracaibo. 
 Cents. 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 I2K . 
 
 II 
 9 
 
 ' ioi4r 
 
 19 
 
 . 18 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 loYi 
 II 
 iiX 
 
 loX 
 10 
 
 . 16% 
 
 . 20 
 . 20 
 
 
 
 
 Java. 
 Cents. 
 
 23>^ 
 
 18 
 
 16 
 
 16^ 
 
 16 
 
 20 
 
 22 
 22 
 
 In many of the years from 1870 to 1880, Java, which 
 is regarded as the standard coffee, sold less than Mara- 
 caibo ; 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 in- 
 creased to 300,000,000 pounds, valued at ;^5 1,000,000. 
 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., 2 1 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 
 
S68 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 low prices tend tg 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 consider- 
 able 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. 
 
.A.i*x^E>ivi>ix:. 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 Showing tares, style of package and average weight of the 
 principal coffees imported into the United States. 
 
 
 Style 
 
 Average 
 
 
 Kind. 
 
 of 
 
 Weight 
 
 Tare. 
 
 
 Package. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 
 Mocha, . . . 
 
 Bales, . . 
 
 .160.. 
 
 . Actual. 
 
 Javas, . . . 
 
 Mats, . . 
 
 . 66 . . 
 
 . I percent. 
 
 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 . . 
 
 I per cent. 
 
 Nicaragua, . . 
 
 Bags, . . . 
 
 140 . . 
 
 I per cent. 
 
 Honduras, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 140 . . 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 Costa Rica, 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 140 . . 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 Caracas, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 130 . . 
 
 . 2 per cent 
 
 Maracaibo, 
 
 Bags, . . , 
 
 130 . . 
 
 I per cent. 
 
 Laguayra, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 130 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 Angostura, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 130 . . 
 
 . Actual. 
 
 Colombo, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 230 . . 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 Equador, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 130 . . 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 Bolivian, . . 
 
 Bags, . . 
 
 . 130 . 
 
 I per cent. 
 
 Brazilian, . . 
 
 Bags. . . 
 
 . 130 . . 
 
 . I per cent. 
 
 All other coffees in bags one per cent, and all others^ in bales 
 and barrels actual tare. 
 
^9^ APPENDIX. 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 Showing relative difference between cost of raw and roasted 
 coffees, including cost of roasting (}i cent per pound), and loss by- 
 shrinkage (15 per cent). 
 
 Raw. Roasted. Raw. Roasted. 
 
 10 12 35 17I 21 47 
 
 loi 12 65 18 21 76 
 
 10^ 12 94 l8| 22 06 
 
 lOf 13 24 1^ 22 35 
 
 II 
 
 .... 13 53 i8f 22 64 
 
 "i 13 82 19 22 93 
 
 i^ 14 12 19J 23 22 
 
 tf H 41 192^ 23 52 
 
 12 14 71 i9f 23 82 
 
 12J 15 00 20 24 41 
 
 12^ 15 29 20| 24 41 
 
 i2f 15 59 20^ 24 71 
 
 13 15 88 2of 25 00 
 
 13? 16 18 21 25 30 
 
 13^ 16 48 21^ 25 59 
 
 I3f 16 67 21^ 25 88 
 
 14 17 06 2lf 26 19 
 
 i4i 17 35 22 26 47 
 
 i4j 17 67 22^ 26 76 
 
 Uf 17 94 22^ 27 06 
 
 15 18 24 22f 27 35 
 
 i5i 18 53 23 27 64 
 
 15^ 18 82 23i 27 94 
 
 15I 19 13 23^ 28 24 
 
 16 19 41 23! 28 53 
 
 16J 19 71 24 28 82 
 
 16^ 20 00 24^^ ..... 29 12 
 
 i6f 20 30 24^ 29 42 
 
 17 20 59 24f 29 71 
 
 17^ 20 89 25 30 00 
 
 For each one-eighth of a cent Raw add one-fifteenth Roasted, 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 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 
 
 luiy. 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 43| 43 42^ 42 
 
 55 ' A^ 48 47J 46f 46 
 
 60 " 52^ 52 51^ 51 50^ 
 
 65 " 57 56^ 56 55i 54^ 
 
 70 " 61^ 61 60 59| 58f 
 
 75 " 66 65i 64I 63f 63 
 
 80 70^ 69^ 68^ 68 67 
 
 85 " 741 74 73 72i 71^ 
 
 90 " 79 78f 77h 7^ 7Sh 
 
 95 " 83I 82^ 81^ 8of 79f 
 
 100 " 89 87 86 85 84 
 
 105 " 92^ 91^ 90^ 89^ 88 
 
 no " 96f 95^ 94^ 93^ 91^ 
 
 115 " 102 100 99 98 96^ 
 
 120 " 105^ 104^ 103 102 lOI 
 
 125 " no io8f 107^ 106J 105 
 
 130 " 114^ 113 112 III iioj 
 
 135 " ii8f 117^ 116 ii4f 113^ 
 
 140 " 124 I2lf I2C4 119 II7i 
 145 " I27i 126 I24I 123^ I2l| 
 150 " 131J - 129! I28i I26f I25|- 
 
294 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 
 TABLE V. 
 
 
 
 Showing cost of Roasted coffee after sustainingfa loss of; 
 
 : 
 
 Cost Raw. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Per cent. ] 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 lO 
 
 III 
 
 III 
 
 Ilf 
 
 Ilf 
 
 III 
 
 loi 
 
 12 
 
 I2i 
 
 I2i 
 
 I2| 
 
 I2i 
 
 II 
 
 I2i 
 
 I2| 
 
 I2f 
 
 I2l 
 
 13 
 
 Hi 
 
 13 
 
 I3i 
 
 I3f 
 
 I3f 
 
 i3f 
 
 12 
 
 i3f 
 
 i3f 
 
 14 
 
 Hi 
 
 I4i 
 
 I2h 
 
 I4i 
 
 I4f 
 
 Hh 
 
 I4f 
 
 Hi 
 
 13 
 
 I4f 
 
 15 
 
 i5i 
 
 151 
 
 i5i 
 
 I3i 
 
 151 
 
 i5i 
 
 151 
 
 151 
 
 151 
 
 14 
 
 151 
 
 i6i 
 
 i6i 
 
 i6| 
 
 i6| 
 
 14^ 
 
 i6i 
 
 i6| 
 
 i6| 
 
 17 
 
 i7i 
 
 15 
 
 17 
 
 I7i 
 
 171 
 
 I7f 
 
 I7l 
 
 i5i 
 
 i7f 
 
 171- 
 
 18 
 
 i8i 
 
 18^ 
 
 16 
 
 i8| 
 
 i8| 
 
 i8f 
 
 i8| 
 
 19 
 
 16^ 
 
 i8f 
 
 19 
 
 I9i 
 
 I9f 
 
 19I 
 
 17 
 
 i9i 
 
 19I 
 
 I9f 
 
 20 
 
 20i 
 
 i7l 
 
 19I 
 
 20^ 
 
 2of 
 
 20| 
 
 20| 
 
 18 
 
 20| 
 
 20f 
 
 20f 
 
 2li 
 
 2I| 
 
 18^ 
 
 21 
 
 2li 
 
 2I| 
 
 2I| 
 
 22 
 
 19 
 
 2I| 
 
 2I| 
 
 22i 
 
 22f 
 
 22| 
 
 19^ 
 
 22i 
 
 22f 
 
 22f 
 
 23 
 
 23i 
 
 20 
 
 22f 
 
 23 
 
 23i 
 
 23I 
 
 23i 
 
 20I 
 
 23i 
 
 23I 
 
 23I 
 
 24i 
 
 24f 
 
 21 
 
 23f 
 
 24 
 
 241 
 
 241 
 
 25 
 
 2ih 
 
 24i 
 
 241 
 
 25 
 
 25i 
 
 251 
 
 22 
 
 25 
 
 25i 
 
 25f 
 
 2Sl 
 
 26i 
 
 22| 
 
 25^ 
 
 25f 
 
 26i 
 
 26^ 
 
 26f 
 
 23 
 
 26i 
 
 26f 
 
 26f 
 
 27 
 
 271 
 
 23i 
 
 26I 
 
 27 
 
 27f 
 
 271 
 
 28 
 
 24 
 
 27i 
 
 27f 
 
 271 
 
 28i 
 
 28| 
 
 24i 
 
 271 
 
 28i 
 
 28i 
 
 28I 
 
 ^i 
 
 25 
 
 28f 
 
 28f 
 
 29i 
 
 29f 
 
 29f 
 
 To which must be added cost of roasting, ^ cent per pound. 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 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. Points. Difference. 
 
 05, .... $16 25 105, .... $341 25 
 
 10, ... . 32 50 no, .... 357 50 
 15, ... . 48 75 iiS .... 373 75 
 20, ... . 65 00 120, .... 390 10 
 
 25 81 25 125, .... 406 2$ 
 
 30. 97 50 130. .... 432 50 
 
 35 113 75 i35 .... 438 75 
 
 40, .... 130 00 140, .... 455 50 
 
 45, .... 146 25 145, .... 471 25 
 
 50, .... 162 50 150, .... 487 50 
 
 55, .... 178 75 150, .... 487 50 
 
 60, .... 195 00 155, .... 503 75 
 
 65, .... 211 25 160, .... 520 00 
 
 70, .... 227 50 165, .... 536 25 
 
 7S, .... 243 75 170, .... 552 50 
 
 80, .... 260 00 175, .... 568 75 
 
 85, .... 276 25 180, .... 585 00 
 
 90, .... 292 50 185, .... 601 25 
 
 95, .... 308 75 190, ... . 617 50 
 
 100 (one cent), 325 00 195, .... 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 y^ cents per pound. 
 
296 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 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, I4.80, equaling the pound 
 sterling at 60 days sight. 
 
 Market Price in 
 Rio per 
 10 Kilos. 
 
 .CXX) . 
 
 .200 . 
 
 .400 . 
 
 .600 . 
 
 .800 . 
 
 .000 . 
 
 .200 . 
 
 .400 . 
 
 .600 . 
 
 .800 . 
 
 .000 . 
 
 Rio Rates of Exchange on London (equivalent in cents per 
 pound). 
 21^ 2i%d vzd 
 
 I2/A 
 
 I3tJ^ 
 16^ 
 
 I2^,, . . . 
 
 I2^''tT 
 
 I2t^% . . . 
 
 I2t3^1j 
 
 13^ . . . 
 
 ^3TTny 
 
 I3A^TT . . 
 
 *4ttrf 
 
 14^ . . 
 
 I4^TJ 
 
 14^ . . 
 
 
 iSt^'tt . . 
 
 'Stoit 
 
 16^^^ . . 
 
 . i5t^A 
 
 16^ . . 
 
 i6t^t^ 
 
 16^ . . 
 
 i6t^ 
 
 17^ . . 
 
 . i7tV{t 
 
 Fractional equivalents to be added if necessary, each )id. in 
 exchange being equivalent to about i 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, includ- 
 ing 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. 
 
 equivalent in cent* 
 
 per 112 pounds. 
 
 per pound. 
 
 
 Shillings. ^4 80 
 
 I485 
 
 ^90 
 
 50 .... $11 43 . 
 
 %\i 54 . . 
 
 $11 65 
 
 51 . 
 
 
 
 II 63 . 
 
 II 78 . . 
 
 II 89 
 
 52 . 
 
 
 
 II 89 . 
 
 12 00 . . 
 
 12 12 
 
 53 . 
 
 
 
 12 II . 
 
 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 . 
 
 1360 . . 
 
 13 75 
 
APPENDIX. 297 
 
 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 Amer- 
 ican gold in the regular way at the existing rate of London ex- 
 change. 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. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Value. 
 
 ;Year. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1846 . 
 
 7-44 
 
 1857 . 
 
 II. 15 
 
 1868 . 
 
 10.5 
 
 1879 
 
 14.87 
 
 1847 . 
 
 7.34 
 
 1858 . 
 
 11.08 
 
 1869. 
 
 11.00 
 
 1880 . 
 
 15.12 
 
 1848 . 
 
 6.63 
 
 1859 . 
 
 11.66 
 
 1870 . 
 
 11.33 
 
 1881 . 
 
 12.23 
 
 1849 . 
 
 7.37 
 
 i860 
 
 1374 
 
 187I . 
 
 12.91 
 
 1882 . 
 
 9-77 
 
 1850 . 
 
 10.91 
 
 1861 
 
 12.31 
 
 1872 . 
 
 if If 
 
 1883 . 
 
 10.36 
 
 1851 . 
 
 944 
 
 1862 . 
 
 15.22 
 
 1873 . 
 
 19.99 
 
 1884 . 
 
 10.92 
 
 J852 . 
 
 8.85 
 
 1863 
 
 16.39 
 
 1874 . 
 
 21.08 
 
 1885 . 
 
 9.01 
 
 1853 . 
 
 9.76 
 
 1864 . 
 
 16.22 
 
 1875 
 
 18.87 
 
 1886 . 
 
 10.33 
 
 1854 . 
 
 1855 . 
 
 1856 . 
 
 10.48 
 10.47 
 
 1865 . 
 
 1866 . 
 
 12.23 
 
 1876 . 
 
 1877 . 
 
 1878 . 
 
 18.21 
 
 
 
 18.45 
 15.58 
 
 ! ! \ 
 
 \ 
 
 11.04 
 
 1867 . 
 
 
 
 , , 
 
 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 con- 
 tinued 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. 
 
298 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 TABLE X. 
 
 Showing fluctuations in the coffee market from 1850 to 1867, 
 inclusive. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 1850 
 
 . . 131,640,000 
 
 1868 
 
 . , 219,212,400 
 
 1851 
 
 . . 177,760,000 
 
 1869 
 
 . . 238,653,800 
 
 1852 
 
 . . 291,344,000 
 
 1870 
 
 . . 275.895,400 
 
 1853 
 
 . . 172,898,000 
 
 1871 
 
 , . 310,956,800 
 
 1854 
 
 . . 175,780,000 
 
 1872 
 
 . . 266,866.600 
 
 1855 
 
 . , 206,250,000 
 
 1873 
 
 , . 264,666,600 
 
 1856 
 
 . . 214,104,000 
 
 1874 . 
 
 . 272,608,600 
 
 1857 
 
 . . 168,916,000 
 
 1875 
 
 . 301,727,800 
 
 1858 
 
 . . 246,510,000 
 
 1876 
 
 . 295,039,800 
 
 1859 
 
 . . 219,010,000 
 
 1877 . 
 
 . 297,523.600 
 
 i860 
 
 . . 173,844,000 
 
 1878 
 
 . 213,830,000 
 
 1861 
 
 . . 194,656,000 
 
 1879 
 
 396.391.600 
 
 1862 
 
 . . 87,406,000 
 
 1880 
 
 . 390,188,500 
 
 1863 
 
 . . 78,562,000 
 
 1881 
 
 . 411,633,200 
 
 1864 
 
 . . 107,052,900 
 
 1882 , 
 
 . 467,504,400 
 
 1865 
 
 . . 125,708,000 
 
 1883 . 
 
 . 449,002.400 
 
 1866 
 
 . . 157,146,000 
 
 1884 . 
 
 . 490,468.000 
 
 1867 
 
 . . 199,760,000 
 
 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 con- 
 sider the varied values of coffee under the many peculiarities of 
 drcumstances for the past thirty-six year?. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 299 
 
 TABLE XL 
 
 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 kilos. 60,000, @ 6^350 
 per 10 kilos., *Rs. 38:100)^000 
 
 1,000 empty bags @ 700 reis, . . 7oo$ooo 
 
 Rs. 38:800^000 
 
 Export duty on kilos. 60,000 @ 502 
 
 rs. per kilo.=Rs. 30,i20$ooo 
 
 @ 13 per cent., . . . . Reis 3:9x5^600 
 
 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$ooo), freight on same 
 (Rs. 2^000), consul's certifi- 
 cate (included in sample, tins, 
 etc.), cablegram (Rs. loo^ooo), 
 stamps, petties, etc. (included 
 in sample, tins and box), . . 347$ooo 
 
 4:372$6oo 
 
 43:i72$6oo 
 Commission for buying, 2 per cent., 863^450 
 
 44:036^050 
 Bill brokerage and stamps, f^ of i per cent.,. . . i65$76o 
 
 Reis 44:201 $8 10 
 
 * ifioo reis iX mil-ries 54^ cents, U. S. 
 
300 APPENDIX. 
 
 TABLE XII. 
 
 SHOWING CONVERSION OF BRAZILIAN INTO AMERICAN 
 CURRENCY. 
 
 Amount of pro forma invoice, , . . Reis 44:2oi|8io 
 At 21;^ d. exchange at Rio, . . . ;^3.959 15 
 $4.84>^>^ per ^ sterling, $19,16100 
 
 Charges accruing in the United States : 
 
 Freight per steamer to New York, 40c. per 
 bag and 5 per cent, primage, $420 00 
 
 Marine insurance, i per cent, less 30 per 
 cent. ^ net, on $21,672 or invoice and 
 value @ $5.50, 151 70 
 
 Banker's commission for credit=^ of i per 
 cent, on $19,161, I43 72 
 
 Bill stamps in London (nil). 
 
 Labor at vessel, 4c. per bag ; storage, one 
 month, @ 4c. ; weighing, 3Xc. ; fire in- 
 surance, i^c. per bag; delivery (lighter- 
 age), 4c. per bag=i6>^c. per bag, . ... 16500 
 
 Petty charges, /. e., sampling, sewing, custom 
 fees, etc., on bags, per bag, 3>^c. ; approx- 
 imate 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 
 
wo 1[^^