Chapter XII: Section I (4)

The decline in the produce of coffee in the British West India possessions has been very great. In 1838, we imported from the West India Islands and British Guiana 17½ million pounds of coffee, in 1850 we only received 4¼ million pounds from thence. The shipments from Jamaica have decreased from about 15 million pounds in 1836, to 4 million pounds in 1850; Berbice and Demerara, from 5 million pounds in 1837, to about 8,000 pounds in 1850.

_Production of coffee in the Brazils_.--Forty-two years ago the annual crop of coffee in Brazil did not exceed 30,000 bags, and even in 1820 it only reached 100,000 bags. About that time the high price of coffee in England, superadded to the diminished production in Cuba, stimulated the Brazilian planters to extend its cultivation, and in 1830 they sent to market 400,000 bags, or 64,090,000 lbs., and in 1847, the enormous quantity of 300,000,000 lbs.

It would seem from the annexed figures that the production of coffee in Brazil doubled every five years, up to 1840, since when it has increased eighty per cent. The increase since 1835 has been upwards of two hundred millions of pounds, and of that increase the United States have taken one half.

lbs.
1820 15,312,000
1825 29,201,600
1830 62,685,600
1835 100,346,400
1840 170,208,800
1850 303,556,960

The sources from whence the United States derives its supplies of coffee are shown in the following table:--

Years. Brazil. Cuba. St. Domingo. Java. Total
1835 35,774,876 29,373,675 19,276,290 4,728,890 103,199,577
1840 47,412,756 25,331,888 9,153,524 4,343,254 94,996,095
1845 78,553,616 1,157,794 13,090,359 3,925,716 108,133,369
1850 90,319,511 3,740,803 19,440,985 5,146,961 144,986,895
1851 107,578,257 3,009,084 13,205,766 2,423,968 152,453,617

Coffee, up to 1830, paid a duty in the United States of five cents a pound. Since 1832 it has been free.

The population of the United States in 1840 was, in round numbers, seventeen millions; the average consumption of coffee for the three years ending 1841, 98½ millions of pounds, which gave a consumption of 5¾ lbs. per head. The average for the three years ending 1850, was 143 millions of pounds, and the population was twenty-three millions, which gave a consumption of 6¼ lbs. per head. In 1830 the consumption was only 3 lbs. per head; but the price ruled nearly double what it was in the three years preceding 1850.

In 1821 the consumption per head, to the inhabitants of the United States, was 1 lb. 4 oz. In 1830, the proportion had increased to 3 lbs. per head, the foreign price having fallen fifty per cent. The importation in the year 1831 doubled, in consequence of the reduced duty; and the consumption per head for the four years ending with 1842, averaged 6 lb. per head, having quadrupled to each inhabitant since 1821. From 1820 to 1840, the Brazilian product increased 1,100 per cent, or 155 million pounds. In the same time the consumption in the United States increased 137 million pounds; leaving an increase of eighteen million pounds of Rio coffee, besides the enhanced products of all countries, to supply the increased consumption of England and Europe.

The consequence of the duty in England is, that while the United States, with a population of seventeen millions, consumed, in 1844, 149,711,820 lbs. of coffee, Great Britain, with a population of twenty-seven millions, consumed 31,934,000 lbs. only, or less than one-fourth the consumption of the United States. In 1851 the figures remained nearly the same, viz., 148,920,000 lbs. in the United States, and 32,564,000 lbs. for Great Britain.

The cultivation of coffee forms the present riches of Costa Rica, and has raised it to a state of prosperity unknown in any other part of Central America. It was begun about fifteen years ago; a few plants having been brought from New Granada, and the first trial being successful, it has rapidly extended. All the coffee is grown in the plain of San Jose, where the three principal towns are situated--about two-thirds being produced in the environs of the capital, a fourth in those of Hindia, and the remainder at Alhajuela, and its vicinity. The land which has been found by experience to be best suited to coffee is a black loam, and the next best, a dark-red earth--soils of a brown and dull yellow color being quite unsuitable. The plain of San Jose is mostly of the first class, being, like all the soils of Central America, formed with a large admixture of volcanic materials. Contrary to the experience of Java and Arabia Felix, coffee is here found to thrive much better, and produce a more healthy and equal berry on plain land, than upon hills, or undulating slopes, which doubtless arises from the former retaining its moisture better, and generally containing a larger deposit of loam.

I am inclined, in a great measure, to attribute the practice of sowing coffee in sloping land in Java to this fact, that the plains are usually occupied by the more profitable cultivation of sugar-canes. In Arabia, the plains are generally of a sandy nature (being lands which have, apparently, at no very distant geological period, formed the bed of the sea), which may account for the plantations existing only upon the low hills and slopes.

A coffee plantation in Costa Rica produces a crop the third year after it is planted, and is in perfection the fifth year. The coffee trees are planted in rows, with a space of about three yards between each and one between each plant, resembling in appearance hedges of the laurel bay. The weeds are cut down, and the earth slightly turned with a hoe, three or four times in the year; and the plant is not allowed to increase above the height of six feet, for the facility of gathering the fruit. The coffee tree here begins to flower in the months of March and April, and the berry ripens in the plains of San Jose in the months of November and December, strongly resembling a wild cherry in form and appearance, being covered with a similar sweet pulp.

As soon as the crimson color assumed by the ripe fruit indicates the time for cropping, numbers of men, women, and children are sent to gather the berry, which is piled in large heaps, to soften the pulp, for forty-eight hours, and then placed in tanks, through which a stream of water passes, when it is continually stirred, to free it from the outer pulp; after which it is spread out on a platform, with which every coffee estate is furnished, to dry in the sun; but there still exists an inner husk, which, when perfectly dry, is, in the smaller estates, removed by treading the berry under the feet of oxen; and in the larger, by water-mills, which bruise the berry slightly to break the husk, and afterwards separate it by fanners. The entire cost of producing a quintal (101 1-5 lbs. British) of coffee, including the keeping of the estate in order, cleaning and fanning the plants, and gathering and preparing the berries, is, at the present rate of wages (two rials, or about a shilling per day), calculated at two and a half dollars (equal to ten shillings); but the laborers are now hardly sufficient for working all the estates which are planted, so that the price may probably rise a little, though the present rate of payment enables the natives to live much better than has been their wont.

The coffee tree bears flowers only the second year, and its blossoms last only 24 hours. The returns of the third year are very abundant; at an average, each plant yielding a pound and a-half or two pounds of coffee.

The price of coffee in San Jose during the months of February, March and April, after which none can generally be met with, was, in 1846, about 5 dollars cash per quintal, the duty (which is collected for the repairs of the road) one rial more, so that the speculator makes at least ten rials, or about 20 per cent., by purchasing and sending the coffee to the port, on his outlay and charges; but it is often bartered for manufactured goods, and is also purchased before-hand, half being paid in imports and half in cash to the grower.

The largest coffee estates of Costa Rica are possessed by the family of Montealegre and Don Juan Moira. The principal of these I have examined. They appear to be very carefully and judiciously managed, possessing good mills for cleaning and husking the coffee, worked by water power; and annually producing 500 tons. The entire produce of the year 1836, amounted to about 3,000 tons, and the crop of 1847 exceeded 4,000 tons, near which quantity it will probably continue, till the population gradually increases, the laborers, as already mentioned, being barely sufficient for the present cultivation. As the value at the present average price in the English market of 50s. a cwt., will give £200,000, the produce of the district will appear pretty considerable for a petty American State, possessing only 80,000 inhabitants, and just emerging from a half-savage condition.--(Dunlop's "Central America.")

The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose, in Costa Rica, according to Stephens, has increased rapidly within a few years. Seven years before, the whole crop was not more than 500 quintals, and in 1844 it amounted to 90,000.

Don Mariano Montealegre is one of the largest proprietors there, and had three plantations in that neighbourhood. One, which Mr. Stephens visited, contained 27,000 trees, and he was preparing to make great additions the next year. He had expended a large sum of money in buildings and machinery; and though his countrymen said he would ruin himself, every year he planted more trees. His wife, La Senora, was busily engaged in husking and drying the berries. In San Jose, by the way (he adds), all the ladies were what might be called good business-men, kept stores, bought and sold goods, looked out for bargains, and were particularly knowing in the article of coffee.

The coffee at Surinam is suffered to grow in three stems from the root, and when one of them does not produce plenty of berries, it is cast away, and the best shoot in appearance next the root is allowed to grow in its room. The trees are not permitted to rise higher than about five feet, so that the negroes can very easily pluck the berries, for gathering which there are two seasons, the one in May, or the beginning of June, and the other in October or the beginning of November. The berries are often plucked of unequal ripeness, which must greatly injure the quality of the coffee. It is true when the coffee is washed, the berries which float on the water are separated from the others; but they are only those of the worst quality, or broken pieces, while the half-ripe beans remain at the bottom with the rest. Now, in the description I have given of the method of gathering coffee in Arabia, it is seen that the tree is suffered to grow to its natural height, and the berries are gathered by shaking the tree, and making them fall on mats placed for them. By this way the Arabians harvest only the beans perfectly ripe at the time, and which must give the coffee a more delicate flavor. A tree will yield each time on an average from 1 lb. to 1½ lb. of coffee, when pulped and perfectly dried. An acre of land planted with coffee, when favored by the weather, becomes more profitable than when it is planted with sugar canes; but its crops are always very precarious, as the blossoms, and even the berries, are sometimes damaged by the heavy rains, which are much less injurious to sugar canes; wherefore a planter feels himself best secured in his revenue, as soon as he can cultivate them both.

Nothing can exceed the beauty of the walks planted with coffee trees, from their pyramidical shape and from their glossy dark green leaves, shining with great brightness, amongst which are hanging the scarlet-coloured berries. Mr. Baird, in his "Impressions of the West Indies," thus speaks of a coffee plantation:--

"Anything in the way of cultivation more beautiful, or more
fragrant, than a coffee plantation, I had not conceived; and oft did
I say to myself, that if ever I became, from health and otherwise, a
cultivator of the soil within the tropics, I would cultivate the
coffee plant, even though I did so irrespective altogether of the
profit that might be derived from so doing. Much has been written,
and not without justice, of the rich fragrance of an orange grove;
and at home we ofttimes hear of the sweet odors of a bean-field. I
have, too, often enjoyed in the Carse of Stirling, and elsewhere in
Scotland, the balmy breezes as they swept over the latter,
particularly when the sun had burst out, with unusual strength,
after a shower of rain. I have likewise, in Martinique, Santa Cruz,
Jamaica, and Cuba, inhaled the gales wafted from the orangeries; but
not for a moment would I compare either with the exquisite aromatic
odors from a coffee plantation in full blow, when the
hill-side--covered over with regular rows of the tree-like shrub,
with their millions of jessamine-like flowers--showers down upon
you, as you ride up between the plants, a perfume of the most
delicately delicious description. 'Tis worth going to the West
Indies to see the sight and inhale the perfume."

The decline in the quantities of coffee drawn from the "West Indies to supply the great demand, is manifest in the following summary of imports from those islands:--

lbs.
In 1828 they exported about 30,000,000
1831 the imports from British West Indies were 20,017,623
1841 Ditto Ditto 9,904,230
1850, the last year in which distinct accounts 4,262,225
were kept
-----------
Decrease from 1831 15,755,398

_Jamaica_.--The coffee plant was first introduced into Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes, in 1728, when it was cultivated on an estate called Temple Hall, in Liguanea, not far from Kingston. In 1752 there were exported 60,000 lbs.; and in 1775, 44,000 lbs. Until 1788 little attention was paid to this product. In the four years ending 30th September, 1794, the average exportation of coffee was 1,603,000 lbs.; in 1804 it amounted to 22,000,000 lbs.; and during the three years ending 30th September, 1807, the average annual exportation was more than 28,500,000 lbs.; which, at £6 per cwt., its cost in Jamaica, produced more than £1,700,000. It is calculated that £20,000,000 was invested in coffee estates. The coffee plant thrives in almost every soil about the mountains of Jamaica, and in the very driest spots has frequently produced abundant crops. In 1844 there were 671 coffee plantations in the island. Coffee is grown in the vicinity of the Blue Mountain Peak at a height of 4,700 feet above the level of the sea, and some of the finest and most productive plantations are in this locality. The branches of a coffee tree, on Radnor estate, covered, in 1851, a space of thirteen feet in diameter, and the tree was about thirteen years old.

In 1789 Hayti exported 77,000,000 lbs. of coffee, but in 1826 it had declined to 32,000,000 lbs., in 1837 it was 31,000,000 lbs., and the shipments of this staple are now very inconsiderable.

In the West Indies, I speak principally of Jamaica, where my experience extended, the soil best adapted for the cultivation of coffee is found to be loose gravelly or stony. A rich black mould will produce a luxuriant bush, which will yield little fruit. Decomposing sandstone, and slate, known in Jamaica as rotten rock, mixed with vegetable mould, is one of the most favorable soils. The subsoil should be also carefully examined by a boring augur, for a stiff moist clay, or marly bottom retentive of moisture, is particularly injurious to the plant. A dark, rusty-colored sand, or a ferruginous marl on a substratum of limestone, kills the tree in a few years. In virgin lands, after the wood has been felled and cleared, the land is lined off into rows of from six to seven feet square, and at each square a hole is made about eighteen inches deep, into which the young plant is placed and the earth plied gently about it, leaving from six to eight inches of the plant above ground.

Nurseries for raising plants from seeds were formerly made, but for many years this has been neglected, and plantations are set out now from suckers which are drawn and trimmed of their roots, and cut about two feet long.

The young plants require to be kept well clear from weeds, and four cleanings in the year may be deemed necessary, the plants which have failed must be supplied in order to ensure uniformity of appearance.

All manure, whether fluid or solid, in warm climates should be applied in wet seasons, where it is not practicable to dig or turn it in to prevent the escape of its volatile and nutritive principles.

As respects situation, coffee thrives best on elevated situations, where the morning sun has most influence; and on lower mountains, where the temperature is higher, in situations facing the south-east, or where the sun does not act with such intensity. Low mountains, in which the thermometer ranges from 75 to 90 degrees Fahr., as well as those exposed to sea breezes, are less suitable for the cultivation of coffee than those districts where the temperature averages 65 to 80 degrees Fahr., and situated at higher elevations in the interior.

As a general rule, it may be asserted that the elevation best adapted for coffee is at an altitude ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, at a temperature from 70 to 75 degrees Fahr. A west or south-west aspect is the best, and the field should be well sheltered from the north breezes. As a general rule in planting in light soils and high temperatures, trees may be placed at the distance of four or five feet, while in stronger soils and lower temperatures the average distance would be from five to seven feet.

_Topping_.--The young tree shoots out its lateral branches at each joint, which follow in regular succession, till the tree attains the height of about four feet six inches, when it is usual to top it down to four feet. But care should be taken that the wood has ripened, which is known by its assuming a brown and hard appearance, This strengthens the vegetation of the branches, which begin to throw out buds, and these shortly form collateral branches; in the course of eighteen months after the tree will have arrived at its bearing point. Trees, after being topped, throw off suckers, which are called gormandizers, from each joint, but more especially at the head. They should be plucked off with care, but not cut, as the sap would flow more readily if cut.

In pruning, one of the main objects is the admission of a free circulation of air and light through the branches to the root of the tree. No general rules can be laid down for pruning; much must depend on judgment, experience, and a nice eye to appearance and preservation of primary branches for bearing and ripening wood for the ensuing year, as well as to regulate and proportion the size of the tree to the functions of the roots in supplying sustenance, and the convenience of picking the berries when ripe. Every old bough which has seen its day, every wilful shoot growing in a wrong direction, every fork, every cross branch or dead limb, must be cut away.

_The blossoming, and ripening_ of the fruit varies according to the situation and temperature of the plantation. In low and hot situations, where the thermometer ranges from 78 to 90 degrees, the tree shows its first blossoms when about two-and-a-half years old. In higher and colder situations the tree will not blossom in profusion until the fourth or fifth year. If there be light showers, the blossoms will continue on the tree for a week or more, and by the setting of the blossoms the planter can determine what germs will become fruit. The trees will blossom in low situations as early as March, but the April bloom is considered the most abundant. In higher elevations, the trees will bloom even so late as August or September. In warm climates the fruit advances as rapidly, and in a month will have attained the size of a pea; in more elevated and colder localities, it will take two months to arrive at this stage. The fruit will be ripe in from six to eight months after the blossom has set; it ripens in warm districts about the month of August, while in others the crop will not be mature till February. An acre will usually contain 1,200 trees in Jamaica, and the produce would be about 400 lbs. of coffee an acre, or six ounces as the produce of each tree annually. In some instances, but very seldom, one pound a tree may be obtained. A bushel of cherry coffee will produce about ten or twelve pounds of merchantable coffee.

The coffee berry, after being pulped and soaked for a day and night to free it from the mucilage, is spread out on barbacues to dry; in ten or twelve days, if the weather has been good, it will be sufficiently cured for the peeling mill.

Mr. W.H. Marah, of Jamaica, in a Prize Essay on the Cultivation and Manufacture of Coffee in that Island, published in my "Colonial Magazine," makes some useful remarks:--

The manufacture of this staple commodity, with a view to its
improvement in quality, is a subject which demands our serious
attention; and when we observe the vast importance and pecuniary
advantage which accrue upon the slightest shade of improvement
either in colour or appearance, it becomes the more imperative on us
to use all those means which are available, in order to place
ourselves on a footing with the foreign grower. It is true that we
are unable to enter the contest with the East Indian or slave
cultivator, from the abundance and cheapness of labour which is
placed at their command; but by means of our skill and assiduity, we
can successfully compete with them by the manufacture of superior
produce.

To this portion of plantation management I have given an attentive
inquiry, and shall shortly proceed to state my views on the system
best adapted to the curing and preparing for market of good quality
produce.

The fruit should be gathered in when in a blood-ripe state, to all
appearance like cherries. The labourers are principally accustomed
to reap the crop in baskets, of which they carry two to the field;
and when the coffee is bearing heavily, and is at its full stage of
ripeness, the good pickers will gather in four bushels _per diem_,
and carry the same on their heads to the works.

The fruit is then measured and thrown into a loft above the pulper
in a heap. It should be submitted to the first process of machinery,
the pulper, within twenty-four hours after, if not immediately; but
it not unfrequently happens that the manager is unable to pulp his
coffee for two and sometimes three days, by which time fermentation
ensues, and it becomes impossible after pulping to wash off the
mucilage, which rather adheres to the outer envelope of the berry,
and gives the produce what is termed a "red" or "blanketty"
appearance when spread out on the barbacues. The produce is let down
by means of a small hole cut into the floor of the loft, or a
floating box, into the hopper of the pulper, and by means of a
grater forcing the fruit against the chops, the berries are
dislodged from the pulp and fall upon a sieve, which being shaken by
the machinery, lets the berries fall into the cistern, whilst the
grater catches the pulp and carries it backwards at each evolution
of the roller, around which it is encircled.

The fruit which might have passed through without being more than
half squeezed, and having only ejected one berry, is then returned
(after being shaken off by the sieve) into the hopper, to undergo
the process a second time. The pulped coffee is then permitted to
remain in the cistern for a day and a night, during which period it
undergoes a process of fermentation; it is then washed out in two or
three waters, and the whole of the mucilaginous stuff which had
risen from the berry by the fermentation is entirely washed off, and
the coffee presents a beautiful white appearance. From this the
produce is turned out to drain on a barbacue, sloped so as to throw
all the water to the centre, where a drain is placed to carry it all
off.

In an hour or so after, the coffee may be removed to the barbacues
for curing; it is there spread out thinly and exposed to the sun,
which, if shining strong, will in eight or nine hours absorb all the
water, and the coffee be fit for housing that day. I say fit for
housing, because I have repeatedly seen coffee washed out early in
the morning and put up the same evening. I cannot say I approve of
the system, though in fine weather it has been attended with
success. From the time the coffee is first exposed to the sun till
the silver skin starts, is the stage, in my opinion, during which
the produce suffers most injury. In the first instance, it should be
kept constantly turned, in order to get the water absorbed as early
as possible; and after it has been housed, the greatest precaution
should be taken to prevent its heating: and it is for this reason
that I disapprove of early housing, for if wet weather should
intervene, and the coffee cannot be turned out, it is sure to get
heated. From this neglect I have seen a perfect steam issuing from
the house in the morning when the doors have been opened; and I have
known, as a natural consequence, the adhesion of the silver skin to
the berry so firm, that it could not be removed by a sharp penknife
without slicing the berry.

In a succession of wet weather the produce has remained on the
barbacues for several weeks, without the slightest advance in
curing; and, unless it be frequently turned while in this wet
state, it is sure to germinate; the berries first swell, then a thin
white spire issues from the seam, and on opening the berry the young
leaves will be actually seen formed inside, so rapid is the course
of vegetation.

I am of opinion that coffee should not be housed till the silver
skin begins to start, when no danger can ensue; for if a few wet
days should intervene, by turning the coffee over in the house, and
allowing a current of air to pass through it, it will keep for
weeks. It is at this stage that the parchment skin begins to show
itself, for at first it adheres to the inner kernel, but the heat of
the sun starts it from its hold and it separates; thus, on shaking a
handful of the produce it will be heard to rattle, a sure indication
that the silver skin has risen from the bean, without even threshing
it to ascertain the fact. The bean is perfectly white till the
silver skin starts; it then begins gradually to assume the dark, or
what is called the half-cured appearance. A good day's strong sun
will then half cure it, and by subsequent exposure the produce takes
another stage, and gradually loses the half-cured, and assumes a
blue colour; and when the produce is properly cured and fit for the
mill, not the slightest dark spot will be perceptible in the bean,
but it will exhibit a horny blue colour.

It is within my observation that coffee has been gathered from the
field on the Monday, and prepared for market on the Saturday, in a
spell of dry weather; but I have known it also to lie on the
barbacues for as many weeks in contrary weather, before it had gone
through the same ordeal. With good weather and smooth terraces
whereon to cure, nothing but gross ignorance and unpardonable
carelessness can produce a bad quality of coffee. The difficulty
arises in wet weather, when one's skill and assiduity is called into
action to save the produce from being spoiled. After coffee has been
half-cured, the putting it up hot at an early period of the day has
the effect of curing it all night. I have noticed produce housed in
this manner, and requiring another day's exposure to fit it for the
mill, found perfectly cured next morning.

The barbacues should be kept in good order--all ruts and holes
neatly patched every crop, for to them and other roughnesses is to
be attributed the peeling of the berries, their being scratched, and
various injuries which the produce sustains. And while on the
subject of "Works," I cannot help noticing the extreme carelessness
and inattention which, on visiting properties, the works and
buildings present to our view. It is utterly impossible to
manufacture good produce unless the machinery and buildings are kept
in good order; and the parsimony which is thus displayed in this
necessary outlay is fallacious, when one thinks of the result of one
or two shillings per 100 lbs. lost on a crop through this neglect.

When the coffee is perfectly cured--which is generally ascertained
by threshing out a few berries in one's hands, and seeing if it has
attained its horny blue colour--it is then fit for milling, which is
the second process of machinery which it has to undergo. Here the
parchment and silver skins are dislodged from the berry, by means of
the friction of a large roller passing over the produce in a wooden
trough. It is then taken out of the trough, and submitted to the
fanner or winnowing machine, when the trash is all blown away, and
the coffee, passing through two or three sieves, comes away
perfectly clean and partially sized. From this it is again sieved in
order to size it properly, hand-picked, put into bags, and sent on
mules' backs to the wharf. It is then put into tierces and sold in
the Kingston market, or shipped to Britain.

A variety of circumstances tend to injure the quality of the coffee,
which it is beyond human agency to control. Dry weather intervening
at the particular period when the berry is getting full, subjects it
to be stinted and shrivelled; and strong dry breezes happening at
the same period, will cause an adhesion of the silver skin which the
ordinary process of curing and manufacture will not remove. Late
discoveries in the latter have, however, shown the possibility of
divesting the produce of that silvery appearance, when brought about
under the foregoing circumstances. It is almost, unnecessary to
state that this improvement in manufacture refers to the inventions
of Messrs. Myers and Meacock, whose respective merits have already
undergone public revision. In reference to Mr. Myers' plan of
immersing coffee in warm water, I may be allowed to state that it
has come under my own observation, that produce which had previously
been heated through some carelessness in the curing, subsequently
was exposed to a slight sprinkling of rain, and when ground out and
fanned, was found to have lost its silvery appearance.

To the invention of Mr. Meacock, a preference has, however, been
given, in consequence of the impression that the produce thus
immersed in water will absorb a portion of the liquid, which will
deteriorate its quality in its passage across the Atlantic. Several
gentlemen have shipped coffee submitted to this process to England,
but I have not learnt the result.

It appears very manifest that a great deal might be done in the way
of machinery, to relieve produce of that silvery or foxy appearance
which is so prejudicial to its value in the British market, and
which appearances might accrue from a variety of incidents to which
all plantations are more or less subject.

A manifest preference is given in the leading European markets to
coffee which has gone through the pulping and washing process; but,
strange to say, the consumers of this beverage are totally ignorant
of the fact, that the produce which is cured in the pulp furnishes a
stronger decoction than an equal quantity of the same which has
undergone the other process. Many persons are of opinion that the
mucilaginous substance which is washed off in pulping is absorbed by
the bean when cured in the pulp, and which gives strength to the
produce and enhances its aromatic flavour. On most properties it has
been customary to cure the remnants of the crop in this way, for the
use of the plantation; and it has been well noticed by great
epicures in the flavour of the decoction, that the coffee thus cured
produced the strongest and best beverage."

_Trinidad_.--The coffee plant does not succeed well in Trinidad, the tree giving but little fruit, and perishing at the end of ten or twelve years; though the article is always of a superior quality, and has the advantage over that of Martinique and the other Antilles of not requiring age to produce an agreeable beverage. It is from the fault and obstinate attachment to old habits of the planters, that this cultivation has not been more successful in Trinidad. Because coffee trees thrive in St. Domingo, Guadalupe, Dominica, St. Lucia and Martinique, on the hills, they had concluded that it would be the same in Trinidad; without noticing that the hills of that island are composed only of schistus covered with gravel, on which lies a light layer of vegetative earth, that the rain washes away after some years of cultivation; whilst the hills of the Antilles, much more high and cool, are covered with a deep bed of earth, which is retained by enormous blocks of stone, that at the same time maintain humidity and freshness.

Messrs. Branbrun, of Tacarigua, and Don Juan de Arestimuno, of Cariaco, worthy and intelligent planters, some years ago adopted the plan of planting coffee trees on the plains, in the manner cacao trees are planted, that is, in the shade of the _Erythrina_, and this mode of cultivation has perfectly succeeded. It is to be hoped that their success will encourage the cultivation of this valuable tree in the united provinces of Venezuela, and in those parts of Trinidad which were deemed unfavorable to it from the too great dryness of the climate.

In 1796, the year preceding its capture, there were 130 coffee plantations in Trinidad, which produced 330,000 lbs. of coffee. In 1802, the produce had slightly increased to 358,660 lbs., but there were two plantations less.

In the island of Grenada, according to the returns made to the local Treasury of the staple products raised, while there were 64,654 lbs. made-in 1829, the quantity had decreased to 13,651 lbs. in 1837.

The colony of British Guiana was formerly noted for its produce of coffee. The following figures mark the decline of the culture of this staple, showing the exports in Dutch pounds:--

Demerara and Essequibo. Berbice.

1834 1,102,200 1,429,800
1835 1,299,080 1,979,850
1836 2,117,250 2,684,100
1837 1,849,650 2,217,300
1838 2,486,240 1,700,550
1839 747,450 1,255,800
1840 1,531,350 1,825,950
1841 568,920 519,750
1842 1,372,650 804,470
1843 428,800 999,300
1844 716,137 774,600

Thus the exports of the colony which in 1836 were 4,801,350 lbs. had declined in 1844 to 1,490,737; whilst in 1831 we received from British Guiana 3,576,754 lbs. of coffee, in 1850 we only received 8,472 lbs.

There are about 500 acres under cultivation with coffee in St. Lucia. The exports, which in 1840 were 323,820 lbs., had declined, in 1844, to 58,834 lbs.

The British West Indies exported to Great Britain, in 1829 and 1850, the following quantities of coffee:--

1829. 1850.
lbs. lbs.
Jamaica 18,690,654 4,156,210
Demerara 4,680,118 17,774
Berbice 2,482,898 698
Trinidad 73,667 96,376
Dominica 942,114 792
St. Lucia 303,499 35

_Cuba_.--For the following valuable remarks and details of coffee culture in Cuba, I am indebted to Dr. Turnbulls "Travels in the West:"--

At the period of the breaking out of the French revolution, the
cultivation of coffee could scarcely be said to have reached the
South American continent; so that till that its cultivation was in a
great measure confined to Arabia and the Caribbean Archipelago. Its
extreme scarcity during the war enhanced its price so enormously,
that on the first announcement of peace in 1814, the plants were
multiplied to infinity, and coffee plantations were formed in every
possible situation--on the Coste Firme of South America, along the
Brazilian shores of that continent, and even at some points on the
coast of Southern Africa. To show the extreme rapidity with which
the cultivation has been extended, take the statistical returns of
La Guayra, the chief port of the State of Venezuela, from whence the
whole export of coffee in the year 1789 was not more than ten tons;
and of late years from that port alone, and in spite of the internal
disunions of the country, it has reached the enormous quantity of
2,500 tons. In the Isle of Bourbon (now Reunion), and the Mauritius
and Ceylon, the planters have also applied themselves to this branch
of industry; it has been prosecuted successfully in our Eastern
Possessions, and the French government, not content with the
natural influence of the universal demand for it, have been
endeavouring to stimulate the production by means of premiums and
other artificial advantages.

In forming a coffee plantation, the choice of situation and soil
becomes a consideration of the first importance. A very high
temperature is by no means a favourable condition. If a spot could
be found where the range of the Fahrenheit thermometer did not sink
below 75 degrees, nor rise above 80 degrees, and where the soil was
otherwise suitable, no planter could desire a more favourable
situation. In the mountainous islands of Jamaica and St. Domingo,
the nearest approach to this temperature is found where the
elevation is not less than 2,000, and not more than 3,000 feet above
the level of the sea; and it is most successfully cultivated in the
two islands I have named. The Island of Cuba being much less
mountainous, but at the same time being nearer the tropical limit,
the planter in seeking the degree of heat he requires is forced to
confine himself in a great measure to the northern side of the
island, where, accordingly, we find that the cultivation of coffee
is most successfully carried on.

The vicinity of the _cafetal_ to a convenient place of embarcation,
enters largely, of course, into the consideration of the planter
when choosing a suitable locality. A compact form is also thought
desirable, in order to save the time and labour of the negroes; and
the ordinary extent is about six caballerias, or something less than
200 English acres.

The locality being finally chosen, such open places are formed or
selected, from distance to distance, as may be found most suitable,
in respect to shade and moisture, for the establishment of
convenient nurseries. The fruit which has been gathered in the
beginning of the month of October, and which has been dried in the
shade, is preferred for seed. The seed is sown in drills half a yard
asunder, and introduced, two beans together, by means of a dibble,
into holes two inches deep and ten or twelve inches apart. The
extent of one of these nurseries is generally about 100 yards
square, which, with such intervals as I have mentioned, ought to
contain about 60,000 plants.

A quarter of a _caballeria_, or about eight English acres, is
visually set apart, in a central and convenient position, for the
site of the buildings, and for growing provisions for the use of the
labourers on the future plantation. In favourable seasons it is
found that heavier crops are obtained from coffee trees left wholly
unshaded; but, in the average of two years, it seems to be settled,
in the island of Cuba at least, that a moderate degree of protection
from the scorching rays of the sun produces a steadier, and, upon
the whole, a more advantageous return.

The distribution of the land into right-angled sections, and the
planting of the trees in straight lines, is so contrived as to
favour the future supervision of the labourers much more than from
any strict attention to mere symmetry. The distance of the trees
from each other ought to be regulated by the quality of the soil,
and the degrees of heat and shade they are to enjoy. The ranges from
north to south are usually four yards apart, and those from east to
west not more than three; but the lower the temperature the wider
should be the interval, because in that case the vegetation is more
active and more rapid, and the tree requires a wider space over
which to extend itself.

The best season for planting the trees is the middle of the month of
May, if there be then a sufficient degree of moisture; but the
operation is often performed successfully during the rainy month of
October; subject always to the risk, however, of serious injury to
the young plantation from the north winds which prevail at that
advanced season of the year. The holes prepared to receive the
plants are eighteen inches in diameter, and about two feet deep.

In the island of Cuba there are two rival modes of planting the
coffee tree. The one is called "la siembra à la mota;" the other "la
siembra à la estaca."

By the method "a la mota," a circle is formed around the plant in
the nursery, and care is taken to remove it without disturbing the
earth around the roots. The plants are then placed carefully in
willow baskets, prepared for the purpose, and carried to the holes
already opened for their reception; gathering up the earth around
the stem, and pressing it carefully down with the foot, in such a
manner as to form a basin or filter for the reception of the
rain-water, and for suffering it to percolate among the roots, and
also to provide a convenient place of deposit for the subsequent
application of manure.

The "siembra à la estaca" is differently executed. Such plants are
selected from the nursery as are of the thickness of the little
finger, or from that to an inch in diameter. In withdrawing them
from the ground, great care is taken not to injure or compress the
bulbs or buttons within, eight or ten inches of the level of the
soil, because these are to serve for the production of fresh roots
when the "estaca" is afterwards planted more deeply in its permanent
position. The greater part of the capillary roots are cut away with
a knife; but a few, together with the principal root, are suffered
to remain from four to six inches long. In planting them, from three
to four inches of the trunk are left above ground. The little basin
of earth for the reception and filtration of the rain-water, is not
so large in the stake system of planting as in that with the clod of
earth "à la mota;" but if the soil be poor, it must be
proportionably enlarged to admit the application of the necessary
quantity of manure.

The stake system, requiring much less labour than the other, is
generally preferred; but when there is abundance of shade to protect
the young plant from drought, and always, of course, in replacing
the decayed trees of an old plantation, it is considered more
desirable to remove the whole plant, its roots and branches entire,
with as much as possible of the adhering soil from the nursery,
according to the system "à la mota."

In the third or fourth year of the plantation, the trees, according
to the best system of husbandry, are pruned down to the height of
three feet from the ground on the richest soil, and still lower in
proportion to its sterility. All the branches which are not as
nearly as possible at right angles with the trunk, are likewise
removed by the pruning-knife, so that in the following spring the
whole stem is covered with fresh shoots. By this operation the power
of nature seems to be exhausted, as for that year the trees in
general bear no fruit; but in subsequent seasons the loss is amply
repaid by a crop often greater than the branches can support, or
than the flow of nourishment is always able to bring to full size
and maturity.

The machinery for removing the external pulp of the coffee-bean is
seldom of a very perfect description in this island, and the loss
sustained in consequence is often very considerable. It is almost
uniformly moved by the power of horses or oxen, working in a gin,
and the name it bears is that of the _Descerecador_. The Barbecues,
when the coffee is laid out to dry, are called indiscriminately
_Tendales_ or _Secadores_. They are more numerous and of smaller
dimensions than is customary in the British colonies, where a single
barbecue, laid down with tiles or plaster, is considered sufficient
for a whole estate.

The warehouse for receiving the crop and preserving the coffee after
it is put into bags and ready for the market, is generally of such
limited dimensions as to be barely sufficient for the purposes for
which it is designed; so that, when the harvest has been abundant,
or when anything has occurred to interfere with the despatch of what
is ready for removal, the constant accumulation is attended with
serious inconvenience. In fact, the occupation of the coffee planter
has been for some time on the decline in the island, owing to the
superior rate of profit derived from the making of sugar; and
everything reminds you of it, the _moleno de pilar_, the
_aventador_, and the _separador_, down to the humblest implement of
husbandry on the estate.

The gathering of the fruit commences in Cuba in August; but November
and December are the most active and important months of the
harvests. The labourers are sent out with two baskets each, one
large, the other small. Every labourer has a file of coffee trees
assigned to him; the large basket he leaves near the place where his
work is to begin; the other he carries with him to receive the
berries from the trees; and as often as it is full he empties it
into the large one. The baskets are made of rushes, willows, or
bamboo; and the large one is of such a size that three of them ought
to fill the barrel, without top or bottom, which serves the purposes
of a measure at the _Tendal_ or Secador.

Three baskets, or one barrel-measure, of the newly-gathered coffee
berry, ought to produce thirty pounds after the process of drying,
the removal of the pulp, and the final preparation for the market.
When there is a sufficient number, or a sufficient space of
Barbecues or Secadors, sixty or seventy barrels only are put
together; but from want of room it often happens that the quantity
amounts to a hundred barrels. In either case, the whole is gathered
into two great heaps, and in this state it is allowed to remain for
four-and-twenty hours, in order to subject it to a certain degree of
fermentation. After this, it is spread out to dry over the whole
surface of the Barbecue, and until it is sufficiently so, it remains
there uncovered day and night. When the dessication is found to be
far enough advanced, it is no longer exposed during the night; nor
even during the day, if the weather be damp or unfavorable. The
subsequent operations are certainly not better, probably not so
well, conducted as in our own West India possessions.

In the fourth year, it is presumed that the agricultural produce of
the land, and the first returns of coffee, should be sufficient to
meet all the current expenses. At the end of the fifth year there
ought to be forty thousand coffee trees four years old on the
estate, 60,000 of three years, and 100,000 of two and one year, the
produce of which ought to be at least 400 quintals, which, at a
moderate estimate, should be worth 2,400 dollars. Thus the
calculation goes on until we arrive at the end of the seventh year,
when the estate ought to be in full bearing. The returns are
estimated at 3,000 arrobas, or 750 quintals, which, at eight dollars
per quintal delivered free on board, make 6,000 dollars. The minor
products of the estate, such as Indian corn, pigs, and oil, are
given at 1,130 dollars, making the gross returns 7,130 dollars; and,
after deducting the annual expenses, leaving 5,300 dollars as the
regular return on the capital invested, which, having been about
40,000 dollars, gives about thirteen per cent.; not certainly to be
considered extravagant in a country where twelve per cent, is the
regular rate of interest. The produce of coffee from each section is
given at 400 arrobas, or 3,500 arrobas for the whole of the nine
sections. The average price of coffee, free of the expense of
carriage, is assumed to be two dollars the arroba, or eight dollars
per quintal, which would give a return of 7,200 dollars, besides the
repayment of the rent by the colonists.

The cultivation of coffee has been falling off in Cuba for several years past, the crops it is asserted being too precarious there, and the prices too low to encourage the continuance of planting. On the northern side of the island is where this decrease is most perceptible, several of the largest estates having been converted to the growth of sugar and tobacco, others abandoned to serve as pasture fields, and the very few remaining yielding less and less every year. Henceforward the culture of this berry here is likely to be very insignificant, and not many years will elapse before the amount produced will merely suffice for the local consumption. About St. Jago de Cuba the cultivation is more attended to, the article forming still their principal export. Taking five quinquennial periods, the following figures show the average annual exports of coffee:--

arrobas.
1826 to 1830 1,718,865
1830 " 1835 1,995,832
1835 " 1840 1,877,646
1841 " 1846 1,887,444
1846 " 1851 768,244

The better to exhibit the decrease of production throughout the island, I may state that the export from 1839 to 1841 inclusive, was in the aggregate 1,332,221 quintals; 1842 to 1844, inclusive, was in the aggregate 1,217,666 quintals; 1845 to 1847, inclusive, was in the aggregate but 583,208 quintals. The exports of coffee for the whole island, were, in 1840, 2,197,771 arrobas; in 1841, 1,260,920½ arrobas.

In 1847 there were 2,064 plantations under cultivation with coffee in Cuba, in 1846 there were only 1,670. The production of 1849 was 1,470,754 arrobas, valued at 2,206,131 dollars. From the year 1841 to 1846, the average yearly production was 45,236,100 lbs.; but from 1846 to 1851, it was only 19,206,100 lbs.; showing a falling off of 72 per cent.; the production still further decreased in 1851, it being only 13,004,350 lbs., or 1.52 per cent. less than the preceding year. This enormous decline in the production of coffee has been caused by the low price of the article in the markets of Europe and the United States, coupled with the more remunerative price of sugar, during the same period; causing capitalists rather to invest money in the formation of new sugar estates. As a consequence, many coffee plantations have been turned into cane cultivation; or, being abandoned, the slaves attached thereto were sold or leased to sugar planters.

The following is private information from a correspondent:--

"We generally plant about 200,000 trees within a space of 500 feet,
choosing the strongest soil. I have adopted a different system from
the one generally in use here, for they usually plant the trees too
near each other. I find by giving them space and air, that the plant
develops itself and yields more beans. It is very important to
protect the trees from the rays of the sun, for which purpose I
plant bananas at intermediate rows; their broad leaves, like
parasols, shed a delightful shade round the coffee plant, and tend
to accumulate the moisture which strengthens the roots of the young
tree.

When the tree is about two years old the top branches are lopped off
for the purpose of throwing the sap into the bean. Some planters cut
the trees so short, that they do not allow them to stand more than
five or six feet above the ground; but I allow mine to attain
greater height prior to lopping them, whereby they produce larger
crops. Nor do I allow my negroes to beat the trees, or force them to
pluck a certain quantity a day, for I discovered that they picked
the ripe and unripe beans indiscriminately--frequently injuring the
trees. I only allow them to shake the tree, and pick up the beans
that have fallen during the night."

Coffee exports from the ports of Havana and Matanzas, in Cuba, for the years ending December in