, 1874-04-15
THE CoFrEE-rREE AND COFFEE TEA.

The culture of the Coffee-Tree in Sta. Cruz seems
now to be spreading and Preparations are being made
in manv parts of our island to propagate the plant,
where its cultivation for the sake of the fruit may
not he profitable, as that seems to be subject to GER
tain limitations with regard to soil, elevation and
exposition, but, for the sake Of the leaf 1t mag be
groom ,OhereUer, aUjtbin the tropics, The soil IS Suff-
cientq fertile, and Certainly III St. CrojX, it is in
most places. Should the leaf, then, come into general
use, it wonld lead to new forms of ~husDandry
in many parts of our island, and not only here, but
in the tropical region generally, from many parts Of
which the cOftte-tiee, as a profitable article Of culture,
has been hitherto excluded. The Brazilian Govern
ment is said to be directing lis attention to the subject
and sh ,pments of prepared coffee leaves are announced
to have been already made from that country to Europe.
At present the price OF prepared leaves in Sumatra is
3 cents a-p0nnd, and in thlt island especially, pre-
pared coffee leaves form the only beverage of the
whole population, and, from Their nutritjve qualities,
have become an important necessary of life.
The leaves are roasted over a cloar, smokpless fire,
till they become a brownlsh-buiT colour. They are
then separated from the twigs, the bark If which, after
a second roasting, is rubbed off and used along with
the leaves. In tins state they have an extremely
fragrant udour, resembling that OF a mixture OF tea
and coffee. When immersed into boiling water, they
give a clear brown infusion. which, with sugar and
cream, forms an agreeable beverage, Mr., Ward,
who has been for many years settled at Pedang, in
Sumatra, thus narrales his experience in regard to
The use Of the coffee leaf IN tuat island; eve copy
verbttim from " Johnston's Chemistry of Common
Life.'O
1.-THE natives have Il prejudice against the use Of
water as a beverage, asserting that it does not quench
thirst, or afford the strength and support which the
coffee leaves do. With a little boiled rice and the
infusion of the coffee leaf, a man will support the
labours OF the fled in rce-p an'lnL for days and weeks
successfully, up t. the knees in mud, under a burn
ing sun or d%renching ram, which he could not do by
the use of simple water, or by the a d OF spjrituous or
iermented liquors. have had the opportunity of
observing for twenty years the comparative use OF the
coffee leaf in one class rf natives, aud Of spirituous
liquors in another the native Sumairans using the
former, and the natives of British India, settled here,
the latter; and find that. while the former expose
themselves with impunity to every degree of heat,
cold, and wet, the latter can endure neither wet nor
cold for even a short period, without danger to their
health"
" Engaged myseIfin agriculture, and being in con-
sequence much exposed to the weather, | was in
dnced several years ago, from an occasional use ofthe
coffee leaf, to adopt it as a daily beverage, and my
constant practice has been to take two cups of strong
infusion, with milk, in the evening, as a restorative
after the business of the day. fad from it imme-
date relief from hunger and fatigue. The bodily
strength is increased, and the mind left tor the eve
ming clear and N full possession of its faculties. On
Its first use, and when the leaf has not been sufficient
~ roasted, It's said to produce UlgldRce but am
inclined to think that, where this is the case, it is
rather by adding strength and activity to the mental
faculties, than by inducing nervous excitement. |
do'not recoHect this effect on myself except once, and
that was when the leaf was insuf1iciently roasted.
"As a beverage the natives universally prefer the
leafto the berry, giving as a reason that it contains
more of the bitter principle, and is more nutritious.
In the lowlands, coffee is not planted for the berry, not
being sufficiently productive but, for the leaf, the
people plant it round their houses for their own use,
1t is an undoubted fact that every where they prefer
the leaf to the berry, (PharmacenticaI JonrnaI)."
" In regard to the constituents of the dried coffee
leaf, the agreeable aroma emitted shows that, like
Chinese tea, it contains a volatile oil, which will pro-
baby act upon the system, like the similar oils of tea
and coffee. 1t has been proved also to contain theme
to'the extent of about / per cent (Stenhouse)-a
an %astringent acid closely resembling that which
is found in Paraguay tea. Both of these are present
in it in larger proportion than in the coffee bean and
hence, probably, the reason why the leaf is pre-
ferred to the bean by the natives of Sumatra. These,