Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-09
Coffee.
Its GrOwth-HOyv the Berry is Formed
 Its Preparation for Use.

Its GrOwth-IIo1v the Berry is Formed Its Preparation for Use. From the N. Y. Journal of Commsrcel The United States furnish the best market l in the world for this most valuable produc- l ton. We had read with more or less atten- 1 tion the history of coffee and the methods of | cultivation, but not until we had beautiful 1 tree in our conservatory, grown frQkn berry of our planting, did we understand the des- | cription or realize the extent of the popular ignorance in regard to it. The stately shrub | passed through several years of growth, changing it's position from the greenhouse in winter to the shaded lawn in summer, before it condescended to become fruitful. The foliage is very beautiful, the evergreen, leathery leaves being oblong ovate. three or four inches in length. growing in pairs from opposite sides of the branch and of beauti- ful lustre, as if they had been vanished. The blossoms spring out from the axils of
 the leaves, making their first appearance as
 tiny white spear nearly an inch long
 standing up at right-angles with the branch and when open are remarkably fragrant
 They are each of them frail and short-lived
 however,. seldom lasting for more than
 twenty-four hours. A plantation must be
 very beautiful thus suddenly donning this snow-white apparel to contrast with the rich green of the foliage Just around the angle
 of the leaf and branch the blossoms cluster,
 and soon change into the tiny beginning of the promised fruit.
 We cannot recall single visitor, not
 familiar with a coffee plantation, who did not express surprise at the character of the growth. They all supposed that the coffee
 berry grew in & pod like beans or peas, and could not realize until they saw 1t that the product of the tree was delicious fruit like 8 cherry, although with thinner pulp. and that the berry it carried in couplets was the pit of fruit like sscherry stone" to be obtained only after the fruit had ripened and wasted.
 Sometimes single blossom and fruit ap- pears at the axl of each leaf, but more ire quently they are found in clusters containing three or four on each side of the branch. They are little oblong but in other respects resemble small cherry in appearance, being first green. then pale red, and when ripe reddish purple. They are sweet, perhaps little insipid to some tastes, but very palata- ble.
 In tropical countries the tree is ''toppedn to keep the branches within convenient dis tance from the ground, and eight to ten feet is the average height permitted If allowed, the tree would grow to the height of twenty feet, with but few lateral branches. In dry climates irrigation H necessary, and in Brazil the plants often shaded by large forest trees, as better quality is obtained by little protection from the sun. The trees blossom there for eight months in the year, frdit being constantly forming, and there are usually three pickings within the twelve months.
 tree will produce from two to six pounds per annum, and will bear for twenty-five years although they are usually cut down at the end of fifteen years. A field hand will pick about thirty-two pounds day. As a rule no attempt is made to separate the ''seeds'' from the fruit at the moment of picking. The fruit is placed on mats or large floors to dry, and is frequently stirred to prevent injury. When dry it is passed between heavy rollers, which crush the dried skin and pulp and release the berries. Each berry is inclosed in thin yellow membrane, which is very brittle when dried.
 The two berries are in separate cells, their fiat sides together. If one berry becomes abortive the other grows round and fills both cavities. Such round berries are frequently found in nearly every parcel of coffee. If one of these round berries is planted and vegetates it will produce tree that bears fruit with only round berries, and the some what celebrated 'tPea berry, or Maleberry coffee is thus obtained.
 The leaf of the tea plant (which we have also raised from seed) is not unlike that of the coffee tree, and the active principle of both is the same. The theine of tea and the caffeine of coffee are identical, and the latter, as may not be generally known, is found in still greater strength in the dried leaves of the coffee tree (prepared like teal than in the coffee berry itself. In Asia the