The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1882-02-01
Extracts frem the Report ef the
Trinidad Botanic GardeRS.
GCO1ati1eued.

Altogether the Liberiar Coffee is
beautiful tree. Its stately form, rich
foliage and general vigor being
strongly expressive of its superiority
above its fellows-at least on the
same level. Its pure white, highly
fragrant, and thickly clustered Gar
denia like flowers make it one Of the
most charming objects, bat like its fell
low thee. drd6icG its flowers last but
"a hours. Unlike it, however, as to
the time of iowering-tor il has a
tull autumn as well as spring flowers
ing, aud at both seasons there is more
or less SucceSSi0nal towering-the
ecte'at of this apparently dependin g
on the amount of fruit with which
the tree may be already burdened.
There does not appear to be any
uncertainty with the Liberian Coffee
in respect OF the setting of the fruit
as exists with the e. ara6ica even at
elevations at which it appears to be
most perfectly at home. The num-
Der of fruits to follow the flowers APP,
pearing to depend entirely on the
strength OF the tree to carry them.
This character tends most largely
to assure TO the Liberian the palm
for productiveness.
Owing to this capacity for fruits
tulness at various seasons, both flow
ers and berries-and those, too, ripe
are often to be seen on the tree at
the same time, as however the chief
Towering occurs December to Feb~
ruary, the berries are as rule suts
ficiently ripe-if not fully colored
before The great outburst of flowers,
they can, as indeed they should at all
times be removed before the opening
OF new flowers.
The uncertainty of the blossom
Setting" fruit in the case of Cofea
erabica is only too we'll known-even
in CeYlon, at what is regarded as
suitable elevation. 1t is still greater
in the West Indies at necessarily
very low level, but at this same level
the Liberian is uniformly fruitful /;
and hereby as no:ed from the first,
lies its chief usefulness and value.
What is now wanted is hybrid that
will possess the character Of produc>
tiveness at low level combined with
the superior substance and flavor OF
the bean OF Cofe0 0ra6ic0. The at
tainment of such variety would on
ly result from much patience and
skill, but n is not too much to hope
tor.
1t is found that on trees more or
less shaded the berries take much
longer time to ripen, and are much
! less highly colored than on trees
FUZZY exposea-on which indeed the
ripening with high coloring occurs
a month or six weeks earlier
The berries produced on young
vigorous trees are often over an inch
through lengthwise, but the beans
are not SO much larger in proportion
to those OF the q. ara6ic0, nor than
the beans borne In smaller berries
either on the same or older trees-on
which indeed the berries are invari-
ably of diminished size and at the
same time of greater uniformity. l
have not found in any case that an
increased size of the berry is accom-
panied with an appreciably larger
bean.
1 observe that The fruit on the older
trees is not only smaller than on
younger trees, but the pulp is much
thinner and generally OF more sat-
isfactory character to the cultivator,
it then agrees very nearly as To size
with the cherry" of the Cofea ara
6ica, and proves much more suscepti.
BILE of drying in the ''cherry" state,
In the manner | find it is dealt with
in Liberia.
The outer or pulp. part OF the
Liberian Coffee berry is extremity
tough and hard and suggests some
difficulty in extracting the beans
theretrom.
There is also an Objectionable stick
mess in the mucilaglnous covering of
the parchment which greatly inter
feres with rapid Smelling from the
fresh pulp. .....,.
In the lace of this and the fact that
the entire fruit can be readily dried
into Cracking" it would appear
that the method OF preparing the Ii