Evening star., 1901-10-12

or the very best are in the Praenger or
mountainous provinces of western Java.
Best Java Coffee" L. From Sumatra.
In conversation with some of the chief
American coffee exporters at Batavia 1
was told that the very best Java coffee OF
today comes from Sumatra. 1t is from the
district of Padang and is OF the Arabian
variety. 1t brings a higher price in Ba-
tavia than the best Java sold In our ordl-
nary stores brings at wholesale in New
orh, so that what is sold as pure Java
Tor from 30 to 40 cents a pound in our
stores is in all probability not Java at all
Ihe best Java and the Sumatra Java cost
the wholesalers in New York at least -
cents pound. The exporters here tell me
that more Java coffee is consumed in the
United States alone than is raised in all .he
DutcA East Indies, and this. notwithstand-
ing great deal of the product goes
70 Europe. l was told during my stay in
Brazil that the most of the Java coffee
sold in the United States was really Bra
lillian coffee, and l do not doubt but that
the statement was true.
Notwithstanding this, great deal of pure
Java goes to the United States but it
brings very high prices and 1t is some
times used to flavor other coffee. The pure
article cannot possibly be sold cheau so
when you are told you are getting bar
gain in pure Java coffee don't take 1t.
How Fine Coffee Is Handled.
The finest Sumatra coffee comes from the
descendants of Arabian plants. 1t is very
carefully cultivated and after being picked
is sorted by hand. In the warehouses here
L have seen scores of Javanese girls squat
ting down with basket trays of coffee in
front of them. They handle almost every
grain, putting the small ones into one place
and the larger ones into another, sorting
IT," carefully as though they were
o N
is of rich olive green color. 1t is left for
some time on the floor of the warehouse,
when 1t turns light yellow. No coloring
matter whatever is used, and the coffee is
shipped as pure as it is on a plantation.
The best varieties are sent to New York in
sailing vessels which carry nothing else.
The coffee steams and cures during the
long three months voyage, much i'm
proving its flavor that sailing vessels are
preferred to steamers. Coffee like wine,
improves with age, and up to a certain
limit the older it is the better it is.
Java's Private Coffee Estates.
Some of the private estates of Java are
perhaps more scientifically managed than
any other coffee lands of the world.
At Sinagar a vast plantation near Buiten-
zorg everything connected with the curing
of the coffee is done by machinery. The
trees are most carefully cultivated and the
greatest care taken to produce fine fruit.
saw there one machine which cleans 10000
pounds of coffee in day. 1t reduces the
dried pulp to a powder, but does not in
jure the grain. After this the coffee is fur
ther cleaned in simple tanning mill. One
of these machines costs about $500 in gold.
l should think they would be of great value
in Port Rico.
The private estates are rather increasing
in number. 1t used to be that most of the
crop came from the government plantations,
whereas it is now from the private estates.
Liberian Versus Arabian Coffee.
The finest of the Java coffee, as we know
it, is from plants of Arabian descent. 1t
was this variety that was affected by the
blight. The trees are small, slender and
delicate, coming originally from the hills
of Yemen in Arabia from about the
same region as the Mocha coffee. In
that country the Mocha coffee still
grows, but there is so little of it that
it is safe to say that not grain of it
comes to the United States. Twenty-Five
years ago about ten thousand tons of Mocha
coffee were exported, but it is said that
the production is now not half that, and
that it is all consumed in Mohammedan
households During my stay in Brazil |
saw thousands of bags of coffee which /
was told would be sold Mocha, and l
visited warehouses where there were sort
ing machines, in which the little round
grains were picked out from the rest, to
be put into bags and sold as Mocha.
The coffee most raised in Java today is
the Liberian coffee. 1t is a coarse, large
grained variety. The beans are three times
as large as the real Mocha and they have
a different flavor The Liberian trees are
stronger than any others. They have larger
leaves and they grow thick and stout. They
produce far more than other varieties and
trees have been known to yield sixteen
pounds They will grow at a lower altitude
and in Liberia are found wild not far from
the seashore. This tree has been taken to
Java because it will withstand the blight
and other parasites, and also account
of its prolific bearing. The plantation on
the Island of Jolo has nothing but Liberian
trees, and / understand that there are
large plantations of similar trees nearby in
Borneo. l doubt whether this coffee would
sell we'll in the United States, although
there is n good demand for it in Europe.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER