COFFEE GROWING AS A BRITISH INDUSTRY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXV, Issue 1833, 5 May 1903, Page 7

COFFEE GROWING AS A BRITISH INDUSTRY.

— * — The cultivation of the coffee plant in British dominions has now come to be an enter prise of very wide importance, and one that surely deserves the attention of all Englishmen of good mental calibre, who seek for fortunes in legions lying

beyond the seas It is a lucrative industry, as well as an interesting one, as this short article will endeavour to show, and brains more than initial capital is the necessary

adjunct of success. This is specially the case now when vast tracts of suitable soil in different parts of the world remain practically untouched owing to the erroneous impression having got abroad that only in limited latitudes was the propagation of coffee possible. | The coffee shrub indeed will grow in . many and strange places, varying only in output and value ; and it has a happy knack of recompensing by abundant growth where it falls short in quality and vice versa. The writer has seen a hardy species of the family growing wild among rubber tree forests of Brazil, where the Indians use the leaves in preference to the berry, and claim for them virtues too numerous to mention. The Arabian coffee tree, so called, is supposed to bear the most delicately aromatic fruits, and as it is the plant which finds most favor in the eyes of nearly all planters, a brief description of it may not be uninteresting. In its wild state the Caffea Arabica sometiibes attains a height of fully twenty feet, but for the purposes of cultivation it has been thought best, by persistent pruning, to keep it under the eight feet level. By this dwarfing process the branches extend laterally much further than they would otherwise do, ami as a result they arc much more easily tended when the tune for harvesting ,draws near. The tea res arc of the beautiful. evergreen variety, and have a length of six inches and a breadth of about two and a, half. The flowers .which grow in the axils of the leaves, arc of a lovely pale white colour, giving forth a delicious fragrance, 'which (ills the air ■ as a rich perfume. But these blooms arc very evanescent, and in their | room soon come clusters ot cherryi like berries, the seeds of which are garnered, and ultimately exported as the coffee beau of commerce. The fruit is ripe for picking when it begins to lose its round form and fresh aspect; then by various ' “devices the seed may be removed from the pulp, and spread out in the sun to dry, after which they, may be freed from the tough membrancc or “ parchment ” containing t hem by passing through a series of rcvolv-. ing drums or rollers. In Ceylon the “ pulping ” operation is made a wonderfully simple matter ; the berries arc conveyed in a copious flow of water, and discharged upon roughened tables or cylinders, which action quickly brings abo.ut ..•the disintegration of the loose adhering pulp. The plants during the first six months of existence are very fragile, | and to obviate mishap as far as ! possible they are usually sown and reared in nurseries until they attain a height of about sixteen or seventeen inches, when they arc transplanted into the large areas of wellirrigated land reserved for them, I each seedling being' placed at least i six feet distant from its neighbour, i They begin to flower in the second I year, ami in three years come into full bearing, '..and if in favourable circumstances will continue to tear for twenty years. They flourish test in a fairly dry soil and a warm situation, but not too warm. The plant therefore thrives in tropical climes at an elevation of from one to four thousand feet above the see level. Coffee will grow in nearly all countries where cotton is cultivated, and its range may be taken roughly as lying between latitudes degrees North and 25 degrees South. The most recent successful attempts at coffee cultivation have ! been made in British Central Africa I where the conditions are everything that could be desired. Within the last ten years the few plants introduced by the late Mr. John Buchannan, C. M. CL, have increased and multiply" far beyond all expectations, and now the Nyassa Land coffee vies with Mocha and Ceylon brands, and commands a high price because of its sheer merit alone. The indomitable energy of one man brought about this happy result, and what nas been done in face 01 much adverse criticism-and unveiled opposition can surely be repeated by others in those days' of Imperialism and enthusiastic endeavour. The writer would recommend no particular country for the pursuance i of I lie industry. British Central Africa contains room enough for j quite a large but : Queensland and the South Sea Islands also offer many inducements to the pioneer. It is sufficient to say r (.hiit numerous districts throughout j our fur-reaching Empire arc avail- ! able and eminently suited for the I cultivation of this readily marketj able commodity. ! The lucrative nature of the coffee planting industry may not at first I sight appear very tempting, but ' after the initial labor has been expended on the selected area of operations, and a rough estimation made j of the bearing power of the trees, a I clearer vision of the true profits of | the trade is at once apparent. A , plantation may consist of any acreage up to several hundreds of acres, and one acre well planted should contain nearly a thousand shrubs ; therefore though the product of a single plant may be insignificant enough, it requires little calculation to show that a two hundred acre patch should provide a fairly substantial income, even were each shrub only worth a few pence a year Coffee “parchment” (as the unshredded seeds are called) usually varies in price from £5 to £6 per cwt... and an acre generally yields aboat scwt of this material ; so it. follows Lii»t a fair sized reserve

j should give an annual output about worth £5,000. Deducting all charges for freightage to the London market, and expenses of native labour employed—which latter is never, by any means, a large item —there still remains a very handsome profit on the year's transaction ; and this may be increased from year to year as more lands are taken under cultivation. . -