COFFEA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Cinchonacese. There are several species, viz. C. Arabie,a of Arabia, from which it has been introduced into many countries ; C. Bengalensis, the Bun-kaliwa or wild coffee, whin grows in Assam, Nepal, and the Khassya Hills; C. elliptica, Thwaites, a stnall tree of Ceylon, growing to 10 or 12 feet high in the Hinidoon Corle; C. Guianensis, Auld., of Guiana and Trinidad; C. Mauritiana, Lanz., of Bourbon ; C. Mexicana, D. C., and C. obovata of Mexico; C. Liberica, Bull., of Liberia ; also C. tetrandra of the Khassya moun tains ; and Wight describes C. alpestris, Gru melioides, and Wightiana. The Coffea Arabica trees are now grown in Abyssinia, and in tropical Africa generally ; in Arabia, on the slopes of the Neilgherry Ilills, in the Peninsula of India, at Loltardugga in Bengal; in Ceylon, Siam, Burma, Sumatra, Java, Manilla ; in Queensland, in the Mauritius; in the West India Islands, Central America, Brazil, and Peru. The seeds known as the bean, from the Arabic 'boon,' are the economic product of this tree, and Great Britain obtains its supply of them from many of the above-men tioned countries,—from Ceylon, British India, Brazil, and Central America. In 1880 its imports reached 1,555,939 cwt., valued £7,062,016 ; and 200,802 cwt. were retained for home consumption. In British India, Mysore, and Cochin, there were in 1880, 47,978 coffee plantations, with 162,373 acres under mature plants. The approximate
yield is 33,100,778 lbs.; and the yield per acre of mature plants ranged up to 447 lbs., being smallest in Mysore and highest in the Neilgherries. Seven cwt. per acre have been claimed for the yield occasionally on some of the Coorg estates, but reliable information was fur nished in the fifth issue of the Statistical Tables for British India. In 1879 there were 17,351 estates in British districts, with 62,729 acres under mature plants, and the average yield per acre of mature plants was 325 lbs., the greatest crop being on the Neilghen-ies, where 462 lbs. or 4 cwt. 14 lbs. was the average. The crops per acre in Mysore wero only 14, 22, and 30 lbs. respectively in the Kolar, Hassan, and Shimogali districts. The plantations in these three districta numbered 10,965. and 44,11G acres were under niature plants. The Ktulur district of Mysore had. 13,802 plantations, but the other data are not given. Coorg had 4248 plantations, with 39,150 acres of mature plants, and its yield averaged 32K lbs. In the Feudatory States of Cochin and Tra vancore there were 140 plantations, with 16,340 acres of mature plants, yielding 246 lbs. per acre.