In the year 1784, the cultivation of coffee was intro duced into the Spanish possessions in eastern Terra Fir ma, by D. Barthelemy Blandin, who began plantations in the valley of Chacao, within a league of Caraccas. Dr Sligo followed the example of Blandin, and in a short time this new branch of cultivation was adopted in the valley of Aragoa, and throughout all the provinces. In consequence of the war with England, from 1793 to 1801, when the commerce of South America was de stroyed by the English cruizers, the culture of cacao, which does not keep for more than ten months, was in a great measure abandoned by the planters, and that of coffee substituted in its room.
On the Cultivation of Coffee.
The coffee plant may be advantageously cultivated within 30 leagues of the equator, where the temperature is never lower than 10° or 12° of Reaumur. The soil should be new and free, and a little elevated, so that the tropical heats may be moderated by the rains. Land composed of hard and cold clay, or light and sandy ground on a bed of marl, should be particularly avoided, as it makes the leaves of the plant turn yellow, and the plant itself either perishes, or becomes barren. In Ara bia the soil is rocky, dry, and hot, and in Batavia it is rich and deep. The plantation should be exposed as little as possible to the north, and should be protected from the salt air of the sea, which withers the coffee.
As soon as the land is well cleaned, holes are made for receiving the plant, at such a distance as the planter thinks proper. The plants are generally placed in pa rallel rows, though it has been suggested as more er co nomical to plant them in triangles. It was generally the custom to place the plants at the distance of four or five feet in every kind of soil ; but it has now been found from experience, that this distance should be increased when the soil is more fertile, and that in poor lands it should not be less than 4 feet, and never below 8 feet in the most fertile. The depth of the holes should always be increased with the depth of the vegetable mould, the roots never being permitted to penetrate to the stony ground. In St Domingo, M. Bruley, an eminent colo nial proprietor, planted coffee grains at 6 inches distance in a quincunx, in soil prepared for that purpose. When the plants were ready to be transplanted, the ground was well watered, so that when the plant was taken up, its roots were surrounded with earth. In this state they
were placed in the holes. The effects of the scorching heat of the torrid zone upon the soil, were tempered by heaping flints round the plants, and by this means a freshness was preserved in the soil even in the driest seasons. The plantations which M. Bruley reared in this manner produced coffee trees, which were hand comer, stronger, and yielded sooner than those of his neighbours.• The young plants should be two feet high before they are taken from the nursery. They must be covered with earth two inches above their roots, and cut at ten inches above the surface of the earth, leaving nothing but the stem. The best season for planting coffee is before the rains, and it is of great importance that the plants should be lopped off at a certain height, depending on the na ture of the soil. In the best kind, they should be trim med at four or five feet from the ground, and in the poor est land at 21 feet. The planters of Terra Firma, in general, allow only a height of four feet to the plants. There are many, however, who do not trim them at all, and who permit them to attain their full growth, which is about 25 feet.
During the first two years, the coffee plants must be carefully freed from weeds, and this should be clone by the hand rather than with the hoe. Other vegetables may be raised, without any disadvantage, between the rows of coffee plants. In the second year, the plants yield a light crop ; and in the third year they are in full bearing. In Terra Firma, each plant yields about pounds of coffee ; in Jamaica 11 pound ; and in St Do mingo 1 pound. According to Humboldt, each plant yields in a good soil one kilogramme of coffee, and 960 of them may be planted on a hectare of ground. Ex cepting at the season of blossoming, the plants require much rain, and care must be taken to preserve them from insects and weeds.
As soon as the coffee is ripe, it is the custom in Ara bia to spread large linen cloths below the trees, which are shaken from time to time, to detach the ripe cher ries from the branches. The fruit gathered in this man ner is dried in the sun upon mats, which are made to imbibe their moisture. The dry envelope is then re moved from the fruit, by means of a large stone cylin der. The fruit is again placed in the sun, till it is com pletely free of every particle of moisture. It is then winnowed, and packed up in bales.