Cultivation of the Coffee Plant [pp. 323-329]

CULTIVA TION OF THE COFFEE PLANT.
time of harvesting is, however, different
in different parts of Central America,
and is regulated by the seasons. There
is a difference of about three months between the harvest-time in Costa Rica
and that in Guatemala.
It remains to describe the seed-sowing,, plant-raising, and culture of the
tree when in permanent position, as conducted in Central America.
A piece of rich ground, convenientlythat is, centrally-situated on the proposed plantation, is cleared and prepared for the formation of a seedling-bed
(semi/llero). Shallow drills about one
and a half or two inches deep, and from
six to nine inches apart, are then marked out, and the coffee- beans, with the
shell or husk on, are placed in them
about one inch apart. The seed is merely laid, or rather pressed, on the ground,
without being covered with earth. This
method is sufficient to allow of the root
taking hold, and greatly facilitates the
escape of the first two leaves from the
husk, which is carried upward, and
thrown off from them about three or four
inches from the ground. The ripe coffee-fruit is very like a cherry in appearance; it is of a dark-red color, and contains two berries or beans as they appear
when prepared for market. These beans,
lying close together, their flat sides adjacent to each other, are contained in an
external covering called the pulp, which
possesses a large proportion of sacchlarine matter. Each bean, moreover, has,
independent of its fellow, two other
distinct coverings; the one a fine skin
adhering closely to it, and the other a
kind of thin, detached shell, in which the
bean lies quite loose when dried. In
preparing the seed for the ground, the
ripe fruit is selected, and the two beans
which each berry contains are separated; the external pulpy wrapper, common
to both, being broken, but the internal
shell pertaining to each bean being left
intact. The seed requires from five to
six months to germinate and to come
up, and in Guatemala is sown in September or October, so that the young
plants may be well out of the ground
before the following rainy season. If
sown at the beginning of the wet season,
(April or May) the heavy rain frequently
destroys the plant.
From the semillero the young plants
are transplanted, and removed to what
may be called the nursery-ground (alnmaciga), at periods of eight, ten, or
twelve months from the date of sowing.
Here the plants are placed at a distance
of from sixteen to eighteen inches apart,
from centre to centre, and remain in this
position from eighteen to twenty - four
months, according to circumstances and
their own health and vigor. In rich and
strong soil, plants that have been two
years in the almaciga frequently begin
to blossom and produce berries. The
alnacigos, as a general rule, get on better under a certain degree of shade,
which is obtainable from the plantain or
other fast-growing plant.
Of good coffee-seed, sown in the above
described manner, not more than seventy-five per cent. germinates. In order
to secure sufficient plants for an estate of
say ioo,ooo trees, 150,000ooo or even 200,ooo are transplanted from the seedlingbed to the nursery-ground, so that the
strongest and healthiest maybe selected.
The young plants are transplanted to
their permanent position at the beginning of the rainy season. Should showers fail to fall within two, three, or four
days after transplantation, artificial irrigation is resorted to if possible. The
operation of transplanting requires considerable practical knowledge to insure
success.
A plantation, whenever it is practicable, is laid out in rectangular plats, I95
varas long by ninety-five varas wide, leaving passages or drives of five varas width
between the plats throughout the estate.
The trees are planted in these plats at a
I874.]
327