The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom / Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

by P. L. Simmonds

On the hilly districts on the east coast of the Gulf of Siam, the cultivation is carried on on a limited scale. The annual produce is not much more than about 400 cwt., although it is understood to be increasing. The quality of the berry is reckoned to be nearly equal to Mocha, and it commands a high price in the English market.

The soil recommended in India is a good rich garden land, the situation high and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered to the north-west, or in such other direction as the prevailing storms are found to come from.

A plantation, or a hill affording the shrubs shade, has been found beneficial in all tropical climates, because, if grown fully exposed to the sun, the berries have been found to be ripened prematurely.

The spot should be well dug to a depth of two feet before the trees are planted out, and the earth pulverised and cleared from the roots of rank weeds, but particularly from the coarse woody grasses with which all parts of India abound.

The best manure is found in the decayed leaves that fall from the trees themselves, to which may be added the weeds produced in the plantation, dried and burnt. These, then, dug in, are the only manure that will be required. Cow-dung is the best manure for the seed-beds.

The seed reserved for sowing must be put into the ground quite fresh, as it soon loses its power of germination. Clean, well-formed berries, free from injury by insects, or the decay of the pulp, should be selected.

These berries must be sown in a nursery, either in small, well-manured beds, or in pots in a sheltered spot, not too close, as it is well to leave them where sown until they acquire a good growth; indeed, it is better if they are removed at once from the bed where they are sown, to the plantation. Here they should be planted as soon as they have attained two years of age, for, be it remembered, that if they are left too long in the nursery, they become unproductive and never recover. The distance at which they should be put out in the plantation need not exceed eight feet apart in the rows, between which, also, there should be eight feet distance. The seedlings appear in about a month after the seed is sown.

The culture requisite is, in the first instance, to afford shade to the young plants; many consider that this shelter should be continued during the whole period of their culture; but this is somewhat doubtful, as it has been found that plants so protected are not such good bearers as those which are exposed. The best plants for this purpose are tall, wide-branching trees or shrubs, without much underwood. The other culture requisite is only to keep the ground tolerably clean from weeds, for which one cooly on from five to ten biggahs is sufficient. He should also prune off decayed or dead branches. This treatment must be continued until the fourth year, when the trees will first begin bearing, and, after the gathering of each crop, the trees will require to be thinned out from the superabundant branches, their extremities stopped, and the tops reduced to prevent their growing above seven or eight feet in height; the stems, also, should be kept free from shoots or suckers for the height of at least one foot, as well as clear from weeds.

Irrigation must be frequent during the first year that the plants are removed to the plantation, and may be afterwards advantageously continued at intervals during the dry and hot weather, as a very hot season is found unfavorable to the plant, drying up and destroying the top branches and the extremities of the side shoots; whilst, on the other hand, a very long rain destroys the fruit by swelling it out and rotting it before it can be ripened: hence it is necessary to attend to a good drainage of the plantation, that no water be anywhere allowed to lodge, as certain loss will ensue, not only of the crop of the current year, but most frequently of the trees also, as their roots require to be rather dry than otherwise.

The crop will be ready to gather from October to January, when the ripe berries should be carefully picked from the trees by hand every morning, and dried in the shade, the sun being apt to make them too brittle; they must be carefully turned to prevent fermentation, and when sufficiently dry the husks must be removed, and the clean coffee separated from the broken berries. After being picked out and put aside, and then again dried, it is fit to pack. The first year's crop will be less than the succeeding ones, in which the produce will range from ½ a lb. to 1 lb. in each year.—(Simmonds's "Colonial Magazine," vol. xv.)