COFFEE

is much cultivated in Arabia. The shrub is from 15 to 20 feet in height, the flowers being white and sweet scented. The fruit contains two cells, and each cell contains a single coffee bean. A pound of coffee is generally more than the produce of one tree. The best comes from Mocha, on the Red Sea, but mos: comes from J ava and Central and South America, especially Brazil. The tree grows best at an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea and, as it is grown so largely for export, the best situation; for a coffee plantation is a low mountain range near a coast which po e es good harbours. But, as the plant requires also great heat and a considerable amount of moisture, ancTas the soil ought to be rich in decayed vegetation, the best sites will be further limited to a forest-clad range in the tropics, and exposed to the Trade Winds. All these qualifications are po e ed by the seaward slopes of the Serrado Mar, and, therefore, Rio de Janeiro and Santos are the two Ayres, in the whole of South America. The drink was introduced into England in 1652 by a Turkish merchant. The Asiatic way of preparing coffee is by pounding, not grinding, the beans; ana, in Arabia, spicing (generally saffron) is always used with it instead of sugar and cream.