he had just cleared. Finally, the
coffee trees, which had been grown from seedlings, and had remained in
the nurseries for a year, were planted in rows, six or seven feet apart,
under the shelter thus provided for them by the albizzias. The coffee
trees do not bear until their third year. At the fifth year they reach
maturity, and then continue in their prime for as long as ten or fifteen
years. Those grown upon the higher, and therefore cooler, ranges will
sometimes remain in first-rate condition for even a longer time.

H---- gathered a branch to show me the berry. It was like an acorn with
the cup taken off in shape, and of a reddish-brown colour. These berries
are harvested ordinarily at the beginning of the dry monsoon, _i.e._ in
April or May. As the coolies are paid in proportion to the amount they
gather, the whole crop is first of all measured. It is then put into a
pulping-machine, and the husk or outer covering removed. The coffee is
now said to be in the parchment, _i.e._ the two lobes of the bean are
still covered by a parchment-like skin, and in this condition the bean
is washed down into the fermenting-tanks, where it remains for
thirty-six hours. After a final washing, it is dried in the sun in large
wooden trays running on wheels, or else on concrete platforms. Most of
the Javan coffee is sent off to Europe while it is still in the husk, in
order that it may present a better appearance in the European markets.
At Tji Wangi, however, the whole work of preparation was done on the
estate.

As is well known, the civilized world is indebted for its increased
supply of quinine to Mr. Charles Ledger, the naturalist. In a subsequent
chapter I have given Mr. Ledger's interesting account of the manner in
which he succeeded, after various adventures, in the course of which
occurred the death of his faithful Indian servant, Manuel, in procuring
a small quantity of _Cinchona calisaya_ seed from Bolivia, part of which
was sold to the British and part to the Dutch East India Governments. It
is from the nurseries thus formed that the plantations of Java and
Ceylon were stocked.

In Java the cinchona is ordinarily grown by grafting slips from a hybrid
or _Ledgeriana_ of known quality on to the _Succirubra_ stem. The
succirubra grows fast, but yields only a small percentage of quinine;
the hybrid contains from ten to sixteen per cent. of sulphate of
quinine. By this device a combination of quick growth and good bearing