winds have blown them all away.

[Illustration: COFFEA ARABICA, FLOWER AND FRUIT--COSTA RICA]

But here, the winter winds are not to blame: the soft, gentle breezes of
the perpetual summer have wrought the havoc, leaving, however, a not
unpleasing picture of dark, cool, mossy green foliage.

The flowers are beautiful, but the eye of the planter sees in them not
alone beauty and fragrance. He looks far beyond, and in his mind's eye
he sees bags and bags of green coffee, representing to him the goal and
reward of all his toil. After the flowers droop, there appear what are
commercially known as the coffee berries. Botanically speaking, "berry"
is a misnomer. These little fruits are not berries, such as are well
represented by the grape; but are drupes, which are better exemplified
by the cherry and the peach. In the course of six or seven months, these
coffee drupes develop into little red balls about the size of an
ordinary cherry; but, instead of being round, they are somewhat
ellipsoidal, having at the outer end a small umbilicus. The drupe of the
coffee usually has two locules, each containing a little "stone" (the
seed and its parchment covering) from which the coffee bean (seed) is
obtained. Some few drupes contain three, while others, at the outer ends
of the branches, contain only one round bean, known as the peaberry. The
number of pickings corresponds to the different blossomings in the same
season; and one tree of the species _arabica_ may yield from one to
twelve pounds a year.

[Illustration: YOUNG COFFEA ARABICA TREE AT KONA, HAWAII]

In countries like India and Africa, the birds and monkeys eat the ripe
coffee berries. The so-called "monkey coffee" of India, according to
Arnold, is the undigested coffee beans passed through the alimentary
canal of the animal.

[Illustration: SURVIVORS OF THE FIRST LIBERIAN COFFEE TREES INTRODUCED
INTO JAVA IN 1876]

The pulp surrounding the coffee beans is at present of no commercial
importance. Although efforts have been made at various times by natives
to use it as a food, its flavor has not gained any great popularity, and
the birds are permitted a monopoly of the pulp as a food. From the human
standpoint the pulp, or sarcocarp, as it is scientifically called, is
rather an annoyance, as it must be removed in order to procure the
beans. This is done in one of two ways. The first is known as the dry
method, in which the entire fruit is allowed to dry, and is then cr