ds and Madagascar are
known as caffein-free coffee trees. Just whether they are entitled to
this classification or not is a question. Some of the French and German
investigators have reported coffee from these regions that was
absolutely devoid of caffein. It was thought at first that they must
represent an entirely new genus; but upon investigation, it was found
that they belonged to the genus _Coffea_, to which all our common
coffees belong. Professor Dubard, of the French National Museum and
Colonial Garden, studied these trees botanically and classified them as
_C. Gallienii_, _C. Bonnieri_, _C. Mogeneti_, and _C. Augagneuri_. The
beans of berries from these trees were analyzed by Professor Bertrand
and pronounced caffein-free; but Labroy, in writing of the same coffee,
states that, while the bean is caffein-free, it contains a very bitter
substance, cafamarine, which makes the infusion unfit for use. Dr. O.W.
Willcox[98], in examining some specimens of wild coffee from Madagascar,
found that the bean was not caffein-free; and though the caffein content
was low, it was no lower than in some of the Porto Rican varieties.

Hartwich[99] reports that Hanausek found no caffein in _C. mauritiana_,
_C. humboltiana_, _C. Gallienii_, _C. Bonnerii_, and _C. Mogeneti_.

_Fungoid Disease of Coffee_

The coffee tree, like every other living thing, has specific diseases
and enemies, the most common of which are certain fungoid diseases where
the mycelium of the fungus grows into the tissue and spots the leaves,
eventually causing them to fall, thus robbing the plant of its only
means of elaborating food. Its most deadly enemy in the insect world is
a small insect of the lepidopterous variety, which is known as the
coffee-leaf miner. It is closely related to the clothes moth and, like
the moth, bores in its larval stage, feeding on the mesophyl of the
leaves. This gives the leaves an appearance of being shriveled or dried
by heat.

[Illustration: AN EIGHTEEN-MONTHS'-OLD COFFEA QUILLOU TREE IN BLOSSOM]

There are three principal diseases, due to fungi, from which the coffee
plants suffer. The most common is known as the leaf-blight fungus,
_Pellicularia tokeroga_, which is a slow-spreading disease, but one that
causes great loss. Although the fungus does not produce spores, the
leaves die and dry, and are blown away, carrying with them the dried
mycelium of the fungus. This mycelium will start to grow as soon as it
is suppli