The Philippine Agricultural Review Part 6

While it cannot be said that the Philippines have ever grown coffee on a scale that made it an important factor in the world's market, yet, before the advent of the coffee blight, coffee growing, from a Philippine point of view, was an industry of considerable magnitude and unquestionably of great promise. However, in the Philippines as in other parts of the eastern Tropics, the blight destroyed the coffee industry, and while in the last few years previous to the appearance of the blight there was an average annual export of about 7,000 tons of coffee, valued at P4,000,000, in 1913 the Philippines produced only 113,031 kilograms of Arabian coffee with an average production of 174 kilograms per hectare, the coffee imports during the same period amounting to 1,138,781 kilograms, valued at P816,744. The leading coffee-producing provinces of the Archipelago were, during 1913, the Mountain, 42,066 kilograms; Moro, 31,040 kilograms; Nueva Vizcaya, 5,792 kilograms; and Batangas, 5,319 kilograms. Varying quant.i.ties of coffee, less than 5,000 kilograms in any one, were produced in each of the remaining provinces, excepting Agusan, Bataan, Batanes, Ilocos Sur, Leyte, Pampanga, and Surigao, where coffee is not grown.

From a study of the coffee situation in the Eastern Hemisphere it is evident that Arabian coffee will never again become of importance in this part of the world, including of course the Philippines. However, it seems that a satisfactory subst.i.tute has been discovered in the robusta coffee. This variety, while not immune to the blight, is so resistant to the effects thereof that the disease ceases to affect the profits of the crop, or at least very slightly.

This and other reasons, which will be explained later, have resulted in the planting of robusta coffee on a very large scale in Java and adjacent Dutch possessions, and the reports relative to this variety are such as to recommend it to the serious consideration of Philippine planters. The present paper has been prepared with a view of meeting the almost daily requests that reach this Bureau for information on the subject of coffee, and particularly to give some information relative to the robusta coffee, with which practically all planters in the Archipelago are unfamiliar. It might perhaps be well to state that propagation, handling of the plants from the seed bed to the plantation, culture, etc., are the same for both Arabian and robusta coffee, except where so stated.

Arabian Coffee.

The decrease in the cultivation of coffee and the present status thereof in the Philippines show conclusively that Arabian coffee cannot be profitably grown here below an alt.i.tude of 800 meters. At and above this elevation the climate is so favorable for the growth of the plant that when kept in good condition it is capable of resisting the attack of the blight sufficiently to yield a profitable crop. Nevertheless, the planting of Arabian coffee on a large scale is not recommended even here, because the disease is everywhere present, waiting for a favorable opportunity to spread, and a drought, typhoon, or in fact anything that would devitalize the plants, would be sure to render them liable to a severe attack that might wipe out an entire plantation or district.

It is true that Arabian coffee grows below an alt.i.tude of 800 meters; in fact, coffee bushes are found at sea level, but a prospective investor should always remember that there is a very great difference between being able to merely grow coffee and to produce it in such quant.i.ties that its cultivation becomes profitable. This cannot be done at a low elevation. It is perhaps well to state here that exhaustive experiments have so far failed to yield a fungicide or spray by which the coffee blight can be satisfactorily controlled in the field.

Everything considered then, only in certain districts of the Mountain Province and on the table lands of Mindanao may Arabian coffee be successfully and profitably cultivated to any considerable extent.

Robusta Coffee.

Robusta coffee in Java.--When the blight appeared in Java, coffee growing was one of the most important industries in that island, and after the plantations had been destroyed by the disease, the Dutch Government, having failed to control the blight by repressive measures, inst.i.tuted investigations with a view of discovering a blight-resistant coffee, in the course of which work several species were introduced and tested. Among these were Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica) and robusta coffee, considered by Wildeman to be a variety of Coffea canephora.

Robusta coffee was discovered in the Belgian Congo, and seeds were sent to Brussels, Belgium, and propagated, where plants were first offered for sale in 1901. Some of these plants found their way to Java. Like most new introductions the robusta coffee was at first looked upon rather askance, but as its greater climatological range as compared with that of Arabian coffee, and its productivity, precocity, and resistance to the coffee blight (Hemileia vastatrix) became apparent, it rapidly gained popularity--so rapidly in fact that the Javanese coffee plantations today consist almost entirely of robusta coffee. The fact that in 1909 the total crop of robusta coffee was only 183,000 kilograms, and that in 1911 9,650,000 kilograms were produced, with an estimated yield of 16,000,000 kilograms for 1912, and that during the period from 1907 to 1911, 24,521,000 robusta coffee plants were planted, is ample proof of its popularity in the Dutch East Indies.

Introduction into the Philippines.--Robusta coffee has not been introduced into the Philippines to any extent. Bearing trees are reported from Basilan, near Zamboanga, and a few plants are also growing at the Lamao experiment station in Bataan. The latter are in good condition with no indication of blight.

Soil and climate.--Robusta grows well from sea level to an alt.i.tude of 1,000 meters, doing best at an elevation ranging from 450 to 750 meters.

Less particular than Arabian coffee, the robusta thrives well on both light and heavy soils provided they have the necessary fertility. However, good drainage is essential for a good growth and therefore robusta should not be planted on sticky and very heavy, water-holding soils. Poor and sandy soils should also be avoided. This variety is also somewhat sensitive to drought and should be planted only where the rainfall is fairly evenly distributed, and where the dry season is of comparatively short duration. Generally speaking, where the soil conditions are favorable, the cacao, abaca, and coconut growing districts of the Archipelago are perhaps better adapted than other sections to the culture of robusta coffee.

Culture.

Propagation.--The place selected for seedbed and nursery should be well drained, with a loamy soil, the richer in humus the better. A light bamboo frame should be erected above the nursery plot about 2.5 meters high, and covered with gra.s.s or split bamboo to provide about half shade. The land should be spaded thoroughly to a depth of 30 centimeters, and all stones, roots, etc., removed. One meter is a convenient width for seed and plant beds.

The seeds should be sown broadcast, not too thick, covered with not more than 1 centimeter of earth, and then watered thoroughly. Hereafter the seedbed should be well watered from time to time whenever the soil appears dry. Frequent light sprinklings that do not allow the water to penetrate more than a few millimeters below the surface are harmful rather than beneficial both in the seedbed and the nursery, in that they encourage a shallow root formation.

As soon as the first leaves are fully expanded the seedlings should be transplanted to the nursery beds, which should be prepared like the seedbed. If the land is poor it is well to spade in a liberal quant.i.ty of well-decayed manure or compost. The plants should be taken up carefully, the taproot nipped off with the thumb nail, and then transplanted with the aid of a pointed stick or small dibber s.p.a.cing them 10 to 15 centimeters apart each way. In doing this care should be taken that the roots are not doubled up in the hole and that the soil is well packed around them. More plants should never be removed at one time from the seedbed than can be conveniently transplanted before they show signs of wilting, and the dug plants should not be left exposed until the roots dry out. The plants should be thoroughly watered before and after transplanting, and the beds kept free from weeds and watered as often as necessary.

Clearing and planting.--Wherever possible, the land to be planted in coffee should be stumped, and plowed once or twice, so that after the plants have been set out animal-drawn cultivators can be used to keep down the weeds. Thus the cost of weeding is lessened during the early years of the plantation while the plants are small. If plowing is not feasible holes 1 meter in diameter and at least 30 centimeters deep should be grubbed where the plants are to be set.

On moderately rich land robusta coffee should be planted 2.1 meters apart each way, 2,265 plants to the hectare; on very fertile land the distance may be increased to 2.5 meters, or 1,600 plants to the hectare.

Arabian coffee should be s.p.a.ced from 2 to 2.5 meters apart or on poor lands even closer.

When the plants are 4 to 5 months old they should be about 20 centimeters tall and ready for transplanting. About one-half of the foliage should now be cut off; a trench should be dug at the end of the nursery bed about 20 centimeters or more deep; then a thin, sharp spade or bolo (cutla.s.s) should be pa.s.sed through the soil, underneath and around the plant, neatly severing all straggling roots, and leaving the plant in the center of a ball of earth. The plants should be set out in the field at the same depth at which they grew in the nursery, great care being taken not to break the ball. If the soil is so loose that it falls away from the roots in the removal from the nursery, great care should be exercised in not allowing the roots to dry out and in setting out the plant so that the roots fall in a natural position. In the course of the planting the soil should be firmly packed about the roots.

The sowing of the seed in a given locality should be so timed that the plants are ready for transplanting at the beginning of the rainy season in order to avoid the expense of artificial watering. If transplanted during the dry season the plants necessarily would have to be watered by hand from time to time until they are established.

Plants for shade.--As a temporary shade and cover crop of rapid growth while the coffee trees are small, perhaps no plant can compete with the cadios (Caja.n.u.s indicus). The plants may be cut down to serve as mulch whenever they grow too high, and may be expected to grow from the stubble twice before the plants die, provided they are not cut off too close to the ground.

In Java, where robusta coffee is more extensively planted than anywhere else, permanent shade is considered advisable. Malaganit (Leucaena glauca), a leguminous shrub which grows everywhere in the Philippines, seems to be preferred there to other plants for shade. It is planted alternately with the coffee plants and, as is the case with all plants utilized for shade, thinned out later according to need. Madre de cacao (Gliricidia maculata) and dapdap (Erythrina indica and E. sub.u.mbrans) are other leguminous trees readily obtainable in most localities and are adapted for shade.

Madre de cacao should be planted at the same distance as the malaganit while the dapdap should be planted one plant to every two coffee trees. All these plants are readily propagated by cutting off limbs or branches 1 to 1.2 meters long and inserting them 20 to 30 centimeters deep in the ground during the rainy season. (This is most conveniently done by the aid of a crowbar.) In a limited way fruit trees, such as the soursop, custardapple, breadfruit, and jak may also be used as shade, and these should be planted from 6 to 12 meters apart according to size. The necessary shading between these trees while they are small may be provided by planting malaganit, etc.

Robusta coffee has also been successfully interplanted with coconuts. In this case the palms and coffee should of course be planted at the same time, the palms perhaps not closer than 9 to 10 meters apart, the coffee to be used as a "filler" between the coconuts. In this connection it is perhaps well to state that in Java robusta coffee is very frequently planted as a "catch crop"

in the Hevea rubber plantations. Among the shade plants available to the Philippine planter, malaganit, dapdap, and "guango," or raintree (Pithecolobium saman), have given the best results in Java for the robusta with the following ratio yield of coffee: 4.75, 4.10, and 3.06.

Cultivation.--On level and well-cleared land, close attention should be paid to keeping the coffee plantation free from weeds during the first year or two by means of animal-drawn shallow cultivators, supplemented with hand-hoeing. Where the topography of the land or the presence of stumps renders this impossible the weeding must of course be done by hand. All weeds should be left in the field where they serve both as a mulch in preserving the moisture and to enrich the soil. As soon as the plants begin to shade the land they thereby aid in the weed eradication, and weeding then becomes less expensive.

Pruning.--If the trees are allowed to grow without pruning they become too tall (robusta coffee attains a height of 6 meters or more), and the topmost berries are then difficult to pick. Furthermore unpruned coffee trees (including robusta), have the peculiar habit of bearing their branches near the ground and at the top, leaving the middle bare or nearly so which decreases the producing capacity of the plant. On this account up-to-date planters have generally adopted a system of pruning by which the coffee trees are headed low, giving a maximum yield coupled with easy access to the berries.

The pruning consists of topping the robusta trees when they are from 2 to 2.5 meters tall and of subsequent pruning to keep the trees at this height. This work should preferably be done while the plants are of the proper height and the green shoots easily broken off, and not after the trees have exceeded the height limit by several decimeters. The plant, if allowed to do so, usually sends up a large number of suckers from the base, which const.i.tute a drain on the vitality of the plant. Therefore, all superfluous suckers should be removed and not more than 2 to 3 stems to a plant should be permitted to develop.

Occasionally robusta plants appear that are more than ordinarily subject to blight, and these should be at once pulled up and burned.

Yield.--The yield of robusta coffee is quite variable, much depending upon the fertility of the soil. On the more fertile soils in Java the yield per hectare in the third year was approximately 540 kilograms, and in the fourth and fifth years, 1,400 and 1,830 kilograms, respectively. In old coffee or cacao fields the yields were 325, 540 and 850 kilograms per hectare, respectively, during the third, fourth, and fifth years after planting. It is perhaps well to recall the fact that the average yield of Arabian coffee in the Philippines is 174 kilograms per hectare, which is of course much less than it should be, and it is not believed that the Philippine planter with his present methods of cultivation could equal with robusta coffee the yields quoted from Java.

The immense superiority of the robusta as a cropper over the ordinary Arabian coffee is best ill.u.s.trated in a table published by the Department of Agriculture, Java. We learn here that in Java, under identical conditions, the yield per plant was of Arabian coffee, 53 to 97 grams; of robusta, 992 grams; and of quilloi (a new very rare coffee) 1,020 grams. The Maragogipe hybrid on its own roots yielded 14 to 18 grams, while grafted on robusta the yield was 156 grams, a larger crop than any Arabian coffee has given in Java. This would tend to show the possibilities of robusta as a stock. Further, comparative studies by Cramer have shown that 4 to 5 kilograms of fresh robusta berries make 1 kilogram of coffee while of the Arabian coffee 5 to 6 kilograms of fruit are required to make 1 kilogram of coffee.

Owing to the fact that the pulp on the robusta coffee (though smaller in amount) is more difficult to remove than that on the Arabian, robusta needs at least two and one-half days of fermentation. The bean requires rapid drying in order to loosen the silver skin and the drying is therefore done in an artificially heated shed.

Quality and marketability.--Relative to the quality of the robusta coffee Doctor Hall says:

The appearance of the average marketable robusta is not very beautiful; the beans are small and irregular, and the average product shows little uniformity. There are, however, great differences between the many different types of robusta. Some of them have comparatively large beans, larger even than arabica, others again have very small ones. As regards the quality, though being inferior to Java-arabica, the taste is generally considered to be good and superior to the ordinary arabica sorts, as Santos.

Doctor Wildeman states:

It is objected that the berries of the robusta group and of other African coffees are small in size and inferior in flavor; but the continually increasing quant.i.ties of these coffees sold in Holland, and the satisfactory prices they fetch show that the public is beginning to appreciate them. No objections will be made to the size of the berries when by means of careful cultivation and especially of right preparation, a coffee is obtained equal in flavor to the (old) Java and Arabian coffee.

Summary.

Arabian coffee cannot be successfully grown in the Philippines below an alt.i.tude of 800 meters, and even at this elevation, due to its susceptibility to the coffee blight, extensive planting of Arabian coffee cannot be recommended.

Success with Arabian coffee is obtainable only by keeping the plantations clean of weeds and the plants in the best possible condition.

For the rehabilitation of the Philippine coffee industry robusta coffee appears more promising at present than any other kind.

The advantages of robusta coffee are that it thrives under more varied conditions than Arabian coffee, that it is an earlier and a more prolific bearer and that it is resistant to the blight.

Blight resistance in robusta coffee does not mean that it is immune, but that notwithstanding the presence of the blight it grows well and produces abundant crops.

Robusta coffee is by some authorities regarded as inferior in quality to Arabian coffee. Nevertheless, considering the optimism with which robusta coffee is regarded by conservative European experts in tropical crops, coupled with the results obtained in Java, it is confidently believed that robusta coffee is worthy of extended planting in the Philippines.