different blossomings are classed as main blossoming and
smaller blossomings. In semi-dry high districts, as in Costa Rica or
Guatemala, there is one blossoming season, about March, and flowers and
fruit are not found together, as a rule, on the trees. But in lowland
plantations where rain is perennial, blooming and fruiting continue
practically all the year; and ripe fruits, green fruits, open flowers,
and flower buds are to be found at the same time on the same branchlet,
not mixed together, but in the order indicated.

[Illustration: COFFEA ARABICA--PORTO RICO]

The flowers are also tubular, the tube of the corolla dividing into five
white segments. Dr. P.J.S. Cramer, chief of the division of plant
breeding, Department of Agriculture, Netherlands India, says the number
of petals is not at all constant, not even for flowers of the same tree.
The corolla segments are about one-half inch in length, while the tube
itself is about three-eighths of an inch long. The anthers of the
stamens, which are five in number, protrude from the top of the corolla
tube, together with the top of the two-cleft pistil. The calyx, which is
so small as to escape notice unless one is aware of its existence, is
annular, with small, tooth-like indentations.

While the usual color of the coffee flower is white, the fresh stamens
and pistils may have a greenish tinge, and in some cultivated species
the corolla is pale pink.

The size and condition of the flowers are entirely dependent on the
weather. The flowers are sometimes very small, very fragrant, and very
numerous; while at other times, when the weather is not hot and dry,
they are very large, but not so numerous. Both sets of flowers mentioned
above "set fruit," as it is called; but at times, especially in a very
dry season, they bear flowers that are few in number, small, and
imperfectly formed, the petals frequently being green instead of white.
These flowers do not set fruit. The flowers that open on a dry sunny day
show a greater yield of fruit than those that open on a wet day, as the
first mentioned have a better chance of being pollinated by the insects
and the wind. The beauty of a coffee estate in flower is of a very
fleeting character. One day it is a snowy expanse of fragrant white
blossoms for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see, and two days
later it reminds one of the lines from Villon's _Des Dames du Temps
Jadis_.

Where are the snows of yesterday?
The winter