49U 



fME I'ROPlCAL Aanictjtfijm^f. 



[|an I, 1887, 



coffee, has of late occupied the attention of some 

 planters. Shade drying on the estate is a resurrected 

 fad, that ended in a fiasco years ago. Unfortunately, 

 no advance has been made by recent experiments on 

 the conclusions arrived at sixteen or eighteen years 

 ago by the then generation of Wynaad and Coorg 

 planters. One plan'xr writes me, it takes twenty-five 

 days to dry to 35 lU. per bushel ; another that ho 

 hopes to get out of it with only £13 per ton loss. 

 One thing is certain that the curers can do no more 

 than fix the colour already in the bean when received 

 into their yards. It stands to reason that if the 

 desired colour does not exist in the berry, no curer 

 can put it there. It is equally certain that the 

 planter can do a great deal to conserve what colour 

 there is in his coffee by careful pulp-house work. 

 But after all, the true solution of the question lies 

 in the two words high cultivation. Mocha coffee can- 

 not be s:iid to have any colour at all, yet it fetches 

 high prices. The best colour I ever got, came from 

 a lot received at 47^ to 49^ lb. per bushel. It took 

 six days to dry to 29^1b. : dryage 2'26 per cent, 

 outturn 9I"5 bushels per ton. Outturns are discussed 

 by planters with great interest. They are looked 

 upon as a test of the curer's efficiency, or to call a 

 spade a spade, how much is not stolen from his 

 yard ! It seems almost unnecessary to attempt any 

 defence. You have a body of men managing large 

 concerns along the coast, controlling large sums of 

 money, some of whom have been planters themselves, 

 accused by implication of not being able to defend 

 property entrusted to their care. Most planters would 

 show fight at such an imputation ; still, the idea 

 prevails that regular and systematic robbery is per- 

 mitted in the curing yards. It is ridiculous on the 

 face of it. The best outturn I ever heard of was 

 79 odd decimals from Mr. Finlayson's. Duukeld Es- 

 tate in Ooorg. I know of more than one case 

 where 80 bushels to the ton was approached. These 

 are, I think, e.xceptio'jal. If a planter gets 95 all 

 round without any large percentage of clean, and no 

 undue proportion of dry cherry he will take no harm. 

 As a matter of fact I beat this last season by over 

 4J bushels. 



It has lately been asked in the AVyuaad Planters' 

 Association what curers grant as to the maximum 

 waste of weight allowed on coffee shipped home? 

 Just nothing at all. These are the facts: — 



Single bags net weight shipped 168 lb. 



„ „ of bag 2| „ 



Trade tare on bags ... 8 lb. 

 Draft on do. ... 2 ,, 



Gross ... 170| „ 



.. 168 



Nett loR» to Planter , 



Nett Ooffee 

 iJouble bags the same; they weigh 

 And the London Trade exact ... 



Draft the same. 



daSe.'* take a 3 1b. draft, and anything over ;:! cwt. 

 a 5 lb. draft, I5ag.<-. of any weight under 112 lb. 

 c.irry a 1 lb, draft, liowever .small they may be. In 

 addition to the above, 3 lb. extra draft has to be al- 

 lowed on all bags sea damaged, A Broker writes.- — 

 ' The r)uestion of draft allowed on b.igs has been 

 frequently raised, but dealers have persistently re- 

 fused to buy without customary allowances. Some 

 time back liags shipped from Jamaica were made 

 heavier. The trade objected to this, and insistotl 

 niK)n a 3 lb. draft on nil bags weighing 1 cwt. 3 

 <jr. and upwards.' So our fellow jilauters on the 

 other side of the world gained nothing by thi.s move. 

 I liave proved that coffee thoroughly dry will take 

 up moistui'e equal to 50 lb. ])er ton if exposed. The 

 question of draft is a serious one, and Ooast Agents 

 have, from time to time, attempted its reduction. 

 The ulanter, of course, is at liberty to impose on 

 the London Trade any conditions he thinks proper 

 Vibi'n selling his crop. I have, however, a slight 



"uspicion that in the long run he will come off second 

 best. 



Prices are all governed to some extent by certain 

 trade customs and allowances, with which it is im- 

 politic to attempt to interfere. The Yercaud Planters' 

 Association asked ^ome time ago how it was that 

 while they only netted £50 a ton, coffee was selling 

 retail in London at Is. a lb. or £112 per ton. The 

 following approximate memo will explain a good 

 deal of it- Out of the balance has to come the 

 London wholesale buyers' profit, often the provincial 

 wholesale dealers' profit, the cost of distribution, in- 

 cluding a provision against bad debts; insurance and 

 house-rent ; and an old curer reminds me of an an- 

 cient custom of the retail trade to make tea and 

 coffee pay for the loss on retailing sugar: — 

 Value nett per ton to Planter. ..£50 0" 

 Draft 14 bags at 2 lb.=28 lb. at £56 14 

 Discount 1 per cent ... p. ton... 11 2 



Marine Insurance ... 1 10 



Freight 45s p. ton of 18 cwts. ... 2 10 



Dock rates 



Fire Insurance, Interest on freight kc. 



Public sale and petty expenses ... 7 6 



Brokerage h per cent 6 7 



Del Credere Commission ... ... 6 7 



Merchant's Commission ... ... 1 8 1 



Average time of holding before go- 

 ing into consumption 4 months; 

 interest 4 months at 5 per cent...£ 18 8 

 Dock rent 17 wks. at 6(1. per week 8 6 

 Duty at Ihd. p. lb 14 



14 10 >• S 



3 nios. credit to grocer at 5 p. cent 17 11 

 Cartage from dock to roasting estabt. 



not including cartage to grocer's 



shop ... 

 Charges for roasting 3s. per cwt. 







15 



3 



o a, 



O on 



" ft 



Loss in weight roasting avge. 18 p. ct. 13 14 2 J 2. 



92 1 



Note. — 20 per cent is the actual loss calculated for 

 low class coffee in roasting. 



On the subject of curing charges I ani somewhat 

 reluctant to speak, lest my motives be misunderstood: 

 I will, however, give the conclusions I have arrived 

 at, and my opinions must be taken for what they 

 are worth. I am fully convinced that no curer can 

 put the projaer amount of honest work into the cur- 

 ing, or employ efficient supervision over the various 

 processes for 35*-. per ton, and leave a fair living 

 margin of profit for himself. In these days of leaf 

 disease the expenses of garbling have been enormously 

 increased. I have not had much experience of 

 Sheveroy Hills coffee, but what I have seen, con- 

 tained almost everything that a good sainijle of 

 Parchment coffee should not, and 1 have heard 

 curers complain dreadfully of its quality. "What does 

 the cheap curer's offer amount too, skinned ':* 



Cuier loquitur : — " I offer to cure your coffee at a 

 reduced rate thereby effecting for you a visible sav- 

 ing of RIO per ton. It is not my business to tell 

 you that I cannot afford at that rate the necessary 

 labour, or supervision. It is not my business to tell 

 you that the coffee will be left spread out on the 

 barbacues all night, subject to the detrimental dew.«, 

 which I know fall all over India during December, 

 January and February. It is not my business to tell 

 you that I shall peel in the horn-dry condition, skimp 

 the garbling, and not be particular about measuring 

 the colfee from the barbacues, or weighing it from 

 the peelers ; that I shall pack in the cheapest bags 

 I can get, and, if possible stick you in the matter 

 of freight ; any mors than it is my business to tell 

 you that, while I am morally certain you will lose 

 2s. (id. per cwt. I am of opinion that it is more 

 than probable you will obtain 5.''-. per cwt. less than 

 if your coffee had been properly and honestly cured. 

 This is a point, however, you cannot very well bring 

 home to me. I defy any curer, no matter where he 

 comes from, to present to the London trade in its 

 best condition for sale a foxy mixed crop, with leaf 

 disease written on the face of it, for K35, or evey 

 K45, aud make a profit,'' 



