328 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October r, 1882. 



pointing to the fact that the means of the farmers are 

 insufficient to give all their trees the cultivation they need. 



It is a mistake to suppose one obtains a crop from 

 trees three years old. The trees begin to blossom in tlie 

 third year, and the fruit ripens in the fourth year- 

 each tree producing only a few berries. _ 



In other countries the coffee-tree arrives at maturity 

 long before it does' in Liberia. This arises from the fact 

 that the Liberian variety, being larger and hardier, takes 

 a proportionate time to mature. 



HINDEKANCES TO LABGELY INCIiEASED PRODUCTIONS. 



The export of coffee from Liberia the last season was 

 a httle more than 300,000 pounds. Considering the pro- 

 ductiveness of the Liberian variety, the fertile soil and genial 

 climate, one would naturally be surprised to see so small 

 a quantity of coffee produced for exportation. But it 

 must be borne iu mind that the settlers did not on then- 

 first arrival enter largely into agriculture. Their numbers 

 were small, and their means .still more limited. Besides, 

 they were ihawu away from this noble and profitable 

 employment by the seductions of trade. And although 

 their attention was early called to the advantages of coffee 

 culture, it is only in recent years that any cottee farms 

 have been started. Even now, when the people have so 

 generally begun the cultivation of coffee, the results are 

 not what might be expected. 



In the first place, the farms are small ; and, as has 

 been stated above, the trees on each farm have not been 

 planted at once, they are of all ages and sizes Then, 

 again, the trees planted do not receive that thorough 

 cultivation which increased means on the part ol the 

 farmers would allow. This want of capital is one of the 

 greatest drawbacks to success in Liberia. There has been 

 no colony, in ancient or modern times, planted and su.s- 

 tained with so small an expenditure of money as has been 

 the colony of Liberia. There are no banks in the country; 

 no institutions from which, on good security, farmers can 

 obtain sufficient means for conducting large and profitable 

 operations, or for rendering more profitable the smaller 

 enterprises already undertaken. . .,. , , 



The smaUness of the number of the cmhzed popul- 

 ation engaged in coffee growing is another cause of the 

 crop not being larger. There is a population available, 

 strong and laborious, whose efforts ought long ago to have 

 been turned in this direction, that is, the native popul- 

 ation. Their habits of farming are not settled. Moving 

 from spot to spot yearly, they destroy a vast quantity of 

 the most valuable timber. If the premiums given some 

 years ago by the Liberian Government had been expended 

 on native producers instead of on the civilized settlers 

 who already appreciated the advantages of coffee culture; 

 and if the government had announced and pursued a settled 

 policy to prevent the wars that often rage in the country, 

 the results would, doubtless, have been astonishingly bene- 



"in reckonmg the hinderances to largely increased pro- 

 duction, account must be taken of the unsy.stematic and 

 unsettled condition of labor. From the coast tribes, large 

 numbers are available for agricultural and other purposes. 

 But there must be some agency to see that contracts 

 made for labor are observed by both parties; and that, 

 at the proper time, the laborers are returned to then: 

 homes. Even then, the coast tribes, who are principally 

 traders and fishermen, are not so valuable for agricultural 

 purposes as Pessahs, Golahs, Barlines, and other interior 

 people who have always been devoted to agricultural 

 pursuits. Then, again, in the case of these intenor tribes, 

 several difficulties present themselves, lirst, when their 

 services are most needed, they depart for their own farms. 

 Secondly, the wars call off from legitimate and prohtable 

 labor large numbers of men, to engage in the feuds tliat 

 have for ages been destroying the aboriginal population 

 Could these internecine strifes be stopped, there would 

 be enough labor available for the farms both of settlers 

 and natives. 



INTERNATIONAL. 



A single American vessel last .season exported nearly 

 one-half of the coffee grown for foreign cousuinptiou. 

 About two-thirds of the crop went to the United States, 

 And this proportion has been steachly maintained all 

 tlirough the coffee industry. While European countries 



buy coffee largely for re-exportation, the United States 

 purchase this commodity principally for consumption ; and, 

 therefore, paying a higher price, they will alw.iys compete 

 successfully with other countries. Another reason for the 

 larger exportation to America is, American manufactures 

 and other products are especially desired by those engaged 

 in coffee culture. 



Now, it seems a mere trifle, this exportation of so 

 small a quantity. But it must be remembered that coffee 

 production iu Liberia is in its infancy. The figures above 

 are small ; but they are — 



The baby figures of the giant mass 

 Of things to come at last. 

 By removing the hinderances now in the way of large 

 production, the coffee grown iu Liberia would be of such 

 a quantity as would affect American commerce for good. 

 The people of Liberia look in two directions for aid to 

 bring about this desu-able result. First, they look to 

 American capitahsts. They believe if some arrangement, 

 some legal enactment could be decreed, by which the 

 interests of capitalists could be thoroughly secured, money 

 would be introduced into the country for the production 

 of coffee, for manufactories, tor the making of roads, and 

 for other enterprises. They are doubtless correct in their 

 opinion, when they think American capital can be intro- 

 duced without endangering their republican institutions, 

 and with less risk to the safety of the state than can 

 that of any other country. 



Again, the people of Liberia look to the United States 

 Government for co-operation. Now, the writer does not 

 wish to incur ridicule when he modestly hiuts that it is 

 by encouraging the emigration of the negro population 

 of America and their settlement in Liberia, this co- 

 operation will be most effective. It may at first sight 

 apper an inconsistent method of denationalizing their 

 citizens for the United States to encourage this emigra- 

 tion. But on careful consideration, such a course will 

 be found to be only in keeping with the efforts, which 

 not only American philanthropists, but also the United 

 States Government have always made to sustain the infant 

 colony and republic. It would be helping to transmit in 

 perpetuum those republican traditions which they have 

 handed down to us. This help would arrive mo.st opport- 

 unely. It would come at a time when European monar- 

 chism. with loud raps, is knocking at the do or of 

 Liberia, 



AVhen the civilized settlements planted farther and 

 farther in the interior shall have become numerous and 

 strou" enough to settle the wars that harass the land, 

 labor°will be settled and productive, and the natives, in- 

 chned to peaceful pursuits, will engage largely in the 

 growing of coffee. As soon, tot), as there is some seciirity 

 for labor, and some protection for trade, other commodities 

 will be increased; and there will spring up a large and 

 profitable commerce, to which the present commerce of 

 the country bears no proportion ; and, with suitable en- 

 couragement, the larger portion of this commerce will 

 flow towards the United States. 



JjiMES H. Smyth, Consul-General. 

 United States Consulate-General, Monrovia, Liberia. 

 — United States Consular Sepofts. 



Oysteb OuLTUitE IN Italy. — The problem of obtaining 

 a cheap supply of oysters appears to have been solved by the 

 Italians. The most extensive ground of all, and that from 

 which most of the oyster consumed in Southern Italy are 

 obtained, is known as the " Mare Piccolo " or little sea, near 

 Taranta. An immense number are reared here, and the con- 

 sumption of the produce of these beds is estimated to average 

 seven to eight millions annually, the price ranging from three 

 to six lire per 100. Tlie system of cultivation appears to be 

 as successful as it is simple. From April to November, 

 bundles of brushwood are submerged in outer sea, and 

 to these the spawn is found to readily att.ach itself. 

 They are afterwards raised, and those ou which the tiny 

 oysters have settled are sunk in the Mare Piccolo, 

 where, in about two years, hey attain their full size. — 

 Journal of the Society of Arts. [Even in the face of 

 Mr. Hokfsworth's failure off the Ceylon coast, we can- 

 not help asking why the pearl jmussels should not be 

 similturly cultivated. — Ed.] 



