Dec. I, i88j,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



i74 



The present producing power of the Brazilian 

 Empire is thus dealt with : — 



" Brazil has received the name o£ the land of 

 ooflee, and certainly it deserves the appellation, 

 since it produces" 55 per cent of the world's 

 total production. This total production is at 

 present (ifiO.OOO.OOO kilogramme per annum and is 

 thus distributed : — 



Productionof Brazil 3(i0,000,000 liil. 



Production of all other countries 300,000,000 „ 



Total world's production.. 600,000,000 kil. 

 And yet in 1800 Brazil exported only 13 bags of 

 coffee ! ; in 1817 it exported 6(3,085 bags ; in 1820, 

 97,498 ; in 1830 484,222 ; 1,037,981 in 1840, and 

 3,765.122 in 1876. Today the annual production 

 of Brazil is more thanj 6,000,000 bags of 60 

 kilogrammes each." 



What a ijainful contrast to the figures for Ceylon 

 coffee ! The exports thence, which m 1870 were 

 about one-tenth of the world's supplies, are now 

 shrunk to less than one-thirtieth, and that in 

 face of an unprecedented expenditure of capital 

 on extension, directed too by the much and justly 

 vaunted skill and energy of the British planter 

 and yet for several years the doctrine was 

 preached, aye and faithfully believed in too, by many 

 among us, that the day that should see the slaves 

 of Brazil emancipated would see also her failure 

 in the race of coffee production, and that then at 

 last was the good time coming for Ceylon and her 

 planters. As regards quantity Ceylon must now fairly 

 admit herself completely outstripped and beaten 

 in the race. But it will probably be a surprise to 

 Cf-ylon producers to learn that in tjuality also Brazil 

 stands first. The analyses given in the pamphlet 

 under review show that Brazilian coffee has 1-16 

 to l-7o per cent of caffeine against 0-87 per cent 

 in wild Ceylon (as they term it), 0-709 to 0-849 

 per cent in .Java, and 0-54 to 0-83 in Plantation 

 Ceylon and 0-60 in Mocha. The percentage of 

 caffeine in all other kinds of coffee is given at 

 much lower. Of the remaining chemical constitu- 

 ents of coffee of nutritious value, viz., the fats, 

 the albumeuoids and the sugar, an equally favour- 

 able report is given. But, your readers will ask, 

 if this be so, why does not Brazil coffee top the 

 market ? Hear the sad answer to the question : — 



" At present, as we have shoT\m, no cofl'ee in the 

 world excels in intrinsic value the good Brazilian 

 grades, and but few can be compared to them. Up to 

 the present this important fact is known only to the 

 producer and the dealer ; the consuming public, even 

 the best informed, not knowing that the best coffee 

 in the market comes from Brazil. The cause of this 

 in the handling of the intermediaries through 

 whose hands it passes in going from the producer 

 to the consumer. The planter consigns his coffee 

 to a commission merchant, and from him it goes 

 into the hands of the sacker who assorts it, 

 habitually mixing the better with the poorer sorts. 

 It is next bought by the exporter in quantities 

 from 500 to 5,000 sacks and shipped cii mnsau 

 to Hamburg, Bordeaux, Havre, Marseilles, Liver- 

 pool iVc. Here a commission merchant sells it by 

 wholesale to the sijeeulator, who subjects it to all the 

 manipulations from which he expects an advantage 

 to his pockets. He assorts it again ; gives to the 

 better sorts the name of ' Superior Moka,' ' .Java,' 

 ' Ceylon,' and introduces them under these names 

 into the markets. Only the inferior sorts, the 

 refuse, are sold as native Brazilian eott'cc; and 

 even these are stiU further deteriorated by llie 

 admixture of the poorest Costa Eica and Venezuela 

 ooSee. In this way the speculator secures a double 



gain, since he lessens the demand for Brazilian coffee 

 as such, thus compelling the planter to sell his 

 crop for low prices, and on the other hand selling 

 the greater part of bis cheap purchases for the best 

 possible price. The indifference of the planter who 

 even at a low price reaps large profits from his 

 coffee plantations has made these manipulations 

 of the speculators quite easy. 



"In view of these it is easily ualerstood that, in 

 spite of the enormous quantity of the coffee of 

 Brazil imported into Europe,, and despite its excel, 

 lent qualities, so little should be heard of it. As a 

 matter of fact the greater part of that coffee 

 planted, gathered and sold in Brazil, and whieh 

 we so much enjoy and buy so dearly as 

 'Moka' or 'Ceylon' has been rebaptized by the specul- 

 ators of Hauiburg, Bordeaux, Ac, with a false name 

 and sold at a large profit." 



The aggrieved Ceylon planter, much suffering 

 at the hands of Colombo and Kandy agents, 

 will surely shed the tear of sympathy with the 

 deeper woes of his Brazilian brother. His coffee 

 at all events (if indeed he is lucky enough to 

 have any) is not forced from him at a low 

 price only to support the reputation of his competitors. 

 The remedy proposed for the evils complained 

 of is publicity, which is sought to be obtained 

 mainly by Exhibitions of Brazilian coft'ee to be held 

 throughout the world and in a lesser degree by 

 the publication from which I have quoted. 



COCOA-DRYING IN MATALE. 



Mr. R. S. Eraser, proprietor of WariapoUa, is good 

 enough to report : — 



Mk. J.\ckson's Tea Drier is a perfect cocoa drier 

 both in the very large quantity it will get through in 

 a very short space of time, and the way in which it 

 does it. The fan is the whole secret. It would 

 almost do it without fire heat — the draft of cold 

 air, I mean. Then again it is perfectly innocuous 

 to any tea work that it has to perform as well, there 

 not being a vestige of taint left, after the fan has 

 run for ten minutes. I think Mr. Jackson as lucky 

 a man as you can well find anywhere in these days, 

 as in trying to kill one bird he has unwittingly made 

 a machine that can be appUed to several purposes. 

 It will alter the whole idea of cocoa, and with 

 the big drier of Jackson's to overcome the first 

 iliUiculty of drying cocoa, after the washing, 

 anybody fortunately possessing a No. 3 Dehydrator 

 can compass a lot of cocoa drying in a day. And 

 the dehydrator also makes a capital finisher or puoka- 

 battying machine, as it will do a large quantity 

 at a time. It also comes in handily as a witherer 

 in the case of very wet leaf. I have ordered a 

 Venetian to meet my immediate wants, and have 

 ordered a large drier for next year when the 

 Venetian will take its position in order of 

 merit and utility. By the bye Mr. Jackson's 

 killing two birds in this way, unexpectedly 

 reminds me of the account in your paper 

 yesterday of th« feat performed by Mr Turner in 

 killing two tigejs. Mr. Turner is a great friend 

 of mine, and sO is his companion B., who was 

 an old Eton schoolfellow. They are both of 

 them inveterate sportsmen. KnA one of them, B., 

 the eldest son of a wealthy Baronet, accompanied me 

 out here in the " Hydaspes" in 1879, on his way to 

 India on a sporting trip, and as guest of the Duke 

 of Buckingham, and so great is his love of sport that 

 he has never returned home since, but has devoted 

 himself heart and soul to his loved pastime, much 

 to the chagrin of his people at hgrne. 



