57<J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Feb, i, 1886. 



time I spent in India, which I think is only 

 fair, as the steamer which dropped me at Colombo 

 went direct to Hongkong. I had some trouble 

 with my wardian cases of plants in San Fran- 

 cisco at the custom-house. I had them consigned 

 there instead of througli to Guatemala. 



On reaching Guatemala city, I handed them 

 over to the Minister of PubUc Works, and he in 

 turn gave them to some planters. How the 

 Guatemalatians (natives) wondered. They are any- 

 thing but a voyaging nation : quite the other 

 way in fact. To go hence to a neighbouring city is 

 thought an undertaking, but to go round the 

 world was too stupendous for their undertaking. 



The city of Guatemala is most pecuUarly 

 situated, perhaps none other like it in the world. 

 It occupies the middle of what appears a high 

 plateau of plain, but which in reality is split 

 U11 by scores of barancas. The remarkable thing 

 is that it is built fairly on the centre of the 

 watershed between the two oceans, Pacific and 

 Atlantic. 



The rain which falls on the southern and 

 western side of the city is drained off into 

 barancas which form streams and are ultimately dis- 

 charged into the Pacific Ocean. On the other 

 half of the city the rain and drainage finds its 

 way into barancas running in the opposite direc- 

 tion. These barancas converge and the water goes 

 to swell the volume of mighty Matagua river, 

 the largest in the Eepublic except the Usama- 

 sinta. The Matagua is a tine river capable of 

 floating large steamers of light daught for fully 

 100 miles from the sea. Its outlet is on the 

 Atlantic side. The river XJsamasinta has an 

 enormous volume of water ; I think there is none 

 other larger south of the Mississipi of the United 

 States and north of Panama. Its tributaries 

 drain the western boundaries of British Honduras 

 and the whole north and centre of Guatemala. 

 It flows through Yucatan and a section of Mexico, 

 and is finally discharged into the Mexican Gulf. 

 The city of Guatemala has something else very re- 

 markable about it. It is a smokeless city. 

 There is no smoke to be seen anywhere. The 

 only thing which fumigates the atmosphere in 

 tlie way of smoke is what issues from the mouths 

 of the citizens in the shape of consumed tobacco. 

 A Spanish American if he is not smoking it is 

 because he has just finished a cigarette or is about 

 to begin another. All the fuel used for household 

 purposes is charcoal, which is brought in from 

 long distances on packmules by the Indians and 

 sold to houseliolders. It is true there is a little 

 firewood used, but very very Kttle chiefly . for 

 kindling. 



When I left Guatemala for India to collect my 

 cinchona seed I left a gentleman in charge of the 

 constructing seed nnrseries. Don Louis Arrachea 

 proved himself worthy of my trust and confidence. 

 He erected seed nurseries all over the Pacific Coast, 

 also made some in connection with the Municipalities 

 of the Pueblos of the Alta Vera Pas. The nurseries 

 on the Pacific slope were made in connection with 

 the coffee plantations. Altogether I had built and 

 nearly ready to receive seed some 19 nurseries. On 

 my return to Guatemala I left as soon as possible 

 for the Pacific slope with ray seed, and after 

 a most tiresome journey and surmounting innumer- 

 able difficulties and troubles, which to you would be 

 almost incredible, I succeeded in getting my seed 

 sown and sprouted. The form of the roof of the 

 seed nurseries I had made after the manner which was 

 found so successful in Ceylon. A simple thatched 

 roof sloping towards the south and facing or open i 

 towards the north. This form X always found ' 



secures the seedlings from the rays of the sun, 

 at the same time gives them all the light of day, 

 which is all that is required. I pricked out seedUngs 

 into extended nurseries beginning in .July of last 

 year, and redistributed them or scattered them further 

 over the whole face of the land. The following are 

 the names of the coffee districts and plantations on 

 which cinchona is planted together with the number 

 of plants planted out. In addition to this list there 

 are a. number of other plantations which have 

 received plants but I have almost lost trace of them. 

 Ou the Pacific slope, district of El Tumbador •— 

 Estate of til e Prt,sident, El Porveuio 600,0fi0 : Bola de 

 Oro 100,000 ; EI Peru 100,000 ; Nueva Granda 10,000 • 

 Siglo XIX 10,000 ; Nuevo Mundo 10,000 ; Monte Christo 

 10,000 ; Canada 10,000 ; Las Luces 6,000 ; Montevideo 

 8,000 ; El Eosario 20,000 ; El Paro 5,000; Municipality 

 5,000. ^ ' 



District of Costa Cuca.— Los Mercedes 200,000 ; 

 La Libertad 110,000 ; Des^impaiades 50,000 ; 

 Santa Gertrudes 20,000 ; La Unidad 6,000 ; Las Deli- 

 cias 8,00G ; San Benito 5,000 ; Las Marias 5,000 , La 

 Virgin 0,000 ; Sau Jose 7,000 ; San Augu.stin 6,000 ; 

 San Isidro 7,000 ; La Violeta 7,000 ; Santa Elena 

 8,000 ; Palmira 7,000 ; Democracia 7,000. 



District of Xolhuitz.— Helvetia 50,000 ; .San Jose la 

 Vina 63,000 ; La Suerta 20,000 ; Xolhuitz 20,000. 



Distrir^t of Pueblo Nuevo. — Peneflor 50,000 ; Santa 

 Cecilia 9,000; La Cumbre 7,000; Casa Kojo 8,000 

 Nueva Francia 8,000 ; La Florida 5,000. 



District of Antigua. — Capitia 00,000 ; Portal 30,000: 

 Philadelphia 10,000 ; San Andres 12,000 ; other smaller 

 places 12.000. 



MunicipaUties of Alta Vera Pas. — Municipality of 

 Purhula 25,000; Tactic 30,000; Santa Christobal 

 10,000 ; Sauta Cruz 60,000 ; Ooban 5,000 ; S. Pedro 

 60,000 ; San Juan 1 000 ; some coffee estates 30,000. 



Altogether I have about 1,500,000 fine plants two 

 and three feet high planted out, making some 

 allowances for vacancies. The method of planting 

 out plants of all kinds differs somewhat from 

 the way we do. In the nurseries the plants are 

 pricked out much further apart than with us in 

 Ceylon, so that a nursery with 100,000 plants 

 covers a very large space, more than double the 

 size of our Ceylon nurseries — particularly with 

 coffee. The plants in a coffee nursery are fully 

 a foot apart. When dug up they are taken with 

 all the earth around them in a gigantic ball : one 

 mozo or eooly cannot carry on his back more 

 tlian three or four plants to the field. A coffee plant 

 is a young tree with primary and often secondary 

 branches. Holes are dug on the field of a size pro- 

 portionate to the size of the plant, I often en- 

 quired what proportion of vacancies the planters 

 had to a young clearing after the first planting. They 

 did not seem to understand the question. It ap- 

 pears the planting out is done so thoroughly the 

 first time, that there is no further need of sup phes 

 next year. The cost of the original planting is 

 very much higher than with us, but then it is done 

 and finished with. Planting out with a ball of earth 

 as it is done in Ceylon, I am persuaded, is only 

 a half measure. Here the plant is cut out of the 

 nursery with a gigantic knife called a machete. 

 In size the plant resembles, with its ball of earth, 

 a large-sized flower-pot. 



In planting a coffee estate the method of lining 

 is also different. They run down one base line much 

 the same as we do. They are then provided with 

 a rightangled-shaped frame of light construction. The 

 legs of the frame are put against the pegs placed in 

 the base line, and in the apex of tlie right angle an- 

 other peg is put and so on until the whole field is 

 lined up. By this means the whole of the plants 

 are exactly equi-distant, and whichever way one look 

 are straight well defined coffee rows. The distance 

 apart is usually 9x9. In some places this distance 



