ToL. V. No. 99. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



i7 



MOCHA COFFEE. 



The following information as to the conditions 

 under which Mocha cotfee is grown and shipped, is 

 extracted from the U. S. Monthly Consular Reports, 

 for October 1905 : — 



Consul Slasterson, of Aden, Arabia, furnishes a report 

 <}n Jloclia coffee which will interest all lovers of the popular 

 beverage and surprise manj- who imagine that all the coffee 

 they purchase under the label ' Jlocha ' is the genuine 

 article. Mr. ^Masterson explains the limitations upon the 

 growth of Mocha, and the care that is taken by the local 

 a,uthorities to j)revent other coffees from being substituted 

 and shipped from Aden as Mocha. His report follows : — 



I suppose of all the many kinds of coffee grown, the 

 one and only kind that is unable to compete with other 

 coffees is Mocha. No matter how much greater and better 

 the facilities are for handling and putting coffee on the 

 market than in the [last, or how much more the growers may 

 know about the best way of raising coffee, the output of 

 Mocha coffee remains the same, or even less, as the years go 

 by, and, until a coniiilete revolution comes about in the way 

 this crop is raised, handled, and marketed, it will remain 

 the same, or grow gradually less. 



In favoured countries where coffee plantations are 

 •extensive, the labour cheap, and all kinds of mechanical 

 appliances are used for hulling, cleaning, sorting, and 

 packing, the prices are gradually growing less each year. 

 Jlore coffee is coming into the market also by reason of these 

 appliances and facilities, and, as the output increases in other 

 •countries, the output of Jlocha coffee gradually lessens. 



As Mocha coffee is now produced, it is about as cheap 

 in the market as it can well be sold. Any one who is at 

 all familiar with the coffee market knows that the price of 

 Mocha coffee has varied less than any other coffee within the 

 past ten years, and that, even if the price of other coffees has 

 gradually grown less and less, the value of Jlocha has not 

 dropped in proportion because, until conditions change, it is 

 now as low as can be. 



RAISED BY THE .\.RABS. 



Unlike the raising of coffee in other countries where we 

 can, without much difficulty, know all about each crop, how 

 much it will likely yield, and the condition of each growing 

 crop, the raising of Mocha coffee is done by Arabs out in 

 the mountainous country of Arabia where no white man has 

 ever been, and statisticians and crop forecasters are unknown. 

 There are no extensive plantations there as we know of 

 them in other places, but each Arab has his own few bushes 

 around his little house and raises enough coffee for his own 

 use and a little for trading for other commodities. It thus 

 becomes a ditticult and slow process to collect from hundreds 

 of peojjle enough to load a caravan. The markets of Aden 

 and Hodeida are several hundred miles from the place where 

 the coffee is grown, and the journey to these markets takes 

 several weeks. 



In passing through the different districts under control 

 of some native sheik or Turkish ofhcial, this coffee is always 

 subject to a levy, toll or tariff from each othcial. Then, when 

 it finally reaches the seaport market, the process of 

 arranging it for shipment is a slow and expensive one. It is 

 always brought in unhulled, or just as it was picked from 

 the plant. It is first hulled by passing it between two 

 millstones turned by hand ; then it is winnowed and sorted 

 by Indian women, each grain being carefully looked over 



and all the uneven or indifferent grains being taken out. 

 It is then ready for packing and shijjping. Anyone can see 

 that coffee raised, handled, and marketed in such a fashion 

 can never compete with coffee raised under more favourable 

 conditions, and it can further be seen that Mocha coffee is 

 bound to be of a higher price, and that prices are also bound, 

 to remain stationary as long as such conditions prevail. 



PROTECTION AG.\INST IMPOSITION. 



The export of Mocha coffee from Aden for the last ten 

 years has fluctuated in the output, but it has gradually 

 dwindled, with an occasional recovery in some years ; but, as 

 will be seen, the output for the year 189.5-6 was considerably 

 greater than for the year 1904-5. The great falling off for 

 the past year is easily explainable, as the bubonic plague 

 was very bad here and many caravans were stopped on this 

 account. This also explains the small export for the year 

 1900-1, as there was also plague here during that year. 

 There are two other causes that have contributed to the small 

 export for last year, viz., the war between the Arabs and 

 Turks in the Yemen, and a famine has also prevailed there 

 during that time. 



France has, with the exception of one year (1898-9), led 

 in the importing of ifocha coffee, with the United States in 

 the second place, followed by the United Kingdom and 

 Germany in the order mentioned. The local government 

 and the Aden Chamber of Commerce have taken the 

 necesssary precautions for protecting the coffee merchants in 

 this place in their business, and no outside coffee is allowed 

 to be transhipped from here, nor is any coffee allowed 

 to be shipped from this jiort as Mocha, unless it is 

 the genuine article. If there is any adulterating, blending, 

 or mixing, it is done after it leaves this port. 



WEST INDIAN TRADE WITH CANADA. 



The Mo.rltlmc Merchxmt, of December 14, 1905, 

 has the following note on the trade between Canada 

 and the West Indies during the year 1905: — 



Speaking of the carrying trade this season between 

 Canada and the West Indies, the Jfen-hatit was told that it had 

 shown a satisfactory increase. All steamers this fall have 

 had full outward cargoes. The shipments of ffour, oats, and 

 feed have exceeded those of last year. Split peas is an article 

 of which considerable quantities have been forwarded by way 

 of Halifax this season, instead of going via New York, as in 

 former years. There has been a falling oft" in Canadian 

 exports of butter and cheese to the West Indies this year, the 

 country not having so great a surplus, owing to the heavy 

 drought and the shortage of feed last winter. A good trade 

 is being opened up in condensed milk, also in furniture, canned 

 goods, boots, and shoes. The sale of Canadian soaps is 

 decidedly on the increase, as is also that of biscuits. For the 

 latter there is a large field and more business could be done 

 if it were pushed. 



Imports have been large, nearly all the West Indian 

 crystal sugar having been taken by Canada. Canada has 

 also increased her purchases of oranges and bananas, the 

 direct facilities having helped this trade. The Canadian 

 consumption of cacao is yearly increasing. 



The low price of sugar at present is not very encourag- 

 ing, the immediate outlook being poor for all except the 

 largest estates and those equipped with the best machinery. 

 Ho°wever, the estates got good prices up to midsummer and 

 had a good deal of money to spend. 



