234 



Bahia de Caraques and many other places. The price paid varies 

 from I2S. to l8s. per quintal (lOO lbs.) uncleaned. The loss of 

 weight in cleaning is about 50 per cent., consisting of oily seeds, 

 parts of the pod and the inner core of the pod. There is no doubt, 

 says Mr. Cartwright, that a very large quantity of this could be 

 collected in the country, but for the fact that there is such a 

 scarcity of labour, and also that the people in some of the districts 

 where it is gathered find the manufacture of hats more remunera- 

 tive. The quantity of kapok exported is, so far, small — in iq02. 

 21 tons ; in 1903, 23 tons ; in 1904, 18 tons. 



COFFEE CULTIVATION IN BRAZIL.'^ 



The coffee planters of Southern India, wishing to know exactly 

 how their industry stood in relation to that of Brazil, the Govern-^ 

 ment of India in April, 1905, at the instance of the Government 

 of Madras, sent a Despatch to the India Office asking for informa- 

 tion regarding the Brazilian coffee industry. Very detailed ques- 

 tions were asked regarding labour and wages, cultivation, area, 

 soil and forests : the system of cultivation ; the type of trees ; the 

 raising of bye-producls, shade on estates, abandonment of old and 

 opening up of new estates, &c. ; crops and the curing of coffee ; 

 diseases, and pests ; finance, and cost of production ; climate, and 

 physical features of the coffee districts ; transport and duties. 

 This despatch was transferred through the Foreign Office to the 

 British Minister in Brazil, who distributed the lists of questions to 

 the various Consuls, in order that they might make personal 

 enquiry into the subject. The answers to these questions have 

 now been collected and issued as a white paper by the India 

 Office. 



Transmitting the replies from the Consuls, the British Minister 

 in Brazil, in his Despatch dated the 6th February, 1906, says : 



"The difficulty of obtaining trustworthy information of a statis- 

 tical nature in this country is sufficiently recognised to render all 

 explanation of the inability to furnish full and exhaustive reports 

 from the various Consular districts unnecessary, The enormous 

 area of the country, the difficulties of communication and the 

 expense of travelling preclude the possibility of acquiring minute 

 information which could only be obtained by a personal visit to 

 the numerous coffee planters scattered throughout a large portion 

 of Brazil, except by experts specially appointed for the purpose, 

 without other occupations to attend to and with considerable 

 funds at their disposal for travelling purposes." 



RIO DE JANEIRO. 



The British Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro writes of his 

 district : — 



" Coffee planting is the principal industry of Brazil and coffee 

 is the principal article of export. The consumption of the world 

 is estimated at 16,000,000 bags, the bulk of which is produced in 



» Fro'i. " Vie Tropical Agriculturist" July 15th, 1904, p.7i. 



