205 



has stepped in and promises not only the full restoration of past 

 waste, but the foresting of large areas to which tree growths have 

 heretofore been unknown. Our own Tantalus, we are told, was 

 once as barren as Punchbowl. What a contrast has tree planting 

 done for this one spot ! 



The great reclamation enterprises in the arid west which will 

 convert desert lands into productive fields ; the introduction of 

 the mower, the combined harvester, the cream separator, steam 

 and electricity and other advance appliances of mechanics for 

 the more perfect and economic replacing of manual labor are ex- 

 amples of the contributions made by engineering and mechanical 

 professions. 



That there is any conflict between science and art, or theory 

 and practice, is an error. They are, as they ever have been and 

 always must remain, in perfect harmony. If they appear to jar 

 it is because w^e have something untrue or incomplete in what we 

 call our science or else we do not see correctly. 



GUATEMALAN COFFEE. 



Shortly after i860, coffee-growing began to take the place in 

 Guatemala of the cultivation of the indigo and cochineal plants 

 that had been grown there for many years previous to the dis- 

 covery of the chemical dyes that are now the colors known to the 

 commercial w^orld. From that time until recently, the business 

 gradually grew, until in 1902, the coffee crop exceeded 74 million 

 pounds of clean coffee. Only a small portion of the area of the 

 country is adapted to the cultivation of coffee. At present good 

 government coffee lands are very scarce, but when found can be 

 had for about is. 3d to is. 8d. per acre, and when brought under 

 cultivation w^ith a good stand of trees, are v/orth from £20 to £100 

 or more. The coffee of commerce grows in altitudes of 1000 to 

 6000 feet; the best and most prolific trees at 2000 to 4000 feet. 

 The labor is cheap, from i^d. to lod. a day. The industry as 

 yet has not been brought to a very high state. Only in a few 

 cases has an effort been made to crowd the coffee tree to see what 

 they could be made to do. Guatemala coffee is rated very highly 

 in the markets of the world, and is the principal industry of the 

 country, it giving employment to more than one-half of the popu- 

 lation for about half of the year, during the harvesting time. — 

 Journal of the Society of Arts, October 6th. 



