274 
all thus far produced is so great that it commands in large lots 27 cents 
per pound at the plantation, mainly for consumption in the interior, a 
small portion only being shipped to Germany, by resident German 
merchants, on private orders. The American consul at the city of Co- 
lima places the cost of land suitable for coffee-plantations, including 
water for irrigation, at from $15 to $30 per acre, depending on location 
and climate. He states that a plantation containing 100,000 plants four 
years old (when the first crop is realized) costs from $10,000 to $14,000 ; 
the proceeds the first year being about 50,000 pounds, and from the 
fifth year onward 100,000 pounds or upward; and he estimates the 
average net yearly gain at $20,000. 
Colima and some other States have passed quite liberal laws for the 
encouragement of coffee-cultivation, offering liberal premiums for the 
largest crops produced, and exempting coffee-lands from all taxes. 
With peace in the country and protection assured, this industry would 
offer great attractions for foreign immigration and capital. And for 
the Mexican farmer and land-owner there is no more certain or profita- 
ble enterprise in which they can engage. ‘To the common people, the 
poor, the Indian race, it presents the most desirable source of industry. 
It can be planted in small lots, garden plots or patches. It requires no 
costly machinery, like sugar, to prepare it for market. Women and 
children can attend to the greater part of the work. It is always relia- 
ble and commands a ready sale, for cash, at good prices. It will be a 
happy augury for the country to see the lower and laboring classes more 
generally engaged in its production, as it will give them a permanent 
property-interest for peace and against revolutions, and will be for them 
and the country a most fertile source of wealth. 
Mexico for three centuries past has been famous for its great produc- 
tion and exportation of silver. But in coffee alone it possesses a far 
greater source of wealth and prosperity. Its natural capacity for its 
production is at least equal to that of Brazil, yet the value of the coffee 
annually exported from Brazil is more than three times as great as that 
of the silver and gold product of Mexico. 
FACTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 
DISTANT TRANSPORTATION OF FRESH MEAT.—A correspondent of 
the American Farmer at Paris reports that a company formed for trans- 
porting meat by “the Tillier process” would send its first ship fitted up 
for that purpose to La Plata for a cargoin April. By means of metallic 
ether, aided by ‘‘ingenious generating cold machinery,” maintaining 
the temperature at the freezing-point and dry, Tillier “has conserved 
meat perfectly fresh and savory, save a loss of 10 per cent. in weight, 
for fifty-seven days.” The voyage from La Plata to France is expected 
to be made in thirty days at most. He reports that the daily consump- 
tion of fresh meat in France is 4,000 tons. 
FRUIT-GROWING IN MARYLAND.—The following statements are con- 
densed from a recent report by Mr. W. D. Brackenridge to the Amer? 
can Pomological Society on the progress and extent of fruit-culture in 
Maryland: It is estimated that on the Eastern Shore sixty thousand 
acres are planted in peach-trees, and that the yield the present season 
for the market will be 5,000,000 bushels. The season of ripening ex- 
tends from the middle of July to the 1st of October. Some of these 
