258 COFFEE : ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



British Honduras, and I have no doubt that if coolie labour 

 could be obtained, the whole of this western district would 

 soon be dotted over with prosperous plantations. The cost 

 of clearing and cleaning land ready for planting is put down 

 at 6 per acre; the labourers, at present, owing to the 

 remoteness of the district, get from 42 to 50 cents per day." 



It is just this question of labour that is always 

 arising. The Times observes : 



"It appears the high rate of wages which prevails on the 

 Isthmus of Panama is attracting labour, and making the 

 production of Coffee unprofitable in Costa Rica, Columbia, 

 Venezuela, and even Brazil. Only in Spanish Honduras and 

 British Guatemala can Coffee now be said to be profitable. 

 The planters in Nicaragua, according to latest reports, have 

 a difficulty in clearing their expenses. In countries farther 

 south an annual loss is incurred, while in Brazil the shrinkage 

 of the crop has attracted the serious attention of the Govern- 

 ment. Wages have gone down in Honduras and Guatemala, 

 and if the present depression in the price of Coffee continues, 

 the Coffee planters of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, Costa 

 Rica, and Nicaragua will be ruined, while the more fortunate 

 planters of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras will have all 

 they can do to hold their own. Notwithstanding this gloomy 

 outlook, however, Coffee in Mexico is still believed to be the 

 coming industry, because the railways running from the United 

 States will bring the plantations into direct communication 

 with the consumers. This advantage, together with fairly 

 cheap labour, should prove decisive in the trade, supposing 

 Mexico to have equal facilities with other Coffee-growing 

 countries, such as Costa Rica, Ceylon, &c." 



This brings us to the 



WEST INDIES. 



Of the lesser islands Dominica and Trinidad 

 yield about 3,000 tons each, the rest of the 



