ffuture ot Coffee Culture in flDesico. 285 



izers are best adapted to it; and by using these not only might the 

 plant be made to live longer but also to yield larger crops. Chemistry 

 and geology have done much for certain plants ; the cultivation of the 

 cereals has attained to almost mathematical precision in Europe. 

 Thanks to the advancement made in these sciences, the substances 

 which each crop draws from the soil may now be determined with ex- 

 actness, and, as a consequence, the substances which should be used 

 as fertilizers, in order to supply the losses caused by the crops. When 

 such data respecting coffee can be obtained, great advancement will 

 have been made in its cultivation, which will not until then cease to be 

 empirical. 



II. 

 FUTURE OF COFFEE CULTURE IN MEXICO. 



The use of coffee is becoming general everywhere. Whether it is 

 that certain beverages at certain periods become fashionable, and that 

 coffee is at the present time one of these, or that it really has properties 

 which make it beneficial to the human constitution, certain it is that 

 the sphere of its consumption is widening notably. Mexico is not 

 exempt from this tendency; a few years ago coffee was hardly used 

 in the Republic, while now it begins to compete with cocoa, and even 

 with the national drink made of Indian corn. 



Hardly five years ago coffee was sold in Soconusco at five dollars 

 per quintal ; low as this price was it yielded a profit, but did not make 

 it worth while to extend its cultivation. Many still fear that the prices 

 of the last two years were exceptional, that they will before long sink 

 to their former level, and that coffee on the plantation will not sell for 

 more than eight dollars per quintal. The crop of 1872 sold at from 

 ten to twelve dollars per quintal on the plantation; and that of 1873 at 

 eighteen dollars per quintal. Although it is true that this is an excep- 

 tional price, I think it probable that coffee will not fall lower than ten 

 dollars on the plantation, which will still leave a good profit, as will be 

 shown farther on. 



Mexico is, besides, destined, from its proximity to the United 

 States, to become the chief source of supply for that country, which is 

 the country that consumes the largest quantity of coffee in proportion 

 to the number of its inhabitants. Transportation will be easier when 

 we are connected by rail with the United States, for the Central States 

 of the Union would find it more to their advantage to import coffee 

 from Mexico overland than by way of New York or San Francisco. 

 That market would of itself suffice to consume all the crops that the 

 country could raise for several years to come. 



