296 Coffee Culture on tbe Soutbetn Coast ot Cbfapas, 



Each of these points will be considered separately. 



A. Productiveness of the Coffee- Tree in Relation to Altitude. It has 

 been observed that coffee planted in ground situated 500 feet above 

 the level of the sea yields not more than half a pound of coffee per 

 tree; from 500 to 1000 feet, one pound per tree; from 1000 to 2000 

 feet, two pounds per tree; from 2000 to 3000 feet, three pounds per tree; 

 and from 3000 to 4000, it will yield as much as four pounds per tree. 



But this yield is only obtained in the best soil and under the most 

 thorough cultivation. 



B. Advantages of High Lands. The principal advantages offered 

 for the cultivation of coffee by high lands, whose altitude does not 

 exceed 4000 feet, may be summed up as follows: 



1. Larger yield of fruit per tree. 



2. Better quality of the coffee. 



3. More time in which to gather the crop, as it ripens gradually 

 and not all at once, as in the low lands. 



4. The plant is not exposed to the heat of the sun during the 

 whole of the day, as will be explained farther on. 



5. The higher the land, the fewer weeds it will produce, and con- 

 sequently fewer weedings in the year will be necessary. 



6. The high lands enjoy a temperate, pleasant, and in general 

 healthy climate, for which reason it is easier to obtain laborers for those 

 lands than for the low lands, which are hot, less healthy, and always 

 infested by mosquitoes. In Soconusco, especially, this advantage is 

 very great, as the Indians of the cold regions of Guatemala will go 

 down to the temperate lands to work, while they are not willing to go 

 to the low lands. 



C. Altitude most Suitable for Coffee-Growing. Until very recently 

 the low lands were preferred for coffee-raising. Experience has, how- 

 ever, demonstrated that the best lands for this purpose are those situ- 

 ated at from three to four thousand feet above the level of the sea. 



The experience of other places proves the correctness of this state- 

 ment. Mocha coffee grows in the mountainous regions of Arabia 

 Felix. The best quality of Colima coffee is that which grows on the 

 summit of the Platanarillo ; and the districts of Cordova and Orizava, 

 whose coffee is also highly esteemed, are situated, the former at an 

 altitude of 2713, and the latter of 4028 feet above the level of the sea. 

 The best coffee land in Ceylon is in Mr. William Sabonadiere's opinion 

 located on an average of 3000 feet above the level of the sea, although 

 in some localities of that island the coffee tree grows well at an altitude 

 of 5000 feet. 



Anyone, not familiar with plantations, might be easily deceived by 

 the appearance presented by the trees in the low lands ; for sometimes, 

 and especially when the plantations are new, their leaves are of a 



