(Lost of Coffee IRateing in Soconusco. 351 



A. Cost of a plantation in Soconusco. 



B. Productiveness of a plantation in Soconusco. 



C. Profits of coffee in Soconusco. 



Each of these points will be considered separately. 



A. Cost of a Plantation in Soconusco. The probable cost of a coffee 

 plantation in Soconusco of, say, one thousand cuerdas, using the utmost 

 diligence and economy, would be as follows, calculated year by year 

 in order to make the calculation with greater facility and exactness: 



a. Value of the ground. 



b. Expenses of the first year. 



c. Expenses of the second year. 



d. Expenses of the third year. 



e. Expenses of the fourth year. 



f. Resume* of expenses. 



The expenses of each year will be separately considered. 

 a. Value of the Ground. In speaking of the value of the unculti- 

 vated lands of Soconusco, it was mentioned that the price of those of 

 Chiapas, according to the tariff of the present biennial, 1 is 25 cents per 

 hectare, or $10.69 P er caballeria, and that if two or three caballerias 

 were purchased, the cost would not be more than double that sum. 

 To form a coffee plantation of 1000 cuerdas, two caballerias would be 

 required, to allow ground for the fodder of the animals and other 

 uses ; roads, buildings, patiss, etc. To make an estimate which is 

 rather above than below the cost, the caballerias may be put at a maxi- 

 mum of $50 ; the two caballerias consequently costing $100. 



b. Expenses of the First Year. In the first year the following will 

 be expended in forming the nursery : 



Preparation of the Ground. Three day's labor, one in stubbing, another 

 in hewing, and the third in chopping, for each cuerda, at 25 cents per 

 day's labor, make 75 cents per cuerda. To plant 1000 cuerdas of coffee 

 a nursery of 30 cuerdas will be required, which will cost $ 22 50 



Seed. By planting the nursery with seeds much of the cost of buying and 

 transporting coffee plants would be saved, but supposing that the 

 nursery be formed of plants, 175,000 plants, at $2 per thousand, will 

 cost 350 oo 



Transportation, Planting, and Weeding. Transporting the plants to the 

 place where the nursery is made, planting them, and eight weedings 

 per year, at $5 per cuerda, will cost for 30 cuerdas 150 oo 



Other Expenses. Cost of the houses for the laborers, salary of the super- 

 intendent, purchase of implements, payment of taxes, expenses of 

 roads, losses in money advanced to laborers, and other incidental ex- 

 penses, in the first year 500 oo 



Total expenses in the first year $1,022 50 



1 The Fomento Department of Mexico publishes every two years a schedule of 

 prices at which public lands are sold, varying in each State. 



