jf itness of tbe Uebuantepec %anfcs for Coffee. 369 



in a large plantation more than one pound per tree per crop, although individual trees 

 may yield considerably more. Nobody will be happier than myself if such is the fact, 

 as I feel such a great interest in the development of that industry in Mexico. 



To Mr. F. O. Harriman and his associates, should he have any, I would venture 

 to say, should they allow me to volunteer my advice, go on with your plantation 

 and increase it as much as you can, being sure that if the yield is such as expected, you 

 have the best coffee-lands in Mexico, and possibly the best in the world. But should 

 you for any reason be mistaken in that regard, I would advise you still to go on, as a 

 plantation already begun, when the land has been secured and there is sufficient labor, 

 is far better, even in case it has not the best conditions as compared with others which 

 would be only imaginary ones. Coffee production is such a lucrative business that it 

 will yield very large profits, even in case it is not undertaken under the best con- 

 ditions. 



Mr. J. P. Harriman asserts that coffee has heretofore been planted in high lands, 

 and considers that planting it in low lands, which are generally more fertile, shows a 

 great improvement, and mentions in support of his theory an experiment to introduce 

 wheelbarrows in Tehuantepec, the reclaiming of large tracts of the " great American 

 desert " by artificial irrigation, and of deepening shallow rivers by constructing jetties. 

 To my knowledge coffee has been planted so far almost exclusively in the low lands, 

 and it is only recently and in a few places where its culture is more advanced, and 

 experience has shown the advantages of high lands, that these are preferred. 



Nobody could deny that men can through industry and labor assist nature very 

 materially in the discharge of its functions, as it is the case in manuring worn-out 

 land, in irrigating arid tracts, which otherwise would be unproductive, etc., but I per- 

 ceive a great difference between assisting the forces of nature and trying to change 

 them. When a crop is cultivated out of its own natural zone, I think the effort is in 

 the second direction. Even in case of man's industry assisting the forces of nature, I 

 imagine it is better to use land which requires no such assistance. I would make a 

 farm of virgin land, rather than of worn-out land which needs to be manured, and of 

 a moist land needing no irrigation, than of arid land which cannot be productive 

 without irrigation, all other circumstances being equal. 



I do not understand the hint to wheelbarrows in Tehuantepec, unless it is to com- 

 pare me with the native Indians who would not use them until they had taken out the 

 wheels and placed a man at each end of the barrow. I am as firm a believer in prog- 

 ress as Mr. Harriman can be, and I do not think my views on coffee culture are 

 inconsistent with progress, but should I be mistaken I will be glad to acknowledge my 

 error when I am satisfied that I have made any, as I am always open to conviction and 

 I think it is honorable for anybody to recognize his own mistakes. 



M. ROMERO. 



WASHINGTON, D. C., December 16, 1893. 



After my paper on coffee culture was writtten, I received a very 

 interesting publication on coffee culture in Brazil entitled Monographia 

 do Caft Historia, Cultura e Producfdo, by Paulo Porlo-Alegre, pub- 

 lished in Lisbon, in 1879, which contains valuable information on the 

 coffee culture in that country. I am sorry that I have not the time 

 to compare the culture of coffee in Brazil with the way in which it is 

 cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala. 



