COFFEE INDUSTRY OF COLOMBIA. 39 



wont to .shine hero, is detrimental in the long run to its most congenial state of pro- 

 ductiveness. However, near the upper Limit of this cultivation, namely, from 5,000 

 to 6,000 feet, shade is not to be recommended. 



As I am well acquainted with the productive resources of Jamaica, England's trop- 

 ical American colony par excellence for coffee, it may not be amiss to give the follow- 

 ing particulars touching coffee cultivation in that colony in comparison with the cul- 

 tivation in Colombia: The total coffee production in Jamaica, about 10,000,000 

 pounds, represents what is cultivated on an area of 11,000 acres in Colombia, but in 

 Jamaica 22,476 acres are under cultivation. Thus, were the Jamaica plantations 

 yielding to the same extent as those of Colombia, the value of the output would be 

 increased from £336,840 to double that amount yearly. Moreover, the general aver- 

 age quality of the Colombian article is superior to that of Jamaica, though that island 

 contains several plantations at high altitudes the produce of w r hich is the finest in 

 the world. There can be no doubt that the coffee industry of Jamaica would be 

 greatly benefited by the adoption of the more advanced practical methods pursued 

 in Colombia. 



In a recent number of the Kew Bulletin reference is made to the slow development 

 of the coffee enterprise in Jamaica and other British colonies. What that paper 

 suggests in order to encourage the enterprise in Jamaica is the opening up of the 

 roads to facilitate transport, but Jamaica is already well provided with splendid 

 roads; besides, the most eligible sites for plantations are nowhere situated more than 

 some 20 miles from the sea, and seaports surround the island. I have already 

 described how remarkably different are the conditions of transport in Colombia, and 

 how this, the most important commercial plant of tropical America, can be turned 

 to better account in the colonies. 



Understanding that the benefits ascribed to shade may prove to be 

 largely due to the fertility imparted by the leguminous trees, it is pos- 

 sible to reconcile these interesting statements with others of a contra- 

 dictory import. That there are, however, rational limits to the use of 

 even leguminous shade trees is indicated by the fact that although spe- 

 cies of Erythrina and Inga have been introduced into Porto Rico the 

 average yield is as low or lower than that of Jamaica. Supposing that 

 the natural conditions are equally favorable with those of Colombia, 

 overshading and neglect are apparently responsible in Porto Rico for 

 the loss of more than half of the possible crop. Although Mr. Thomp- 

 son does not state the amount of shade used, it is evident that great 

 moderation exists in comparison with the general custom in Porto Rico, 

 notwithstanding the probability that the continental conditions and 

 greater seasonal extremes of heat and diyness justify the use of shade 

 for its own sake to a far greater degree than in Porto Rico. It is quite 

 possible that shade would be desirable at some places in Jamaica, 

 although the fact that the island produces a very high grade of coffee 

 without shade is also significant. 



In the most extensive coffee region of the world, Brazil, shade is 

 not in use, a fact which has doubtless had great influence upon general 

 opinion and has stood in the way of an appreciation of the problems 

 of this and related branches of tropical agriculture. The Brazilian 

 practice of excluding shade trees has been justified by many experts 

 acquainted only with the coffee industry of that country and has also 



