538 



to retain their stocks sooner than sell at what would have given 

 them barely sufficient to cover expenses. This was especially the 

 case when the planter resided any distance from the capital; owing 

 to the dearness of transport to the railway, which is mainly effected 

 by mules. At the commencement of the year prices ran to about 

 ^i.io per cwt., but fell in July and August to from £1.1 to £i.$ t 

 rising again to £1.10 in November. At the close of the year, 

 business was at a complete standstill, and the market showed a 

 weak tendency. 



The quality of the crop was equal to the average of former years, 

 and would have been better could planters be only induced to give 

 more attention to the hulling of the berry. This operation is per- 

 formed so carelessly that the bean gets chipped and broken, with 

 the result that the appearance of the coffee suffers, and its com- 

 mercial value is lessened. The drying process also leaves much to 

 be desired, and coffee, like cocoa, arrives on the market with a 

 smoky flavour, which is much objected to by European buyers. As 

 formerly, the United States and Germany are the chief purchasers, 

 but last year other orders arrived from the Mediterranean. The 

 outlook for the present year is not bright, because with exchange 

 at 12 per cent, the value of Brazilian coffee is reduced to a mini- 

 mum, and although the planters may not abandon the industry, it 

 is certain that it cannot give a profit to employers of labour, al- 

 though the small cultivator, who works his own ground, and em- 

 ploys his own family as collectors, manages to secure the means 

 of existence. 



India rubber, — The fall of price abroad in India rubber (nearly 

 25 per cent.) caused the trade for the past year to be very small. 

 The difficulties experienced in collecting any quantity of this 

 article and the fluctuations in exchange render it probable that 

 India rubber may soon disappear from the Bahia export list. 



RUBBER IN FRENCH GUINEA. 



The folllowing is from the Diplomatic and Consular 

 Report on the trade of French Guinea for the Year 1900. 



The commercial crisis which commenced in 1900, the effects of 

 which still continue to be felt, was due to the fall in the price of 

 rubber, which, while it affected all the rubber-producing countries, 

 was specially felt in French Guinea, eight tenths of whose exports 

 consist of that article. In addition there were special reasons 

 which caused the colony to suffer. 



Having been a rubber producing country for many years, the 

 vines, owing to wasteful methods of tapping them, had become 

 comparatively scarce, and in order to increase the quantity of rub- 

 ber for sale, the natives adulterated it in various ways. The mer- 

 chants anxious to profit by 4he high market, accepted the bales 

 without examination, with the result that the rubber bought from 

 the natives during the season 1899-1900 contained as much as 25 

 per cent, of impurities, 



