AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 



Of THE 



STRAITS 



AND 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



•No. 14.] DECEMBER, 1902. [Vol. i. 



COFFEE AND OTHER PRODUCTS IN ZANZIBAR. 



From the report on the trade and commerce of Zanzibar for the 

 year 1901, the following is extracted: — 



Coconuts. — Coconuts obtained fairly high prices in 1901, attain- 

 ing a maximum of 16 dollars per 1,000 in the month of August. 

 Unfortunately, the copra brought into the town was by no means 

 well prepared, and the result was that its price was lower than it 

 should have been. Efforts are, however, being made by the Cus- 

 toms and Agricultural Departments of His Highness the Sultan's 

 Government to make the natives understand that nothing is gained 

 by bringing in copra which is only half dried, seeing that it natur- 

 ally obtains a much lower price than if properly dried, although the 

 weight of the bags may in the former case be slightly greater. 



Coffee. — It really seems as if with proper attention and care in 

 planting, &c. a useful purpose can be served by the local growth 

 of coffee. The writer has himself, in the course of an afternoon 

 visit at a house situated in the grounds of the Universities Mission 

 to Central Africa, up till recently the property of Miss THACKERAY, 

 for many years a member of that Mission, and owned in earlier 

 days by Sir John KlRK, enjoyed a cup of most excellent coffee 

 grown upon that (.Mbeweni) estate. Moreover the trees, although 

 lacking through the force of circumstances, careful and thorough 

 cultivation, yet present a healthy appearance, and on the whole 

 there seems to be no reason why, with greater attention, useful 

 results should not be obtained from its cultivation. Mr. LYNE, 

 Head of the Agricultural Department of the Zanzibar Government, 

 furnishes in the annual report of that Department for the year 1901, 

 the following remarks on the subject of this tree : — 



" Liberian coffee requires no protection, but light shade appears 

 to suit Arabian coffee. Our plantation of Arabian coffee has been 

 laid out next to a remnant of native forest, and bushes, up against 

 the forest, have been sheltered from the morning sun. These are 

 healthier and larger than those further out in the open. Observ- 

 ing this, and in order to provide a light covering for the trees dur- 

 ing- the hot season, I planted the whole clearing with grevillea, 

 Ceara rubber trees, mapapayi and cassava ; the shade thus produced 

 has proved of great advantage to the trees. We have in the old 



