16 



The causes of decline in exports till lately were probably the difficulties in the way of providing 

 sufficient labour to work the coffee plantations, and secondly the increase in the area cultivated in 

 Brazil and Ceylon. 



But the Ceylon coffee was almost exterminated by the Hemeleia vastatrix, and in Brazil the eman- 

 cipation of slaves has raised a serious labour question. It is difficult to see how the exports from 

 Brazil can fail to dwindle to a very low figure. The emancipated labourers will only Avork in the future 

 at their own grounds or only sufficiently to keep themselves in food, and the only source from which 

 to expect continuous labour in Brazil is in colonisation by white men. But under a Government 

 which is not perfectly stable, colonisation of the kind is scarcely likely to take place. The cultivation 

 of coffee therefore will soon practically cease, and the exports will be confined to coffee picked from old 

 bushes in the most desultory manner. 



Present prices for coffee will probably be maintained for a long period, and the area under culti- 

 vation in Jamaica should therefore be very largely increased, 



The following table shows the area in several parishes at an elevation of 2,000 feet and upwards, a 

 proportion of which might be put into coffee. 



Parish. Sq. Miles 



Portland ... ... 80 Between 2,000 and 4,500 feet. 



Manchester ... ... 126 " 2,000 and 3,000 feet 



St. Ann's ... ... 54 " " " 



St. Mary's ... ... 23 Above 2,000 



Clarendon ... ... 45 Between 2,000 and 3,000 



Trelawny ... ... 32 " " " 



In some of these parishes, and in others also, much of the coffee land is " worn out". It is the 

 genei'al opinion that nothing can be done with such land. If it is allowed to revert to. bush and forest 

 again, it is possible that after the lapse of many years it might be profitable to put it again into coffee, 

 but there seems to be great doubt about it In Manchester old Coffee lands are being planted with 

 gi'ass for cattle. 



The problem of resuscitating these worn out lands is a difficult one. 



In the cultivation of Coffee, the ground is kept as free as possible of weeds, and it is found that 

 the cleaner the ground is weeded, the more productive are the coffee-shrubs. But this state of fertility 

 of the soil cannot last beyond a certain time. The nitrogenous compounds are washed out of soils 

 by rain, and on well weeded coffee lands there is nothing to supply its place. To keep up the supply 

 of nitrogenous material, small settlex's may on their grounds close to their houses use horse or cow 

 manure, but to carry such heavy material to the fields on a large plantation is too expensive ; much 

 might be done however by using the lighter artificial manures. 



Another method of supplying nitrogen to an exhausted soil is by growing plants which obtain 

 this substance dii-ectly from the atmosphere. It is only during the last few years that it has been dis- 

 covered that the plants that are capable of doing this work are those belonging to the leguminous 

 family, that is, all those of the same family as the pea, bean and clover. These are sometimes ploughed 

 into the land and the decaying organic matter helps in the preparation of the soil for use as plant food, 

 besides supplying nitrogenous material as food. 



The growth of some of these plants might well be tried on woi'n-out coffee lands, especially on 

 ridges. Ploughing or digging in the plants is out of the question, but when about to flower they 

 might be cut down and left on the ground to rot. Or, they might be cut for feeding cattle ; and if a 

 leguminous plant suitable to the district were found, several crops of green fodder might be cut in the 

 year. One of the clovers, such as Alfalfa or the Crimson Clover, under experiment at the Hill Grarden, 

 might be tried in various districts. One kind might suit the soil formed from metamorphic rocks as in 

 the Blue Mountains, another may be more convenient for the growth on the limestone and red clay of 

 Manchester. 



There are circumstances operating against any large increase of the cultivation of coffee, and 

 those are chiefly scarcity of labour, and want of roads. The former does not affect the settlers, but a 

 deficiency in the means of communication affects all alike. It is a subject for the consideration of the 

 Government how far help can be given in both. 



I have been favoured with communications from several planters oa the subjecb from which the 

 following paragraphs are extracted : — 



Portland Mo. 1 : — " Coffee lands of Portland can be utilised, and I believe foreign capital 

 would be invested in them if much was known of them. Where roads can be put, they should be. 

 This would not only open the land to Coffee but many other things. If roads can be made passable, 

 then Bananas can be grown, which area quick crop, returning the money spent in preparing for Coffee. 

 To go into the land almost without roads, and begin a slow-growing crop is discouraging in the 

 extreme." 



Portland No 2 : — " I think the mountain lands of Portland would be taken up for the cultivation 

 of Coffee if the Government could see their way to make riding tracks into the Crown lands for sale. 

 The lands should bn sold for a nominal sum say 4s. per acre where the roads were easy, and 2$. per acre 

 in the highest slopes with a proviso that, say 10 per cent, cf the land purchased should be put under 

 cultivation each year for the first three years, and five per cent, for the next three years. The pay- 

 ment for the land should be, say 25 per cent, on possession, balance in equal payments divided over 

 a period of six years. All new roads to such lands should be in the charge of the Main Road Depart- 

 ment and not handed over to the Parochial Roads." 



