110 



LIBERIAN COFFEE. 



From Messrs. Gillespie Bros. 8f Oo. f to Director, Public Gardens. 



23, Crutched Friars, London, E. C. 



20th June, 1902. 



Dear Sir, 



A s requested, we beg now to report on the present position of 

 the market in Europe for Liberian Coffee. 



In sympathy with the low prices current for Brazilian descriptions, 

 prices ruling for Liberian are very low. 



The quantities which have been coming forward during the past 

 3 r ear or two have been larger than in previous years and sales have 

 bean made of ordinary quality at from 24/ to 28/, finer grades occa- 

 sionally bringing from 30/ to 32/. For the very finest descriptions of 

 Java and Johore Liberian a little more, say 35/, would be obtainable, 

 but to obtain such a price the colour must be very light and the beans 

 very dry. As far as we can at present judge, Liberian Coffee of 

 ordinary quality will always be difficult of sale, and unless growers 

 obtain very much better returns from their crop than is secured from 

 the ordinary coffee, we scarcely think that the cultivation of Liberian 

 descriptions should be encouraged. 



In order to confirm our own judgment in this matter we have con- 

 sulted Messrs. C. M. & C. Woodhouse, who are well known brokers in 

 Mincing Lane, and they have obtained for us three samples of good 

 to fine Liberian Coffe3 w r hich are at present actually on sale in this 

 market. We are sending these samples to you herewith. The two 

 parcels of Java were offered at Public Auction to day without any bids 

 being made, and were bought in at 40/, which however is of course 

 quite a nominal price. AJessrs. Woodhouse report that these two 

 samples are good specimens and have the colour which sho ild be aimed 

 at. The Johore sample you will observe is also of fine quality. Messrs. 

 Woodhouse state that dark Mni mixed qualities are always very dif- 

 ficult of sale except in a decidedly strong market. They, however, state 

 that they do not remember to have ever seen a sample of West Indian 

 Liberian Coffee worth looking at 



We are, dear Sir, 



Yours obediently, 



Gillespie Bros. & Co. 



THE FERNS OF JAMAICA. 



An article on this subject, especiall} r dealing with Filmies, appears 

 in the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (Vol. 

 XXII, pt. I, 1901) by Rev. Dr. Paul, who paid a visit to this Island 

 a few years ago. He compares the area of Jamaica to that of Inver- 

 ness-shire, and remarks that whereas in the whole of the British Is- 

 lands there are only 47 species of Ferns, there are 473 in Jamaica. 

 He says that " anyone who loves Ferns, and has means and leisure, 

 would find that a holiday spent in these islands (Jamaica, Grenada, 

 and St. Vincent) would repay him a thousandfold in the interest and 

 pleasure he would experience at the time, and in a store of delightful 

 recollections which would be a cherished possessio a to him all the days 

 of his life." 



