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profitable ss any other. The limited cuUivation is perhaps due to the 

 eircHmstance that chocolate is ths common beverage of the people, and 

 €otfee never having become an article of trade or export, has consequently 

 been neglected. There is no reason why as good coffee should not be 

 produced here as in Costa Rica; and the Costa Rica coffee, when offered 

 in good condition in England, commands a higher price than any other. 

 As, however^ it is usually shipped by way of Cape Horn, it often suffers 

 from the protracted voyage. It has, nevertheless, been the almost ex- 

 clusive source of wealth in Costa Rica. The crop of 1847 amounted to 

 8,000,000 pounds^ which, at $12 50 per cwt., (the average price in the 

 English market,) gives {jj5l,000,000 as the returns — a considerable sum for 

 a State of less than 100,000 inhabitants, and where the culture has been 

 introduced but fourteen years. The cost of production per quintal (lOlJ 

 pounds) at the present rate of wages (25 cents per day) is about $2 50. 

 If the attention of the people of Nicaragua was seriously directed to the 

 production of coffee, it would prove a source of great profit. 



C«ca<?.— Cacao, only equalled by that of Soconosco, on the coast of 

 Guatemala,, (and which was once monopolized for the use of the royal 

 establishment of Spain,) is cultivated in considerable quantities. It is^ 

 however, an article of general consumption among the inhabitants; and, 

 consequently, commands so high a price that it would not bear exportar 

 tion, even though it could be obtained in requisite quantities. About all 

 that finds its way abroad goes in the form of presents from one friend to 

 the other. There is no reason why this should not become an article of 

 large trade and a source of great wealth. There is one cause why its 

 production is not greater, and that is the length of time and great outlay 

 required in getting a cacao plantation in paying operation. Few have 

 now the capital to invest; and these few are in too feverish a state, in 

 consequence of the distracted condition of public affairs, to venture upon 

 any investment. Under a stable condition of things, and by the open- 

 ing of a short and easy channel to market, the cultivation of cacao will 

 rise to be of the first importance. The trees give two principal crops in 

 the year. It is sold from $15 to $20 the quintal, while the Guayaquil is 

 worth but $5 or $6. 



Indigo, — Indigo was formerly cultivated to a considerable extent, but 

 has of late years much fallen off; and there are a number of fine indigo 

 estates in various parts of the republic which have been quite given up, witk 

 all their appurtenances, by their respective proprietors. The plant cul- 

 tivated for the manufacture of indigo is the indigo ferny a triennial plant, 

 supposed to be a native of America. There is also an indigenous trien- 

 nial plant abounding in many parts of Central America, which produces 

 indigo of a very excellent quality, but gives less than half the weight 

 which is produced by the cultivated species. The indigo of Nicaragua 

 is of very superior quality, and its export once came up to 4,000 bales, of 

 150 pounds each. It is impossible to say what the export is at present: 

 probably not more than 1,000 or 2,000 bales. Under the government of 

 Spain, the State of San Salvador produced from 8,000 to 10,000 bales 

 annually. A piece of ground equal to two acres generally produces 

 about 100 or 120 pounds, at a cost of not far from thirty to forty dollars, 

 including clearing of the field, and all other expenses. 



Tobacco. — A large amount of tobacco is used in Nicaragua, all of 

 which is produced in the country. A considerable quantity was this 



