September i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
303 
large leaves, chiefly those of tho djali. Duiin^ the dry 
weather they are watered every day until i he plants 
having taken loot, those which are weakly or dead are 
pulled up and are replaced by others, iu addition the 
caterpillars are carefully removed. Occasionally the 
ground is weeded and broken up with a patjol,tL species 
of mattock, great care being taken to heap up the soil 
around the stem. At the end hi seventy days, the plants 
commence to bear buds; these are e u- fully removed 
with the fingers or with a small knife. After this ope- 
ration, the shoots which spring from the stalk anil injure 
the leaves are carefully watched. Tin' highest, leaf is 
considered by the growers as the best of the whule plant, 
and if it is desired to fully develop it tho lower ones 
are sacrificed, so that in some cases only twelve or 
fifteen leaves are left ou a plant, while those planters 
who only look to the quanti'y an 1 nut to the quality 
of their crop only remove from eighteen to twenty of 
the leavtfi three months after planting, and when the 
leaves begin to have a yellowish-green tint the gather- 
ing of the crop is commonejd. This is done leal by 
leaf, and great care is taken to keep separate the high- 
er leaves, the lower leaves, and those growing midway ; 
or again, these are mixed toy-ether in a certain propor- 
tion, according to the exigencies of the market for 
which the planter is growing. The crop is covered 
with leaves of tuepisang, Mum paradisiaca, and placed 
upon bamboo tables. After the lapse of twenty-four 
h ours, or when the leaves have become completely 
yellow, they are removed lrom the sterns, and the 
principal ribs are taken away; a dozen leaves are rolled 
up iu such a ma mur as toleave the largest on the out- 
side, aud they aie then cut up very fine. This is a 
fatiguing operation, aud requires much practice. The 
tobacco known uuder the name of "shag" — iu 
Dutch Aj)8nliqar — which is sold in European tnakets, 
shows to w hat a degree of perfection the natives have 
attained in the art of cutting up. Tho table used for 
this operation is a simple plank, long lather than broad 
furnished with two ledges widened toward the top. 
The rolis of tobacco are placed between these two 
ledges, and are pushed forward by the hand as the 
km IV cuts off the layers. The knife used is composed 
ol B very long and broad blade iu a short handle, and 
ia 118 d only for this purpose. When the planter's 
family is not sufficient for the cutting, friends aud 
neighbors are called in to assist, and as a rule this 
assistance is not paid for iu money, but tho workpeople 
aro well treated aud reco ve a portion of the crop as 
their reward. For two or three days the tobacco which 
has been cut up is allowed to remain exposed to the 
sun, and daring the night it is exposed to the air, as 
it is the opinion of the growers that the dew exercises 
a ta*orable effect upou the aroma and the color of the 
tobacco. As soon as the tobacco is dry and of a brown 
color, the layers aro taken up aud folded in two in the 
term of a square bundle. This operation is usually 
performed in the morning ab nt nine o'clock, as then 
the tobacco is supposed to have got rid of the night 
dews, and has not become so dry as to be ditlicult to 
handle. The buudles so termed are wrapped up iu 
banana leaves, and are then heaped up in bamboo baskets, 
coverod iu tho inside w ith jiuam/. djali, aud <dana-uiany 
leaves. In these baskets the tobacco is subjeot to a 
species of fermentation. When the tobacco is not in- 
tended for immediate consumption, it is kept iu tho 
baskets or iu boxes, care being taken to exclude the 
air and light. The grower for the homo market, who 
thus knups his cut tobacco (radjang) provides him- 
self with capital, for be kuows that sooner or later 
Chinese, Arabs, or the native merchants will visit his 
■iUagfl and purchase bis surplus cro|i. Trices vary 
according to quality and circumstance-, but native 
tobacco is always very choice, aud asmiros to the grow- 
er considerable profi', if bo is only cirulul in choosim; 
his tune fur selling. Prices generally range from 20 
to 80 francs per pictil, the picul being equivalent tj 
about 137 lb. avoirdupois. Native tobuoco from some 
ntrtsnf the Archipelago, for instance that grown iu 
Paraan, Kadoe, Keoj.iug.or l'nh inbaug, has a very high I 
r eputation, and fetches a high price. It in the usual I 
gUltOffl ol the Javanese to plant his tobacco iu the j 
MtaMi or watered laudt, alter the rice harvest, aud , 
in the Ugals, or dry ground?, after the maize harvest. 
It is believed that the dry ground grows a stouter and 
more odoriferous lira', and til- irrigated lands a liuei and 
larger leaf. The Bulletin da Musie Commercial states 
that the information respecting the tobacco industry 
in the Dutch East Indies has been furnished by 
the Belgian Consul-Creneral at Batavia, who has 
also forwarded samples of the native products to the 
Commercial Museum at Bru-scls. — Scientific American. 

THE FUTURE OF MEXICAN COFFEE. 
Mexico is by no means sharing as she ought to 
do iu the immense coffee trade of the United States. 
Last week, basing our statement on the statist ics then 
at hand, we reckoned the annual consumption of coffee 
in the United States at §43,000,000 gold. During 
1887 the Americans paid for their coffee nearh 
850,000,(100 gold, or 866,000,000 of our currency. Of 
this vast sum Mexican coffee planters received less 
than -1 per cent. 
The Central American republics sold the Americans 
more than twice as much coffee as we sent to them. 
Even Venezuela exported more thau three times as 
much coffee to the United States as did Mexico. 
These facts prove incontestable tint we are auuually 
losing a trade that, under belter ecouomical condi- 
tions here, should be largely our own. Tho U'uited 
States bought coffee in the fiscal var ending June 
30, 1887, as follows:— Of Brazil, §36,401,864 gold ; of 
Venezuela, $6,770,167 gold ; of Oeutral America, 
§4,260,867 gold; of Mexico 1 ,-837,150 gold; of 
Columbia, §1,437,177 gold. Aud, bjsides, purchased 
of other countries. 
The following presents the contrast between the 
coffee export ations of Mexico aud Central America 
COt'l'KE KXl'OKTA'ilONS. 
From Mexico to 
r United States. > 
Val. in gold. Pounds 
1887 § 1,837,450 14,567,005 
1886 1,380,756 15,761,902 
1885 999,538 10,041,421 
1884 1,114,694 9,975,406 
1883 809,757 8,578,53-2 
1882 1,817,584 17,020,66a 
1881 ... 1,730,838 13,911,910 
From Central America to 
, United S:ates , 
Val. in gold. Pounds. 
1887 § 4,269,967 32,734,302 
1886 3,091,810 29,867,736 
1885 3,833,372 36.S11.072 
1884 3,288,521 31,827,573 
1883 2,475,942 24,715,028 
1882 2,512.230 22,140,112 
1881 1,989,958 15,858,327 
Siuoe we begau exporting coffee to onr northern 
neighbors, we have never before, except iu two years, 
exceeded last year's exportation ; but what a mere 
drop in the bucket it is ooinparod to the total ralue 
of the coffee bought by the Americans ws have seeu 
Alresdy wo have poiuted out the imperative need ot 
lessening the local taxation ou coffee, if we are to 
make effective competition with tho Brazilians and 
Central Americans, and of other causes which retard 
exportation wo will treat in a future issue, lcaving 
our readers in the coffee-growing districts to digest 
the figures wo give in this article. — Mexican Financier. 
TllK provinoo of Rio Cranda do Norte is com- 
plaining of droutb, and people are alretdy leaving 
the interior districts, In Ceara great suffering is 
reported from various localities. It is genorully feared 
that the north is to experience auother dovaitatiug 
sicca. — Rio -Vriui. 
A0C0BD1NG to a statistical report of tho director 
of the public gardens at Curityba, Parana, the ex- 
port of herVa mailt from that province last year 
amounted to 19,403,174 kilogrammes, against 
14,733,630 kib.a j u 1836. The export in 1887 
12,462.217 kilos.— Sit .\>u>>. 
