January i, t38y.j THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
LETTERS FROM JAMAICA :— No. 26, 
A WET YEAU IN .JAMAICA — OOOD COFFEE CnOPS AND 
PRICES— THE 1UTUBE Of COFFEE— CEYLON RESIDENTS 
IN JAMAICA — JAMAICA AFFAIRS. 
Blue Mountain District, 
For packet of 13th October 1888. 
Paucity of materials must bo my excuse for not 
having addressed you for the last three months, and 
even at present I shall find it difficult to find suffi- 
cient materials to fill my customary letter. 
From what I read in the Qei/lon Overland Observer, 
our weather hero seems to have been similar to 
yours in Ceylon: dry till the middle of April, then 
very heavy rains which did a great deal of damage 
by landslips, and which, on your railway, seem to 
havo caused several heavy " breakaways " as wo 
call them here. We have also experienced a wet 
August and September, and should our usual Oc- 
tober "season" be severe, shall have had more rain 
than enough. Oh that we had a cart-road and a 
set of mills in Kingston there to get our coffee 
cured Colombo fashion. As to crop in the Blue 
Mountains proper, owners have about realized ex- 
pectations ; one estate, Radnor, did wonderfully 
well, but with this exception there was no approach 
to a " bumper," and what is curious, all the high 
estates have still coffee on the top fields, — a sort 
of autumn crop, which is not the usual custom in 
Jamaica, crops being usually considered over by 
the 1st of August. As to prices we have had no 
cause to complain, as Clifton-Mount, the favourite 
mark, touched 143s, and Radnor 142s, and other 
estates in proportion. A large shipment went home 
by the " Orinoco," which ha3 been held by the 
brokers in Liverpool ; so we are all hoping 
for equivalent results, for prices have been going 
up steadily lately in London in consequence of 
r lucid stocks, and also no doubt because the 
Brazil crop of oight million bags is not forthcoming, 
for it can only havo been the anticipation of this 
immense supply which has kept coffee at moderate 
prices in tho face of largely diminished European 
stocks. 
Whilst talking of coffee, reminds mo to ask 
whether you or any of your readers came across 
a hu(.' in tiio St. James's Dudijet of the 17th July, 
in which Monsieur Raoul, in tho employ of tho 
Pttnoh Government, an eminent botanist, is re- 
presented as having calmly stated that ho had 
Vilited tho principal coffee-growing districts in tho 
porld, and had scarcely met with a plantation that 
was not seriously affected by "Hemileia Vastatrix, 
which is as disastrous to the coffee, as the Phyl- 
hfxtrn is to tho vine. Now I have written to the 
editor of the ,S'(. James's Budget (who, 1 trust, will 
deem my lo'tcr worthy of publication) to provo I 
trust very practically that M. Raoul's statement 
(hat in a lew years prices of coffee will rise to 
lour times their present value, and that it will be 
difficult to find a substitute — to be an opinion entirely 
at varianco with actual probabilities ; for Mr. Raoul 
has evidently Dover visited, and palpably utterly 
i." I, tho Western Hemisphere as a coffee pro- 
Aooer, tli . ugh ho avers ho hns visited the principal 
eohV-growing districts in tho trnrl<l. Thank God, 
we are bo far frco from tho dire pest, which makes 
Mr. Raoul's statement in great measure correct as 
r rds tho Eastern Indies, though oven there old 
King Coffee is not entirely wiped out. Why ! 
Btazil alono would pretty well supply tho wants of 
tho European and American markets, to say nothing 
of Central America, and tho much ignored and 
ueapi ;t'd Wi st Indies. 1 think, therefore therois not 
much chance of culler rising in value to . ucli ,i 
price, as to doprivo all but tho rich from indul- 
ging iu the concocliou of tho berry which sustains 
AO 
and cheers and does not inebriate ; at the 
same time barring any disaster such as befell 
coffee in the East Indies, I believe that 
West India and all coffee planters on this side of 
the world may hopefully look forward to the 
maintenance of paying prices in the Home markets 
for whilst population must, as a natural consequence, 
increase, the production of coffee on the other 
hand is not likely to be augmented in like pro- 
portion ; for Brazil, now that the slaves are freed, 
will most likely produce less, than increase its 
exports, and as to tho West Indies and Central 
America, though there are thousands of acres of 
land available for cultivation, labour and transport 
difficulties, both as regards the cost and the 
soarcity of suitable labor, must prevent to any 
material extent the increase of coffee plantations, for 
we old planters all know that without moderately 
priced labor and other facilities it is impossible to 
grow coffee at a reasonable profit. The latter part 
of the articlo on which I have based these ri marks 
not only riles but likewise amuses me, I mean 
tho editor's remark that " iu this country we 
have long since learned to thrive on very passable 
imitations, the calamity will not be felt at its 
worst," and as criticism on this very "naive" 
view of the prophesied scarcity I naturally ask in 
my letter " Why have the people of Great Britain 
calmly consented to this adulteration? And why 
have British Governments, one after another, 
refused to accord to coffee planters the same 
protection as to growers of other products, which 
are strictly guarded by laws prohibiting mixtures; 
but with coffee if a grocer merely labeh the coffee 
as not pure coffee, I e may mix any sort of 
trash with it, and thereby make very ' large, and 
what 1 as an honest man deem dishonest profits, 
cheating and hoodwinking the public, especially 
the poorest classes, and defrauding the Govern- 
ment, who appear blind to the fact of the extra 
revenue that would be derived were more genuine 
coffee consumed in Great Britain, instead of 
decreasing as has of late been the rule, proving 
conclusively that adulteration obtains to a great 
extent. 
Another old Ceylon coffee planter has appeared 
on the scene— Mr. E.L. Mackenzie. Ho was in Ceylon 
from 187<> to 1879 until bad times and fever 
compelled him to return home. He managed latterly 
Dr. White's estates in Uvu: he now desires to 
return to his former love, and will, I trust, bo 
able to meet with a suitable property and settle 
down amongst us. As to F. D. Marshall, formerly 
of Haputale, I am sorry to say he has given up 
coffee planting, and is now employed by Government 
on the railway staff. With Dr. Plaxton, who has 
charge of tho Jamaica Lunatic Asylum and Mujor 
Knollys, Inspector-General of Police, we have now 
a total of five men who, at various times, havo 
been denizens of dear old Ceylon. Would there 
were more of them, and that wo had enough of 
our old Madras coolies to help us, though how 
we should be able to feed them with our transport 
difficulties, having to carry tho rice some 1 1 miles 
on mules' backs, would be a puzzle, so perhaps it is 
as well to put up with Mr., Mrs., and Miss Ouashic, 
and submit to the ways and customs of our adopted 
country. 
Tho Legislative Council met on tho 86th 
ultimo ; as regards the question of the re adjustment 
of taxation, tho Governor in his Message stated 
that tho revenue had improved, and would be 
sufficient to meet tho last year's deficiency, and that 
as 18M8-8S) would probably leave a small lUrpias, 
ho therefore deemed it best to postpone any Farther 
legislation as regards taxation to noxl year, when 
the new Council will have been eloeted ; and be 
