December i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
535 
keeps out of revolution, the usual bane of the oouil 
tries, originally settled by Spaniards. 
Costa Rica's finances arc flourishing; the income in 
1880 was $2,802,279, the expenditure $3,460,597, but 
this included $1,255,961 paid for building the inters 
oceanic railway, $138,892 for other public works, and 
$173,585 paid Peru in settlement of a debt. This year 
the income will square the outlay; the foreign debt 
is $5,403,285, and the state owes some money at home, 
but its assets are about twice its liabilities. The import 
last year was $2,001), 861. The export through Punta 
Arenas, $3,524,810, and through Lima, $211*142* The 
export included 23,207,005 pounds of coffee, the balance 
being India rubber and skins. 
MARITIME MOVEMENT. 
sailing 
st earners, vessels. tonnage. 
Entered at Punta Arenas . . 96 63 196,007 
Sailed from „ .. 95 59 188,163 
Entered at Lima 11 130 103,867 
Sailed from „ 40 123 106,659 
Railways so far in operation, only about seventy-five 
miles, but already of great value to the coffee planters. 
Telegraphs, 395 miles. 
Guatemala's income in 1877 was $4,503,523, and its 
expenditure $4,428,298. The public debt in 1879 
amounted to $5,369,529. The import in 1878 was 
$3,238,000, and the export $3.919,000 ; the latter 
included S3, I 19,7 10 worth of eoll'ec, the bill 'c hi ilig 
sn"ar, skins, cochineal and indigo. The arrivals at San 
.lose in 1.S70 were 26 sailing vessels, while from three' 
to four steamers touch monthly at the Pacific ports. 
Honduras is financially less favorably situated than 
the preceding republics, for it owes in England and 
France together with some f.8,000.000 while the 
income in 1S77-78 was only $533,469, against in expen- 
diture of $1,189,546. The liquor tax is, however, 
producing larger amounts since 1S77. The export 
amounted in 1880 to $1,305,000, the bulk being indigo, 
cattle, dyewoods nnd hides. The Atlantic ports are 
Truxillo and Oinon, and the Pacific port is Amapala. 
There is a railroad of 37 miles from Puerto Cortez 
to San Pedro. Telegraphs there are 150 miles. 
Nicaragua.— The revenue of the country was $1,750,000 
in 1877, against $211,105 in 1858, showing a remark- 
able increase ; the expenditure in 1877 was $2,235,000, 
and the foreign debt amounted in 1878 to $2,234,607. 
FOREION TRADE MOVEMENT IN 1878. 
import, export. 
Orevlown $616,000 $595,000 
gorinto 347,000 575,000 
|tn Juan del Sur 33,000 138,000 
Chinaudcga 9,000 27,000 
$1,005,000 $1,335,000 
" The hulk of export consisted in India rubber, coffee, 
skins and fustic. There entered Corinto in 1876, 35 
KEgels, and steamers touch at the various ports two 
to three times per month. 
San Salvador. — The income of the (republic has from 
$79*,Olll) in lsi',9 gradually risen to $2,686,000 in 1878, 
the liquor monopoly yielding $719,000 alone. The 
public debt inn-eased from S1.S30.000 in 1877 to 
fe,2 I I.OOO in 1S7.8. 
import. export. 
187S $2,500,000 $3,626,000 
1*77 2,586-000 3,956,000 
Indigo and coffee were the two heaviest articles of 
export, the latter $1,800,000 worth; then came sugar 
and tobacco. The entries in 1878 wore 22 Bailing 
MUekj and 82 steamers, with a joint tonnage of 
Central America at present produces 33,000 tons of 
(toffee, againsf lo.ooo in L808 and 3,imh> tons in L836. 
This coffee, t'osta Rica in particular, is very popular, 
both on account of its looks and its flavour. London 
and 8.' Francisco in particular have known how to 
appreciate Costa Rica coffee since they became familiar 
with it ; hence it brings comparatively more there than 
elsewhere. New York, we are sorry to say, has not 
yet learned to fully appreciate this excellent coffee, 
which is absolutely unsurpassed by any other sort. 
The sorts coming nearest to it hi point of outward 
>f lla 
a ud 
While .Tina and Arabian coffees grow s 
slopes of mountains, Costa Rica fiourishe 
incomparable black soil of the mountai 
that country, mid-way between the Pa 
Atlantic. 
Railroad building is proceeding most actively in Cen- 
tral America, cheapening the transportation of the 
precious bean and infusing life everywhere. 
them, 
on the 
in the 
eaux of 
nd the 
SUGAR: CONCRETE CONVERSION IN NATAL. 
For the first time in the history of the colony — for 
the first time we believe m South Africa, a successful 
attempt has been made in Natal to convert concrete 
into a serviceable marketable sugar. Such an event 
requires more than a psssing notice at our hands. The 
Alborgeni Sugar- Works — situated as most of our planter 
readers know on a convenient site near the mouth of 
the Umgeni, on the north hank of the river — were taken 
over at the beginning of the year by Mr. Rudolph 
Wilhelm, for the purpose wc have indicated, to con- 
vert grey and low sugars as well as concrete into a 
very fan- saleable sugar. The Albergeni Sugar Works 
were originally used as a crushing mill, but much of 
the machinery has been retained for the process used 
in the conversion, while considerable new and expensive 
plant has been added. The buildings are lofty and roomy, 
and, as the supply of water is inexhaustible, they are 
in every way suited for the carrying out of what is 
emphatically a new industry. We propose to give some 
description of how this interesting work is now being 
done at our own doors. It must be premised that the 
labour of the converter here is more arduous, and calls 
for more skill than is required of the operator in any 
of the great centres at home, where the sugar is deprived 
to a large extent of the molasses. Here, in the concrete, 
the manager of the Abergeni Sugar Works has to con- 
tend against molasses, syrups, and such vegetable matter 
as may happen to have found its way into the ugly 
stuff he has to make' sugar out of. .To proceed — the 
concrete, being received into the mill from the estab- 
lislmieuts of the local planters who manufacture it, it 
is at once put into what is technically called the blow- 
up. These vessels on an average are at home prepared 
to liquify about four tons of sugar at each charge. They 
are fitted with a perforated false bottom placed above 
twelve inches from the true one, and each charge of 
concrete is melted to the consistency of 20 to 29 degrees 
Baume. Steam is then freely admitted by a pipe 2J 
inches in diameter between the two bottoms, and the 
sugar is melted to a heat of about 150 degrees Fall. 
The concrete, now reduced to a duty black stream, is 
run off in about half an hour to what are called the 
bag niters. The arrangement is a purely mechanical ouo, 
and consists in passing the solution into the top of a 
square cistern, and thence into twilled cotton bags eighteen 
inches in diameter and six or eight feet long. Then 
are from 70 to 100 of these cloth cases, and they de- 
pend from the shallow tank into which wc have seen 
the liquid flow. They are surrounded by the sides of 
an iron box, so that the juice may be kept hot, and 
also that steam may be introduced to keep up the tem- 
perature and dean out the bags. It should have been 
stated that each bag i^ also enclosed in a coarse sheath. 
The object uf ^running the liquid into these filter bags- 
is to remove all inherent insoluble mattir, ami the step 
