314 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1893. 
An extremely low average yield of coffee on the 
iethmas is two pounds per tree, wbich w 11 give 
200,000 pounds for our plantation. No cotfee has 
been so d in the State of Vtra Cruz in the past year 
•t less than 20cenl8 (in Mexicin eilver) per pound 
which would feive *40,000' Allowing IglO.OOOper ytar 
for maximum cusst i f pickiug and oleaDi"K we have 
•fter the fourth year, $30,000 profit, if coffee continues 
at tlie s.vmc price. 
Cotfee-trees increase in yield up to the tenth or 
twelth ye»r, reinaiuing statiouBry to Kbout tlie 
tweutintli year, and then decline to about the thirtieth 
year when they should be removed, interveniog onta 
havit'g been let out to talte their place. 
lu all old coffee plantations shado trees were uced that 
wtre useless in other rtspects but we have substituted 
a sha le that in seven years will in itself alone more 
than pay all expenses of the plantation of today — both 
coffee and rubber, cultivation and cost of land — tod 
pay an interest on the capital invested. 
Putting the value upon the ccffee and rnbber-trees 
that is customary on the isthmue — 50 cents for coffee 
and S'l for rubber — we have for the KtO.OOO ooffoe- 
trees 8$SO,000, and for the 25,000 rubber-trees 
8100,000, or a total of $150,000. Ihis should give a 
net yearly iocomeof $50,540 gold, which may be seen, 
without further calculation, to be a h<iDdecme rate 
of i>to&t.~ American Grocer. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE, 
Last Week's Tea Mabket.— The demand for 
Indian tea has not been quite so active as in the 
preceding week, which is no doubt mainly attributable 
to the advance in the lower grades, say a the 
Produce Markets' Review. In these a rise of |d has 
been established, and with smaller supplies and a 
stronger market for Ceylon growths, there does not 
appear to be any immediate probability of a return 
to the lower prices of last week. Teas between 6d 
and 9d, however, continue in full supply, and offer 
exceptionally good value, so that a large business 
has been transacted in them. At the current low 
rates for these descriptions a continuance of the 
present good demand may be expected, as prices have 
touched a level that cp-nnot fail to bring them 
liberally into consumption for the retail medium and 
lower-priced blends. For Pekoes between 9d and Is 
the market remains poorly supplied, and firm rates 
ijftve been paid, while Brokena of similar grades are 
more plentiful and relatively better value. The 
quantity of Oeylon tea brought forward has again 
been small, and the market continues very firm at 
the advanced rates. 
Coffee in Bukmah. — Lower Burmah promises well 
for coffee growing. The Tavoy district is regarded 
bv experts as being exceptionally rich in suitable soil 
for coffee growing. — H. and C. Mail, Sept. 22. 
. ^ 
CULTIVATION OF ALFALFA. 
The cultivation of Alfalfa, better known in Europe 
as lucerne, says the Baitish Consul at Buenos Ayres, 
covers an enormous area in Argentina, and is every 
year becoming more important. In the opinion of 
many persons it will probably, as an export, be 
second only to wheat and maize in importance. It 
has already been exported to England as an experi- 
ment, and been pronounced a most satisfactory 
forage. Alfalfa is a kind of clover, and is particu- 
larly suited to a great part of Argentina, owing to 
its not requiring much surface damp or rain. It 
throws down its roots very deep, even to the depth 
of five yards, and is therefore more dependent on 
moisture deep down than on the weather for its 
nourishment, Even after long drought it remains 
jraen. Alfalfa euriches the ground. Its success 
depends largely on the substratum of soil ; if that 
is satisfactory, alfalfa has been known to yield good 
ciopa for twenty years. One can get four or five 
eiops regularly a year, sometimes more. If wheat 
lands ajter six to teq years only yield poor crops, 
ar^d deep plougbing or r'^tation of crops is not 
m>r3e uae of, alfalfa can be sown ''^ between the 
last crop, and the following year will yield a little 
and the next year good crops. This alfalfa is grown 
lor forage purposes, and largely used for feeding 
animals and fattening them up tor market — a busi- 
ness that is rapidly developing. Like wheat and 
raaize, it is a large article of consumption. Con- 
siderable quantities are exported to Brnzil for feed- 
ing cattle there. The province of Cordova is often 
called the alfalfa region ; the lands round Rio Qiuxto 
are particularly suited to its growth, but it flourishes 
almost everywhere. One reason of its rapid 
ii crease ot i ultivation iii late jeais is undoubtealj 
the facilitieo s Horded by the railways for its transport 
to ports for exportation. In 1692, 39,'.'(W tons »ere 
exported, thongh this is pictably tut « small begio- 
ing of a !a ge branch of tri du. Alfulta, Krown as a 
fori ge, adds the Coneul, has a great feature, tL'td, if 
properly managed, may btcorat a most iojportaot 
and valunble export of the i&rgentine Itcpiiblie. At 
present it is n ostly conBumed in the conntry, either 
freeh as pasture tor cattle, or in a oried fcrin as bay. 
The profits vary largely, acroiding to the price tf 
alfalfa, which Las been Bold fur 50 dollars a loo t£3 
69), but tbe average is £2 upwards. The area of 
alfalfa in 1891 has bten given as 1,4%,00U, and is now 
probably 3,000,000 acrts.— Commerce, Sept. 18. 
COFFEE IN MEXICO. 
Thf f-r ;I:ties offered by this country for the grow- 
ing of cotfee, at present "one of the most profitable 
of tropical crops, are attracting much attention in 
the United States. A short time ago we noticed the 
taking up by Americans for coffee culture large tracts 
of land on the isthmus of lehuantepec, and since 
then the enterprise has taken definite shape under 
the name of tbe Mexico Land and Improvement 
company. Following the lead of this company several 
private individuals have made purchases of coffee 
lands iu other parts of the state of Vera (,ruz. Some 
of these investors have settled on their plantations 
in order personally to acquira a knowledge of the 
business of coffee-growing, while others have ap- 
pointed agents to watch over their interests. Ab 
long as the price of coffee rules high, the invest- 
ment of American capital in Mexican coffee lauds 
is likely to continue. The unfavourable conditions 
of the labor market in Brazil and the unsettled state 
of affairs there generally, have furnished Mexico 
with her golden opportunity in the matter of coffee 
production. — Mexican Financier. 
COFFEE NOTES. 
Tbe arrifalsof coffee in the United States east of the 
rocky moun'ains during the year ended Jane 30th last 
apgregated 4,283,239 bagB, against 4,617,019 bags in 
1891-92. 
The new export duty on coffee in Mexico wer.t into 
effecton July Ist. it amounts to §3 00 per 100 kilogram- 
mef, and will unqnestionably prove prejudicial w the 
development of coffee production in that country. 
In an article on Jamaica, in Scribner's for July, 
the good qualities of tbe ccffee produced in that 
island are referred to. " W- .re told, however, " says 
the writer; " that tbe qniufesaence of ail is ihe rat 
coffee, or tbe seeds from berries which have been 
gnawed by r^te, for these animals are very fond 
of the aromatic pulp of the cherry-like fruit nhieb 
incluees the seeds, and as their fastidious taste leads 
them to select tbe best, children ate employed to 
gather among tbe bushes tbe berries which they have 
gnawed, and this coffee is set apart as the finest 
and most delicious of all." — Bio Xevjs. 
RUBBEH IN MEXICO. 
A few years ago a Mexican company purchased from 
the Government half a million acres of choice lands 
in a eertain district in western Oaxaca bordering on 
the Pacific, with numerous rivers, two harbors, good 
roads and the certainty of a railway now being rapidly 
extended from Mexico city into the district, together 
with a wQst valuably concession providing foj; tb^ 
