Oct. r, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
257 
GROWING TEA IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
It is said that the tea-growing industry is likely to 
assume large proportions and to ue b valuable addi- 
tion to the four-es of revenue iu South Carolina. 
The Summerville plantation, unler the charge of a 
Mr. Jackson, an expert tes-grower from Assam, is 
going into the business on a commercial scale. Mr. 
Jackson says be can raise tea in South Ctrolma with 
negro labor cheaper than it can be raised in Assam 
with cooI ; e labor, ns the negroes are much more 
reliable. Some of the tea raided on that plantation 
last year sold on its merits as high as $1 a pound. 
The Sta'e Agricultural College is trying to spread 
amoDg the planters information about tea culture and 
to interest them in the crop. The New Orleans 
" Picayune has on a previous occasion called attention 
to this crop as one that coul 1 be raised with profit 
on the Gulf coast. Any doubter can have hi3 donbis 
set at rest by going to Ocean Springs and inspecting 
the luxurious plants growing on tha place of Captain 
June Poitevent, says our contemporary. — New York 
Price Current. 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF 
NICARAGUA. 
The prinoipal agricultural wealth of Nioaragua lies 
in its ooffce plantations, and although this industry 
is a sill in its infancy every year witnesses its augmen- 
tation, and the Bureau of the Sout 1 ! American Re. 
publ cs states that the time is near at hand when 
Nioaraguan oeffee will take the prominent position to 
which it is certainly entitled. There are millions of 
acres in the country that are especially adapted to 
its cultivation. Coffee grows well a'most everywhere 
in Nicaragua, but best in the mountainous districts. 
The produ:tion at a height of from 200 to 2,000 feet 
above the l-velof the sea is generally at the rate of 
Jib, and in some oases lib per tree. At au eleva- 
tion of 2,000 or 3,000 feet tbe production fluctuates 
between 1, 2, 3, 4, ami even 5:b per tree acoording to 
the quality of the ground. At a higher altitude the 
production diminishes gradually until it ceases en- 
tirely on account of the cold tamperature. There 
are in Nicaragua, certain ooffee regions offering the 
best possible advantages for the cultivation of this 
plant. They are to be found in the departments of 
Managua, Oarazo, Matagajpa, Chontales, Jinotega, 
and on the slopes of the hills and volcanoes of the 
other departments. For some years past in conse- 
quence of the high price of coffee, a great impu'se 
has been given to its production. According to the 
public records, 24,598 mauzanas of public land were 
taken up in 1890, of which 1(3,740 manzanas were 
intended for the cultivation of coffee. Ot these 8,491 
manzanas ore in the department of Alatagalpa, and 
4,101 in that of Managua, In the department of 
M»t<iga pa alone, there are at the present time about 
2,000,000 young trees under cultivation, which will 
begin to yield in about a year's time. The construc- 
tion of the Nioaragua Canal, and of railroads that 
are projected to the Atlantic cca<t will, it is expected 
give an immense impetus to coffee-crowing. The 
production of indii-rubber is an important iudustry 
in Nioaragua, but it is annually decreasing from the 
reckless slaughter of the troes. India-rubber, called 
in South Amerioa caucho, and iu Central America 
hide, ia obtained in South America from the siphonia 
elastica, a tree growing to 50 or 60 feei in height. 
The collectors of rubber, called huleros, employ several 
naotboda to obtain it. In some cases the trees are 
fe'led aud channels 0 it round the trunk Irom which 
the sap or milk flows; in others tie trea is left 
standing, and two or three vertical channels, according 
to the sizo of the tree, are cut through the bark from 
top to base; then numerous oblique chbnnjls are cut 
connecting with 'he vertical ones, to do this work 
the huleros improvise ladders from the vines and 
oreepeis, which everywhere abound iu the tropical 
fores h. Iu all the lower regions < f Nicaragua, parti- 
cularly iu those extending towards the Oarit'i ean 
coast there aro large tracts of laud suitable for 
glowing rubber trees, and it is said that their culti- 
vation would prove very profitable to anyone who 
could afford to wait for a return from capital invested 
until the trees reach maturity which is from seven 
to (en years. Bananas are largely grown, and when 
the bars at the mouths of the rivers are improved, 
and when the interoceanie canal and railroads afford 
means of transportation, this trait will become a still 
more prominent feature iu the exports from Nicaragua 
and the large profits yielded to the producers will 
stimulate agricultural operations on thousands of 
acres of fertile land now practically uncultivated. 
There is a variety of the banana family tbe plantain 
whose production in Nicaragua need only be limited 
by the demand for it which must become immense 
when its merits are appreciated. In Nicaragua, this 
fruit is boiled, shewed, baked, roasted in the ashes, 
friel, dried and ground into fliur, oooked in the skin 
or out of it green or ripe, and produces much more 
nutriment per acre than is yielded by wheat, maize, 
or potitoes. Cacao is grown in Nicaragua, and is 
sold with advantage in the markets of the world; 
The sugarcane grows with extraordinary luxuriaoce. 
Tbe canes are soft, and contain no more woody 
subs'ance or les3 saccharine matter than those pro- 
duced in the East or West Indies, where their du- 
ration is wonderful. A great deal of the ^gar manu- 
factured in Nicaragua is of a coarse brown quality 
the juice being merely boiled until it crystallizes, 
without being cleared of the molasses. Iu this c ude 
state it is poured into moulds forming sma'l cakes, 
which are sold to the poarer classes. A very hrge 
quantity of the sugarcane is ueo 1 in the manu- 
facture of a species of rum called aquardiente. 
The bul* of the sngar produced in the Kepublio is 
manufactured in the diftrict of Jinotepe, iu the 
Department of Granada, where although very primi- 
tive aud imperfect iueihods are employed, it is ftated 
that iu the year 1890 the production amounted to 
abont 2,500,000 pounds. Tbe total production for 
1890 exceeded 3,51)0,000 poutids. Cotton ia indigenous 
in Nicaragua, and the finest quality can be produced 
in vast quaot'tiee. Instead of being an annual plant, 
as in the Uuited States, th6 cotton plant is peren- 
nial in Nioaragua, »nl growing much larger yields 
double the quantity that it does in the most favoured 
looality in the United States, ftliaze, rice, and 
tobacco are abundantly grown. Indigo and cochineal 
were formerly proiuoed iu large quantities, but as 
they have been superseded by the introduction of 
mineral dyes, the cultivation of these articles has 
almost entirely ceased. The yuca, the yam (name) 
and the sweet potato are the principal farinaceous 
root that are extensively cultivated. The yuca is 
not only useful for food, but valuable from an in- 
dustrial point of view, as the starch it yields could 
readily he made an extensive article of onmmerce. 
Tbe breadfruit grows to perfection in Nicaragua. 
The tree consists of a ma sive trunk with dark gresn 
leaves and it be.jins to bear about three years after 
planting. It yields two crops in tbe year, one lasting 
through March aud April, and the other from August 
to October. Each frmt weighs from six to ten pounds 
and is said to have a delioious taste when fried or 
boiled. The coconut tree is abundant, and on the 
Caribbean coast it is an important article of com- 
merce, although no efforts have been made to utilise 
»>he fibre of the hu-k. Frijoles, the brown beans that 
form such a prominent artic'o of diet throughout 
Spanish America, are produce! abundantly in all 
parts of the Republic, while all other tropioal fruits 
such a9 oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, pine-apple?, 
guavas, mangoes &c. grow in great profusion. The 
vegetables of the temperate zone grow luxuriously 
in the more eleva'ei districts, — Journal of the Society 
of Arts. 
IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO UNITED 
STATES. 
Our readers will appreciate the kindness and 
courtesy of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, 
Worthingtcn C. Ford, in furnishing them with the 
following ttt'emcnt, in advance of publication, show- 
