304 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. t, 1894. 
The exportation of coffee has been as follows, viz: — 
Table I. 
Country. 
Quantity. 
Valu». 
lb. 
£ 
Germany 
23,075,027 
923,001 
United States 
10,843,903 
663,756 
England 
8,049,724 
321,988 
France 
3,305,975 
132,239 
Austria 
303,953 
12,158 
South America 
149.933 
7,197 
Italy 
73,030 
1,721 
The total number of Coffeee tree* now standing is 
estimated to be 64,186,924, there being this year an 
increase of 25,138,994. 
Messrs. Lewis and Peat to Royal Gardens, Kew. 
6, Mincing, Lane, London, E.C. 
Dear Sir, August 28, IS!):!. 
In reply to youM of 31st ultimo, we give you for 
what they are worth the following remarks on coffee. 
After a period of comparatively low prices, the value 
of this product rose rapidly about six years ago, 
since when prices of the finer grades (plantation sorts) 
have remained fairly steady. We look upon the posi- 
tion of this particular kind of coffee, which is that 
which a European planter would aim at producing, 
as a strong one, the supplies from both Ceylon an J 
East India having fallen off (in the former case they 
have almost entirely ceised), and their place being 
only very imperfectly filled by the finer coffees from 
Costa Rica, Guatemala, &c, especially Vera Paz and 
New Gernada. Among the British colonies ti e West 
India Islands, or some of them, Trinidad, Dominica 
and Jamaica, offer perhaps the best field for the 
cultivation of this product, the very serious drawback 
being possibly tho difficulty in obtainiug an adequate 
supply of labour. Fortunately th* requirements i'i 
this respect are not so great with coffee as with 
some other products, as af er the ground has once 
been cleared and planted the trees have only to be 
kept clean, pruned, and manured, when they will last 
for many years, giving, after the fifth yea', their 
yearly crop of fruit, varying in quantity and quality 
according to the season and to the care bestowed on 
them. The number of hands required is, of course, 
much larger during crop time than during the rest 
of the year, but a good deal of the picking, <fcc. is 
done in many parts by women and children. 
The machinery required for preparing the bean 
for market is not expensive, especially wheu there 
is sufficient water power available to work it, an I no 
drying power beyond that of the sun is required for 
drying the produce. The climate in the higher parts 
of Jamaica is very pleasant, and suitable for Euro- 
peans to live in, and we understand that in the 
centre of the island there are large districts in which 
land very well suited to the cultivation of coffee may 
be obtained, though there is, we believe, this dis- 
advantage, that heavi/ crops are not obtaiued in the 
very highest altitudes more than about once in three 
years. The difficulty, as we have said before, may 
be the securing a sufficient amount of reliable labour, 
but this is a difficulty common, we think, to almost 
every part of the globe, and, at the present time, to 
all industries, if this can be surmounted, as we 
doubt not it can be to a sufficient extent, with care 
and energy, we should consider that a young English- 
man, with some knowledge of outdoor work, and 
with an inclination towards a planter's life, would 
have the prospect of a good future before him in 
coffee planting, supposing always that he is poss- 
essed of sufficient capital to buy, clear, and plant 
his land, and to keep his estate going for the four 
or five years before payable crops can b j harvested, 
without "having to borrow for the purpose at a heavy 
rate of interest. 
The statistical position you have doubtless already 
before you. Notwithstanding the increased crop 
from Brazil during the past few years as compared 
with the previous production from that place, there 
has been little or no accumulation of stock at the 
consuming centres of the world, while dealers in the 
finest descriptions find frequently considerable diffi- 
culty in satisfying their requirements. 
Always at your service, 
We are, A-c, 
(Signed) Lewis & Peat. 
D.Morris, Esq., C.M.G., 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 
— Ken: Bulletin. 
VARIOUS PLANTING NOTES. 
Coffee and Banana Cultivation in Costa Eica.— 
The cultivation of Coffee in Costa Rica, is said by 
Consul Shai[>e to be increasing, and lands are being 
Uken up, especially on (he Line of railway between 
Cartago and Reventizon, which, although an experi- 
ment bids fair to become a most productive and 
profitable undertaking. A l suitable Coffee lands in 
the interio have long ago been utilised; but 
many estates have been neglected in past years, when 
Coffee was unremnnerative, consequently the produc- 
tion has not increased with the growth of years. 
Nevertheless, greater attention is now being given 
to them hy manuring and replacing old trees, as also 
to a bettor class of machinery, which will all tend 
to improve their pla .tations, and give better value to 
their coffee in foreign markets. The cultivation of 
Banana* is also extending, especially on the lower 
lands of the AtUntic coast, where several concessions 
have been granted with the view of planting Bananas 
and Cocoa. The export of Bananas will be consider- 
ably increased in the course of the y6ar 1894, not- 
withstanding that many of the old lands are now 
past giving good shipping fruit. Preference is given 
to Banana-planting, on account of its rapid growth 
and quick returns, but Cocoa is also very profitable 
though it requires from four to five years before 
yiolding a crop.— Ga-denera' Chronicle. 
The Camphor Trade of China.— Some idea of the 
extent of the Chinese traffic in camphor may be 
gathered from a Customs Report on the trade of 
Tainan for 1892. The yield was less in 1892 than it 
was in 1891, owing to the district of Tokoham (one 
day from Tamsln, and whence the Tainan export is 
largely drawn ) having been raided by the aborigines, 
who destroyed every still. This fact, coupled with 
the somewhat smaller production in Japan, and the 
cholera scare in Europe, which raised the demand 
considerably, caused the price to rise gradually in 
Hong-Kong. Meanwhile large tracts of camphor 
forest have been opened up south of Tokoham. which 
it was estimated would soon bring the prices to the 
usual level. Some tribes, whom the Chinese are 
trying to conciliate by largess, have made treaties 
with foreign firms, allowing them to build stills, the 
< head men of these tribes, receiving a monthly stipend 
of 30 cents for each still, ouch treaties are easily 
ratified — a few pigs supplemented by some samshu 
and followed by a carousal, are the only essentials. 
The loss in weight of camphor between shipments 
at Tainan and re-shipments at Hong-Kong is great, 
some 15 to 20 per cent, partly due to the wetting 
after production, and partly to the amount of essential 
oil given off by the article during transit. It is 
said that North Forniosan firms have commenced to 
press the camphor immediately after leaving the 
stills, thereby removing the excess of oil and moistnre 
before packing. The stills are said to be poor, and 
are manufactured by natives on the spot where the 
trees seem likely to yield the best return. Foreign 
stills would be too cumbrous for transportation inland. 
The difficulty of transporting machinery over inac- 
I ce^ible places in which the camphor trees usually grow 
forbids the use of foreign appliances. Around Chip- 
chip, vast forests of camphor exist, and it is hoped 
, that the d iy will soon arrive when these, now under 
a ban throjgh internal disturbance, will be opened 
• to foreign enterprise.— Ibid. 
