THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[September i, 1890. 
156 
by false and frandalent representations, or ill-treated 
on the voyage to their place of destination. This 
draining of the popnlat ou does seriously affect cotfee 
and other specnlatious in India; but how is it to be 
avoided ? fcSo loi g as the wages oflered by foreign 
planters are genera dy so much higher than those 
that obtain here ; so K ng as the emigrant coolies 
are also properly housed, bedded and provided with 
medical aid, and, in a word, treated with every 
consideration, emigration will continue as here- 
tofore, and labour in India remain scarce. 
And nothing is better calculated to promote this 
result than the frequent prosecutions above alluded 
to. As to the inducements held out to emigrate, the 
following, from an old issue of a Trinidad paper, will 
serve as a sample. “ The rates of wages for work, 
which is principally weeding with the hoe, vary from 
8 annas to 10 annas for a fixed portion of work, 
which may always be performed by an adult of 
average strength in five hours at most. A day’s 
work of nine hours’ duration is paid at for the rate of 
annas 13J and during the crop (the season for manu- 
facturing the cane juice into sugar) the ordinary 
work for all employed is paid for at the rate of 
annas 13§. Those employed in keeping up the fire 
boiling the juice of the cane, supr-rintendenta of work 
and trenchers, are paid annas 16| as those de^'crip- 
tions of work require greater attention.” The Emi- 
gration Agent at Trinidad also offers the coolies 
houses, gardens and medical attendance free of charge, 
and states that after ten years’ residence they will be 
provided with a passage home, and that thrifty coolies 
have been known to return with as much as K1,000 
to IU,500 each . — Madras Mail, July 9th. 
♦ 
COFFEE CULTIVATION IN THE TRANSVAAL. 
On Monday afternoon Mr. H. M. Pasteur read a 
paper upon this subject at the Chamber of Commerce. 
Mr. Robert Wale=, who presided, in introducing the 
lecturer, stated that the coffee question was one of vital 
importance. There could be no doubt that the con- 
sumption of the article was overtaking the growth, 
and anyone who could point out a region yet unoccu- 
pied, which would produce coffee, was a great friend 
to the trade, 
THE CONSHMETION OF COFFEE. 
In England we did not appreciate fully the extent of 
the coffee trade, for our portion of the consumption 
was so exceedingly small that people were apt to think 
it a very small trade in consequence. England only 
consumed 15,000 tons per annum ; the yearly consump- 
tion, however, of the United States and Europe was 
no less than 600,000 tons. The coffee trade deserved 
more attention from English traders than it had 
hitherto received. Mr. Pasteur, who has recently 
visited the Transvaal, stated that many parts of that 
State were excei dingly well suited to the production of 
coffee. The Transvaal was a vast tract of country 
situated between 22 and 27 degrees of latitude, and 
the regions of that country in which coffee could be 
grown, viz., the central and northern districts, occupied 
2 to 2U degrees. Those districts were Waterburg, 
Rustemburg, Lydenburg. and Zoutpansburg. The dis- 
tricts of Waterburg and Lydenburg were surrounded by 
mountain ranges from 2,000ft. to 2,500ft. above the 
\alleys, which were themselves 2,500ft. above the sea 
level. Some of the land between these ranges was very 
rockv, and grew nothing but coarse grass and stunted 
mimosas; but there were also fine stretches of deep, 
rich alluvial soil, in which almoi^t any kind of tropical 
produce would grow. In the course of a jiiuruey he had 
made in the westi rn and norihirn district., ha had seen 
some very fine coffee trees — large and healthy — from 
twelve to lift on years old, without a sign ofleaf disease 
on them, nud bssring a heavy cr. p. The proprietor of 
tin Be trees slated tlie average production per tree \yas 
21b. per annum, and this without any care being 
bestowed upon them. They were protected from the 
Bun and cold winds by a shadow plantation. I 
LUXURIANT COJFEE PLANTATIONS. 
At a farm belonging to Mr. de Beer, seventy 
miles north of Pretoria, he hsd seen coffee trees 
fifteen to twenty years old presenting a very much 
more luxuriant appearance, being from thirteen to 
fourteen feet in height. These trees must have yielded 
five tons an acre, taking the acre to contain 5,000 
trees,* In this instance the plantation was protected 
from the sun and cold wind by a belt of banana trees. 
The lecturer also gave several other accounts of luxuriant 
coffee plantations he had witnessed in the Transvaal. 
In the future development of coffee, the question of 
labour was likely to be the greatest diflBculty to contend 
with. Kaffirs were very erratic in their habits, naturally 
indolent, always talking and laughing, without the 
least idea of the value of time, and required oonstaut 
supervision. The best way to obtain sufficient labour 
would probably be to come to seme arrangement with 
the chief of the locality. If his goodwill was secured, 
his hold over the people was almost certain to be 
powerful enough to induce them to work on a planta- 
tion instead of tramping to Johannesburg and Kimberley 
the more so if they found they were paid regularly, 
and got good food. Coffee had been, and was stiil, 
cultivated in Natal, where it had suffered much 
from leaf disease. The plantations there had been 
much neglected during the years of low prices, 
and possibly in this way a good deal of damage 
had been done. The elevation of Natal, however, 
from the experience of India and Ceylon, was found 
not to be conducive to the best cultivation of coffee. 
In the somewhat tropical districts, where coffee 
cultivation could be introduced the rains took place 
in the months of January and April, with occasional 
showers between October and December. 
TEA ANB COFFEE CAN BE GEO^VN, 
Mr, Pasteur stated that the remarks be had made 
respecting coffee applied equally to tea, and ho con- 
sidered there was a fine opening for many of onr 
countrymen who had acquired experience as tea planters 
or coffee growers in India or elsewhere. The develop- 
ment which was bound to follow the opening up of the 
goldfields would make it unnecessary for ihe Trans- 
vaal coffee growers to export for many years to come. 
Sir Frederick Young stated briefly that bis experience 
of South Africa entirely confirmed Mr. Pasteur’s 
remarks. The county was capable of growing anything. 
Blr. Hume asked if the shadow trees were essential to 
the growth of the coffee tree. Mr. Pasteur replied, 
“ Not absoultely necessary, but greatly conducive 
to the well-being of the plant.” Mr. A. G. V. Cony, 
beare, M.P.,also stated that in the extreme west of the 
Transvaal, sugar, oranges, and tobacco, as well as coffee, 
could be grown in any quantity. Mr. B. A. Rucker 
moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Pasteur which was 
seconded by Mr. Parker, and the proceedings then 
terminated. — H. ^ C. Mail, June 28th. 
— *• 
ENDLESS WIRE-ROPEWAY AND ESTATE 
TRANSPORT. 
We are requested to publish the following desorip- 
tion of “ wire-ropeway ” with reference to the 
utility of the invention for planting districts in 
Ceylon. But is Mr. Davis aware how far the system 
has been already utilised in Ceylon ?*’For instance on 
Spring Valley estate, Badulla, for many years now, 
a wire-ropeway worked by a water-wheel has been 
steadily at work, utilised regularly for the trans- 
port of grass and manure and possibly of produce. 
It may be that “ Roe and Bedlington’s improved 
system ” may be an advance on that of Spring 
Valley. It certainly behoves Ceylon tea planters to 
* 5,000 trees 13 to 14 feet in height per acre 
500, probably, neater the mark.— Ed T. A. 
