NoV.  2j  1896,] 
I'HE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
397 
There  are  some  mejoreros  who  will  take  charge 
of  the  land  for  six  years  and  not  require  any  ad- 
vances in  the  shape  of  provisions,  &c.,  their  profit 
being  obtained  from  the  crops  between  the  fourth 
and  sixth  years.  This,  as  can  be  imagined,  is  a 
good  arrangement  for  the  niejoiero,  as  he  will  receive 
a large  sum  from  the  sale  of  the  coffee.  It  would 
naturally  be  supposed  that  those  men  would  open 
up  their  own  chaevas  and  permanently  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  their  labour,  but  very  seldom  is  this  the 
case.  When  they  have  a number  of  c/iacras  on 
hand,  the  deductions  on  account  of  provisions,  &c., 
are  very  small,  and  they  then  make  a handsome 
profit. 
From  an  economical  point  of  view,  the  employ- 
ment of  mejoreros  appears  much  the  cheaper  way 
of  obtaining  a fully  developed  ckacra  with  the  least 
amount  of  attention  ; but  it  also  has  its  drawbacks, 
due  in  the  main  part  to  the  instability  of  the  people 
with  whom  one  has  to  deal.  The  operations  neces- 
sai’y  to  prepare  the  laud  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee 
are  as  follows  ; First,  the  roce  or  felling  of  trees 
and  cutting  away  of  the  undergrowth  is  done.  This 
is  the  most  laborious  work,  and  needs  men  that  not 
only  know  the  use  of  the  axe  and  machete,  but 
also  those  accustomed  to  working  where  there 
are  numerous  venomous  snakes  and  insects. 
The  chaupeo,  or  cutting  uj)  the  branches  and 
preparing  the  brush  for  firing,  is  then  gone 
through.  When  the  dry  months  set  in,  and 
everything  is  like  tinder,  the  fire  is  applied  and 
the  whole  area  well  burned.  Tiio  ground  is 
then  cleared  and  the  calles  or  streets  formed,  so  that 
the  plants  can  be  located  at  equal  distance  from  one 
another  in  regular  order. 
There  are  usually  a large  number  of  tree  trunks 
left  unburned,  and  these  have  to  be  cleared  away,  and 
also  the  roots  extracted  where  necessary.  The  num- 
ber of  men  employed  will  depend  entirely  upon  the 
area  it  is  proposed  to  put  under  cultivation,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  figure  with  any  degree  of  approximation 
the  amount  of  labour  that  can  be  counted  upon  from 
the  cliolas.  Their  willingness  to  work  is  in  inverse 
ratio  to  the  cube  of  their  capacity  to  absorb  chacta 
and  sleep. 
As  the  burning  can  only  be  carried  on  during  the 
dry  months,  the  work  of  clearing  generally  extends 
over  tho  whole  year ; but  that  time  is  not  lost,  be- 
cause the  young  plants  are  maturing  in  their  nursery 
in  the  meantime. 
Taking  .50  cents  per  day  as  a basis  for  labour,  the 
estimates  of  the  different  processes  would  be  : 
Soles. 
lioce  and  c/mupcoper  hectare  (about  acres)  65 
Burning  the  rubbish  . . . . 12 
Making  streets  in  which  to  plant  the 
young  trees  . . . . . . 2.5 
(The  gold  value  of  the  sole  is  2s.  21.) 
WTien  the  above  opei'ations  are  performed,  the 
land  is  ready  for  the  almacigo,  or  transplanting  the 
young  trees.  It  is  not  customary  to  sow  the  seeds 
direct  first  because  one  year  would  be  lost  and 
secondly,  as  the  fruit  contains  two  seeds,  the  sproirts 
would  have  to  be  separated  when  they  had  developed, 
a process  that  would  disturb  and  perhaps  destroy 
the  roots  of  the  plant  left  standing.  The  seeds  are 
therefore  sown  in  a selected  piece  of  ground  before 
the  clearing  of  the  land  is  started,  and  the  plants  are 
ready,  as  has  been  stated,  by  the  time  th.it  work  is 
finished.  The  seed  should  be  planted  where  there  is 
no  shade,  because  if  the  young  plants  are  developed 
under  the  cover  of  the  branches  of  other  trees,  they 
must  be  placed  in  a similar  position  when  trans- 
planted, otherwise  they  will  suffer  from  the  change 
to  the  light  and  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  The 
distance  generally  fi.\ed  betiveen  the  trees  in  the 
streets  is  2 metres,  so  that  each  hecta're  will  contain 
2,000  plants. 
The  seed  is  the  cherry,  which  contains  two  beans, 
each  of  which  develop.^  into  a plant.  These  can  be 
purchased  at  the  rata  of  ten  soles  per  quintal  (21s 
ad  per  100  lb.).  The  expense  of  the  nursery  is  very 
small,  as  the  seeds  are  sown  close  together  until 
the  time  for  transplanting  arrives.  It  is  usually 
estimated  that  the  plants  cost  one  cent  each.  The 
transplanting  is  done  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy 
season,  that  is  in  November  or  the  early  part  of 
December,  and  is  a delicate  operation,  as  the  young 
shoots  are  very  tender  and  will  not  stand  much 
handling  or  rough  usage. 
The  grounds,  when  planted,  need  four  cleanings  pei 
year,  which  is  estimated  at  40  soles  per  hectare 
per  annum.  The  harvest  time  commences  in  April 
and  concludes  about  the  end  of  August.  The  coat 
of  collecting  the  fruit  and  preparing  the  coffee  for 
the  market  averages  about  80  cents  for  quintal 
(lOJd.  per  100  lb.),  the  machinery,  tanks,  &o., 
being  considered  in  the  general  estimate. 
The  first  crop  of  coffee  is  taken  in  the  fourt,h 
year,  and  averages  IJ  lb.  per  tree.  After  that  the 
average  of  2 lb.  may  be  considered  a fair  one,  as  in 
some  years  they  give  less  and  in  others  much  more. 
After  being  cleaned,  the  coffee  of  this  particnlar 
district  holds  good  for  about  three  mouths, 
after  which  it  begins  to  bleach  and  get  parched. 
It  is  therefore  necessary  to  ship  it  at  once  to  market. 
The  prices  paid  in  La  Merced,  at  present,  vary 
between  26  and  28  soles  per  quintal  (Spanish),  but 
it  is  best  to  place  the  figure  at  26  soles  for  the 
purpose  of  estimating.  The  cost  of  production  may 
be  stated  at  12  soles,  without  reckoning  interest  on 
the  capital.  The  life  of  a tree  is  about  20  years,  that 
is,  if  it  is  constantly  attended  and  kept  olear  of  weeds, 
&c. 
Taking  10  hectares  as  a chaera  containing  20,000 
trees,  it  will  be  seen  how  much  expense  is  necessary 
to  put  it  under  cultivation,  and  how  much  profit 
there  w'ill  be  in  five  years,  by  the  following  esti- 
mates, which  are  based  upon  the  practice  of  the 
district : — 
Soles. 
Itoce  and  chaupeo  10  hectares  at  65  soles  650.00 
Burning  „ 12  „ 120.00 
“ Street  ” making  ,,  25  ,,  250.00 
Cultivating  and  transplanting  20,000 
plants  at  Ic  . . . . . . . . 200,000 
Cleaning  land,  &c.,  four  years  at  40  soles  1,600.0C 
Harvesting  and  preparing  700  quintals 
at  80c 560.00 
Construction  of  house 100.00 
Tools,  &c 200.00 
Construction  and  repair  of  roads  . . 250.00 
Maintenance,  five  years  at  35  soles  per 
month  . . , . . . . . . , 2100.00 
6030.00 
Dividing  (he  invested  capital  into  four  parts,  and 
considering  it  at  simple  interest  of  18  per  cent,  (the 
present  bank  rate) : 
S.  S 
Interest  ou  first  portion  . . 1507. .50  = 271.35 
.,  second  „ ..  3286.35  ==  591.54 
„ third  „ ..  .5385.39  — 969.37 
„ fourth  „ ..  7862.26  = 1415.20 
Total  interests  . . . . 3247.46 
Capital  6030.00 
9277.46 
Quintals, 
Product  of  20,000  plants  at  IJ  lb., 
fourth  year  . . . . = 300 
Product  of  20,000  plants  at  21b., 
fifth  year  . . . . = 400 
700 
S. 
700  quintals  at  26s.  . . e=  18,200  00 
Cap>ital  iind  ii  te.est  ..  9,277‘46 
Net  profit 
, . 8,922-54 
