53§ 
to retain their stocks sooner than sell at what would have given 
them barely sufficient to cover expenses. This was especially the 
case when the planter resided any distance from the capital; owing 
to the dearness of transport to the railway, which is mainly effected 
by mules. _ At the commencement of the year prices ran to about 
^I.io per cwt., but fell in July and August to from £ut to £1.3, 
rising again to £1.10 in November. At the close of the year, 
business was at a complete standstill, and the market' showed a 
weak tendency. Jv v : 
The quality of the crop was equal to the average of former years, 
and would have been better could planters be only induced to give 
more attention to the hulling of the berry. This operation is per- 
formed so carelessly that the bean gets chipped and broken, with 
the result that the appearance of the coffee suffers, and its com- 
mercial value is lessened. The drying process also leaves much to 
be desired, and coffee, like cocoa, arrives on the market with a 
smoky flavour, which is much objected to by European buyers. As 
formerly, the United States and Germany are the chief purchasers, 
but last year other orders arrived from the Mediterranean. The 
outlook for the present year is not bright, because with exchange 
at 12 per cent, the value of Brazilian coffee is reduced to a mini- 
mum and although the planters may not abandon the industry, it 
is certain that it cannot give a profit to employers of labour, al- 
though the small cultivator, who works his own ground, and em- 
ploys his own family as collectors, manages to secure the means 
of existence. ■. T .. ,, , , 
India rubber . — The fall of price abroad m India rubber (nearly 
2 e per cent.) caused the trade for the past year to be very small. 
The difficulties experienced in collecting any quantity of this 
article and the fluctuations in exchange render it probable that 
India rubber may soon disappear from the Bahia export list. 
RUBBER IN FRENCH GUINEA. 
The folllowing is from the Diplomatic and Consular 
Report on the trade of French Guinea for the Year 19Q0. 
The commercial crisis which commenced in 1900, the effects of 
which still continue to be felt, was due to the fall in the price of 
rubber which, while it affected all the rubber-producing countries, 
soecially felt in French Guinea, eight tenths of whose exports 
onisist of that article. In addition there were special reasons 
which caused the colony to suffer. 
Having been a rubber producing country for many years, the 
vines. 1 Owing to wasteful methods of tapping them, had become 
comparatively scarce, and in order to increase the quantity of rub- 
ber For sale, the natives adulterated it in various ways. . The mer- 
anxious to profit by the high market, accepted the bales 
^thout examination, with the result that the rubber bought from 
tlie natives during the season 1899.1900 contained as much as 25 
per cent, of impurities, 
mmm* 
