VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 343 
is chiefly a small red variety. Escuintla and Jalapa have 
nearly the same area of cane planted, but the former, by 
superior machinery, produces forty times the amount of 
sugar, and ten times as much panela. The cultivation 
at present is almost confined to burying the seed-cane and 
trashing, that is, stripping the lower leaves twice in a 
season. In the rich valleys of the Atlantic, cane will grow 
nine feet in as many months, will yield four tons of sugar 
to the acre, will rattoon freely for twenty years without 
replanting, and may be ground during nine months of the 
year. Much of the product of the cane is in Guatemala 
converted into aguardiente, or rum. With the exception 
of the experimental plantation to which I have referred, I 
know of no sugar fincas in northern Guatemala, although 
there are several in similar situations in British Honduras. 
It is a well-known saying in this part of the world 
that “ Wherever mahogany will grow, there every trop¬ 
ical product will flourish; and wherever logwood grows, 
there you can produce the finest rice.” Cane certainly 
is no exception to this rule. 
Coffee. — Second on the list may be placed coffee, 
both from the importance of the present product, and 
from its very excellent quality. On the coast the Li¬ 
berian coffee flourishes, and as the berries do not drop 
as soon as ripe, the trouble of harvesting is much less¬ 
ened. Most of the crop exported from Livingston 
goes to England, and it has up to the present time been 
difficult to obtain the best quality, except through Eng¬ 
land. In 1883, 404,069.39 cwt. of a value (at twelve 
cents) of $4,848,832.68 were exported. On this the 
Government levies a tax, varying year by year, pro¬ 
portioned to the harvest. 
