222 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Srrr., 1898. 
a good deal of experience to understand the principles of successful pruning— 
that is, to remove all superfluous wood and leave such branches as will produce 
the best crop. In the work of pruning comes one of the greatest obstacles 
to be met with in coffee culture in Mexico. ‘The ordinary peon labourer will 
cut and slash the tree indiscriminately if not carefully watched, and they some- 
times totallyruin the next year’s crop. The work of weeding and keeping the soil 
free from grasses, which grow so luxuriantly in this climate, is very arduous 
and expensive. 
The total cost of bringing my 500 acres of coffee-trees to maturity—that 
is, the fifth year after planting—was abont 18,000 dollars in Mexican silver, 
which sum included my living expenses and the buildings erected on my 
plantation. The first crop that I gathered averaged 4% Jb. per tree, 
which I sold for 16 cents per lb., gold. The fourth year the pro- 
duction was 1} Ib., and the fifth year showed a trifle over 2 Ib. per 
tree, which has been the average production for the past five years.” I have 
never lost a crop, and my trees are all healthy, and the plantation is in the 
best possible condition. The life of a coffee-tree is about thirty years. In 
the twenty-fifth year about one-half of the trees should be taken up and 
the ground replanted to young trees. ‘ This, of course, cuts the planter’s 
income down to one-half for the ensuing five years, but insures the original 
income for the next twenty years thereafter. My income for the past five 
years from my 500 acres of trees has averaged 40,000 dollars, Mexican silver, 
from which, deducting the cost of curing the crop and care of the land, about 
19,000 dollars, leaves me a clear income of 21,000 dollars, which I consider a 
good investment for my 20,000 dollars, Mexican silver. ‘There are many men 
in Mexico who have enormous incomes from their coffee plantations, and all 
the old plantations are making money. On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 
which is the ideal coffee-growing country of Mexico, I personally know dozens of 
men whose incomes range from 10,000 dollars to 60,000 dollars per year. It is 
only the inexperienced growers, and those who began without sufficient capital 
and with no knowledge of the language or labour conditions, who are crying 
about there being no profit in the business. 
With the exception of maize, coffee forms the most remunerative of 
Mexico’s agricultural products. During the past year Mexico sold to the 
United States 32,387,828 lb. of coffee, worth in gold 4,880,895 dollars, as 
compared with but 18,959,467 1b., worth 8,179,578 dollars in gold in the 
corresponding period of the previous year. Thus, the average value of 
Mexican coffee during 1895 was 16:77 cents per lb., and 15:06 in 1897. 
GROWING AND SEPARATION OF FIBRE, NORTH QUEENSLAND. 
By E. COWLEY, 
Manager, State Nursery, Kamerunga. 
MUSA TEXTILIS, Ners.—(BANANA.) 
In the Produce World (J. Haddon and Co., London) for June, appears the 
following :— 
“Under the combined effects of the war and lower stocks than have 
been known in this country sinee 1893, the price of Manilla hemp has gone up 
by leaps and bounds this month. ‘The advance has been fully £16 per ton. 
For whereas firsts were quoted at £25 5s. at the beginning of April, £87 10s. 
is now being paid. This advance is, however, chiefly owing to the action of 
speculators, some of whom predict that £40 per ton will be reached if the war 
lasts long. The demand is mainly speculation. 
