SECTION I._The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

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THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM,

CONSIDERED IN THEIR VARIOUS USES TO MAN AND IN THEIR RELATION TO THE

ARTS AND MANUFACTURES;

FORMING A PRACTICAL TREATISE & HANDBOOK OF REFERENCE FOR THE

Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer,

ON THE CULTIVATION, PREPARATION FOR SHIPMENT, AND COMMERCIAL VALUE,

&c. OF THE VARIOUS SUBSTANCES OBTAINED FROM TREES AND PLANTS,

ENTERING INTO THE HUSBANDRY OF TROPICAL AND SUB-TROPICAL REGIONS, &c.

BY P.L. SIMMONDS,

HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL AND

COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES OF JAMAICA, BRITISH GUIANA, ANTIGUA, BARBADOS,

KONIGSBERG, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, NATAL, THE NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY, THE

NOVA SCOTIA CENTRAL BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, THE SOCIETIES FOR PROMOTING

AGRICULTURE IN PHILADELPHIA AND NEW ORLEANS; ONE OF THE EDITORS OF

"JOHNSON'S FARMER'S ENCYCLOPÆDIA;" MANY YEARS EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF

THE "COLONIAL MAGAZINE," &c. &c.

MDCCCLIV.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

African Steam Ship Company, 3, Mincing Lane

Archbell, J., Esq., Pietermaritzburg, Natal

Assam Company, 30, Great Winchester-street

Aubert, Honourable J.M.A., M.C., St. Lucia

Botanical Society (the Royal), Regent's Park

Burton, C.H., Esq., 133, Fenchurch-street

Boddington, Messrs. & Co., 9, St. Helen's Place

Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Bristol

Brown, Messrs. & Co., 4, Pancras Lane

Begg, Thomas, Esq., 3, Corbett Court, Gracechurch-street

Bow, J.B. De., Editor of Commercial Review, New Orleans

Breede, L. Von, Esq., Natal

Breen, H.H., Esq., St. Lucia

Barbados General Agricultural Society

British Guiana Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society

Browne, Hunter & Co., Messrs., Liverpool

Bagshaw, John, Esq., M.P., Cliff House, Harwich

Berry, Richard L., Esq., Chagford, Devonshire

Blyth, Messrs., J. & A., Steam Engine House, Limehouse

Blyth, Philip P., Esq., 23, Upper Wimpole Street

Brown, Messrs. Robert & Co., 25, Lawrence Pountney Lane

Carmichael, Sir James, Bart., Sussex Gardens

Christopher, J.S., Esq., 26, Coleman-street

Challis, Alderman, 32, Wilson Street, Finsbury

Childs, R.W., Esq., 26, Coleman Street

Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society

Campbell, C.T., Graham's Town, Cape of Good Hope (3 copies)

Central Board of Agriculture, Halifax, Nova Scotia (5 copies)

Crum, H.E., Esq., (Messrs. J. Ewing & Co's.,) Glasgow

Clegg, T., Esq., Manchester

Carleton, Percival A., Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, Bahamas

Davis, Messrs. T.E. & W.W., manufacturers, 159 and 160, Whitechapel Road

Dinneford, Messrs. & Co, 172, New Bond-street

Denoon, Messrs. D. & Co., 6, Adam's Court, Old Broad-st.

Decasseres, Phineas, Esq., Falmouth, Jamaica

Dod, Francis, Esq., Savanna le Mar, Jamaica

Duke, Sir James, M.P., Portland Place

Dunbar, Messrs. D., & Sons, 95, Fore-street, Limehouse

Dennistoun, Messrs. J. & A., Glasgow

Drysdale, Hon. J.V., Colonial Secretary, St. Lucia

Drumm, Mr. W., Chemist, Barbados (12 copies)

Ede, Francis, Esq., Great Winchester-street

Ede, Limbrey, Esq., merchant, Winchester-street

Edmonds, E., junr., Esq., Bilcomb Brook, Bradford, Wilts

Evett, Thomas, Esq., Trelawney, Jamaica

Forbes, Dr., F.R.S., Burlington-street

Fielden, J. Leyland, Esq., Feniscowles, Blackburn

Fox, Mr. C., Paternoster Row

Foster, T.C., Esq., Natal

Framgee, Neeswanjee & Co., Bombay

Forman, Mr. R.B., 14, Mincing Lane

Franks & Co., Messrs., 36, Fenchurch-street

Grey, The Right Honourable Earl

Grassett, Elliot, Esq., 6, Chesham-street, Belgrave Square

Gray, Messrs. B.C.T. & Co., Great St. Helen's

Gray & Co., Messrs., Commercial Chambers, Mincing Lane

Glasgow, Messrs. Alexander & Co., Glasgow

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures

Harker, George, Esq., 102 and 103, Upper Thames-street

Henry, J.G., Esq., Bicknollon House, Williton, Somerset

Holloway, Thomas, Esq., 244, Strand

Hanbury, Daniel, Esq, 2, Plough Court

Howard, Messrs. James & Frederick, Bedford

Haywood, James, Esq., Birmingham

Henley, The Right Honourable J.W., M.P.

Humphreys, E.R., L.L.D., Cheltenham School

Haynes, Robert, Esq., Thimbleby Lodge, Northallerton

Howson, Rev. J.S., M.A., Principal of Liverpool Collegiate School

Howard, W.M., Esq., Barbados

Hitchins, Richard, Esq., Kingston, Jamaica

Hamilton, William, Esq., 29, St. Vincent Place, Glasgow

Hodge, Honorable Langford L., Antigua

Ifill, Benjamin, Esq., 86, Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park Gardens

Innes, J., Esq., Moorgate-street

Isle of Thanet Agricultural Association, Ramsgate

Jamaica Association, 1, New Square, Lincoln's Inn

Jamaica Royal Agricultural Society

Jennings, J.H., Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, St. Lucia

Jung & Burgtheel, Messrs., 2, Winchester Buildings

Johnson, C.W., Esq., F.R.S., Croydon

Keane, Charles C., Esq., Bermuda

Keating, Thomas, Esq., St. Paul's Churchyard

Keeling & Hunt, Messrs., Monument Yard

Laird, J.M., Esq., African Steam Ship Co., Mincing Lane

Laurie, W.C., Esq. 6, Great Winchester-street

Lane, Crawford & Co., Messrs., Hong Kong (12 copies)

Lee, D. McPhee, Esq., Bermuda

Livesay, Drs., R.N., 35, Nelson Square

Lloyd, B.S., Esq., Birchin Lane

Liverpool, Library of Collegiate Institution

Lawton, Isaac, Esq., Kingston, Jamaica (2 copies)

Lyons, George, Esq., Falmouth, Jamaica (2 copies)

Lawrence & Co., Messrs., Madras (3 copies)

Losack, F.C., Esq., Trelawney, Jamaica

Lord Mayor, The Right Honourable, Mansion House

Molesworth, The Right Honourable Sir William, Bart., M.P., Eaton Square

McCulloch, J.R., Esq., Her Majesty's Stationery Office

Morewood, Edward Esq., Compensation, Natal

Morewood, J.J., Esq., 1, Winchester Buildings

Martin, R. Montgomery, Esq., 21, Victoria Road, Kensington

McHenry, George, M.D., 12, Danzie Street, Liverpool

Masterman, John, Esq., M.P., Nicholas Lane, City

Mayers, J.P. Esq., Staplegrove, Barbados

Mouat, Richard, Esq., R.N., H.M. Dockyard, Port Royal, Jamaica

McHugh, R.G., Esq., St. Lucia

Marryatt, Charles, Esq., Laurence Pountney Lane

Mason, J.P. and Co., 18, Mincing Lane

Mosely, Mr. E.N., Nassau, Bahamas.

Michelli, Mr. F., Gould Square

Nesbit, J.C. Esq., F.G.S., Scientific School, Kennington Lane

Newdegate, C.N., Esq., M.P., Blackheath

Natal Agricultural and Horticultural Society

Newcastle, his Grace the Duke of, (2 copies)

New York State Agricultural Society, Albany

Noble, Messrs. G. & J.A., 11, George Yard, Lombard Street,

Pakington, Right Hon. Sir John S., M.P.

Poole, David, Esq., Analytical Chemist, 18, Jubilee Street, Mile End Road.

Poole, Braithwaite, Esq., London and North Western Railway, Liverpool.

Pitts and Gavin, Messrs., Kandy, Ceylon.

Porteous, The Honorable James, Jamaica.

Prescott, George W., Esq., 62, Threadneedle Street

Rowland, Messrs. Alex. and Sons, 20, Hatton Garden (3 copies)

Ransomes and Sims, Messrs., Implement Makers, Ipswich (2 copies)

Rolph, Thomas, Esq., M.D., Portsmouth.

Richardson, Robert, Esq., 3, Jermyn Street, St. James's

Richardson, Mr. J.M., Cornhill

Rowe, Sir Joshua, Chief Justice of Jamaica

Roberts, Charles, Esq., 38, Mincing Lane

Russell, Graham, Esq., 63, Miller Street, Glasgow

Rothschild, Baron, Lionel De, M.P., New Court, Swithin's Lane

Sampson, M.B., Esq., City Editor of the _Times_, Lombard Street

Saunders, Trelawney W., Esq., F.R.G.S., 6, Charing Cross

Staunton, Sir George Thomas, Bart., M.P., F.B.S., Hants

Strousberg, B.H., Esq., F.R.G.S., Editor of "The Merchant's Magazine."

Straube, Dr., 36, Moorgate Street

Stewart, Charles, Esq., 4, Adam's Court, Old Bond-street (2 copies)

Schomburgk, Sir R.H., British Consul, St. Domingo

Sewell, William, Esq., St. James's, Jamaica

Stephenson, R. Macdonald, Esq., East India Railway, Calcutta

Simmonds, Richard, Esq., R.N., Admiralty, Somerset House

Simmonds, J.G., Esq., R.N., H.M.S. _Crane_, West Coast of Africa

Simeon, Hardy and Sons, Messrs., Cork

Samuelson, B., Esq., Britannia Iron Works, Banbury

Stanford, Mr., 6, Charing Cross

Trade, The Honorable the Board of

Tennent, Sir J. Emerson, M.P.

Travers, Messrs., and Co., 19, St. Swithin's Lane

Thibou, James B., Esq., Antigua

Tollemache, Honorable F., Hillmagham Hall, Ipswich

Thornton, Edward, Esq., Statistical Department, East India House

Weeding, Thomas, Esq., 6, Great Winchester Street (2 copies)

Weguelin, T.M., Esq., 7, Austin Friars

Wyld, James, Esq, Great Globe, Leicester Square

Westgarth, Ross and Co., Messrs., Melbourne, Port Philip

Wortley, S.S., Esq., Cumberland Pen, Spanish Town, Jamaica

Wray, Leonard, Esq., Natal

Wells, Charles, Esq., Grenada

Woodifield, R.D., Esq., Custom House

Woods, R.C., Esq., Straits Times, Singapore (20 copies)

Wilson, Mr. Effingham, Royal Exchange Buildings (2 copies)

Yeatman, Rev. H.F., L.L.B., Stockhouse, near Sherborne

Young, Bryan, T., Esq., Barbados

WORKS CONSULTED.

SIMMONDS'S COLONIAL MAGAZINE, 15 vols.

PORTER'S TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

PAXTON'S BOTANICAL DICTIONARY.

LAWSON'S MERCHANT'S MAGAZINE, 2 vols.

PROFESSOR ROYLE, on the Productive Resources of India.

CRAWFORD'S HISTORY OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols.

LOGAN'S JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, 3 vols.

REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE EAST INDIA

COMPANY, in regard to the Cultivation and Manufacture of Cotton, Wool,

Raw Silk, and Indigo in India.

JOURNAL OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

MILBURN'S ORIENTAL COMMERCE.

URE'S DICTIONARY OF ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, AND SUPPLEMENTS.

CHASE'S HISTORY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

PROFESSOR BALFOUR'S MANUAL OF BOTANY.

DUPON'S TRAVELS IN SOUTH AMERICA, 2 vols.

COUNT DANDOLO on the art of Rearing Silk Worms.

JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 7

vols.

PRIDHAM'S HISTORY OF CEYLON AND ITS DEPENDENCIES, 2 vols.

PRIDHAM'S HISTORY OF THE MAURITIUS.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF JAMAICA, 5 vols.

THE BARBADOS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S REPORTER, 2 vols.

LOW'S DISSERTATION ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

M'CULLOCH'S COMMERCIAL DICTIONARY, last Edition and Supplements.

HUNT'S NEW YORK MERCHANT'S MAGAZINE, 27 vols.

DE BOW'S COMMERCIAL REVIEW, New Orleans, 6 vols.

RENNY'S HISTORY OF JAMAICA.

SCHOMBURGK'S HISTORY OF BARBADOS.

BREEN'S HISTORY OF ST. LUCIA.

CAPTAIN BEEVER'S AFRICAN MEMORANDA.

PERREIRA'S ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

SPRY'S PLANTS, &c., required for India.

HOOPER'S MEDICAL DICTIONARY.

PERLEY'S REPORTS ON THE FOREST TREES AND FISHERIES OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

ESSAYS ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE TEA PLANT IN THE UNITED STATES, by

Junius Smith, L.L.D.

THE MAHOGANY TREE, its Range, &c.

THE STATES OF CENTRAL AMERICA, by John Bailey, R.M.

THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF NOVA SCOTIA, by A Gesner.

REPORTS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF H.M.'s COLONIAL POSSESSIONS,

for the years 1849-50.

POOLE'S STATISTICS OF COMMERCE.

PATENT OFFICE REPORTS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1849-50.

DE BOW'S INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES OF

AMERICA, 4 vols.

OFFICIAL AND DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION; Part

1.--RAW MATERIALS.

DR. O'SHAUGHNESSY'S BENGAL DISPENSATORY.

ARCHER'S ECONOMIC BOTANY.

A FEW WORDS ON THE TEA DUTIES, by J. Ingram Travers.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF CEYLON.

GENERAL STATISTICS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, by James McQueen.

A HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM, by W. Rhind.

THE STATISTICAL COMPANION, by Banfield and Weld.

FORTUNE'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.

BALL ON TEA CULTURE.

PROFESSOR ROYLE ON COTTON.

LECTURES ON THE RESULTS OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION, delivered before the

Society of Arts, 2 vols.

JOHNSON'S FARMER'S ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

A DISSERTATION UPON TEA, by Thomas Short, M.D.; 1753.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS ON TRADE AND NAVIGATION.

THE HONG KONG ALMANAC AND DIRECTORY.

JAMAICA ALMANACS, &c.

KEEFER'S PRIZE ESSAY ON THE CANALS OF CANADA, 1850.

COLMAN'S CONTINENTAL AGRICULTURE, 1848.

CUBA IN 1851, by Alexander Jones.

MARTIN, on China.

CEYLON ALMANACS.

EARL'S ENTERPRISE IN TROPICAL AUSTRALIA.

CUNNINGHAM'S HINTS FOR AUSTRALIAN EMIGRANTS.

DR. TURNBULL'S CUBA, with Notes of Porto Rico.

LT. MOODIE'S TEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 2 vols.

FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 20 vols.

ROBERTSON'S LETTERS ON SOUTH AMERICA, 3 vols.

STEVENSON'S TWENTY YEARS RESIDENCE IN SOUTH AMERICA, 3 vols.

JOURNALS OF THE STATISTICAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND PARIS.

PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL, 10 vols.

THE LEADING AGRICULTURAL PERIODICALS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE

COLONIES.

BALANZA GENERAL DE COMERCIO OF CUBA.

KNIGHT'S CYCLOPÆDIA OF THE INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS.

PREFACE.

The objects and purposes of the following Work are fully set forth in

the introductory chapter; but I may be permitted to remark here, that

its compilation and arrangement have occupied a very large share of my

time and attention, and I can therefore assert with confidence, that

it will be found the most full and complete book of the kind that has

ever yet appeared. It is not a mere condensation from Encyclopædias,

Commercial Dictionaries, and Parliamentary and Consular Reports; but

is the fruit of my own Colonial experience as a practical planter and

of much laborious research and studious investigation into a class of

ephemeral but useful publications, which seldom meet with any extended

or enduring circulation--assisted, moreover, by the contributions and

suggestions of many of the most eminent agricultural chemists,

planters, and merchants of our Colonial Possessions and Foreign

Countries.

Few are aware of the great labor and research required for digesting

and arranging conflicting accounts--for consulting the numerous

detached papers and foreign works treating of the subjects embraced in

this volume, and for referring to the home and colonial trade

circulars, Legislative papers, and scientific periodicals of different

countries. The harassing duties appertaining to the position of City

editor of a daily paper, coupled with numerous other literary

engagements, have afforded me insufficient time to do full justice to

the work while passing through the press; and several literal

typographical errors in the botanical names have, I find, escaped my

attention in the revision of the sheets. I have, however, thought it

scarcely necessary to make a list of errata for these. From want of

leisure, to reduce all the weights and measures named in the body of

the work into English, I have given their relative value in the Index.

I have taken considerable pains to make the Index most full and

complete, for it has always appeared to me, that in works embracing a

great variety of subjects, facility of reference is of paramount

importance.

Some discrepancy may here and there be found between the figures

quoted from Parliamentary returns and those derived from private trade

circulars; but the statistics are accurate enough for approximate

calculations.

Whilst the work has been passing through the press, several important

modifications and alterations have been made in our Tariff.

I have throughout found great difficulty in obtaining commercial

information from the various Colonial brokers and importers of the

City, who, with but few exceptions, have been stupidly jealous of any

publicity respecting the staples in the sale of which they were

specially interested. The greatest fear was expressed lest any details

as to the sources of supply, stocks on hand, and cost prices of many

of the minor articles, should transpire. After the results of the

Great Exhibition, the exertions making to establish Trade Museums, and

the prospect of information to be furnished at the new Crystal Palace,

this narrow-minded and selfish feeling seems singularly misplaced.

I had not originally contemplated touching upon the grain crops and

food plants of temperate regions; but the prospect of a failure in our

harvest, the disturbed state of political affairs on the Continent,

with short supplies from Russia and the Danubian provinces, and the

absence of any reliable statistics and information for convenient

reference on this all-important subject, added to the recommendations

of one or two well-informed correspondents, induced me to go more into

detail on the Food-plants and Breadstuffs than I had at first

intended, and to treat very fully upon Wheat, Barley, Potatoes, and

other subsidiary food crops. This has trenched somewhat largely on my

space; and although the volume has been swelled to an unexpected size,

I am reluctantly compelled to omit some few Sections, such as those

treating of elastic and other Gums, Resins, &c.; on tropical Fruits;

and on textile substances and products available for cordage and

clothing. The latter section, which includes Cotton, Flax, Jute, &c.,

and embraces a wide and important range of plants, I propose issuing

in a separate volume at an early date, with a large fund of

statistical and general information.

Among those gentlemen to whom I acknowledge myself most indebted for

valuable suggestions or important information, are my friends Sir R.H.

Schomburgk, British Consul at St. Domingo, and Mr. R. Montgomery

Martin, the well-known Statist and Colonial Historian; Mr. R.D.

Wodifield, Deputy Inspector of Imports at the port of London; Mr.

Leonard Wray, of Natal, author of "The Practical Sugar Planter;" Dr.

W. Hamilton, of Plymouth, a talented and frequent contributor to the

scientific periodicals of the day; Mr. T.C. Archer, of Liverpool,

author of "Economic Botany;" Mr. Greene, of the firm of Blyth,

Brothers, and Greene; Mr. J.S. Christopher, author of several works on

the Cape Colony, and Natal; Mr. B.H. Strousberg, editor of "The

Merchant's Magazine," and Mr. G.W. Johnson, the eminent agricultural

writer, author of various elaborate "Essays on the Agriculture of

Hindostan," which were written for my "Colonial Magazine."

P.L. SIMMONDS.

5, BARGE YARD, BUCKLERSBURY,

December, 1853.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

Objects of the work.

Prof. Solly on the demand for a practical book on raw

materials.

Objects of the Society of Arts and Great Exhibition.

Necessity for an attention to the culture of the minor

staples of the soil.

New objects of industry worthy the attention of

Science.

Principal part of our homeward commerce composed of raw

materials from the Vegetable Kingdom.

Mutual dependence of countries on Commerce for the

supply of their wants.

System of arrangement of subjects adopted by the

author.

Many articles of commerce omitted for want of space.

Those of tropical and sub-tropical regions chiefly

discussed.

Hints for the cultivator. Division of zones, and

countries lying within each, with their range of

temperature.

Table of climate; duration and production of the

principal cultivated plants.

SECTION I.--DRIED LEAVES, SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES USED IN

THE PREPARATION OF POPULAR DIETETIC BEVERAGES

_Cacao_ or _Cocoa_.

Varieties and description of the tree.

Mode of cultivation in the Colombian Republics.

Enemies of the tree.

Expenses of a plantation in Jamaica.

Cultivation in Trinidad and St. Lucia.

Statistics and consumption.

_Coffee_.

Home consumption and revenue of coffee.

Chicory largely substituted for; history of the fiscal

changes.

Continental demand.

Present produce and consumption in various countries.

Cultivation in Mocha.

Cultivation in India; in Ceylon.

Exports from that island.

Manures suitable for the tree.

Peeling, pulping, and winnowing.

Improved machinery.

New use for coffee leaves.

Culture in Java.

Production of America and the West Indies; Venezuela.

Statistics of the Brazils.

Shipments of various countries to the United States.

Comparative consumption by different nations.

Cultivation in Jamaica; Trinidad; British Guiana; Cuba;

decline of production in this island.

Statistics of exports.

Preparation of coffee leaves for infusion according to

Dr. Gardner's patent.

Dr. Hooker's opinion thereon.

_Tea_.

Immense consumption of.

Liebig's analysis of.

Varieties of the plant.

Imports of tea for a series of years.

Alterations in the duties.

Statistics of import and consumption, revenue and

prices.

Value and extent of the tea exported from China; first

cost at the ports; enormous prices paid for superior

teas.

Total outlay for tea.

Consumption of tea in China.

Export to various countries.

Total production.

Consumption per head in England; not properly within

the reach of the poorer classes.

China could furnish any quantity.

Mr. Travers on the tea duties.

Brick tea of Thibet.

Tea annually imported into the United States;

proportion of green to black.

Range of the plant.

Countries in which its culture has been attempted.

Its progress in America.

The Assam Company and its plantations.

Extension of tea culture by the East India Co.

Mr. Fortune's travels in the tea districts of China.

Instructions and details as to soil, management and

manufacture, by Dr. Jameson and Mr. Fortune.

Dr. Campbell's notes.

Mr. A. Macfarlane's Report.

The East India tea plantations in the North-West

Provinces.

Experimental cultivation of the tea plant in Brazil; M.

Geullemin's report thereon.

Paraguay Tea: Mr. Robertson's description of the

collection and manufacture.

_Sugar_.

Plants from which it is usually obtained.

The sugar cane; its range of cultivation.

Production in our colonies.

Consumption in the last ten years.

Improvements in sugar machinery and manufacture.

Quantity of cane sugar annually produced and sent into

the markets.

Local consumption in India.

Present European supply; demand according to the

consumption in England.

Estimated annual production throughout the world.

Consumption in the principal European countries.

Average annual consumption in the United Kingdom.

Comparative amount of beet-root and cane sugar produced

in the last four years. _Gazette_ prices of sugar

in the last ten years.

Production of sugar in the United States.

Production in Cuba.

Production in the British West Indies.

Production in Mauritius.

Statistics of imports from the Mauritius.

Production in the British East Indies.

Production in Java.

Production in the Philippines.

Chemical distinction between cane and grape sugar.

Varieties of the sugar cane cultivated.

Possibility of raising the cane from seed.

Analysis of the cane, and of a sugar soil.

Chemical examination of cane juice.

Vacuum pans.

Boiling and tempering.

Composition of cane juice.

Ramos's prepared plantain juice.

Professor Fownes on the manufacture of sugar.

Expression of cane juice.

Construction of the sugar mill.

Quantity of juice obtained by each kind of mill.

Position of rollers.

Mode of culture and varieties in the East Indies.

Soils considered best adapted for its luxuriant growth.

Manures.

Sets and planting.

Aftergrowth.

Harvesting.

Injuries, from seasons, storms, insects, &c.

Mode of cultivation in the Brazils; in Natal; expenses.

Comparison between the cost of production in Mauritius

and Natal.

Comparative cost in free and slave countries.

Beet-root sugar: variety cultivated; mode of expression

and manufacture; yield of sugar; estimated profit;

extensive production in France; production in the

German States.

Statistics of the Prussian Provinces of Saxony; Russia,

Belgium and Austria.

A Visitor's account of the French manufactories.

Mr. Colman's opinion.

Proportion of sugar in the beet.

Maple Sugar: description of the tree; its production

limited to America; extent of the manufacture in Canada

and the United States; processes employed; statistics

of production.

Maize Sugar.

SECTION II.--THE GRAIN CROPS, EDIBLE ROOTS AND FARINACEOUS

PLANTS, FORMING THE BREADSTUFFS OF COMMERCE

Statistics of _Wheat Culture_.

Exports of flour from the United States.

Adaptation of the soil and climate of the United States

to the culture of the cereals.

Export of sophisticated (damaged) flour. Kiln drying of

bread stuffs and exclusion of air. Value of the "whole

meal" of wheat as compared with that of the fine flour.

Nutritious properties of various articles of food.

Composition of wheat and wheat-flour, and the modes of

determining their nutritive value.

Rotation of crops in connexion with wheat culture.

Production and consumption of the United Kingdom.

Statistics of other countries.

Barley, Oats, Rye, Buckwheat, Maize: Indian corn and

meal imported.

Crop and exports of United States.

System of culture.

Rice: Statistics of production and culture in Carolina.

The Bhull rice lands of Lower Scinde.

Rice in Kashmir; exports from Arracan.

Millet.

Broom Corn.

Chenopodium Quinoa.

Fundi or Fundungi.

Pulse.

The Sago Palms.

Manufacture and extent of the trade in Singapore.

The bread-fruit tree.

Kafir bread.

The PLANTAIN and BANANA; various products of these

palms.

STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS investigated.

Characters of starch from different plants.

Tenacity and clearness of jellies; per centage of

starch yielded, and produce of plant per acre; their

meal as articles of export.

Indian Corn starch.

Rice starch.

ARROWROOT: East and West India, culture and statistics

of.

ROOT CROPS: Potatoes, Yams, Cocos, or Eddoes, Sweet

Potatoes, Cassava or Manioc.

NEW TUBEROUS PLANTS recommended as substitutes for the

potato.

MISCELLANEOUS FOOD PLANTS.

LICHENS and MOSSES.

FERNS.

SECTION III.--SPICES, AROMATIC CONDIMENTS, AND FRAGRANT WOODS.

CINNAMON.

Limited range of the culture in Ceylon.

Analysis of the soil most favorable to the tree.

Peeling.

Various kinds of bark; commercial classification,

distinguishing properties of good cinnamon; suitability

of the Straits Settlement for cinnamon plantations; oil

of cinnamon; statistics and exports from Ceylon, and

prices realised; reduction of the duty; extent of land

under cultivation with the tree; progress of the

culture in Java; exports thence to Holland.

CASSIA BARK: species from whence derived; imports,

consumption and prices.

Cassia Buds.

Cassia Oil.

CANELLA ALBA.

CASCARILLA BARK.

CLOVES: description and varieties of the tree.

Produce in Java.

Introduction into the West Indies.

Progress of the culture in Pinang and Singapore.

The Clove plantations of Zanzibar. Imports and

consumption of the United Kingdom.

The NUTMEG: Botanical description.

Dr. Oxley's account of the cultivation and management

of a plantation; enemies of the tree.

Produce and returns.

Preparation of the nuts for market.

Statistics of culture in the Straits Settlements.

Memorandum on the duties on nutmegs.

Exports of nutmegs from Singapore and Java.

Imports into the United Kingdom, and consumption of

wild and cultivated nutmegs and mace.

GINGER: description and consumption of.

Commercial distinction between black and white ginger.

East and West India ginger, directions for cultivation.

Shipments from Jamaica.

Comparison between the imports from the East and from

the West.

Total annual imports and consumption.

GALANGALE ROOT.

CARDAMOMS; plants from which derived.

Grains of Paradise.

Meleguetta, or Guinea pepper. PEPPER: description of

the vine; range of the plant.

Production of the World.

The culture declining in Java.

Extent of the production in Singapore.

Exports from Ceylon.

Its introduction into the Mauritius.

Shipments from Singapore.

Imports and consumption of the United Kingdom.

CHILLIES AND CAYENNE PEPPER: varieties of Capsicum.

PIMENTO: description of the tree; production of the

spice limited to Jamaica.

Imports and consumption.

VANILLA: description of the plant.

Its collection and preparation for the market.

Commercial varieties.

Tonquin beans.

TURMERIC: sources of supply.

Commercial uses.

Value of the Curry stuffs of the East.

Imports and consumption.

GINSENG: description of--demand for in China, exports

from America, and commercial value.

Canary, Coriander, mustard and anise seeds.

PUTCHUX, or COSTUS.

LIGNUM ALOES, and fragrant woods.

SECTION IV.--DYES AND COLORING STUFFS AND TANNING SUBSTANCES

Importance and value of these substances to our

manufacturing interests.

New specimens and materials recently produced.

Miscellaneous notices of useful plants.

Lana Dye.

Prices of Dyewoods.

Red SANDERS WOOD.

FUSTIC.

SAPPAN WOOD, Camwood and Barwood.

Imports of Dyewoods.

ARNATTO.

Commercial kinds.

Cultivation and manufacture.

Imports, consumption and prices.

CHAY-ROOT.

Wood Dyes.

Mangrove Bark.

SUMACH.

Statistics of imports and prices.

SAFFLOWER.

Gamboge.

Common native dyes.

INDIGO; plants which produce it.

Commercial sources of supply.

Cultivation in Central America, in Jamaica and the West

Indies; once an important crop in the United States.

The indigo plant a common weed in many parts of Africa.

Cultivation in India.

Classification of the dye-stuff.

Localities best suited to its production.

Process of Manufacture.

Annual production in the East Indies; adaptation of

Ceylon.

Extent of the culture in Java; annual exports

therefrom; imports and consumption.

MADDER: extent of the demand for. Enormous profit of

the cultivation; system of harvesting and manufacture.

Large supplies received from France.

MUNJEET, or Indian madder, deserving of more

consideration.

LOGWOOD, FUSTIC, Quercitron.

Brazil Wood.

LICHENS FOR DYEING.

Henna.

ORCHILLA WEED.

Chemical examination of the coloring principles of the

Lichens.

BARKS FOR TANNING: cursory notice of a variety of

suitable barks.

Proportions of tannin yielded by different barks.

CATECHU: definition of, and whence derived.

GAMBIER PLANT: cultivation in Singapore; returns from a

plantation.

Different qualities of extract and mode of obtaining

it.

Places of manufacture; average produce.

Terra Japonica, a misnomer. Cutch, another name for

Catechu.

Statistics of imports and consumption; the amount and

value of Gambier from Singapore.

DIVI-DIVI: description of.

CORK TREE BARK.

MIMOSA BARK.

Valuable native barks of New Zealand.

Mangrove bark.

MYROBALANS.

Kino: definition of; sources from whence obtained.

VALONIA: statistics of, consumption and prices.

SECTION V.--OLEAGINOUS PLANTS AND THOSE YIELDING FIXED OR

ESSENTIAL OILS

General Remarks.

Extensive demand for Oils.

Proportion of oil furnished by various seeds.

Richness of Indian seeds in oil.

RAPE OIL.

Domba Oil.

The EARTH or GROUND NUT, its extensive cultivation for

food and oil.

Tea oil.

Tobacco seed oil.

Poppy oil.

Tallicoonah oil.

Carap oil.

Macaw oil. _Madia sativa_.

Cocum oil.

Candle Tree.

Cinnamon Suet.

Croton oil.

Oil of Ben.

PALM OIL: progress of the African trade.

Imports into Liverpool.

Quantity retained for home consumption.

Statistics of; imports of the four principal vegetable

oils.

OLIVE OIL: description of the tree and its varieties;

its cultivation attempted in the United States.

Preservation of the fruit.

Expression of the oil.

Range of prices.

Frequently adulterated with cheaper oils.

Annual imports and consumption.

ALMOND OIL.

SESAME, or TEEL Oil.

Various species cultivated in the East.

Large exports of the seed from India; native oil mills;

processes of expression and manufacture.

Sunflower oil.

Margose, or Neem oil.

Illepe oil.

Vegetable butter. Candle nut tree.

Colza oil.

VEGETABLE WAX.

The Candleberry myrtle.

The CASTOR OIL PLANT: manufacture of the oil in the

East and West Indies.

Extent of the imports annually.

The oil-cake for manure.

Kanari oil.

The COCO-NUT PALM: description of the tree; its various

and important uses.

Varieties of this palm met with.

Wide range of the plant.

Directions for its culture; profits derived from

plantations; great attention paid to them in Ceylon.

Commercial value of its products.

Statistics of culture in Pinang.

Natural enemies of the tree.

Copperah and Poonac.

Statistical returns connected with its products in

Ceylon.

Imports and consumption of coco-nut oil.

Comparison of the consumption of the chief vegetable

oils of commerce.

The value and uses of oil-cake for cattle-feeding.

VOLATILE, OR ESSENTIAL OILS: description of the most

important.

Oil of peppermint.

Process of obtaining the perfumed oils.

Cultivation of Roses in the East and preparation of

Attar. Lemon-grass oil.

Citronella oil.

Patchouly.

SAPONACEOUS PLANTS.

SECTION VI.--DRUGS, INCLUDING NARCOTICS AND OTHER MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES

The COCA PLANT. _Cocculus Indicus_.

BETEL LEAF.

The ARECA PALM; extensive use of the nuts in the East

as a masticatory.

Narcotic properties.

Catechu, or Cutch; its astringent properties.

Davy's analysis.

Value of the Areca nuts exported from Ceylon.

The POPPY: increasing consumption of Opium in this

country.

Production of the Drug in India.

Large revenue derived therefrom.

Variety of the poppy grown; system of culture pursued.

Various modes of consuming opium.

Its preparation and manufacture described.

Commercial varieties met with.

Requisites for the successful culture of the poppy for

opium.

The TOBACCO PLANT; species cultivated.

London's classification.

Analyses of various samples of tobacco; Statistics of

the culture in Brazil; extent of the consumption;

considerations of revenue; memorial of Liverpool

Chamber of Commerce.

Comparative consumption of tea, coffee and tobacco, per

head.

Imports and duty received on tobacco in the last five

years.

Consumption checked in England and France by the high

duties.

Imports, sales, and stocks, in Bremen for 10 years.

Culture and statistics in the United States.

Quantity exported from 1821 to 1850.

Countries from whence we received our supplies in 1850.

Particulars of the tobacco trade in 1850 and 1853.

Mode of culture pursued in Virginia.

General instructions for the planter.

Information as to growing Cuba tobacco.

History of the trade and cultivation in Cuba.

Statistics of exports from the Havana.

Culture of tobacco in the East.

Analysis of tobacco soils.

Progress of cultivation and shipments in Ceylon.

Manila tobacco and cigars.

Production in the Islands of the Archipelago.

Suggestions and directions for tobacco culture in New

South Wales.

Its value and extensive use as a sheep wash.

Excellence of the product and manufacture in New South

Wales; culture of tobacco in South Australia.

MISCELLANEOUS DRUGS.

Poisons.

ALOES: varieties of the plant; culture and manufacture

in Socotra, Barbados, and the Cape Colony.

ASAFOETIDA.

CAMPHOR.

CINCHONA BARK: commercial varieties of CALUMBA ROOT.

COLOCYNTH.

CUBEBS.

GAMBOGE.

GENTIAN.

IPECACUAN.

INTRODUCTORY.

The want of a practical work treating of the cultivation and

manufacture of the chief Agricultural Productions of the Tropics and

Foreign Countries, has long been felt, for not even separate essays

are to be met with on very many of the important subjects treated of

in this volume.

The requirements of several friends proceeding to settle in the

Colonies, and wishing to devote themselves to Cotton culture, Coffee

planting, the raising of Tobacco, Indigo, and other agricultural

staples, first called my attention to the consideration of this

fertile and extensive field of investigation.

Professor Solly, in one of the series of Lectures on the results of

the Great Exhibition, delivered before the Society of Arts, early last

year, made some practical remarks bearing on the subject:--

"If (he said) you were to place before any manufacturer specimens of

all the substances which could be employed in his particular

manufacture, and if you could tell him from whence each could be

procured, its cost, the quantities in which he might obtain it, and

its physical and chemical properties, he would soon be able to

select for himself the one best suited for his purposes. This,

however, has never happened in relation to any one art; in every

case manufacturers have had to make the best of the materials which

chance or accident has brought before them. It is strange and

startling, but nevertheless perfectly true, that even at the present

time there are many excellent and abundant productions of nature

with which not only our manufacturers, but, in some instances, even

our men of science, are wholly unacquainted. _There is not a single

book published which gives even tolerably complete information on

any one of the different classes of vegetable raw produce at present

under our consideration_. The truth of these remarks will be felt

strongly by any one who takes the trouble to examine any of these

great divisions of raw materials. He will obtain tolerably complete

information respecting most of those substances which are known in

trade and commerce; but of the greater number of those not known to

the broker, he will learn little or nothing. Men of science, for the

most part, look down upon such knowledge. The practical uses of any

substances, the wants and difficulties of the manufacturer, are

regarded as mere trade questions, vulgar and low--simple questions

of money. On the other hand, mere men of business do not feel the

want of such knowledge, because, in the first place, they are

ignorant of its existence, and secondly, because they do not see how

it could aid them or their business; and if it should happen that an

enterprising manufacturer desires to learn something of the

cultivation and production of the raw material with which he works,

he generally finds it quite impossible to obtain any really sound

and useful information. In such cases, if he is a man of energy and

of capital, he often is at the cost of sending out a perfectly

qualified person to some distant part of the globe, to learn for him

those practical details which he desires to know. This is no

uncommon thing; and many cases might be stated, showing the great

advantages which have arisen to those who have thus gained a march

upon their neighbours."

The Society of Arts, appreciating the importance of from time to time

encouraging the introduction of new and improved products from our

Indian and Colonial Possessions, has offered many gold medals as

premiums for a great variety of staples from abroad.

The Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations brought together

an immense variety of productions from tropical regions, of which the

English public were comparatively ignorant. Attracting public

attention, as these necessarily did, information on the best modes of

cultivating and manufacturing them will be peculiarly valuable to the

colonists, and is as eagerly sought after by many brokers, merchants

and manufacturers at home.

In consequence of the recent liberal policy of Great Britain, the

competition of foreign countries, the want of cheap and abundant

labor, and other causes, those chief staples, Sugar and Coffee, which

for a series of years formed the principal and almost exclusive

articles of production in our colonies, and which had met with a ready

and remunerative sale in the British markets, have either fallen off

to an alarming extent, or become so reduced in price as scarcely to

repay the cost of cultivation. The partial abandonment of the

cultivation of these staples in our colonies has had the effect of

crippling the agricultural and commercial enterprise of several of our

most valuable foreign possessions, and throwing out of employment a

number of persons: it behoves us, therefore, to direct attention to

some of the many minor articles in demand;--to those indigenous or

exotic products of the soil in tropical regions, which, being

inexpensive in cultivation and manufacture, might be undertaken with a

moderate outlay of labor and capital, and the certainty of a ready and

remunerative sale in the European markets; and could moreover be

attended to without neglecting or at all interfering with the

cultivation of the leading staples.

It is evident that the export wealth of tropical regions must be

chiefly agricultural, the soil and climate being peculiarly fitted for

the culture of fruits, trees and plants yielding oils, gums, starch,

spices, and other valuable products, which no art can raise cheaply in

more temperate latitudes. The large and continued emigration of

farmers and other enterprising persons from Britain and the Continent

to Natal, the Cape Colony, Northern Australia, Ceylon, the East India

Company's Possessions and the Straits Settlements, Brazil, New

Granada, and the Central American Republics, Texas, the Southern

States of North America, and other tropical and sub-tropical

countries, renders information as to the agriculture and productions

of those regions highly desirable. Even to the settlers in our West

Indian possessions, most of whom have too long pursued the old beaten

track of culture and manufacture, comparatively regardless of modern

improvements and the results of chemical, scientific, and practical

investigation, recent information on all these subjects, and a

comparison of the practices of different countries, cannot fail to be

useful.

There is much valuable information to be met with in detached papers

and essays in the scientific periodicals of the day, and in colonial

and other publications; such as the Transactions and Journals of the

different agricultural and horticultural societies of the East and

West Indies, the United States, Australia, &c., but none readily

accessible for easy reference, and which the new settler, proceeding

out to try his fortune in those fair and productive regions of the

globe, can turn to as a hand book. I have had much experience in

Tropical Agriculture, and for many years my attention has been mainly

directed to this important subject, for which purpose I have kept up a

large and extended correspondence with numerous agricultural,

scientific and other societies abroad; with experienced practical men,

and have also received the leading journals of all the tropical

Colonies.

No one person could be expected to be thoroughly familiar with all the

different modes of culture and preparation of every one of the

numerous products to be described in this volume; but where my own

agricultural experience (of several years in the West Indies and South

America) was at fault, I have availed myself of the practical

knowledge of those of my colonial friends and correspondents best

informed on the subject, and am particularly fortunate in having many

valuable essays on Tropical Agriculture scattered through the

different volumes of my "Colonial Magazine."

The discussion of the best modes of culture, properties, manufacture,

consumption, uses, and value of the commercial products of the

vegetable kingdom cannot be without its value, and the attention of

merchants and planters may be usefully directed to various articles,

which will be profitable both in an agricultural and commercial point

of view; many of which are already sources of wealth to other

countries.

The introduction of new objects of industry into the colonial

dependencies of the British Empire, is no longer considered a mere

subject of speculation, but one well worthy the attention of the eye

of science; and the fostering hand of care is beginning to be held out

to productions of nature and art, which, if not all equally necessary

to the welfare of man, yet certainly merit the attention of the

cultivator and capitalist, and have great claims on the scientific

observer, and on those interested in raising the manufactures of our

country to a higher standard.

Few who have not investigated this subject are aware of the immense

number of countries lying in the equatorial and tropical ranges of the

torrid zone, many of which, from the value and importance of their

indigenous productions, have already attracted considerable notice,

and to which still more attention will be directed by European nations

as the value of their various products becomes more extensively known.

The homeward commerce which we carry on with our numerous Colonies,

with our Indian Possessions, and with foreign countries, is

principally in articles furnished by the vegetable kingdom, such as

the cereal grains, wheat, rice, maize, &c.; vegetables used in

preparing dietetic drinks and distilled liquors, as tea, coffee,

cacao, and the sugar cane, grapes, &c.; spices and condiments; drugs;

dyes and tanning substances, obtained from the bark, leaves, fruit,

and roots of various herbs and trees; the expressed or distilled oils

of different plants; fruits in the green, dried, or preserved state;

starches obtained from the roots or trunks of many farinaceous plants;

fibrous substances used for cordage, matting, and clothing, as cotton,

Indian hemp, flax, coco-nut coir, plantain and pine-apple fibre;

timber and fancy woods. These substances, in the aggregate, form at

least nine-tenths in value of the whole imports of this country. There

are also several products of the animal kingdom dependent on vegetable

culture, which might be brought into this category, such as silk and

cochineal. Very few of these products of the vegetable kingdom come to

us in any other than an unmanufactured state; they are shipped to this

country as the chief emporium and factory of the world, either for

re-export or to be prepared for consumption by the millions to whom

they furnish employment, sustenance, and articles of clothing.

It is a wise ordination of Providence, that the different nations of

the earth are as it were mutually dependent on each other for many of

the necessaries and luxuries of life, and the means of progress and

civilization. Commerce is thus extended, the various arts and

manufactures improved by comparison and competition; and the acres yet

untilled in distant lands hold out strong inducements for immigration,

their climate and products affording health, freedom, and independence

to the over-tasked and heavily taxed artisan and agriculturist of

Europe. Although the systems of tropical agriculture, generally

pursued, are peculiar and effective, yet there is no doubt that much

improvement remains to be carried out in the practices adopted, in the

implements employed, and the machinery used for preparing the crops

for shipment. In the British Isles our insulated position, limited

extent of country, unsettled climate, and numerous population,

aggregated in dense masses, have compelled us to investigate and avail

ourselves of every improvement in agriculture, arts and manufactures,

which experience, ingenuity, and a comparison with the customs of

other countries, have placed at our disposal.

If we except sandy deserts, and some of the interior portions of the

polar regions, it will be found that there is scarcely any country but

what is capable of improvement. Indeed, so extensive are the resources

of agriculture, that further improvements may be most easily effected.

Let us then examine and ascertain what new objects may be improved

upon, and if by our speculations only one single article, either for

food or use, is added to those already in use, or those that are

already cultivated be improved upon, it is equivalent to an increase

of our wealth.

An eminent writer has truly remarked that "Agriculture is the parent

of Manufactures, seeing that the productions of nature are the

materials of art."

In the economy of Providence every fragment of creation seems to

unfold, as man progresses in the arts of life, unbounded capabilities

of adaptation to his every want. We have, indeed, daily illustration

of the truth of that trite and homely adage, that "nothing is made in

vain."

That quaint old English poet, Herbert, who flourished in the fifteenth

century, in a short poem on "Providence," has graphically described,

in his unique vein, the sentiment which forces itself upon us in view

of the numerous discoveries of the age in which we live:--

"All countries have enough to serve their need.

* * * * *

----The Indian nut alone

Is clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can,

Boat, cable, sail, and needle, all in one."

"The addition (it has been well observed) of even a single flower, or

an ornamental shrub, to those which we already possess, is not to be

regarded as a matter below the care of industry and science. The more

we extend our researches into the productions of nature, the more are

our minds elevated by contemplating the variety as well as the

exceeding beauty and excellence of the works of the Creator."

The mode of arrangement of the various subjects treated of involved

some consideration; two or three plans were open for adoption. 1st. To

describe the several products in the order of their agricultural

importance or commercial value. 2nd. An alphabetical reference, in the

style of a Dictionary or Encyclopædia; and 3rd. Classifying them under

subdivisions, according to their particular or chief uses. The last

seemed to me the most desirable and efficient mode, although open to

some objections, from the variety of uses to which different parts of

many plants were applied. Some, as cotton, indigo, sugar, coffee, tea,

&c., would readily fall into their proper division, but others, as the

coco-nut, plantain, &c., from the variety of their products, would

come under several heads. I have, however, endeavoured to meet this

difficulty by placing each plant or tree under the section to which

its most valuable production seemed naturally to refer it.

There are very many plants and substances which have been passed over

altogether, it being impossible, within the limits of a moderate sized

volume, to bring under notice even a tithe of the valuable grasses,

timber trees, cabinet woods, fruits, &c.; and I have confined myself

in a great measure to those which either already are, or might easily

be rendered, articles of commerce, of some importance. I have shown

their present value by quoting the current prices, and brought down,

as far as possible, the statistics of each article to the close of

last year, thus rendering the work valuable by commercial references

which could not be found collectively elsewhere.

There are some articles of commerce which could not properly be

treated of in a work intended as a guide on agriculture and husbandry,

for the tropical planter and cultivator, who purposes devoting his

attention to the raising of useful crops and plants on his estate. The

forests and jungles of the tropics abound in products of an useful

character, the luxurious and spontaneous growth of nature, such as

ebony, sandal wood, &c.; but these must be sought for by a different

class of settlers; and the mahogany cutter of Honduras, the

teak-feller of India, the gatherer of elastic gums, can scarcely be

ranked with the cultivators of the soil.

I had originally intended to confine my remarks to staples of tropical

growth, but I have been induced to depart from my prescribed plan by

the importance of some of the commercial products of temperate

regions, such as maple and beet-root sugar, wheat, the grain crops,

and potatoes.

The system of agriculture, and modes of tillage, &c., of separate

countries in the Eastern and Western hemisphere, notwithstanding their

similarity of climate, are as opposite as if each country belonged to

a different zone; and yet much may be learned by one of the other.

The only essentially useful division of seasons in countries within

the tropics is into a wet and dry season, the former being the period

of germination, the latter that of fructification.

The implements of agriculture required are for the most part few and

simple, for no high tillage is necessary, the luxuriance of vegetation

being so great that most of the products of the soil will grow

indiscriminately throughout the year, and the only care of the

husbandman, after the first preparation of the soil, is to keep down

the vast growth of weeds, which might stifle the crops.

In tropical regions there is less demand for manures than in temperate

climates, but still there are many additions to the soil that may

profitably be made.

Firstly, that most important principle, which has only recently been

practically inculcated, is in too many quarters entirely neglected,

namely, returning to the soil the component parts taken off by various

crops, and which is so generally practised in all good agricultural

districts, by a careful rotation of crops. Liebig has well pointed out

this: "It must be admitted (he says), as a principle of agriculture,

that those substances which have been removed from a soil must be

completely restored to it; and whether this restoration be effected by

means of excrements, ashes, or bones, is in a great measure a matter

of indifference." Again he remarks, "We could keep our fields in a

constant state of fertility by replacing every year as much as we

remove from them in the form of produce; but an increase of fertility,

and consequent increase of crop, can only be obtained when we add more

to them than we take away." Of all natural manures, therefore, the

best for each description of plant is its own refuse, or ashes; enough

of these can seldom, however, be obtained. But, as far as they can be

restored, this principle is beginning to be acted upon by the sugar

planters of the West Indies, who employ the waste leaves and ashes of

the expressed stalk of the cane, after it has been used as fuel, to

manure their cane-fields. The vine growers of Germany and the Cape

also bury the cuttings of their vines around the roots of the plants.

The cinnamon grower of the East returns the waste bark and cuttings of

the shoots to the soil. And in the coco-nut groves of Ceylon, the

roots of the trees are best manured with the husks of the nuts and

decomposed poonac, or the refuse cake, after the oil has been

expressed from the pulp. Analysis of soils is, perhaps, not so

essential in countries where virgin land is usually in abundance, and

the luxuriance of vegetation furnishes itself, by decomposition,

abundant materials for replenishing the fertility of the soil. But

there are some substances, such as muriate of soda, gypsum, phosphate,

and other compounds of lime, which may be advantageously applied.

Guano and expensive artificial manures, are seldom required, and,

indeed, will not repay the planters for importing.

An experienced cultivator can generally judge by a superficial

examination, aided by the situation, locality, and appearance of the

soil, whether a certain portion of land is fitted for the profitable

growth of any particular plant. Depth of soil, and facilities for

deepening it, with the nature of the subsoil, so as to know whether it

retains or parts with water, are also important considerations,

because tap-rooted plants require free scope for penetrating deep into

the ground.

A due supply of water is of vital importance to most crops--and

therefore the extent and periods of the fall of rain are essential to

be known, as it is not always possible to resort to irrigation. The

quantity of labor required for previous tillage, cultivation, and

harvesting of different crops, and the available supply, are primary

essentials to be considered before entering upon the culture of any

staple product, however remunerative it may appear in prospective.

Facility and cost of transport to the nearest market or shipping port

are the next desiderata to be ascertained, as well as a careful

estimate of the cost of plant or machinery necessary.

It may be desirable at the outset to make a brief enumeration of the

countries lying within the different zones, and the agricultural

products of which come, therefore, more especially under the notice of

the tropical planter.

Meyen, in his division of the horizontal range of vegetation into

zones, extends--

1. The equatorial zone to fifteen degrees on both sides of the

equator. In this division we shall find the Cape Verd Islands, Sierra

Leone, Ascension, and St. Helena, the Republic of Liberia, the

European and native settlements in the Gulf of Guinea, and on the

western Coast of Africa, Abyssinnia, Zanzibar on the East Coast,

Mocha and Aden in the Red Sea, the northern portion of Madagascar, the

Seychelles, the Madras Presidency, Northern India, Ceylon and the

Nicobar Islands, Sumatra, Siam, Malacca, Singapore and the Straits

Settlements, Cochin China, the Phillippine Islands, Borneo, Celebes

and the Moluccas, Java and Madura, Banca, the Johore Archipelago,

Timor and the eastern group of Islands, with New Guinea, a large

portion of Northern Australia, the Marquesas, Society's and other

oceanic islands. In South America the Republics of Peru, Bolivia,

Ecuador, New Granada, and Venezuela, British, French and Dutch Guiana,

and a large portion of the empire of Brazil; Trinidad, Barbados, and

most of the islands in the Carribean Sea.

This zone has a mean temperature of 78½ to 82½ Fahrenheit.

2. The tropical zone reaches from the 15th deg. on each side of the

equator to the tropics in 23 lat. The mean temperature is 73½ to 78¾

deg. Summer temperature 80½ to 86 deg.; winter temperature in the

eastern coast districts, 59 deg.

In this region is comprised the following countries:--Sandwich Isles,

Canton, in province of China, Burmah, Calcutta, and a portion of the

Bengal Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, Madagascar, Mauritius and

Bourbon; the southern portion of Brazil, Cuba, St. Domingo, Mexico,

and Central America.

3. The sub-tropical zone extends from the tropics 23 to 34 deg. of

latitude. There are a number of tropical fruits in this region. The

winters are mild and vegetation is green throughout the year. In the

northern division of the zone palms and bananas grow on the plains. In

this region is comprised all the extreme northern portions of Africa,

coasting the Mediterranean, comprising Algiers and the Barbary States,

Egypt, part of Persia, Cabool and the Punjab; the greater portion of

China, Lower California, Texas, the South-Western States of America,

the Bermudas, the Cape Colony and Natal, New South Wales, Southern and

Western Australia--the Government settlements in the Northern Island

of New Zealand, the largest portion of Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and

the Argentine Republics, the Provinces of Brazil from St. Paul to Rio

Grande, Madeira and the Canary Isles.

To define accurately the conditions of temperature which a plant

requires to maintain it in a flourishing condition we must ascertain

within what limits its period of vegetation, may vary, and what

quantity of heat it requires. This most remarkable circumstance was

first observed by Boussingault, but unfortunately we do not as yet

possess sufficiently accurate accounts of the conditions of culture in

the various regions of the earth, to enable us to follow out this

ingenious view in all its details. His theory is, that the time

required by a plant to arrive at maturity is as the inverse ratio of

the temperature; therefore, knowing the mean temperature of any place,

and the number of days which a plant takes to ripen, the time required

at any other point more or less elevated, can easily be ascertained.

Peter Purry, a native of Switzerland, who settled in Charleston in

the eighteenth century, in a memorial to the Duke of Newcastle, then

Secretary of State, sets out with this postulate, that "there is a

certain latitude on our globe, so happily tempered between the

extremes of heat and cold, as to be more particularly adapted than any

other for certain rich productions of the earth; among which are silk,

cotton, indigo," &c.--and he fixes on the latitude of 33 deg., whether

north or south, as the one of that peculiar character.

The following Table, showing the climate, duration and production of

certain plants cultivated in tropical America, is from the proceedings

of the Agricultural Society of Grenada. The second, column gives the

altitude in English yards above the level of the sea. The third, the

mean temperature by Fahrenheit's thermometer. The fourth, the average

time required to commence bearing. The fifth, the number of plants in

a Spanish "fanegada" of 170 varras, about 153 square yards. The sixth,

the average duration of each plant. The seventh, the average produce

of each plant in the year:--

-----------------+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

-----------------+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Cacao | }|81.17 |6½ | 1,156| 40 |1¼ lb

(_Theobroma |587 yds. }|46.00 |yrs | | |per tree

Cacao_) | }| | | | |

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Plantain {|630 yds. to|81.17 | 9 mths.| 3,613| 30 |50

(_Musa {|1077 |46.00 |9½ " | | |plantains

Paradisiaca_) {| |40.61 |11 " | | |

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+---------

Indian Corn {|1077 |81.17 | 90 days|28,900|Annual|238 for

(_Zea Mays_) {|1260 to |40.61 |110 " | | |every

{| 1890 |36to37.80|120 " | | |seed

{|2880 |25.20to27|180 " | | |

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Manioc or {|1077 |81.17 |10 mths |28,900|Bicen-|One

Cassava {|1195 |40.61 |12 " | |nial |cassava

{| |43.00 |120 days| | |weighing

{| | | | | |¾ lb.

{| | | | | |¼ oz.

{| | | | | |starch

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Coco nut | 630 |81.17 |5 yrs. | 452| 60 |4 bottles

(_Cocos | |46.00 |6 " | | |oil per

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Tobacco {| 630 |81.17 |150 days|28,900|Annual|½ lb.

(_Nicotiana_ {|1077 |46.00 |170 " | | |_dried_

_tabacum_) {|1980 |40.61 |180 " | | |to each

{| |33.30 |225 " | | |5 plants

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Cotton {| 630 |81.17 |6½ mth |28,900|3½ |½ lb.

(_Gossypium_) {|1077 |46.00 |7 " | | |nett

{|1415 |40.61 |7½" | | |per

{| |34.61 |9 " | | |plant

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Coffee {| 230 |47 |24 mths | 5,300| 45 |1½

(_Coffea_ {| 630 |46 |25 " | | |lb.

_Arabica_) {|1077to 2250|37.80 to |28 " | | |per

{|2453 |39.60 |36 " | | |tree

{| |33.30 | | | |

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Sugar cane {| 630 |84.17 |11 mths.|28,900| 5 |10 percnt

(_Saccharum_ {|1080 |46.00 |12 " | | |sugar

_officinarum_) {| |41.40 |14 " | | |upon the

{| | | | | |weight

{| | | | | |of the

{| | | | | |raw cane

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Indigo {| 90 |48.60 |2½ " |57,800| 1½ |70 plants

(_Indigofera_ {| 630 |46.00 |3 " | | |produce

_tinctoria_) {|1077 |40.61 |3½ " | | |1 lb.

{| | | | | |coloring

{| | | | | |matter

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Potato {|1080 |38.70 |140 days|116,600 |4½

(_Solanum_ {|1980 |33.30 |165 " | |Annual|lb each

_tuberosum_) {|2700 |27.00 |210 " | | |plant

+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

Wheat {| 567 |42.30 | 80 " |57,800|Annual|37 for

(_Triticum_ {|1170 |38.70 |100 " | | |every

_æstivum_) {|2520 |32.99 |120 " | | |seed

{| | | | | |planted

-----------------+-----------+---------+--------+------+------+--------

The plantain bears at 1,529 yards, in a temperature of 61 deg.

Fahrenheit, and requires fifteen months, but its cultivation is of

little benefit in so high a latitude. It is the same with the cassava

root. The cane at 1,160 altitude, in a temperature of 66 deg., gives

no sugar; and indigo at 1,620 affords no coloring matter.

SECTION I.

DRIED LEAVES, SEEDS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF

POPULAR DIETETIC BEVERAGES.

No substances are so essentially necessary to mankind, or form such

important articles of commerce, as those which we come first to

consider, the dietetic products--cacao, coffee, tea, and sugar. The

consumption of these in all civilized countries is immense,

notwithstanding that in many they have been fettered with heavy fiscal

duties. The investigation of the culture of the plants from which they

are obtained, and the manufacture of the products, is a very curious

object of research.

CACAO OR COCOA.

The chocolate nuts or seeds, termed cacao, are the fruit of species of

_Theobroma_, an evergreen tree, native of the Western Continent. That

commonly grown is _T. cacao_; but Lindley enumerates two other

species, _T. bicolor_, a native of New Granada; and _T. Guianensis_,

with yellow flowers, a native of Guiana. The seeds being nourishing

and agreeable to most people, are kept in the majority of houses in

America, as a part of the provisions of the family. By pressure they

yield fatty oil, called butter of cacao. They also contain a

crystalline principle analogous to caffeine, called theobromine. The

common cacao of the shops consists generally of the roasted beans, and

sometimes of the roasted integuments of the beans, ground to powder.

The consumption of cacao in the United Kingdom is about three millions

of pounds annually, yielding a revenue of £15,500. Few tropical

products are more valuable or more useful as food to man than cacao.

It is without any exception the cheapest food that we can conceive,

and were it more generally employed, so that the berries should not be

more than two, three, or, at most, six months old, from the time of

gathering (for, if kept longer, they lose their nutritive properties),

even a smaller quantity than that usually taken in a cup would

suffice: in fact, cacao cannot be _too_ new. The cacao beans lie in a

fruit somewhat like a cucumber, about five inches long and

three-and-a-half inches thick, which contains from twenty to thirty

beans, arranged in five regular rows with partitions between, and

which are surrounded with a rose-colored spongy substance, like that

of water melons. There are fruits, however, so large as to contain

from forty to fifty beans. Those grown in the West India islands, as

well as Berbice and Demerara, are much smaller, and have only from six

to fifteen; their development being less perfect than other parts of

South America. After the maturation of the fruit, when their green

colour has changed to a dark yellow, they are plucked, opened, their

beans cleared of the marrowy substance, and spread out to dry in the

air. In the West Indies they are immediately packed up for the market

when they are dried; but in Caraccas they are subjected to a species

of slight fermentation, by putting them into tubs or chests, covering

them with boards or stones, and turning them over every morning to

equalize the operation. They emit a good deal of moisture, and lose

the natural bitterness and acrimony of their taste by this process, as

well as some of their weight. Instead of wooden tubs, pits or trenches

dug in the ground are sometimes had recourse to for curing the beans;

an operation called earthing. They are, lastly, exposed to the sun and

dried. According to Lampadius, the kernels of the West India cacao

beans contain in 100 parts, besides water, 53.1 of fat or oil, 16.7 of

an albuminous brown matter, which contains all the aroma of the bean;

10.91 of starch, 7¾ of gum or mucilage, 0.9 of lignine, and 2.01 of a

reddish dye-stuff, somewhat akin to the pigment of cochineal. The

husks form 12 per cent, of the weight of the beans. The fatty matter

is of the consistence of tallow, white, of a mild agreeable taste, and

not apt to turn rancid by keeping. It melts only at 112 degrees Fahr.,

and should, therefore, make tolerable candles. It is obtained by

exposing the beans to strong pressure in canvas bags, after they have

been steamed or soaked in boiling water for some time. From five to

six ounces of butter may be thus obtained from a pound of cacao. It

has a reddish tinge when first expressed, but it becomes white by

boiling with water.

The beans, being freed from all spoiled and mouldy portions, are to be

gently roasted over a fire in an iron cylinder, with holes in its ends

for allowing the vapors to escape, the apparatus being similar to a

coffee-roaster. When the aroma begins to be well developed, the

roasting is known to be finished, and the beans must be turned out,

cooled, and freed by fanning and sifting from their husks. The kernels

are then to be converted into a paste, either by trituration in a

mortar heated to 130 degrees Fahr., or by a powerful mill.[1] The

cacao tree resembles our dwarf apple tree both in body and branches,

but the leaf, which is of a dark green, is considerably broader and

larger. The nuts are of the color and about the size of an almond, and

hang eighteen to thirty together by a slender stringy film, enclosed

in a pod. A ripe pod is of a beautiful yellow, intermixed with crimson

streaks; when dried, it shrivels up and changes to a deep brown; the

juice squeezed from the mucilaginous pulp contained in the husks of

these nuts appears like cream, and has a very grateful taste of a

cordial quality. The nuts have a light pleasant smell, and an

unctuous, bitterish, roughish (not ungrateful) taste. Those of

Nicaragua and Caracas are the most agreeable and are the largest;

those of the French Antilles, and our own West India islands, are the

most unctuous.

The Mexicans, in preparing the chocolate paste, add some long pepper,

a little annatto, and lastly vanilla; some add cinnamon, cloves and

anise, and those who love perfumes, musk and ambergris.

The finest American cacao is said to be that of Soconusco, but the

principal imports are from Caracas and Guayaquil, which is of a very

good quality. The province of Barcelona, adjoining Caracas exports

annually from 200,000 to 300,000 cwt.

The very large shipments from Guayaquil are shown by the following

return. Of this quantity Spain takes the largest portion, Mexico the

next, and England receives but a very small quantity.

Cacao exported from Guayaquil:--

lbs.

1833 6,605,786

1834 10,999,853

1835 13,800,851

1836 10,918,565

1837 8,520,121

1838 7,199,057

1839 12,169,787

1840 14,266,942

The exports of cacao from the port of La Guayra, has been as follows

in the years ending December 31.

Fanegas.

1850 40,181

1851 47,951

1852 54,083

Five fanegas are equal to one English quarter. The price of cacao was,

at the close of 1852, sixteen dollars the fanega.

The province of Caracas, according to Humboldt, at the end of the last

century, produced annually 150,000 fanegas of cacao, of which

two-thirds were exported to Spain, and the remainder locally consumed.

The shipments from the port of La Guayra alone averaged 80,000 to

100,000, or nearly double the present shipments. In the early part of

the present century the captain-generalship of Caracas produced nearly

200,000 fanegas, of which about 145,000 were sent direct to Europe.

The province of Caracas then produced 150,000 fanegas; Maracaibo,

20,000; Cumana, 18,000, and New Barcelona, 5,000.

The vallies of Aragua, in the province of Caracas, those of Cariaco,

Campano, of Rio Caribe and the banks of the river Caroni, in Spanish

Guiana, produce excellent cacao in abundance.

The tree there bears fruit in four years after it has been planted,

the following year still more, and increases in fecundity until the

ninth or tenth year, when it is in full bearing.

The banks of the Magdalena, in the vicinity of Santa Martha and

Carthagena, are famed for the excellent cacao they produce. "This

tree," says Bonnycastle (Spanish America, vol. 1, p. 257), "is

indigenous, seldom exceeds the diameter of seven inches, and is

extremely beautiful when laden with its fruit, which are disposed on

short stalks over the stem and round the great branches, resembling

citrons, from their yellow color, and warty appearance. The leaves are

attenuate, stalked, drooping, about a foot long and three inches

broad, elliptic, oblong, pointed, slightly wavy, entire, and very

smooth on both sides; with one mid-rib and many transverse ones,

connected by innumerable veins. The petals of the flower are yellow,

the calyx of a light rose-color, and the flowers themselves are small

and placed on tufts on the sides of the branches, with single

foot-stalks, about an inch long. Its fruit is red, or a mixture of red

and yellow, and about three inches in diameter, with a fleshy rind

half-an-inch thick; the pulp is whitish and of the consistence of

butter, containing the seed; these seeds are generally twenty-five in

number in each fruit, and when first gathered are of a flesh color,

and form a nice preserve if taken just before they are ripe. Each tree

yields about two or three pounds of fruit annually, and comes to

maturity the third year after planting from the seed; it also bears

leaves, flowers, or fruit all the year round, the usual seasons for

gathering being June and December. The excellence of the Magdalena

chocolate may be attributed to the moist nature of the soil, as the

plant never thrives where the ground is hard and dry, or cannot be

irrigated."

_Mode of cultivation in the Colombian Republics_--Plantations of cacao

were speedily multiplied in Colombia, and the soil so admirably

seconded the labors of the planter, that in the produce abundance was

united to excellence. The cacao of this quarter ranks next to that of

Soconusco. It is well known that the best commercial recommendation of

cacao is that of coming from Caracas. But even in these provinces the

quality varies. The cacao of Orituco is superior to that of other

places, and a quantity of equal bulk weighs twenty per cent. more. The

cacao of the coast comes next, and obtains a preference over that of

the interior.

The plantations of cacao are all to the north of the chain of

mountains which coast the sea, and in the interior country. The former

extend from Cumana to the mouth of the Tocaygo; the latter are situate

in the vallies of Tuy, Orituco, Ocumare, Cura, Marrin, Tare, Santa

Theresa, Santa Lucia, Zuapira, Santa Philippo, Barquisimeto, Valencia,

Gruige and Cariaco.

All kinds of soil are not equally adapted to the culture of cacao,

still less are all exposures; but an analysis of the soil destined to

this culture never furnishes indications on which reliance can be

placed. No regard should be had to color or composition; it is only

requisite that it should be friable to a certain depth, which is

ascertained by the size of the trees with which it is covered; this

sign determines the land proper for cacao.

A suitable situation is not so easily found. It should be exposed as

little as possible to the north, and be on the borders of a river,

which may communicate moisture to the soil in dry seasons, and

receive its drainings in times of rain. A preference is particularly

to be given to land which can receive from the river the benefits of

irrigation without being exposed to injury from its overflow.

After having chosen the land, it should be cleared of all trees,

shrubs, and other plants. This operation is performed in various ways.

It is customary in Colombia to commence felling the trees immediately

after the rains, that is, about the month of November; the wood, after

being cut, is left to dry, then collected in heaps and burnt.

As soon as the new plantation is cleared, it is crossed with small

ditches, in directions according to the declivity of the soil. These

serve to drain the stagnant waters, to carry off the rains, and to

irrigate or water the soil whenever necessary. The _alignement_ is

then laid out, in which the cacao trees are to be arranged. They are

planted in triangles or squares. In either case, there is always in

the centre an alley, bordered by cacao trees, and running from east to

west. When they are planted in squares, this alley is crossed by

another running from north to south. The cacao plants should be placed

at fifteen or sixteen feet (French measure) from each other, in good

soil; and about thirteen or fourteen feet in soil of inferior quality.

This is almost the only tree in nature to which the enlivening beams

of the sun are obnoxious. It requires to be sheltered from their

ardour; and the mode of combining this protection with the principles

of fertility, forms a very essential part of the skill which its

cultivation demands. The cacao tree is mingled with other trees, which

guard it from the rays of the sun, without depriving it of the benefit

of their heat. The _Erythrina_ and the banana are employed for this

purpose. The latter, by the rapidity of its growth, and the magnitude

of its leaves, protect it for the first year. The erythrina endures at

least as long as the cacao; it is not every soil, however, that agrees

with it. It perishes after a while in sandy and clayey ground, but it

flourishes in such as combine those two ingredients.

In the Antilles this protection cannot be given to cacao, as it would

expose the plantation to destruction by every hurricane. Besides, the

cacao succeeds but indifferently there, and is much less oily than in

other parts.

The quality of the soil, and the species of the erythrina, should

determine the distance at which they ought to be placed. That kind

which the Spaniards call _bucare anaveo_, is planted in a fertile

soil, at the distance of two alleys, that is to say, at each second

range of cacao trees. That which they call _bucare peonio_, is placed

at three alleys in good soils (about forty-eight French feet).

The former species of erythrina is that which elevates itself the

highest. The second species has many thorns, the upper surface of the

leaf is darker and the lower whiter. Both kinds should be cut in the

wane of the moon, and remain in the shade until its increase, at

which time they should be planted. It is much preferable, however, to

take them from a nursery.

In one range of cacao trees a banana is placed between two cacaos, and

an erythrina between the two following. In the other range a banana is

placed between each cacao tree, and no erythrinas, so that the latter

are at the distance of two alleys. The banana and the erythrina are

first planted, and when a shelter from the sun is thus provided, the

hole for the cacao is made, around which are planted four stalks of

the yucca plant, at the distance of two feet from each other. At the

end of two months the cacao is planted. The smaller the plant is, the

better. There are, nevertheless, soils subject to worms where the

small plants do not thrive; but, excepting in this particular, the

small plants are preferable, because the large require more labor for

their transportation and planting; many of them die, and those which

survive bud and shoot forth, but are never of any value.

The cacao plant should not exceed thirty-six inches in size when

transplanted; if larger, it succeeds with difficulty, as will be

shown.

The nurseries of cacao demand an excellent soil, well prepared, where

the water does not remain. They should be well sheltered from the sun.

Small knolls of earth are formed, in each of which are put two seeds

of cacao, in such a manner that they are parallel with the level of

the ground. During the first twenty days the seeds are covered with

two layers of banana or other leaves. If necessary, the ground is

watered; but the water is not suffered to remain. The most suitable

time for sowing is in November.

Where there is not a facility for watering, the planting of the cacao

should take place in the rainy season; but when the former is

practicable, it is best to plant in dry weather and assist nature by

irrigation, since it is then in the power of the cultivator to give

the exact quantity of moisture necessary. But, in all cases, care

should be taken that the plants are not wet in the interval between

their being taken out of the ground and replanted.

When the bananas grow old, they should be carefully felled, lest the

cacaos should be injured by their accidental fall. They are totally

removed as soon as the erythrina yields sufficient shade; this

operation gives more air to the trees of the plantation, and

encourages their growth.

Until the cacao attains four feet in height, it is trimmed to the

stem. If it shoots forth several branches, they are reduced to three,

at equal distances; and, in proportion as the plant increases, the

leaves which appear on the three branches are stripped off. If they

bend much, and incline towards the earth, they are tied in bunches, so

that the tree may not remain crooked. The branches, which are trimmed,

are cut at the distance of two fingers from the tree. The suckers

which spring from the tree are also removed, as they only live at its

expense.

_Enemies of the tree_.--The cacao trees should, as already stated,

have sufficient shade to prevent their being burned by the sun. If

they are much exposed to its rays, their branches are scattered,

crack, and the tree dies. They are also infested with worms, which

gnaw the bark all around, then attack the interior and destroy them.

The only remedy which has hitherto been found, is to employ people to

kill these worms, which are deposited by a small, scaly winged insect,

which gnaws the tree; as soon as it hears the approach of its

destroyers, it lets itself fall, and trusts to its wings for safety.

The color of this insect is a mixture of ash color and white. If

pressed, it emits a sound something similar to the noise of water

thrown on a very hot substance. It has two small horns on its head,

the points of which are directed upwards. It is so lively that, even

when the head is separated from the body, it is a long time in dying.

To deposit its progeny it makes small holes in the tree.

At the commencement of the winter, or rainy season, another worm makes

its appearance, which devours the leaves of the young cacao plant.

This species of worm is called _goaseme_, and they are in some years

so abundant, that all the people of the plantation are solely employed

in destroying them. This worm is four inches in length, and of the

thickness of a finger. It is sometimes called _angaripola_, or Indian,

on account of the vivacity of its colors. It is believed that these

worms are mediately produced by other large worms in the earth, from

which are engendered butterflies, who lay their eggs on the leaves of

the cacao. These eggs are full of small worms, which feed on the

leaves of the cacao, and appear in clusters of the size of a shilling.

They are sought and destroyed with great attention, as they occasion

considerable damage. Those which escape lodge themselves in the earth,

and in the succeeding year are changed into butterflies. At the time

when the worm makes its appearance, it is necessary to make fires,

which should not be so large as to injure the cacao, yet sufficient to

attract and burn the butterfly.

The plantations of cacao in the valley of Tuy, the quarters of Marrin,

Cuba, Sabana, Ocumare, San Francis, &c., are subject to another

species of worm called _rasquilla_. It multiplies in the dry seasons.

There are small insects, called by the Spaniards _accerredores_, of

the same figure with those which eat the bark of the cacao, but larger

and of a blackish colour. They feed on the branches of the tree; are

always found upon those branches which they have cut; and the evil can

only be obviated by killing them.

The worms called _vachacos_ occasion also much damage. They eat the

leaf and the flower. To destroy them it is necessary to seek them in

their nests in the earth. Water is thrown on the spot, and stirred, as

in making mortar. By this means their young are crushed, and the evil

is diminished, if it be not entirely removed.

A parasitical plant often attaches itself to a branch of the cacao

tree which it covers over and causes to wither, by nourishing itself

with the substance of the plant. The only remedy is to remove it.

When the cacao trees are in a bearing state, they are subject to a

disease called _tache_. This is a black taint, or stain, which attacks

the trees, encircling them below, and kills them. The mode of

preservation is to make, in the beginning, a slight notch that shall

pierce the bark. But if the taint is extensive, it is necessary to cut

all the affected part. It then exudes a liquid and is healed. The bark

remains of a violet color in the part that has been tainted.

The other enemies of the cacao are the agouti, stag, squirrel, monkey,

&c. The agouti produces most havoc. It often destroys in one night all

the hopes of the proprietor.

Birds are not less injurious to the cacao. The whole class of parrots,

in particular the great Ara, which destroys for the pleasure of

destroying, and, the parroquets, which come in numerous flocks,

conspire also to ruin the plantations of cacao.

_Means of preserving a plantation_.--It is necessary that a cacao

plantation should have always shade and irrigation; the branches of

the plant should be cleared of the lichens that form on them; the

worms destroyed; and no large herbs or shrubs and mosses permitted to

grow near, since the least disadvantage resulting therefrom would be

the loss of all the fruit that should fall into these thickets. But it

is most essential to deepen the trenches which carry off the water, in

proportion as the plant increases in size, and as the roots of course

pierce deeper; for if the trenches are left at a depth of three feet,

while the roots are six feet in the earth, it follows that the lower

part of the cacao plant is in a situation of too great humidity, and

rots at the level of the water. This precaution contributes not only

to make the plantation more durable, but also to render the crop more

productive. It is necessary, also, to abstain from cutting any branch

from cacao plants that are already bearing. Such an operation might

occasion the subsequent crop to be stronger; but the plants become

enervated, and often perish, according to the quality of the soil and

the number of branches cut off.

If the earth of the plantations be pressed and trampled down by

animals, the duration of the plant is diminished. Irrigation, made

with judgment, maintains them long in a state of produce.

_Withering of the fruit._--The fruit of the cacao withers on the tree

from three causes:--

First.--When the plantation is, during a long time, inundated with

water. I have seen plantations of cacao, which had only been covered

with water thirty hours, and of which the fruit was totally withered.

Second.--From abundant rains, particularly in very damp valleys. This

is only to be remedied by keeping the plantation well drained, that

the water may not remain on it.

Third.--A want of necessary irrigation, and the watering of the

plantation under an ardent sun. The vapor from the earth kills the

fruit. If the rains are deficient for a time, and an excessive rain

succeeds, the fruit of the cacao also withers.

This dessication or withering takes place everywhere; but in some

places the surplus of fruit, which the tree is unable to nourish, is

alone subject to it. In others, as Araquita and Caucagua, it withers

in proportion to the northerly rains. An unsuitable soil occasions

another kind of decay. The pods become stinted, containing some good

and some bad seeds. The Spaniards call this _cocosearse_, which means

defective.

_Harvest of the cacao_.--The tree yields two principal crops in a

year, one about St. John's day, the other towards the end of December.

The cacao however ripens and is gathered during the whole year. But in

all seasons the planters of the Central American republics make it a

point, so far as possible, to collect their crops only at the decline

of the moon; because experience proves that this precaution renders

the cacao more solid, and less liable to spoil.

To collect the fruit, those negroes and Indians are employed who have

the sharpest sight, that only the ripe fruit may be gathered. The most

robust and active are chosen to carry it to the places where the beans

are to be shaken out. The aged and maimed are employed to do this. The

operation is performed on a floor well swept, and covered with green

leaves, on which they place the cacao. Some open the pod, and others

strike out the beans with a small piece of wood, which must not be

sharp, lest it should injure them.

The good and bad beans must not be mingled together. There are four

sorts of cacao in every crop; the ripe and in good condition, the

green but sound, the worm-eaten, and the rotten. The first quality is

best, the second is not bad; but the two others should be rejected.

As soon as that which is not fully ripe begins to show specks, it must

be separated. As to the pods which are not perfectly ripe, they should

remain in heaps during three days under green banana leaves, that they

may ripen before they are hulled. When the cacao is stored, great care

is necessary not to leave amongst it pieces of the pod or leaves, or

any other excrementitious particles. This care must be repeated every

time that it is removed from the store, or replaced in it.

The cacao must always be exposed to the sun on the fourth day after it

has been gathered, and this exposure should be daily repeated until it

is perfectly dry. When that is the case, the beans burst on being

squeezed, their shell resounds when struck, and they no longer become

heated when placed in heaps; the latter is the best proof that the

moisture injurious to their preservation is dissipated. If the cacao

is not sufficiently exposed to the sun, it becomes mouldy; if too

much, it withers, and easily pulverises--in either case it soon rots.

When the quantity of cacao gathered is considerable, it is placed in

the sunshine by a hundred quintals at a time, unless the cultivator

has a sufficient number of persons employed to expose a greater

quantity. This operation is indispensable, to prevent it from becoming

mouldy. If the rains prevent this exposure to the sun, it is

necessary, as soon as it is sufficiently cleaned or purified, to

spread it in apartments, galleries, or halls, with which the

plantation must be provided; this operation cannot be delayed without

danger of losing the crop.

It is to be wished that stoves were employed to dry the cacao when the

sun fails, but this expedient, so simple and important, is generally

unknown.

It is almost universally believed that the most essential precautions

for preserving the cacao consists in gathering it at the decline of

the moon. I believe that they may more seriously calculate on the care

of depositing it in apartments so hermetically closed that the air

cannot penetrate; it would be advisable to make these apartments of

wood, for the more perfect exclusion of moisture. The floor should be

elevated two feet; under the floor a pan of coals is placed, covered

with a funnel, the point of which enters into the heap of cacao and

then diffuses the vapor. In the apartment which contains the cacao,

some persons place bottles of vinegar, slightly stopped with paper, to

prevent the formation of worms.

The beans which begin to show specks, may be preserved from entire

corruption by a slight application of brine. This occasions a small

degree of fermentation, which is sufficient to destroy the worms, and

to preserve the cacao during a considerable time from new attacks. Why

is not this preservative also employed after the cacao is dried, and

when placed in the store, where it awaits the purchaser?

At St. Philip they make use of smoke to preserve the cacao; it is also

ascertained that fine salt, thrown in small quantities on the cacao,

protects it from worms.

Much has been done for the cacao when it has been cleared of all green

or dead beans, and extraneous substances; when it has received no

bruise or injury in the operation of drying, and when it has been

subsequently kept in a place that is dry and not exposed to the air;

yet, even with all these precautions, cacao of the best quality is

seldom found marketable at the end of a year.

These circumstances sufficiently prove that the culture of cacao

requires attention more than science, vigilance rather than genius,

and assiduity in preference to theory. Choice of ground, distribution

and draining of the waters, position of the trees destined to shade

the cacao, are almost the only points which require more than common

intelligence. Less expense is also required for an establishment of

this kind than for any other of equal revenue. One able hand, as I

have already said, is sufficient for the preservation and harvest of a

thousand plants, each of which should yield at least one pound of

cacao, in ground of moderate quality, and a pound and a half in the

best soil. By an averaged calculation of twenty ounces to each plant,

the thousand plants must produce twelve hundred and fifty pounds,

which, at the ordinary price of 31s. 6d. per cwt., would produce about

£17 10s. per annum for each laborer. The expenses of the plantation,

including those of utensils, machines, and buildings, are also less

considerable for cacao than for any other produce. The delay of the

first crop, and the accidents peculiar to cacao, can alone diminish

the number of planters attached to its culture, and induce a

preference to other commodities.

The cacao plant is not in a state of prolific produce till the eighth

year in the interior, and the ninth in plantations on the coast. Yet,

by a singularity which situation alone can explain, the crops of cacao

commence in the ninth year in the valley of Goapa, and at the east of

the mouth of the Tuy. In the vicinity of the line, and on the banks of

Rio-Negro, the plantations are in full produce on the fourth, or at

most the fifth year.

The cacao tree continues productive to the age of fifty years on the

coast, and thirty years in the interior of the country.

In general the culture and preparation of cacao receives more

attention in the eastern parts of Venezuela than in other places, and

even than in the French colonies. It is true that the suitability of

the soil contributes much to the quality of the article; but without

the assistance derived from art, it would be far from possessing that

superiority awarded to it by commerce over the cacao of every other

country.

Stevenson ("Travels in South America") speaks of another kind of cacao

tree, called moracumba, which is larger than the ordinary species, and

grows wild in the woods. The beans under the brown husk are composed

of a white, solid matter, almost like a lump of hard tallow. The

natives take a quantity of these, and pass a piece of slender cane

through them, and roast them, when they have the delicate flavour of

the cacao.

There are several cacao plantations in Surinam. The trees are left to

grow their natural height, which is about that of a cherry-tree; their

leaves resemble those of the broad-leaved laurel, and are of a dark

green colour. The fruit in shape resembles a lemon, but is rather more

oval; it is at first green, and, when ripe, yellow. It is said that

there are some trees which produce above two hundred, each containing

about twenty beans or nuts. The fruit not only proceeds from the

branches, but even from the stem; and though there is always ripe and

unripe fruit, it is only gathered twice a year. The chocolate is in

that colony in general of an inferior quality, known by its dark brown

color and rough taste, but the superiority of the cacao depends

principally on the soil where the trees are planted.--(Baron Von

Sack's "Surinam.")

My friend, Sir R. Schomburgk, in his "Description of British Guiana,"

says--"While we crossed from the river Berbice to the Essequibo, we

met a number of chocolate nut trees, near the abandoned Caribi

settlement of Primoss. It is not to be doubted that the trees were

originally planted by the Indians, but from their number and the

distance from the river, I judged they were propagated by nature.

Though they were overshadowed by larger trees, and had for many years

been neglected, they had reached nevertheless a height of from thirty

to forty feet, and the luxuriant growth and the abundance of fruit,

proved that the plant was satisfied with the soil. The forests at the

banks of the Rio Branco, in the vicinity of Santa Maria and Carno,

abound in wild cacao trees, the fruits of which are collected by the

scanty population of that district for their own use."

The cultivation of cacao will be most suitable to the less wealthy

individual, as it demands so little labor and outlay. Baron Humboldt

observes, in alluding to Spanish America, that cacao plantations are

occupied by persons of humble condition, who prepare for themselves

and their children a slow but certain fortune; a single laborer is

sufficient to aid them in their plantations, and 30,000 trees, once

established, assure competence for a generation and a half.

The following have been the total imports of Cacao into the United

Kingdom from Mexico and Central America, &c.:--

lbs.

1832 85,642

1834 16,171

1835 211

1836 861,531

1837 564,992

1838 1,681,965

1839 508,307

1840 1,058,015

1841 1,802,547

1842 441,084

1843 1,229,515

(Parl. Paper, No. 426, Sess. 1844.)

Only a few hundred pounds of this is entered annually for home

consumption, the great bulk being re-exported.

In 1850 we imported 1,204,572 lbs. from Mexico; 1,231,773 lbs. from

Chile; 4,438 lbs. from Venezuela, and 23,538 lbs. from Hayti.

BRAZIL.--A great deal of cacao is raised in different parts of this

empire. From the province of Para alone 35,000 bags, valued at

£35,000, were exported in the year 1845. Mr. Edwards, in his "Voyage

up the River Amazon," gives an interesting account:--

"We were now (he says) in the great cacao region, which, for an

extent of several hundred square miles, borders the river. The cacao

trees are low, not rising above fifteen or twenty feet, and are

distinguishable from a distance by the yellowish green of their

leaves, so different from aught else around them. They are planted

at intervals of about twelve feet, and, at first, are protected from

the sun's fierceness by banana trees, which, with their broad

leaves, form a complete shelter. Three years after planting the

trees yield, and therefore require little attention, or, rather,

receive not any. From an idea that the sun is injurious to the

berry, the tree-tops are suffered to mat together until the whole

becomes dense as thatch-work. The sun never penetrates this, and the

ground below is constantly wet. The trunk of the tree grows

irregularly, without beauty, although perhaps by careful training it

might be made as graceful as an apple tree. The leaf is thin, much

resembling our beech, excepting that it is smooth-edged. The flower

is very small, and the berry grows direct from the trunk or

branches. It is eight inches in length, five in diameter, and shaped

much like a rounded double cone. When ripe, it turns from light

green to a deep yellow, and at that time ornaments the tree finely.

Within the berry is a white acid pulp, and embedded in this are from

thirty to forty seeds, an inch in length, narrow and flat. These

seeds are the cacao of commerce. When the berries are ripe, they are

collected into great piles near the house, are cut open with a

tresado, and the seeds, squeezed carelessly from the pulp, are

spread upon mats to dry in the sun. Before being half dried they are

loaded into canoes in bulk, and transmitted to Para. Some of these

vessels will carry four thousand arrobas, of thirty-two pounds

weight each, and, as if such a bulk of damp produce would not

sufficiently spoil itself by its own steaming during a twenty days'

voyage, the captains are in the habit of throwing upon it great

quantities of water, to prevent its loss of weight. As might be

expected, when they arrive at Para it is little more than a heap of

mould, and it is then little wonder that Para cacao is considered

the most inferior in foreign markets. Cacao is very little drunk

throughout the province, and in the city we never saw it except at

the cafés. It is a delicious drink when properly prepared, and one

soon loses relish for that nasty compound known in the States as

chocolate, whose main ingredients are damaged rice and soap fat. The

cacao trees yield two crops annually, and, excepting in harvest

time, the proprietors have nothing to do but lounge in their

hammocks. Most of these people are in debt to traders in Santarem,

who trust them to an unlimited extent, taking a lien upon their

crops. Sometimes the plantations are of vast extent, and one can

walk for miles along the river, from one to another, as freely as

through an orchard. No doubt a scientific cultivator might make the

raising of cacao very profitable, and elevate its quality to that of

Guyaquil."

Cacao shipped from Brazil to the United Kingdom, for nine years,

ending 1835:--

lbs.

1827 3,992,449

1828 1,174,168

1829 2,442,456

1830 1,308,694

1831 1,716,614

1832 2,198,709

1833 2,402,803

1834 1,591,600

1835 1,678,769

_Cultivation in the West India Islands_.--The only English colonies

where this nutritious and wholesome substance is now cultivated to any

extent, are Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent.

In Jamaica and British Guiana it has given place to the production of

sugar, and though it forms such an important article in the imports

and consumption of the United Kingdom, the quantity introduced from

British plantations is barely equal to the demand. The imports from

Jamaica in 1831 were 6,684 lbs., and in 1838, 16,564 lbs.; while the

imports since have been merely nominal. Of 5,014,681 lbs. imported in

1841, 2,920,298 lbs. were furnished by the British West Indian

colonies, 1,802,547 lbs. came from the Colombian republics, and

269,794 lbs. were brought from Brazil. Trinidad furnishes by far the

largest proportion of the West Indian supplies, the imports from

thence in 1841 having been 2,500,000 lbs., while the imports from all

the other islands were but 427,000 lbs. In 1850, 4,750,000 lbs. were

shipped from Trinidad, whilst in 1851 the quantity was nearly as much.

Trinidad.--Although this tree is indigenous to many, if not most of

the tropical parts of America, it was first extensively cultivated in

Mexico; and it is remarkable that the words cacao and chocolate are

both of Mexican origin. From Mexico the variety called Creole cacao it

is supposed was transplanted to the West India colonies; that variety

called Forastero (stranger) came from the Brazils. The latter tree is

the most productive, but the former gives the best fruit, insomuch

that few persons now plant the Forastero cacao. There are two or

three indigenous species found growing wild in the forests of

Trinidad, viz., _T. Sylvestris cacao_, _T. Guianensis_, and another

sort.

There are few, perhaps no agricultural or horticultural pursuits, so

delightful (observes Mr. Joseph, in his "History of Trinidad,") as

that of the cultivation of the cacao. It is planted in rows,

intersecting each other at right angles, at the distance of from

twelve to fifteen feet, according to the nature of the soil. The tree

is not suffered to grow higher than about fifteen feet, and its broad

rich foliage, the hues of which vary from a light green to a dark red,

loaded with yellow and dark red pods, which contain the chocolate

bean, are beautiful objects; these alleys are shaded by rows of

magnificent trees, called _Bois Immortel_ by the French and English,

by the Spaniards the Madre de Cacao. It is the _Erythrina umbrosa_ or

_arborea_ of Linnæus. Like the Bignonia or Pouie, this tree, at

particular seasons, throws off its foliage and is covered with

blossoms; those of the Erythrina are of a brilliant red color,

justifying its Greek appellation. In this state they are literally

dazzling to behold--no object in the vegetable world looks more

striking than the alleys of a cacao walk shaded by a forest above them

of the Bois Immortel.

I have been obligingly furnished by Mr. W. Purdie, the able Government

botanist of Trinidad, with a short essay upon the cultivation of the

cacao tree, with which many of the valleys of that island are so

beautifully adorned, and which, at one time, poured into that now

unfortunate colony so large a stream of wealth. Fortunately the cacao

planter of the island has managed to survive the many years of

depression under which--like sugar now--the cacao cultivations

lingered and sunk, and which brought the once wealthy planter down to

poverty and misery. His prospects, however, are gradually improving.

The opinions put forth by Mr. Purdie, on the subject of which he

treats, will be found to run counter to the long-established practice

hitherto pursued in the treatment of cacao plantations; but it must

not be forgotten that these are the opinions of a person with whom the

study of trees, their physiology and functions, has been not merely an

amusing science, but an adopted employment, and whose acquirements in

this respect, previous to his arrival in the colony, recommended him

for selection as the agent to extend through South America (the great

cacao region) the investigations of one of the most noted botanical

gardens in Europe.

Mr. Purdie says:--

"In the present depressed times, it behoves us to look well into the

resources of our fertile island, particularly as far as any

improvement can be suggested capable of averting, at least, a part

of the misery and ruin that is hovering over us, and which is too

eagerly borne on the lips of all classes of the community, instead

of using our efforts to do what we can to meet the difficulty; but

few seem to inquire whether we make the most of our present means or

not, whilst every one rather joins in the cry that sugar fetches

little or nothing, and it is no uncommon thing to hear the complaint

transferred from sugar to cacao.

It is but too true that the markets are at present lamentably

against the most important branch of our industry, under the present

manner of sugar cultivation and manufacture in this island. But it

can hardly be admitted that the same is the case in that of

cacao--also a very important branch of our agriculture.

My attention has been lately directed to the average produce per

tree, which will, I hope, throw some light on its cultivation. From

fifteen cacao trees, which are all there are at St. Ann's, I have

this year gathered 115 lbs. of cacoa (dried), and at present there

is at least 50 lbs. more ripe on the same trees. This gives 165 lbs.

of cacao from fifteen trees, or 11 lbs. per tree. These cannot be

considered fine trees; on the contrary, they are what would be

considered ordinary ones; therefore the average in this case is

fair, and differs materially from selecting the produce of fifteen

trees from a large plantation, and giving the average return of what

might be obtained from cacao cultivation. Last year these trees did

not average more than 2 lbs. per tree, and I attribute the increase

of crop to the thinning out of both the cacao and shade trees.

In a former letter to the cacao-planters of Trinidad, I recommended

twenty-four to thirty feet from tree to tree as the proper distance;

but so as to meet the feelings of those who, unfortunately for

themselves, consider every cacao tree cut down a sacrifice, I

propose that the trees be thinned out to twenty-four feet, and that,

at intervals of twenty rows at most, avenues of fifty feet in both

directions should be left. After this, it will be better seen what

may be necessary to be done to each individual tree; neither should

the shade trees be forgotten; as a general rule, they are

prejudicially thick.

By attending to this, I am quite satisfied that a very material

increase in the produce will be seen; indeed, I may say that on this

depends the chief difference of 1¼ lb. and 11 lbs. per tree; for I

consider it a very fair inference, that the average obtained here

can be realised in any other place in this island, and to any

extent, under the same circumstances of light and air, unless on

very poor soil, of which we fortunately have but little.

At twenty-four feet apart there would be seventy-five trees per

acre, or 250 per quarrée. This, at 11 lbs. per tree, gives 2,750

lbs. of dried cacao per quarrée, at 5 dollars per 100 lbs., gives

137 dollars 50 cents gross; deducting 80 dollars per quarrée

expenses, leaves 57 dollars 60 cents net profit. Thus an estate of

120 acres, or 36 quarrées, would contain 9,000 trees, at 11 lbs. per

tree will give 33,000 lbs. of cacao, at 5 dollars gives 4,350

dollars gross per annum; deducting 80 dollars per quarrée (a much

more liberal sum than is at present laid out), leaves a net balance

of 1,950 dollars, or 16 dollars 25 cents per acre.

Now this, it must be remembered, would be the produce from 9,000

trees, and from an estate containing only 36 quarrées of land (which

cannot be considered a large one); what, then, might be expected

from estates containing 40,000 trees?

I have been recently favoured with the following average return of

cacao in this island, which I have no doubt will be considered a

fair one. I insert it in full, and, from the very low return, it

shows a lamentable deficiency in the cultivation of this most

grateful tree:--

'The average number of cacoa trees in a quarrée of land is 868.

'1st. The estates throughout the island are generally planted at a

distance of 12 feet by 12, and 13½ feet by 13½. Those planted at 12

by 12 contain 969 trees in the quarrée, and those at 13½ by 13½

contain 767 trees, the area of the quarrée being taken at 139,697

superficial feet. There may be in the island about 60 quarrées in

all, planted at 15 by 15 feet.

'2nd. The actual annual value of a quarrée of land planted in cacoa

is ten fanegas, or 1¼ lb. to a tree.

'It is to be observed that this is the general return from each tree

as estates are now cultivated, but if planters had the means of

keeping their estates in high cultivation, each cacoa tree would

produce 2 lbs. on an average.

'3rd. The annual average cost of cultivating a quarrée in cacao, and

manufacturing the produce therefrom, is 35 dollars, in the imperfect

manner it is carried on at present, thereby giving only 10 fanegas

per quarrée.'

I believe there are many estates in the island where the average

distance is less than 12 by 12; however, to give the present mode

the full benefit of the return, I will adopt, for comparison's sake,

the maximum number of trees; so that 960 trees per quarrée, at l¼

lb. per tree, gives 1,211 lbs. of cacao, at 5 dollars per 100 lbs.

is worth 60 dollars,[2] gross return per quarrée; deducting 36

dollars, not 80 dollars, for expenses, which leaves 24 dollars per

quarrée net, or about 7 dollars 75 cents per acre.

This is a startling account from lands among the most fertile in the

world, and from a plant, under fair treatment, next to the sugar

cane, perhaps the most grateful for the care bestowed, more

especially when we consider that more than ten times that quantity

might be obtained with a comparatively insignificant _outlay of

money_.

If such, then, be the case, as stated in the above report (and it is

to be regretted that it is too near the truth), apathy on the part

of those whose interests are so much concerned is unwarrantable. It

is not enough to say that our fathers must have known the proper way

to plant cacao; this is but a lame excuse, and not sufficient to

dispense with any exertions of the present generation, beyond merely

collecting whatever fruit may come, as it were, fortuitously.

Moreover, at the time the present cacao plantations were established

in this island, its cultivation was comparatively little known; it

is therefore likely that they might have erred, as they undoubtedly

did, in cramming them so close together; but notwithstanding this,

by a proper system of thinning, the evils might have been easily

obviated, and large crops ensured.

A few mornings ago, a cacao planter from Santa Cruz called on me,

and in conversation stated that the only place where he had anything

like a crop of cacao at present, was where the hurricane of the 11th

of October had devastated his estate most severely, and which he at

that time considered a ruinous visitation. I hope the lesson will

not be lost on him.

In Jamaica it is found necessary to prune the coffee trees yearly,

which is done with as much care as gooseberry or currant bushes in

England; but, notwithstanding this, I remember a friend of mine in

Jamaica telling me of the extraordinary difference on his coffee

plantation under the management of a person who understood and

attended more particularly to the pruning of his trees.

Lunan, in his 'Hortus Jamaicensis,' published in 1814, gives a very

elaborate article on the cacao, although its cultivation was almost

extinct in his day in that island. He, however, appears to have

derived his information chiefly from Blume, who wrote a short

account of Jamaica, in 1672, at which time cacao was the chief

export of the island. Lunan attributes its downfall to heavy

ministerial exaction, which was then, he says, upwards of 480 per

cent. on its marketable value. Speaking of the average weight of

cacao per tree, he has the following:--'The produce of one tree is

generally estimated at about 20 lbs. of nuts. The produce per acre

in Jamaica has been rated at 1,000 lbs. weight per annum, allowing

for bad years. In poor soils, and under bad management, the produce

of the tree rarely exceeds 8 lbs. weight.' He also says--'When the

cacao plants are six months old, the planter from this period must

not be too fond of cleaning the plantation from grass and herbage,

because they keep the ground cool; but all creeping, climbing

plants, and such weeds as grow high enough to overtop the cacao,

should be destroyed.' He gives the distance from tree to tree at 18

feet. I have long since been of opinion that it is of less

consequence to clean the ground beneath the trees than to attend to

the top-pruning of the shade trees, as well as to the cacao

(although the former is very desirable, it is nevertheless a

subordinate consideration). Under the present mode of cultivation

the ground-cleaning is the only one at all attended to, and that

badly.

A very important economy might also be made in the curing of the

cacao, by which much time would be saved, and consequently expense,

by adopting the same method as is used in Jamaica for drying coffee,

namely, floorings of cement, or, as they are called, barbecues. At

convenient distances in the centre of these floorings (which are

inclined planes) a slightly-raised circular ridge is formed with

cement, leaving an aperture at the lower side to allow the escape of

any water that may have lodged in them. The cacao is easily brought

together in these places in the event of rain, and at night covered

with portable wooden frames, which are readily removed by two men.

In this way the cacao would be dried in a fifth of the time much

more effectually, and of a brighter colour.

Any experiments tending to bring about a proper system of

cultivation and manufacture of cacao, must be beneficial to the

island, as well as to individuals; for it cannot be denied that the

cultivation of cacoa will still prove advantageous in proportion to

the care bestowed on it. Indeed its cultivation is at present

languishing, not so much from inadequate prices, as from a want of

proper attention to its cultivation."

In 1796, there were sixty plantations in Trinidad, which produced

96,000 lbs. In 1802 the plantations were reduced to fifty-seven, the

yield being about the same. In 1807, 355,000 lbs. of cacao were grown.

In 1831, there were 2,972 quarrees (each three acres and one-fifth

English) under cultivation in Trinidad with cacao, on which were

2,464,426 trees, which produced a crop of 1,479,568 lbs. In 1841 there

were 6,910 acres planted with cacao.

The following have been the exports from this island from 1821 to

1844:--

lbs.

1821 1,214,093

1822 1,780,379

1823 2,424,703

1824 2,661,628

1825 2,760,603

1826 2,951,171

1827 3,696,144

1828 2,582,323

1829 2,756,603

1830 1,646,531

1831 1,888,852

1832 1,530,990

1833 3,090,526

1834 3,363,630

1835 2,744,643

1836 3,188,870

1837 2,507,483

1838 2,571,915

1839 2,914,068

1840 2,007,494

1841 2,493,302

1842 2,163,798

1843 1,099,975

(Mill's Trinidad Almanac).

In a lecture delivered by Dr. Lindley before the Society of Arts,

alluding to the colonial products shown, at the Great Exhibition, he

said:--

"There was one sample which ought to be mentioned most especially;

namely, the cocoa of admirable quality which comes, or which may

come, from Trinidad. Cocoa--cacao, as we should call it--is an

article of very large consumption. Enormous quantities of it are now

used in the navy; and every one knows how much it is employed daily

in private life. It is, moreover, the basis of chocolate. But we

have the evidence of one of the most skilful brokers in London, who

has had forty years experience to enable him to speak to the

fact--that we never get good cocoa in this country. The consequence

is, that all the best chocolate is made in Spain, in France, and the

countries where the fine description of cocoa goes. We get here

cocoa which is unripe, flinty, and bitter, having undergone changes

that cause it to bear a very low price in the market. But it comes

from British possessions, and is, therefore, sold here subject to a

duty of only 18s. 8d. per cwt., whereas if it came from a foreign

country it would pay 56s.[3] The differential duty drives the best

cocoa out of the English market. Still it appears that we might

supply, from our own colonies, this very cocoa; because, as I have

said, there was exhibited, from Trinidad, a very beautiful sample,

quite equal to anything produced in the best markets of the

Magdalena, of Soconusco, or of other places on the Spanish main. It

had no bitterness, no flintiness, no damaged grain in it; but all

were plump and ripe, as if they had been picked. The cocoa from the

Spanish main goes into other countries, for the preparation of that

delicious chocolate which we buy of them. It is thrown out of our

market by the differential duty. But it is their own fault if our

own colonies do not produce fine cocoa, as Trinidad has conclusively

proved."

The exports of cacao from St. Lucia, where there are now 300 acres

under cultivation, have been as follows:[4]--I have also added the

produce of St. Vincent and Grenada imported here:--

Grenada. St. Lucia. St. Vincent.

lbs. lbs. lbs.

1828 75,275 17,384

1829 300,051 93,793 12,216

1830 337,901 153,340 9,989

1831 368,882 98,090 7,861

1832 196,195 51,925 538

1833 312,446 91,048 1,005

1834 349,367 60,620 2,197

1835 276,359 49,218 5,876

1836 307,236 47,950 7,721

1837 351,613 48,591 2,525

1838 426,626 38,590 6,588

1839 327,497 54,639 760

1840 269,680 82,293 3,956

1841 372,008 78,225 3,874

1842 280,679 55,175 7,268

1843 296,269 48,279 55,867

1844 544,253 65,667 8,304

1845 342,092 31,000 6,450

1850 609,911 1,372 8,642

1852 604,299 9,428 5,287

A little cacao is now grown in Antigua, about 19,000 lbs. having been

exported from that island in 1843, and 2,000 in 1846.

Dominica and British Guiana produce small quantities; our imports from

these quarters having been as follows:--

Dominica. Demerara.

lbs. lbs.

1833 8,808 2,051

1834 4,767 86

1835 685 126

1836 279 1,121

1837 1,896 522

1838 1,054

1839 1,127 58

1840 2,366 2,376

1841 4,014 129

1842 667 98

1843 4,614 4,178

1844 1,746 10,209

1845 5,444

The cultivation of cacao in Cuba is of comparatively recent

introduction, but it is expected to increase, and, in some degree, to

supply the place of coffee, which is evidently on the decline there.

In 1827, the gross produce of Cuba amounted to 23,806 arrobas, and the

exports to 19,053. In the same year, 15,301¾ arrobas were imported, so

that at that period the production was not adequate to the

consumption. The expectation of a great increase of production seems

not to have been realized, as the exports of cacao in 1837 were only

587¼ arrobas, while the imports amounted to 40,837½ arrobas.

There are now about sixty-nine cacao plantations in that island,

almost exclusively situate in the central and oriental departments,

which produced, in 1849, 3,836 arrobas, valued at 19,180 dollars.

Hayti exported, in 1801, 648,518 lbs. of cacao; in 1826, 457,592 lbs.,

and in 1836, 550,484 lbs.

The French island of Martinique produces a considerable quantity of

cacao. In 1763, there were stated to be 103,870 trees in bearing. The

produce exported in 1769 was 11,731 quintals. In 1770 there were

871,043 trees. In 1820 there were 412 square acres under cultivation

with cacao, producing 449,492 lbs.; and in 1835, 492 hectares, which

yielded 155,300 kilogrammes. I have no later returns at hand.

The beverage generally called _cocoa_ is merely the berries of

_Theobroma Cacao_, pounded and drank either with water or milk, or

with both. _Chocolate_ (of which I shall speak by and bye) is a

compound drink, and is manufactured chiefly from the kernels of this

plant, whose natural habitat would seem to be Guayaquil, in South

America, though it flourishes in great perfection in the West Indies.

It grows also spontaneously and luxuriantly on the banks of the

Magdalena, in South America; but the fruit of those trees that are

found in the district of Carthagena is preferred to all others,

probably from a superior mode of cultivation. Sir R. Schomburgk, in

his expedition into the interior of British Guiana, found the country

abounding in cacao, "which the Indians were most anxious to secure, as

the pulpy arillus surrounding the seed has an agreeable vinous taste."

Singular to say, however, they appeared perfectly ignorant of the

qualities of the seed, which possesses the most delightful aroma. Sir

Robert adds, they evinced the greatest astonishment when they beheld

him and Mr. Goodall collecting these seeds and using them as

chocolate, which was the most delicious they had ever tasted. These

indigenous cacao trees were met with in innumerable quantities on the

5th of June, 1843, and the following day; and thus inexhaustible

stores of a highly-prized luxury are here reaped solely by the wild

hog, the agouti, monkeys, and the rats of the interior.--(Simmonds's

Col. Mag. vol. i., p. 41.)

The height of the cacao shrub is generally from eighteen to twenty

feet; the leaf is between four and six inches long, and its breadth

three or four, very smooth, and terminating in a point like that of

the orange tree, but differing from it in color; of a dull green,

without gloss, and not so thickly set upon the branches. The blossom

is first white, then reddish, and contains the rudiments of the

kernels or berries. When fully developed, the pericarp or seed-vessel

is a pod, which grows not only from the branches, but the stem of the

tree, and is from six to seven inches in length, and shaped like a

cucumber. Its color is green when growing, like that of the leaf; but

when ripe, is yellow, smooth, clear, and thin. When arrived at its

full growth, and before it is ripe, it is gathered and eaten like any

other fruit, the taste being subacid. If allowed to ripen, the kernels

become hard; and, when taken out of the seed-vessel, are preserved in

skins, or, more frequently, laid on the vijahua leaves, and placed in

the air to dry. When fully dry, they are put in leathern bags, and

sent to market: this is the Spanish mode of taking in the crop. A

somewhat different method is followed in Trinidad and Jamaica (in the

latter island it can scarcely be said to be cultivated now); but it

differs in no essential degree from the principle of gradual

exsiccation, and protection from moisture.

_Chocolate_, properly so called, and so prized both in the Spanish

continent and in the West Indies, never reaches Great Britain except

as a contraband article, being, like nearly all colonial manufactured

articles, prohibited by the Custom-house laws. What is generally drank

under that name is simply the cacao boiled in milk, gruel, or even

water, and is as much like the Spanish or West India chocolate as

vinegar is to Burgundy. It is, without any exception, of all domestic

drinks the most alimentary; and the Spaniards esteem it so necessary

to the health and support of the body, that it is considered the

severest punishment to withhold it, even from criminals; nay, to be

unable to procure chocolate, is deemed the greatest misfortune in

life! Yet, notwithstanding this estimation in which it is held, the

quantity made in the neighbourhood of Carthagena is insufficient for

the demands of the population, and is so highly priced that none is

exported but as presents! The manner in which the Spaniards first

manufactured this veritable Theobroma--this food for gods (from

_Theos_, God, and _broma_, food)--was very simple. They employed the

cacao, maize, Indian corn (_Zea Mays_), and raw cane-juice, and

coloured it with arnatto, which they called _achiotti_ or _rocou_, but

which was known in Europe at that time by the name of _Terra

Orellana_. These four substances were levigated between two stones,

and afterwards, in certain proportions, mixed together in one mass,

which mass was subsequently divided into little cakes, and used as

required, both in the solid and fluid form.

The Indians used one pound of the wasted nuts, half a pound of sugar,

and half a pound of ground corn (maize) each, and then added

rose-water to make it palatable. This the Mexicans called chocolate,

from two words in their language, signifying the noise made by the

instruments used to mill and prepare it in the water. Many other

ingredients were subsequently added; but with the exception of

Vanilla, in the opinions of most persons, they spoil, rather than

improve it. Chocolate, as used in Mexico, is thus prepared: --The

kernels are roasted in an iron pot pierced with holes; they are then

pounded in a mortar, and afterwards ground between two stones,

generally of marble, till it is brought to a paste, to which sugar is

added, according to the taste of the manufacturer. From time to time,

as the paste assumes consistency, they add long pepper, arnatto, and

lastly, vanilla. Some manufacturers vary these ingredients, and

substitute cinnamon, cloves, or aniseed, and sometimes musk and

ambergris--the two latter on account of their aphrodisiac qualities.

The following is the formula given by a late writer:--To six pounds of

the nut add three-and-a-half pounds of sugar, seven pods of vanilla,

one-and-a-half pounds of corn meal (maize ground), half-a-pound of

cinnamon, six cloves, one drachm of capsicums (bird pepper), and as

much of the rocou or arnatto as is sufficient to color it, together

with ambergris or musk, to enforce (as he says) the flavor, but in

reality to stimulate the system. There is another chocolate made of

filberts and almonds, but this is not considered genuine. In old Spain

it is somewhat differently made; two or three kinds of flowers, also

the pods of Campeche, almonds, and hazel-nuts, being mixed up with it,

while the paste is worked with orange-water.

With regard to the manner in which chocolate is prepared in England

nothing need be said, as it is too well known to require description.

That which has appeared to me the best is "_Fry's Chocolate_," which

requires only to be rubbed up with a little boiling water, and scalded

milk added to it with sugar, according to the taste of the drinker;

there is a flavour, however, in this chocolate sometimes of _suet_,

which is probably added to give it a richness which the cacao employed

may not possess of itself. In the West Indies they rarely add anything

to cacoa but arnatto (sometimes a little fresh butter), though it is

often scented and sweetened, and sold in little rolls at five-pence

and ten-pence each, currency. It is always boiled with milk, which,

though very indigestible when boiled and taken alone, seems to lose

this quality when taken with chocolate. Chocolate thus made is much

drank, when cold, in the middle of the day, and is considered, both by

the negroes and the old settlers, as a most nutritive and salutary

beverage.

The signs by which _good chocolate_ or cacao is known are these:--It

should dissolve entirely in water, and be without sediment; it should

be oily, and yet melt in the mouth; and if genuine, and carefully

prepared, should deposit no grits or grounds. That made in the West

Indies, and in some parts of Cuba, is dark; but that manufactured in

Jamaica is of a bright brick colour, owing to the greater quantity of

arnatto which is used in the preparation, and which, I think, gives it

a richer and more agreeable flavor.

In an economical point of view, chocolate is a very important article

of diet, as it may be literally termed meat and drink; and were our

half-starved artisans, over-wrought factory children, and ricketty

millinery girls, induced to drink it instead of the innutritious

beverage called "tea," its nutritive qualities would soon develop

themselves in their improved looks and more robust constitution. The

price, too, is in its favour, cacao being eight-pence per pound; while

the cheapest black tea, such as even the Chinese beggar would despise,

drank by milliners, washerwomen, and the poorer class in the

metropolis, is three shillings a pound, or three hundred and fifty per

cent, dearer, while it is decidedly injurious to health.

The heads of the naval and military medical departments in England

have been so impressed with the wholesomeness and superior nutriment

of cocao, that they have judiciously directed that it shall be served

out twice or thrice a week to regiments of the line, and daily to the

seamen on board Her Majesty's ships, and this wise regulation has

evinced its salutary effects in the improved health and condition of

the men. Indeed, this has been most satisfactorily established in

Jamaica among the troops; and the same may be asserted of the seamen

in men of war on the coast.

But the excellent qualities of chocolate were known not only to the

Mexicans and Peruvians, from whom, as a matter of course, the

Spaniards acquired a knowledge of its properties; but European nations

also acknowledged its virtues. The Portuguese, French, Germans, and

Dutch, considered it an exceedingly valuable article of diet, and

Hoffman looked upon it both as a food and a medicine. In his

monograph, entitled _Potus Chocolati_, he recommends it in all

diseases of general weakness, macies, low spirits, and in

hypochondrial complaints, and what since his time have been termed

nervous diseases. As one example of the good effects of cacao, he

adduces the case of Cardinal Richelieu, who was cured of eramacausis,

or a general wasting away of the body, by drinking chocolate.[5] And

Edwards informs us that Colonel Montague James--the first white

person born in Jamaica after the occupation of the island by the

English--lived to the great age of 104; and for the last thirty years

of his life took scarcely any other food but chocolate. It is also

certain that those who indulge in excesses find their vigor more

speedily restored by the alternate use of chocolate and coffee than by

any other ingesta; and pigs, goats, and horses, which are fed even on

the spoiled berries, are observed to become very speedily fat, and in

good condition.

But cacao has not only the property of rapidly restoring the invalid

to health, strength, and condition, but a very inconsiderable quantity

of it will sustain life for a long period. The South American Indians

perform extraordinary journeys, subsisting, daring these prolonged

travels, on an incredibly small quantity of chocolate--so small,

indeed, as to render the accounts of travellers upon the subject

almost marvellous. In this respect it resembles coffee, which also

possesses the estimable property of sustaining the powers of life,

while it modifies and restrains the passion of hunger.

It is a curious fact, and how far this condition may be connected with

its powers of sustenance is worthy of inquiry, that chocolate recently

boiled, if the operation be performed in a tin pan, is highly

electrical; and this property may be frequently manifested by

repeating the process.

Cacao, according to Bridges, "was the favourite staple of the Spanish

commerce, trifling as that commerce was; and when the English took

possession of the island of Jamaica, it was that which first engaged

their attention. The extensive plantations left by their predecessors,

who had made it their principal food and only support, soon, however,

began to fail. They were renewed; but whether it might be from the

want of attention, or of information in the new colonists, the plants

never succeeded under their management; so that, disgusted with the

troublesome and unprofitable cultivation, they soon substituted

indigo." Yet forests of cacao trees grow wild in Guiana, the Isthmus

of Darien, Yucatan, Honduras, Guatemala, Chiapa, and Nicaragua; while

in Cuba, St. Domingo, and Jamaica, it was once an indigenous plant.

The following were the expenses of a cacao plantation in Jamaica

during the early period of British possession:--

£ stg

Letters patent of five hundred acres of land 10

Six negroes 120

Four white persons, their passage and maintenance 80

Maintenance of six slaves for six months 18

Working implements 5

----

£233

In four to five years the produce of one hundred acres would usually

sell for £4,240 sterling. This was a monstrous and most unlooked-for

return; but then, what was it to the profits of sugar, which, owing to

the prodigious increase of the slave trade, was fast coming into

active operation, and eating up and destroying all other sources and

springs of industry? How dearly have the West Indians paid for the

short-lived affluence which the sugar cane conferred!

Blome, in his brief account of Jamaica, published in 1672, speaks of

cacao as being one of the chief articles of export. He states that

there were sixty cacao-walks or plantations, and many more planting;

but, for many years, no cacao plantation has existed in Jamaica, all

the chocolate used being made from imported berries, or the chance

growth of a munificent climate and redundant soil! A few scattered

trees, Edwards says (and as I my self know), here and there, are all

that remain of those flourishing and beautiful groves, which were once

the pride and boast of the country. They have withered with the indigo

manufactory, under the heavy hand of ministerial exaction. _The excise

on cacao, when made into cakes, rose to no less than £12 12s. per

cwt., exclusive of 11s. 11½d. paid at the Custom-house, amounting

together to upwards of £840 per cent. on its marketable value!_

The mode of cultivating the cacao is given at some length by Edwards;

it is that of the Spaniards, a process strictly followed in Trinidad,

where, of all the West India islands, it constitutes a considerable

item of exports. It is thus described:--"A spot of level land being

chosen--preference is always given to a deep black mould, sheltered by

a hedge or thicket, so as to be screened by the wind, especially the

north, and cleared of all weeds and stumps of trees--a number of holes

are dug, at ten or twelve feet distance from each other, each hole

being about a foot in length, and six or eight inches deep. A very

important matter is the selection of the seeds for planting, and this

is done in the following manner: the finest and largest pods of the

cacao are selected when full ripe, and the grains taken out and placed

in a vessel of water. Those which swim are rejected; those chosen are

washed clean from the pulp, skinned, and then replaced in the water

till they begin to sprout; Banana (_Musa paradisiaca_), or some other

large leaves, those of the sea-side grape (_Coccoloba uvifera_), for

instance, are then taken, and each hole is lined with one of them,

leaving, however, the sides of the leaves some inches above ground;

after which the mould is rubbed in gently till the hole is filled;

three nuts are then selected for each hole, and they are set

triangularly in the earth, by making a small opening with the finger

about two inches deep, into which the nuts are put, with that end

downwards from which the sprout issues." They are then covered

lightly with mould, the leaf folded over, and a small stone placed on

the top, to prevent its opening; in eight or ten days the young shoots

appear above the ground; the leaves are then opened to give them light

and air, and a shelter from the sun, either in the shape of plantain

or banana leaves, is not forgotten; but the coco-nut and other species

of palm, on account of their fibrous structure and great durability,

are always preferred. This artificial shelter is continued for five or

six months. But, as a further security to the young plants, for they

are very delicate, other trees or shrubs are planted to the south-west

of the plants, that they may grow up with and shelter them, for young

cacao will grow and flourish only in the shade. For this purpose the

coral bean-tree (_Erythrina Corallodendrum_) is chosen. I should

presume there are other trees and plants equally eligible for this

purpose, and more useful; but my experience does not enable me to

speak positively upon the subject. Should the three seeds placed in

each hole spring up, it is thought necessary, when the plants are

fifteen or twenty inches high, to cut one of them down. The two

others, if they devaricate, are sometimes suffered to remain, but it

does not always happen that even _one_ of the three springs above the

earth; consequently this additional labor is not invariably requisite.

On the fourth or fifth year the tree begins to bear, and attains

perfection by the eighth, continuing to produce two crops of fruit per

annum, yielding at each crop from 10 lbs. to 20 lbs., according to the

nature of the soil. It will continue bearing for twenty years; but, as

it is a delicate plant, it suffers from drought, and is liable to

blight. In these respects, however, it does not differ from many other

plants, which are even more subject to disease, though not half so

valuable. Besides, a proper system of irrigation, such as could be had

recourse to in many parts of Jamaica, would obviate and prevent these

evils.

The whole quantity imported into the United Kingdom from the West

Indies and British Guiana during the last thirteen years, has been as

follows:--

lbs.

1831 1,491,947

1832 618,090

1833 2,125,641

1834 1,360,325

1835 439,440

1836 1,611,104

1837 1,847,125

1838 2,147,816

1839 969,428

1840 2,374,233

1841 2,919,105

1842 2,490,693

1843 1,496,554

1844 3,119,555

1845 3,351,602

1846 1,738,848

1847 3,026,381

1848 2,602,309

1849 3,159,086

1850 1,987,717

1851 4,347,195

1852 3,933,863

Cacao is cultivated in the highlands as well as on the coasts of the

north-eastern peninsula of the large and rich island of Celebes, which

has within the last year or two been thrown open to foreign trade. The

plantations of it are even now considerable, and this branch of

industry only requires not to be impeded by any obstacles in order to

be still further extended. It forms a large ingredient in the local

trade, and furnishes many petty traders with their daily bread, not to

speak of the landowners, for whom the cultivation of the cacao affords

the only subsistence. The preparation of the product differs from that

adopted in the West Indies, but we have not been able to ascertain the

practice. We may reckon that 1,200 to 2,000 piculs of 133 lbs. are

yearly produced; the prices vary much, being from 50 to 75 florins per

picul.--("Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. ii., p. 829.)

Bourbon now produces 15,000 to 20,000 kilogrammes of cacao annually.

Cacao is grown to a small extent in some of the settlements of Western

Africa, but as yet only a few puncheons have been exported, all the

produce being required for local consumption.

The following figures give the imports and consumption of cacao into

the United Kingdom in the last five years:--

Imports. Consumption.

lbs. lbs.

1848 6,442,986

1849 7,769,234 3,233,135

1850 4,478,252 3,103,926

1851 6,773,960 3,024,338

1852 6,268,525 3,382,944

The home consumption is very steady at about 3,000,000 lbs., yielding

to the revenue £15,000 to £16,000 for duty. The produce of British

colonies pays 1d. per lb. duty, that from foreign countries 2d; cocoa

husks and shells half these amounts; when manufactured into chocolate

or cocoa paste the duty is 2d. per lb. from British possessions, and

6d. from other parts. The quantity imported in this form is to the

extent of about 14,000 lbs. weight.

COFFEE.

The next staple I proceed to speak of is coffee--second only in

importance as a popular beverage to that universal commodity, tea. I

shall proceed, in the first instance, to take a retrospect of the

progress of the coffee trade, and glance at the present condition and

future prospects of produce and consumption. It will be seen, by

reference to the following figures, that the consumption of coffee in

the United Kingdom shows a successive decrease, from 1847 to 1850, of

6,414,533 lbs., and a loss to the revenue of £179,614.

HOME CONSUMPTION AND REVENUE OF COFFEE FOR THE

Years lbs. £

1824 8,262,943 420,988

1825 11,082,970 315,809

1828 17,127,633 440,245

1835 23,295,046 652,124

1839 26,789,945 779,115

1840 28,723,735 921,551

1844 31,394,225 681,610

1845 34,318,095 717,871

1846 36,793,061 756,838

1847 37,441,373 746,436

1848 37,106,292 710,270

1849 34,431,074 643,210

1850 31,226,840 566,822

1851 32,564,164 445,739

1852 35,044,376 438,084

I estimated, in a little treatise on coffee and its adulterations,

which I published in 1850, that not less than 18,000,000 lbs. of

vegetable matter of various kinds were sold annually under the

deceptive name of coffee. Three-fourths of these 18,000,000 lbs. of

pretended coffee were composed of chicory, and the remaining fourth of

other ingredients prejudicial to health, as well as a fraud upon the

revenue. The various substances used in adulterating both chicory and

coffee, when sold in the powdered state, have been specifically

pointed out and set forth from time to time in memorials from the

trade and the coffee-growers. Mr. M'Culloch and other competent judges

set down the actual consumption of chicory in the United Kingdom at

12,500 tons per annum. When we consider the vast difference of price

between chicory and coffee, as purchased by the wholesale dealer, the

temptation to its fraudulent use was obviously great, and there was no

penal restriction against it.

It will be interesting and useful to trace the history of the trade in

chicory from its first introduction.

The substitution of chicory for coffee occasioned a loss to the

revenue of three hundred thousand pounds sterling a-year, besides its

mischievous effect in adulterating and debasing a popular beverage

when used in such large and undue proportions for admixture, and sold

at the price of coffee.

Since the prohibition of the admixture of chicory with coffee, when

sold to the public, and the compulsory sale by Treasury minute of the

two articles in separate packages, a large and rapid increase in the

consumption of coffee has taken place, and the trade is now placed in

a healthy position. Whilst the increase in the consumption of coffee

from the 1st of January, to 5th September, 1852, was but 142,267 lbs.

as compared with the same period of 1851; the increase in the

remaining four months of the year was to the amazing extent of

2,350,368 lbs. This increased consumption is likely to continue, and

our colonial possessions are furnishing us with larger proportionate

supplies, as may be seen by the following figures:--

TOTAL IMPORTS OF COFFEE IN

1848 1849 1850 1851 1852

Produce of lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs.

British

Possessions

35,970,507 40,339,245 36,814,036 35,972,163 42,519,297

Ditto foreign

countries 21,082,943 22,976,542 13,989,116 17,138,497 11,857,957

---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

Total 57,053,450 63,315,787 50,803,152 53,110,660 54,377,254

In the year 1832 chicory was first imported into England, subject to

a duty equivalent to that levied upon colonial coffee, and permitted

to be sold by grocers _separately_ as chicory; but notices were at the

same time issued, that the legal penalties would be rigidly enforced,

if discovered mixed with coffee.

In 1840, in consequence of memorials from the grocers and dealers in

chicory, and also from the circumstance of exceedingly high rates then

ruling for coffee, together with the disruption of our commercial

relations with China, simultaneously advancing the price of tea (thus

rendering both these popular beverages excessively dear to the

consumer), an order was issued from the Treasury to the Excise Board,

authorizing the admixture of chicory with coffee; a duty, however,

being still maintained on the former of £20 per ton on the kiln-dried,

and 6d. per lb. on the powdered root, when imported from abroad.

In the year 1845, the cultivation of chicory was introduced upon

British soil, and, being a home-grown commodity, was exempt from duty,

but nevertheless, by virtue of the said Treasury Order, was permitted

to enter into competition with a staple production of our own

colonies, contributing on its import a tax of 60 to 80 per cent. to

the revenue of the State.

The result, as might have been foreseen, necessarily created and

stimulated a demoralizing system of fraud, unjust and destructive to

the interests of the coffee planter, and prejudicial to the national

revenue.

The effects of so baneful a system being equally manifest upon both

consumption and revenue, they are here separately illustrated.

In 1824, according to the following high scale of duties, viz., 1s. on

West India, 1s. 6d. on East India, and 2s. 6d. on foreign, the Customs

derived from coffee was £420,988; in the following year the rates were

reduced one-half, and in the short space of three years the amount

yielded had advanced to £440,245, an increase which steadily

progressed (partly aided by the admission of the produce of British

India at the low duty) until it reached £921,551 in 1840. These

satisfactory results justified a further reduction of the duties in

1842 to 4d. on colonial and 8d. (and in the subsequent year to 6d.) on

foreign, under which the revenue declined in 1844 to £681,616. In 1846

it had again reached to £756,838, and was gradually recovering itself,

when this system of adulteration first began to extend itself

generally, and since that time the revenue has rapidly declined under

the _same scale of duties_ to £566,822 in 1850.

In 1824 the quantity retained for home consumption was 8,262,943 lbs.,

which was augmented to 11,082,970 lbs. in the first year of the

reduction of duty, and continued to exhibit an increase at a rate

rather exceeding two million pounds per annum until 1830, when coffee

would appear to have reached its limit of consumption without further

stimulus, and remained stationary until the modification of duties

allowing the admission of foreign coffee, _via_ the Cape, at the

colonial rate, when it advanced from 23,295,046 lbs. in 1835, to

28,723,735 lbs. in 1840; and consequent upon a further reduction of

duties in 1842, the elasticity of the trade experienced a still wider

development, and an increase of nine million pounds is exhibited in

the next five years. From that period, however, the general use of

chicory has not only checked the progressive increase of this healthy

demand, but an annual decline is observable to the extent of above six

million pounds in 1850, as compared with 1847.

On the 15th of April, 1851, with the view of partly remedying the

grievance of the colonists on this head, the duties were equalized and

reduced to 3d. The results are, however, far from satisfactory, either

in a fiscal or commercial point of view. It is true that an increase

in consumption, of one-and-a-quarter million pounds has taken place,

but at the sacrifice of £121,000 of revenue. But this increase, it

will be seen, has not exceeded 4¼ per cent., whilst there has been a

diminution of 21½ per cent. in the revenue receipts. Upon

investigation, moreover, it will be found that, notwithstanding the

_total_ increase exhibited, there has been an actual falling off of

894,778 lbs. of colonial coffee in 1851; the items for last year are,

however, much more favorable and encouraging for the planters.

No reasonable cause can be assigned for this rapid and serious

diminution in the consumption of coffee, except the notorious

substitution of chicory and other substances.

The arguments advanced to account for the falling off in the

consumption of coffee, by adducing the increase of tea and cacao for a

similar period are fallacious, and contrary to the commercial

experience of many years, which convincingly proves these kindred

articles to have always simultaneously increased, or diminished, in

ratio with the general prosperity of the kingdom, and the prevalence

of temperate habits among the community.

I shall now proceed to trace the fluctuations in the consumption of

coffee.

At the close of the last century the consumption of coffee was under

one million pounds yearly; the only descriptions then known in the

London market were Grenada, Jamaica, and Mocha--the two former

averaging about £5 per cwt., and the latter £20 per cwt. Grenada

coffee is now unknown, and Ceylon and Brazil are the largest

producers. In 1760, the total quantity of coffee consumed in the

United Kingdom was 262,000 lbs., or three quarters of an ounce to each

person in the population. In 1833 the quantity was 20,691,000 lbs., or

1½ lb. to each person. When first introduced into England, about the

middle of the 17th century, coffee was sold in a liquid state, and

paid a duty of 4d. per gallon; afterwards, until the year 1733, the

duty was 2s. per lb.; it was then reduced to 1s. 6d., since which it

has paid various rates of duty; in the year 1824 it was settled at 6d.

per lb. All descriptions of coffee now pay but 3d. per lb.

The consumption of coffee in the United Kingdom, for several years

previous to 1825, varied from seven millions and a half to eight

millions and a half pounds in round numbers, the duty being 1s. per

lb. on British plantation, 1s. 6d. per lb. on East India, and 2s. 6d.

per lb. on foreign. From the 5th of April of that year those rates

were each reduced to one half, and the immediate consequence was a

steady increase of the consumption until 1831, when it amounted to

23,000,000 lbs. The consumption continued, without any material

variation, at this rate, or to advance by very slow degrees, until

1836, when the duty on East India coffee was reduced to 6d. per lb.;

and this change had precisely the same effect as the previous one, for

the consumption again advanced to upwards of 26,000,000 lbs., which

was then considered, in a memorial of the London trade, to be as much

as our colonies were capable of producing! We now find, however, one

small island, Ceylon, producing a fourth more than this amount

annually.

The Belgians, a population of 4,500,000, consume more than 33,000,000

lbs. of coffee annually; quite as much as is used by the whole

35,000,000 French. The duty on 100 lbs. of coffee in France is more

than the common original cost--the Belgian duty not a tenth part; so

that the French do not use 1 lb. of coffee per head, while the

Belgians consume 7 lbs. each per annum. The proportion in England is

not more than 1½ lb. per head to the population. The United States are

the largest consumers of coffee, as it is admitted into their ports

free of duty, and can therefore be sold for nearly the price per pound

which the British Government levies on it for revenue. The entire

consumption of the United States and British North America, calling

their population 23,000,000 and ours 30,000,000, exceeds ours, on an

estimate of population, by sixfold. Thus the average consumption of

coffee by each American, annually, is about 8½ lbs., while the

quantity used by each person in the European States is less than 1½

lb.

The changes in the sources of supply, within the last fifteen or

sixteen years, have been very remarkable. The British possessions in

the East have taken the place which our islands of the West formerly

occupied. The British West Indies have fallen off in their produce of

coffee from 30,000,000 to 4,000,000 lbs. Ceylon which, fifteen years

ago, had scarcely turned attention to coffee, now exports nearly

35,000,000 lbs. San Domingo, Cuba, and the French West India colonies

are gradually giving up coffee-cultivation in favor of other staples;

and it is only Brazil, Java, and some of the Central American

Republics that are able to render coffee a profitable crop. The export

crop of Brazil (the greatest coffee-producing country), grown in 1850,

for the supply of the year ending July, 1851, amounted to no less than

302,000,000 lbs., of this a large quantity remained in the interior to

supply the deficiency of the current year.

It is scarcely thirty years ago that the coffee-plant was first

introduced into Bengal by two refugees from Manilla; and the British

possessions in the East Indies now yield 42,000,000 lbs. Sufficient

extent has not yet been given to enable it to be decided in what

district of _Continental_ India it may be most advantageously

cultivated. It is in the fine island of Ceylon, however, that

coffee-culture has made the most rapid progress.

It is an important fact that the supply of coffee from Ceylon, even at

the present moment, and irrespective of land already planted but not

yet come into full bearing, is in excess of the whole consumption of

Great Britain, and the planter is thus compelled to carry the surplus

to continental markets. The exports of coffee from Ceylon have been

rather stationary the past three years, averaging about 300,000 cwt.

In the sixteen years ending with 1851, Ceylon had exported 130,083

tons of coffee!

The present _produce_ of the various coffee-growing countries in the

world, may be set down at the following figures:

SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

Millions of lbs.

Costa Rica 9

La Guayra and Porto Cabello 35

Brazil 302

British West Indies 8

French and Dutch West Indies 7

Cuba and Porto Rico 30

St. Domingo 33½

ASIA AND THE EAST.

Java 140

The Philippine Isles 3

Celebes 1½

Sumatra 5

Ceylon 34

Malabar and Mysore 5

Arabia (Mocha) 3

---

616 = 275,000 tons.

This I have computed as accurately as possible from the most recent

returns, but it falls much below the actual capabilities of

production, even with the trees at bearing, and land already under

cultivation; and also, in a great measure, excludes the local

consumption in the producing countries. In many quarters there has

been a considerable falling off in the production. The British West

Indies, as we have seen, formerly exported 30,000,000 lbs., the French

and Dutch West Indies 17,000,000, Cuba and Porto Rico 56,000,000, and

St. Domingo, in the last century, 76,000,000. The growth of coffee has

been transferred from the West to the East Indies, and to the South

American Continent, where labor is more abundant, certain, and cheap.

In the East the increase in production has been enormous and

progressive, with, perhaps, the exception of Sumatra, which has fallen

off from 15,000,000 lbs. to somewhere about one-third of that

quantity.

The following statement may be taken as an approximate estimate of the

actual _consumption_ of coffee at the present time:--

Millions of lbs.

Great Britain 32

Holland and Belgium 125

France 33

German Customs Union 95

Other German Countries not included 46

in the Union, and Austria

Switzerland 13

Mediterranean Countries 20

Russia 12

Sweden and Denmark 20

Spain and Portugal 15

Cape of Good Hope and Australia 6

United States and British America 170

---

587

A calculation made in the _Economist_, a year or two ago, gave the

following as the probable consumption:--

Millions of lbs.

Holland and Netherlands 108

Germany and North Europe 175

France and South of Europe 105

Great Britain 37

United States and British America 175

---

Total 600

But this estimate is too high in some of the figures. Great Britain we

know, from the official tables only, consumes 34,000,000 lbs.

annually; the United States and British America not so much as set

down by several millions; for the official returns of the imports of

coffee into the United States show an average for the three years

ending June, 1850, of less than 154,000,000 lbs.; although a writer in

a recent number of "Hunt's Merchant's Magazine," New York, (usually a

well-informed periodical,) assumes a consumption of 200,000,000 lbs.,

for the North American States and Provinces.

The quantity of coffee produced being greater than the consumption

thereof, the growth of it becomes less remunerative, and consequently

we may look for a decrease in the supply. Ceylon, as well as the West

Indies generally, British and foreign, are likely to direct their

attention to some more profitable staple. A diminished production may

further be expected in Brazil, consequent on the extermination of the

slave-trade and the more sparing exertion of the labour of the slaves.

In Cuba the want of labour is so much felt that large engagements have

been entered into for the importation of Chinese; and there are many

reasons for expecting a diminished production in Java, the next

largest coffee-producing country. The necessary consequence of this

expected decrease in the quantity of coffee produced will be, to bring

the produce as much below the wants of the consumers as it is now

above, and this must again result in an enhancement of prices in

process of time.

If it were thought desirable to extend the production of coffee, there

are many new quarters, besides the existing countries in which it is

largely cultivated, where it could be extensively grown. We may

instance Liberia and the western coast of Africa generally, the

interior ranges of Natal, the mountain-ranges on the northern coast of

Australia, from Moreton Bay to Torres Straits, &c., &c. But the

present production is more than equal to the demand; and unless a very

largely increased consumption takes place in the European countries,

the present plantations (colonial and foreign) are amply sufficient to

supply, for many years to come, all the demands that can be made upon

their trees, a large proportion of which have yet to come into full

bearing.

The coffee tree would grow to the height of fifteen or twenty feet if

permitted, but it is bad policy to let it grow higher than four or

five feet. It comes to maturity in five years, but does not thrive

beyond the twenty-fifth, and is useless generally after thirty years.

Although the tree affords no profit to the planter for nearly five

years; yet after that time, with very little labor bestowed upon it,

it yields a large return.

Mr. Churchill, Jamaica, found that 1,000 grains of the wood, leaves,

and twigs of the coffee tree, yielded 33 grains of ashes, or 3.300 per

cent. The ashes consist of potass, lime, alumina, and iron in the

state of carbonates, sulphates, muriates, and phosphates, and a small

portion of silica. According to Liebig's classification of plants, the

coffee tree falls under the description of those noted for their

preponderance of lime. Thus the proportions in the coffee tree are--

Lime salts 77

Potass salts 20

Silica 3

---

100

I shall now proceed to describe the cultivation of the tree and

preparation of the berry, as carried on in different countries.

_Cultivation of Mocha_--In Arabia Felix, the culture is principally

carried on in the kingdom of Yemen, towards the cantons of Aden and

Mocha. Although these countries are very hot in the plains, they

possess mountains where the air is mild. The coffee is generally grown

half way up on their slopes. When cultivated on the lower grounds it

is always surrounded by large trees, which shelter it from the torrid

sun, and prevent its fruit from withering before their maturity. The

harvest is gathered at three periods; the most considerable occurs in

May, when the reapers begin by spreading cloths under the trees, then

shaking the branches strongly, so as to make the fruit drop, which

they collect and expose upon mats to dry. They then pass over the

dried berries a heavy roller, to break the envelopes, which are

afterwards winnowed away with a fan. The interior bean is again dried

before being laid up in store.

The principal coffee districts are Henjersia, Tarzia, Oudein, Aneizah,

Bazil, and Weesaf. The nearest coffee plantations are three-and-a-half

days journey (about 80 miles) from Aden.

The following information is derived from Capt. S.B. Haines of the

Indian Navy, and our political agent at Aden. A camel load is about

400 lbs = 25 frazlas or bales.

G.C. Commassees.

The price of ditto inland 31 41

At Mocha, duty to Dewla uncertain

Bake fee one butsha on each frazla 25

Weighing and clerk's fee 20

Packing 40

Camel hire to the coast 12 50

Cost from Sana to Mocha 44 15

Coffee is brought into the Sana market in December and January from

the surrounding districts.

The varieties are--

1. Sherzee, best--price 1 G.C. frazla 25 butsha.

2. Ouceaime.

3. Muttanee.

4. Sharrazee.

5. Hubbal from Aniss.

6. Sherissee from ditto--price per frazla 1 G.C. 15 B.

The nearest place to Sana where the coffee tree grows, is at Arfish,

half a day distant. Attempts have been made to introduce the shrub in

the garden of the Imaum at Sana, but without success, ascribed to

cold. Kesher is more prized at Sana; the best is Anissea, and is sold

at a higher price than other coffee, namely, g.c. 12 per 100 lbs.;

inferior, at from 4, 5, and 6.

Rain falls in Sana three times in the year. 1st. In January, in small

quantities. 2nd. Beginning of June, when it falls for eight or ten

days. By this time the seed is sown, and the cultivators look forward

to the season with anxiety. 3rd. In July, when it falls in abundance.

A few farmers defer sowing till this period, but it is unusual when

they expect rain in June.

The coffee plant is mostly found growing near the sides of mountains,

valleys, and other sheltered situations, the soil of which has been

gradually washed down from the surrounding heights, being that which

forms its source of support. This is afforded by the decomposition of

a species of claystone (slightly phosphoritic) which is found

irregularly disposed in company with a few pieces of trap-rocks,

amongst which, on approaching Sana from the southward, basalt is found

to preponderate. The clay stone is only found in the more elevated

districts, but the debris finds a ready way into the lower country by

the numerous and steep gorges which are conspicuous in every

direction. As it is thrown upon one side of the valley, it is

carefully protected by means of stone walls, so as to present to the

traveller the appearance of terraces. The plant requires a moist soil,

though much rain does not appear necessary. It is always found in

greater luxuriance at places where there is no spring. The tree at

times looks languid, and half withered; an abundant supply of water to

the root of the plant seems necessary for the full growth and

perfection of its bean.

_Progress of Cultivation in India_.--There are said to be ten

varieties of the coffee, but only one is found indigenous to India,

and it is questionable if this is not the Mocha species introduced

from Arabia. The cultivation of this important crop is spreading fast

throughout the east, and has been adopted in many parts of Hindostan.

In the Tenasserim provinces, on the table land of Mysore, in Penang,

and especially in the islands of Bourbon and Ceylon, it is becoming

more and more an object of attention. It is known to have given good

produce in Sangar and the Nerbudda; also in Mirzapore, as well as

Dacca, and other parts of Bengal; Chota Najpore, Malabar, and

Travancore. From three to four million pounds of coffee are now

exported from the Indian presidencies annually. The highest quantity

was four and a quarter million pounds in 1845, but the progress of

culture, judging from the export, has been small.

On the hilly districts on the east coast of the Gulf of Siam, the

cultivation is carried on on a limited scale. The annual produce is

not much more than about 400 cwt., although it is understood to be

increasing. The quality of the berry is reckoned to be nearly equal to

Mocha, and it commands a high price in the English market.

The soil recommended in India is a good rich garden land, the

situation high and not liable to inundation, and well sheltered to the

north-west, or in such other direction as the prevailing storms are

found to come from.

A plantation, or a hill affording the shrubs shade, has been found

beneficial in all tropical climates, because, if grown fully exposed

to the sun, the berries have been found to be ripened prematurely.

The spot should be well dug to a depth of two feet before the trees

are planted out, and the earth pulverised and cleared from the roots

of rank weeds, but particularly from the coarse woody grasses with

which all parts of India abound.

The best manure is found in the decayed leaves that fall from the

trees themselves, to which may be added the weeds produced in the

plantation, dried and burnt. These, then, dug in, are the only manure

that will be required. Cow-dung is the best manure for the seed-beds.

The seed reserved for sowing must be put into the ground quite fresh,

as it soon loses its power of germination. Clean, well-formed berries,

free from injury by insects, or the decay of the pulp, should be

selected.

These berries must be sown in a nursery, either in small, well-manured

beds, or in pots in a sheltered spot, not too close, as it is well to

leave them where sown until they acquire a good growth; indeed, it is

better if they are removed at once from the bed where they are sown,

to the plantation. Here they should be planted as soon as they have

attained two years of age, for, be it remembered, that if they are

left too long in the nursery, they become unproductive and never

recover. The distance at which they should be put out in the

plantation need not exceed eight feet apart in the rows, between

which, also, there should be eight feet distance. The seedlings appear

in about a month after the seed is sown.

The culture requisite is, in the first instance, to afford shade to

the young plants; many consider that this shelter should be continued

during the whole period of their culture; but this is somewhat

doubtful, as it has been found that plants so protected are not such

good bearers as those which are exposed. The best plants for this

purpose are tall, wide-branching trees or shrubs, without much

underwood. The other culture requisite is only to keep the ground

tolerably clean from weeds, for which one cooly on from five to ten

biggahs is sufficient. He should also prune off decayed or dead

branches. This treatment must be continued until the fourth year, when

the trees will first begin bearing, and, after the gathering of each

crop, the trees will require to be thinned out from the superabundant

branches, their extremities stopped, and the tops reduced to prevent

their growing above seven or eight feet in height; the stems, also,

should be kept free from shoots or suckers for the height of at least

one foot, as well as clear from weeds.

Irrigation must be frequent during the first year that the plants are

removed to the plantation, and may be afterwards advantageously

continued at intervals during the dry and hot weather, as a very hot

season is found unfavorable to the plant, drying up and destroying the

top branches and the extremities of the side shoots; whilst, on the

other hand, a very long rain destroys the fruit by swelling it out and

rotting it before it can be ripened: hence it is necessary to attend

to a good drainage of the plantation, that no water be anywhere

allowed to lodge, as certain loss will ensue, not only of the crop of

the current year, but most frequently of the trees also, as their

roots require to be rather dry than otherwise.

The crop will be ready to gather from October to January, when the

ripe berries should be carefully picked from the trees by hand every

morning, and dried in the shade, the sun being apt to make them too

brittle; they must be carefully turned to prevent fermentation, and

when sufficiently dry the husks must be removed, and the clean coffee

separated from the broken berries. After being picked out and put

aside, and then again dried, it is fit to pack. The first year's crop

will be less than the succeeding ones, in which the produce will range

from ½ a lb. to 1 lb. in each year.--(Simmonds's "Colonial Magazine,"

vol. xv.)

_Ceylon_.--Coffee is stated to have been introduced into this island

from Java, somewhere about the year 1730. It was extensively diffused

over the country by the agency of birds and jackalls. In 1821 its

cultivation may be said to have partially commenced, and in 1836, it

had become widely extended through the Kandyan provinces.

In 1839 not a tree had been felled on the wide range of the Himasgaria

mountains. In 1840 a small plantation was, for the first time, formed.

In 1846 there were fifty estates, then averaging, each, 200 acres of

planted land, and yielding an average crop of 80,000 cwt. of coffee.

Every acre is now purchased in that locality, and in large tracts, or

there would have been twice the number of estates in cultivation. In

1848, the Galgawatte estate, situate in this range, at an elevation of

4,000 feet, containing 246 acres, of which 72 were planted, was

purchased by Mr. R.D. Gerard, for £1,600.

The quantity of land which had been brought under cultivation with

coffee in this island in the ten years previous to the last reduction

of duty in 1844, was, in round numbers, 25,000 acres; but so rapid was

the subsequent increase, that in the succeeding three years, that

extent of land was doubled; so that, in 1847, there were upwards of

60,000 acres of land under cultivation with coffee, giving employment

to 40,000 immigrant coolies from the continent of India, and upwards

of two millions of capital were invested in the cultivation of this

staple.

The quantity of land under culture with coffee by Europeans, was about

55,000 acres in 1851. Allowing 20,000 acres to produce the quantity of

native coffee exported, and 5,000 for that consumed in the island, the

total extent of coffee cultivation in Ceylon, European and native,

will be 80,000 acres.

The produce exported in 1849 was 373,593 cwt., while in the year 1836,

when attention was first directed to this island as a coffee-producing

country, the crop was not more than 60,330 cwt. Large profits were

made by the first planters, more capital was introduced, until,

between the years 1840 and 1842, the influx of capitalists, to

undertake this species of cultivation, completely changed the face of

the colony, and enlarged its trade, and the produce of coffee in

sixteen years has increased sixfold.

The general culture resembles the practice in Java. Of the Ceylon

coffee, that grown about Ramboddi fetches the highest price, from the

superiority of the make, shape, and boldness of the berry. The weight

per bushel, clean, averages 56 lbs.; 57½ lbs. is about the greatest

weight of Ceylon coffee. The lowest in the scale of Ceylon plantation

coffee is the Doombera, which averages 54½ lbs., clear, per bushel.

The following have been the prices of good ordinary Ceylon coffee in

the port of London for the last eight years in the month of January,

1853, 46s. to 48s.; 1852, 40s. to 42s.; 1851, 38s. 6d. to 40s. 6d.;

1850, 56s. 6d. to 57s. 6d.; 1849, 31s. to 32s. 6d.; 1848, 31s. 6d. to

33s.; 1847, 39s. 6d. to 41s. 6d.; 1846, 49s. to 50s.

Forest lands are those usually planted in Ceylon, and the expense

attendant on clearing and reclaiming them from a state of nature, and

converting them into plantations, is estimated to average £8 per acre.

The lowest upset price of crown lands in the colony is £1 per acre.

Coffee planting has failed over a considerable portion of the southern

province of the island, where the experiment was tried. The

temperature was found to be too equable, not descending sufficiently

low at any time to invigorate the plant; which, though growing

luxuriantly at first, soon became weak and delicate. Nurseries are

established for young plants. The districts in which the coffee is

principally cultivated, extend over nearly the whole of the hilly

region, which is the medium and connecting link between the

mountainous zone and the level districts of the coast.

The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. · 第 1 / 20 章