000 tons, and the crop of 1847
exceeded 4,000 tons, near which quantity it will probably continue,
till the population gradually increases, the laborers, as already
mentioned, being barely sufficient for the present cultivation. As the
value at the present average price in the English market of 50s. a
cwt., will give L200,000, the produce of the district will appear
pretty considerable for a petty American State, possessing only 80,000
inhabitants, and just emerging from a half-savage
condition.--(Dunlop's "Central America.")

The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose, in Costa Rica,
according to Stephens, has increased rapidly within a few years. Seven
years before, the whole crop was not more than 500 quintals, and in
1844 it amounted to 90,000.

Don Mariano Montealegre is one of the largest proprietors there, and
had three plantations in that neighbourhood. One, which Mr. Stephens
visited, contained 27,000 trees, and he was preparing to make great
additions the next year. He had expended a large sum of money in
buildings and machinery; and though his countrymen said he would ruin
himself, every year he planted more trees. His wife, La Senora, was
busily engaged in husking and drying the berries. In San Jose, by the
way (he adds), all the ladies were what might be called good
business-men, kept stores, bought and sold goods, looked out for
bargains, and were particularly knowing in the article of coffee.

The coffee at Surinam is suffered to grow in three stems from the
root, and when one of them does not produce plenty of berries, it is
cast away, and the best shoot in appearance next the root is allowed
to grow in its room. The trees are not permitted to rise higher than
about five feet, so that the negroes can very easily pluck the
berries, for gathering which there are two seasons, the one in May, or
the beginning of June, and the other in October or the beginning of
November. The berries are often plucked of unequal ripeness, which
must greatly injure the quality of the coffee. It is true when the
coffee is washed, the berries which float on the water are separated
from the others; but they are only those of the worst quality, or
broken pieces, while the half-ripe beans remain at the bottom with the
rest. Now, in the description I have given of the method of gathering
coffee in Arabia, it is seen that the tree is suffered to grow to its
natural height, and the berries are gathered by shaking the tree