Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1856-12-25

thu State. which we find published in the Colo
nizaton Herald, suggests mn important matter
for the consideration of the public:
Cal,iva,iea OF Coffee in Liberia.
During the past few years the consumption
of 10 natural production has increased more rap.
idly than that of cotfeeapd in part of the world
hos thu increase been great ms in our own coon
try n circumstance to he attributed doubtless I"
the fact that the laborlng classes are in better
Giro cumsi ances In the United States thnn In any
other country.
! here is every reason To believe that tho use
of this beverage will increase IN the United States
with the increase of tho population. The demand
for it will probably be doubled in ten years lts
becomes then II question: of some impQttance,s
from what source tho addifWal million or apore
!. of bags of coffee ara g. come. OF late years.
Brazil has supplied the increasing, demn~i--ior-
ihshing us in the year 1913, with 556,276 bags.
and during ihe year 1853 with more than Il mil :
lion hSEs. But an examination INTO the present
staterf things in that Empire will satisfy my
intelligent inquirer that she can no longer sup
ply the market at past aud present prices. And
there is no reason to believe that the West and
East lndies will more than supply the rapidly IN
| creasing demand for the article in Great Britain
mud on the continent nf Europe. 1t is evident
then. that there mus bo n considerable increase
in tho price of coffee, unless some new aud Ok
tepsive field for It's cultivation is opened. his
field il 10 be found the West eoast ot Africa.
A residence of three years on the coast. with
in the bounds OF Liberia, aud recent stay OF s'x
weeks in Rio Janciro an its vicinity, have gwen
the writer nm opportunity of comparing tho faa,l-
tiles enjoyed hy the two countries for thu cult
vaton of coffee After somewhat minute ex-
-amipation, am convinced that tho Libe,lan
coast affords mich greater facilities for the Guilt
| vuton of coffee than Brazil and TINT tho same
amount of capital. invested in it's cultivation IN
the former, ilLbring return Of perhaps thirty
tbree and one. third per cshj. more than in the,
! tier country. The foowire are the ipo's irop
|, Nblch draw my conclusions; firs. &.e 'r'"s :
/ grow much larger in LibcriI,bnn p4Bfazil, md
yield two crops yedrly instead If one. Frnnsthe- =
best Information could pre- curdM Rio. the ordi-
nary yield, on the best cultivated farms, Is about
| three pounds to the tree. Not having Sefn nm
experiment. on large farm in Liberia, ! am not
able to say whit would he the Average yield, but
stm sat fled from whit phnv@sSfn, that 1t would
10 much more than three pounds. In the next
! place: The soil III Liberia Is much more rapidly
! cultivated than in Brazil. The lands of tho for
mer generally flat or nnduatng, aud tor the
most part tree from stones whereas the coffee
lands Of Brazil e,e generally hy, mountainous
aud rocky that tho plough has pot yet been
! inboduced upon perhaps one twentieth oi Tue
farms. There being difficulty in the way of
! its in Liberia, the cost oi cultivation must be
! greatly diminished. Another important cons'd'
nration is the difference in the cost of getting tho
| coffee from the farms to the sea shore
On the ooas, of Africa this expense is very
! unpg the soil in tho immediate vicinity of tho
ocean being well adapted to its growth. aud nu-
merous smhll rivers nlong the coast aiiordlng
abundant facilities for its transit to the sea shore
! from tho more distant firms. Whereas u largo
portion, and perhaps the most of the coffee IN
! Hlnzil has 10 be carried by mules across the
mountains, at an expense OF one or two cents per
poand The last consideration, upon which
| u - a. IN, naat nth
! in the two countries. and here tho advantage is
greatly in favor of hfricn. Thus far, nearly all
the coffee has been cultivated in Brazil by Afrl
can slaves; aud there seems to be little pros
! prct of change in this particular. untl the
suppression Of the slave trade in 1882, this spe'
cies Of labor was cheap enough to insure large
! profits to the owners but since that period they
! have advanced two or three hundred per cent,
with every prospect of much greater increase
| in value; and at present prices MS was informed
! by intelligent farmers. while il may be profitable
70 keep farms already established they can
! moi afford to open new ones, and purchase slaves
! to cultivate them. unless there IL an advance IN
! The price OF coffee.
| In Liberia many colonsts can be be employed
for ono hundred and twenty dollars year, they
! boarding and clothing themselves. and the ma
| lives for twenty five cents per day 1t IL true
! the latter class will not do mach work as the
slaves in Brazil; but in view of the grent mortal
aud feeding them.combincd with the original cost,
il is evident that free native labor on the coast pf
Africa must be less expensive TINT slave labor in
! Bruzi!.
rhe question will naturally arise in tho MINIS
Of ,some Of my rsadcrs, if the facilities Tor tho
cultivation of coffee in Liberia superior.
why has so little been accompl shed in that way!
| The answer to this question is found in tho indi
gent circumstances of nearly all the emgrants
i Being destitute Of capital. when they first arrive
/ in the country. nearly all 1he early settlers had
! To be contenied with proviSng themselves with
! the neces sarics of life. Aud when they made A.
/ little money, y,they generally invested 1t IN trading
establishments of seine Kind, in preference TO es
! iablishing coffee farNs, from which they could
/ expect no return frAsfpur>or five years. They
were, moreover entirely ignorant Of the culiiya-
| ,inn of coffee, aud. with few exceptions. knew
very litie Of the value of this and other tropical
productions But in the past few years, exten-
| sive farms have been planted in the various set :
| Elements the first fruits Of which now being
! gathered n and in u short tim. this important
| article will be numbered among their principal
! articles of export. It's cultivation mast howev
| or be greatly retarded. for lack of the necessary
| IN .ans
! would ask capitalists in the United States,
! who may chance to read this article. 10 give the
| subject some attention. They will probably be
! disposed to disregard it, on account OF the Gil
mate of Africa pot being adapted tos the conSt'-
! tuition of the white But certainly 1t Is as
/ well adapted 10 those who may 60 there Tor 'he
! cultivation of the soil rs for the many who are
residing the coast in pursuit "t trade Inc
| fact that white men are not permitted t" own
land in LiberiawiIl btsuggested as another diff
-. ri; II. l,.tV la har