New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-16
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.
BY soLoN ROBINSON.

yived by that very Respectable h"iho i'h '
ing old ladies, the Agricultural Department Vi
Washington. / say Of Washington adViseu'y' DC
cause it is a department of the Government 'ha' 70
of very little to anybody outside OF 'o'''
A. never has enioyed the sympathy respect of the
~,ass Of American farmers for the reason that it
MAYER has mad an agriculturist at its head who
c,nld command universal respect. 1t has made IT.
self known aud gaiAed its principal notorety ana
popularity bv free distribution of garden seeds
Such as could generally be found at the nearest
country store. more perfect waste of pnbHe
money than has been made through the "Agncultu-
raj Department" IL is difficult to imagine It's pup
hshed Volumes costing probably four or live dollars
Zach are to be found upon many secend-haHd DooA
stals al ten to twenty-five ceRts each, ana are so
Washable al that price that thousands OF them nave
been sent TO the paper mills and ground over lNo
common wrappiAg-paper Scores OF them, sent Tree
to the Constituent Is of members of Congress, nave
teuHined for years as lumber IN post Offices the
owners not considering them worth carrying home.
OF late years some little reliance has been placed
bv commercial fAen upon the Statistical reports oil
this department" of Government, but the general
opinion among farmers is that it never has con-
yeyed enough information to them in all the years
of its existence to balance one years salary OF tAe
Commissioner of Agriculture.
THE TFA-PLANT IN TUE SoOIh'
Rut II he does not convey much information to
yhe people they must acknowledge that the O"'i-
missioner is good at seeking it of them. Recently
be wanted to know whether We can grow orr own
tea. | will answer this question from personal
tnowledqe. since have it, that the real genuine
Chinese tea shrub was grown more than twenty-five
wears ago in South Carolina, Florida and louisiana
If the Commissioner will search some OF those old
volumes of paper stock the reports of his own De-
partment If they have not all been reduced to publ
he will fluid some of the history of American tea"
growing; notably that OF DR.. Smith at Green
Vile South Carolina That place isseveral hundred
miles from the sea- in latitude 80, and at an al-
tude of about fifteen hundred feet. The soil is gen
orally decayed granite, and the surface is uneven
There the tea plants hourished unniuTed by frost,
for they are at least half hardy. On the aliuviun
of the banks Of the Mississippi they grew more
ranky but the leaves were coarse, and judge less
valuable than upon poorer soil At Tallahassee,
Florida, twenty miles from the Gulf, altitude l6O
feet soil sandy loom, saw as handsome tea plants
asany in China but cannot say that the flavor OF the
decocton was quite equal to some of the best that
Is grown and cured in the Fowery Kingdom" land
I have never heard of anyone who called for a
second cup Of American tea. Whether IT IS owing
20 the climate soil, situation manipulation, /
cannot say; but so far as the experiment has been
tined, it indicates that cannot grow our own tea
Not because the plant won't grow here upon broad
lltent of country but for other to this de-
bonent unknown.
But the one paramount reason which will prevent
the present Commissioner of Agriculture from see
ing tea-culturo flourish in this country is the I'M
reasoning demands Of iaborers, who would strike"
themselves and everybody else 10 perdition, sooner
than work for the average wages of teagrOweTs and
manufacturers IN China; for they do not average
fifteen cents day. probably not ten should like
TO see Mr.. SanFrancsco Keamey and his company
of abor-reformers engaged in the business OF grow
ing "our own tea"
COFFEE-RAsISG AT HOME.
The following dispatch sent to TIE TRIBUNE last
Winter has been going the rounds" as an lmpOr-
tant piece of information for everybody who drinks
coffee in America. 1t is certainly important In one
particular if true it is worth repeating il not 1t Is
worth refuting.
The Department Of Agriculture has obtained some
facs ia relation to coffee and possibilities OF ITS cult
walton ia the United States l. appears thet the cO-
United states eai 20 the conclusion that the cOGeepant
or tree be cultivated to some extent IN this country
The Total importation Of coffee into the United states
Tor the wear 1876 amounted 10 339,'s9-4O pounds Snd
has been established by the best authorities on the
subject that great warmth OF climate Is not absolutely
essential 10 the growth OF the cOcepnnt buta climate
cbaracterized 6y neither extreme hea' cold, but
nosessing n fair amount of humidity Tie climate and
Soil of Florida there IS every reason to believe would
answer these conditions So 70 is also with Lower CAL
fornil and portion of Texas This belief rendered
almost certainty 10y the authentic statements thhJ IN
these regions AT least In Florida and California, there Is
found growing In abundance wild cOhee-plaut With
many OF the characteristics Of the cultivated plant In
California the experiment been tried Of planting the
berry coffee obtained from Costa Ica and the results
are reported satisfactory.
The coffee ofcommerce comes chiefly from Brazil Ven
ezuea, Hayt. tn- British and Dutch East Indies, the
West Indies and Mexico. The plant growing il these
countries (cGfed ATdbcd Is Tree nom elehI 70 tWeNe
feet height sometimes attaining height OF twenty
and thirty feet When cultivated It's upward growth
checked by topping for convenience OF gsIheIlnS the
fruit The plants grown from seed in nurseries, and
when year set out. They are IN fun bearing the
third year, and continue so Tor tWen years OF longer
properly attended to. The plaTt Is an evergreen.
While il is cultivated throughout me tropics II Is
native OF the mountanous regions OF Abyssna ana de-
its name from Cana one OF the provinces o. that
country From Abyssniait was toGuccd mn ARABIA,
and for long time Arabia supplied gu lhe coHee that
then used Some time in the seventeen hcentury II
was introduced into Batavia and SUrinam, and thence
into the Western Hemisphere.
The shrub Is planted in warm situations, generally
the slopes OF hills and in soil which does not retain The
rain which tails on il.
ii Is usual 70 plant about 900 trees the and the
yield Of good season. aud of this number OF trees IN fun
bearing. Is about 1000 pounds OF coffee,
The Department proposes 20 investigate further the
conditions Of soil and climate essential TO the growth OF
the coee-pant and it's adapt8 by 10 portions Of the
United States and respectfully requests any infOrma
ton or suggestions ID regard 10 the same
UNAVOIDABLE CONDITIONS.
As the Commissioner respectfully requests in
formation" | propose TO tell what know about
coffee 1t certainly does appear necessary for the
Department Ito investigate further" as il is all
astray in all its present information. And in moth
ing is further from the truth than in it's supposton
that the climate and soil of Florida' are suitable.
There are plenty of warm situations" in Florida,
but where are " the slopes of hills" upon which to
make the coffee plantatiousi The habitat of the
coffee tree for tree It's appears to be in mountain
pus countries The face of Florida is the reverse of
That and though sandy, the subsol holds water up
to the surface. that il would kill the coffee trees
during the rainy season in July and August, while
at other times they would suffer from drought for it