The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1897-11-13
GUATEMALA.
COFFEE GROWING THE GREAT
INDUSTRY IN THAT COUNTRY.
Americans Take to Coffee Culture-Ger-
mans Grabbing Some Fine Countrywide
on the Great Coffee Estates-Among the
Advantages OF Life in Cuban Districts,

ON Ine 'OreaC Cofree Estates-AmOng the
Advantages of Life in Cuban Districts.
QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala May e.
Special Correspondence.-The traveller in
these parts, though not particularly interest
led In coffee or sugar, should not fail to visit
some of the fncas which have made this small
republic one of the most prosperous in the
world and given her the reputation of lit
orally growing gold" as her enormous crop
Is annually exchanged for the gold of other
countries. Since 1880 Guatemala has devoted
herself almost exclusively to the cultivation
or sugar and coffee; and the two Industries
nave gone on increasing, year by year, to
such an absorbing degree that now nearly
her whole productive force is concentrated
In them. 1t was the elder. Barrios' idea in
the beginning, amply justified at the time by
the high price Of sugar at home and coffee
abroad; but probably the dictator did not
ioresee that in one decade his beloved land
would so overdo the matter as to be COZ. :.
PEELED to import most of the grain, corn.
beans, and potatoes required to sustain tina
life OF her people. The rapid rise in coffee
production Is indicated in the shipping rec
, ords, which show an expectation of 520,318
quintals (about three times as much as in
1881. quintal being 100 pounds.
Today nearly all the plains and high table
lands are covered with coffee groves, even
to an elevation of 5000 feet, though half that
altitude is supposed to offer the best condi-
tons. From QuetZaltenango to the Mexican
border, distance OF fifty leagues or more.
the country, after dropping aG,x1. a few hun
dred fee: nearer to sea iistei, is endless
inca. plantation adjoining plantation, some
OF them as large as time principalities.
Among the most notable estates of this Sec
ton may be mentioned La Libertad Por-
ChncCiAt aaohn oil mo
million coffee trees, besides extensive tracts
IN sugar care, and paying immense dvi-
dends. Nine. Barrlos tne late Dictators
widow until she married in New York few
years ago. was formerly the wealthiess
= planter in this part of Guatemala and now
thai distinction probably belongs to ex- Presi>
dent BGrillos, whose income from his sew
eral coffee estates is fabulous.
Americans Take to Coffee Culture
1t is said that all Americans who come to
Guatemala take to coffee raising as ducks to
water, and that the "fnQuero fever" g. e.. the
desire to own tinca) spares neither age
sex, nor previous condition" A COMPARE
lively recent addition to the ranks Of foreign
planters on large scale is Ex-Governor
Pacne:o of California, who is believed to be
In cahoots with President Barrios, in thu
Coban country. The last named district nv
the way. is the most celebrated in Guatemala.
being easiest OF access, and therefore best
known to the outer world but it is by no
means the best for coffee growing. The gar
den spot par excellence is within thirty
miles OF Quelzaltenango. down toward Retail
mullen, at an average elevation of $500 feet
Coban is Il trfe too high for unfailing re-
suits, since above 1000 the planter is always
IN danger OF having his trees burned" by
frost TO the stranger that seems paradox
1cal statement, until he learns that it not the
frost that kills, but the hot sun which quick
ly follows the nip and produces the effect of
scaldlng. IN frost-susceptible localities.
Where coffee is planted in spite of the risk,
II IS customary to- ring all the church bells
late at night, whenever the serenos nighr
Watchmen) consider frost imminent In
stead OF their familiar cry from the belfries.
Ave Maria purissima! La noche es claro
sereno'-they wake the echoes and the
sleeping town by beating a wild tattoo upon
the bells. when all hands hasten to the
orchard and light huge fires, thereby savinz
much of the coffee.
The Coban district. which lies but one easv
nay s Journey from Livingston, the Atlanta.
port and less than week from New Orleans
is peculiarly rich in scenery as we'll as in
agricultural possibilities. There are few
wagon roads from the port. and you travail
over the trails only on mule back, conttn-
ually rewarded for fatigue, short rations
and other discomforts by some of the grand.
est views this great round world can show
The price Of coffee lands in Coban is lust
now having boom, but ordinarily they are
~ relatively cheaper than those on the Pacific
from that section says: .-u-
Germans Grabbing Fine Country.
Foremost among the land-grabbers and
boomers in Coban arc the Germans, who pre-
Nominate IL this country. Most of them
keep shops in the larger cities, and thus
run two trades, playing coffee inquero during
four months of the year. The great major
ity of those who have been here ten years
or more have become very wealthy, having
,DickGQ Soa1. lac
than their value. A few years ago sudden
boom in coffee filed all their Golfers with gold
3 for the product is always sold for gold and
, nothing else. Many of these beer guzzling
coffee kings have retired from active work
and live abroad, coming once in year or
two to gloat over their EonanZas. They (the
Germans) make. no bones about trying to
keep everybody else out of the land, for Of
course they desire to retain the monopoly
they have so long enjoyed. They are eter-
nally trading in fincas,' buying and selling
The native finquero Is almost invariably a
gambler. that is. fond of play, thinks nothing
of stalking all his earthly possessions In
Guiding a fine finca. upon a hand III the
favorite imported from America game of
poker. So do the Germans play, and being
- ;proverbially cool-headed, they generally win.
x Among the advantages of life In the Coban
district is the fact that it lies close to tho
Atlantic seaboard and nearer the great mar
kets of the world. Its production is yet email.
, because most OF the 'nncas only rev
years old. The climate is almost perfection
never too hot never too cold; you may sleep
in the open the year around, without fear OF
man, beast or serpent, or 'pestilencs that
walks in darkness-i. e., malarial fever
Nor are you tied very closely to labor, where
one blowing and planting is sufficient fol
sixty years or so. Nobody can rot youl
orchard, or hinder the berries from ripeniI.
in the genial sun: they will do Just as wei
ii you choose to remain elsewhere durini
eight months of the year, maybe better, !
you are wise enough to leave the place IN tn
hands of competent administration or over
seer, Las the weather. natives do. But yo'
will naturally prefer to be OF the spot whe'
the berries begin to ripen, to see with you
own eyes that all are picked and proper!
taken care of, since every one OF them con
tributes its little mite to swell your income
You can calculate your crop months ahead
Gluaosr TO the pound, because the trees in
B vGimDly average eacn so much. Two pound
M ,ero.'' in local parlance chat is, all read
for shipping), is a fair estimate for a tire
between three and five years old. Large