The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-01-22
COSTA RIGA COFFEE.
CULTURE OF THE VALUABLE
BERRY BY OUR NEIGHBORS.
Some Exact Observation-Disclosures Reasons
Which Make that Little Country Inviting
Don't Go There Without You Have Mon
ey, Though.


about Carriage. Anywhere within a radius
of fifty miles you may find plan tations, eth
CT in their infancy or full develOpme Mt, COW
ering the valley and extending far up the
hill sides. The train between San Jose and
n. Carriage takes You through miles Of unfenced
coffee feds, and the country roads over which
you journey on horseback are lined on both
sides by high walls Of glossy green coffee
bushes, above which wave the mighty fronds
OF the banana, planted to shade the young
trees. Many of these estates yield enormous
revenues, and to purchase even one unculti-
waited acre in the valley Of Carriage would
mean an outlay Of at least $780, and then you
have to 60 back ten or twenty miles from the
railroad. Land near the city, planted with
coffee, brings $500 to 81 900 per acre. Costa
Rican coffee is pronounced by experts to be
among the very best grown anywhere in the
world, and In recent YEARS the extraordinary
prices paid for it, especially in England,
have caused nearly all the gentleman farm
ers'' to practically abandon their other crops.
The Worlds Fair in Chicago gave a Won
derful impetus to this coffee. Everybody
who attended the exposition remembers the
Incompatible beverage which was constant
ly served from the Costa Rican pavilion, to
thousands upon thousands of thirsty people,
who seemed never to get enough of it. OF
the SeVenty-five exhibitors of this product,
ffty1ive were awarded medals, a proportion
not reached by any other country.
Coffee Growing Statistics.
The last official statistics have been able
to find here show that in 1892 there were
1892 coffee plantations in Costa Rica, with
26,6SO, 907 trees on them: and that in the same
year 36,3G7 ZOO pounds were exported. Since
then the area of coffee culture has been very
greatly increased, and although it will take
some years for the newer fields to come tC
perfection, last years output was consider
ably above 4000O,000 pounds. I have met 9
number of North American families now liv-
ing in Costa RIGA, who, one and all, declare
that they would not exchange their homes
here for the best the United States can at.
ford Indeed, with proper ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Is, at sufficient altitude to secure perfection
OF climate. and with ones nearest and dearest
to keep one company-one may lead an ideal
life in any Of these Spanish American coun-
tries. If paradise is finally to be located OF
this mundane sphere, as many good people
believe, it will surely occupy position hall
way up some tropical mountain in the
TERRA templada of Central or South America
the West Indies, or the Himalayas, where
the atmosphere is that of eternal springtime.
with eternal SHOWS in view upon the mountain
tops, where the skies are always blue, anG
fruits and flowers PERENNIAL and picturesque
beauty abounds on every hand. It was the
oveiness Of these newly discovered lands,
more than the cry of Ell Dorado, which caused
the companions of Cortez and Cordova to for
get the grape-laden valleys and saffron.
sprinkled hills, the ancestral casas and the
, dark-eyed maidens OF old CASTLE. And in
these less adventurous days, men Of different
mold remain year after year in voluntary
exile far from the kinsfolk they love- in alb
solute cOntentment, Notwithstanding the
isolation which every foreigner must fee
where another language is spoken than thai
to which he was born, and where other
customs and modes Of thought prevail. Ever
the passing traveller, though he sees much
that seems absurd and semi-civilized in con-
trast to Northern ways, is certain to become
SO much attached to the hospitable and kindly
people, so in love with the dolce far niente OF
life here, the charming scenery and perfect
weather, that to tear himself away becomes
real grief, and the longer he remains the
more difficult the task.
The COuntry's Natural Charms.
OF all tropical countries Costa Rica i.
most inviting to the immigrant, and bes,
adapted to North Americans, because 1t il
about the only one where native productions
can be raised with profit and lmpunlty WIN
free white labor. OF course, there are coast
lands where the climate is deadly but there
are plenty of elevated valleys farther in
land, from 5000 to 5000 feet above the sea-
where no atmosphere on earth Is more health
iul and no soil more fertile In this central
portion of the little republic the thermometer
ranges between IS and rs degrees Fahrenheit
from year to year, and not only tropical
products are grown, but wheat, corn, potatoes,
and clover, and all the fruits of the tenn
perate zone. If you want change OF climate
in these favored regions you need not &C
north or south to find it--only little farther
up or down the nearest mountain. for altl'
tude gives all the varying degrees of heat OF
cold which in other countries one must jour
ney far to attain.
Among the happy exlles Whom nave Wis
tied here is the family Of an American physl
clan, formerly from Philadelphia. DR.. -
owns one of the finest houses in Costa Rica'
capital, but prefers to live upon his COFFEE
plantation, few miles distant. Though n
and his speak of the City OF Brotherl
Love with tenderness, nothing could induc
them to return there as permanent residents
I have also been delightfully."- entertained Il
the country home, of New EngAnder, wh
resides in the valley Of Carriage. This worth
gentleman, with his wife and several sna
children, came to this country nearly twent
years ago, having failed to find paying EN-
ployment in the overcrowded North. Whe
he arrived he had barely money enough t
clear the land, FOR which he owed the gov
eminent, and for the first year or two ha
hard squeezing to maintain his family. 81
he succeeded beyond his widest hopes, an
today is not only free from debt, but own
home beautiful enough to satisfy the mos
esthetic, has handsome surplus we'll IN
vested, and sure income for the futur
growing up in coffee groves all around nlm'
~
longer offers special inducements to invit
immigration, It's sincere good will towar
foreigners Is shown in many ways. The law
concerning the acquisition OF lands, agri
cultural mineral, or timber, are very liberia
Wherever public land is not under conces
.sion, there are two ways OF acquiring 1t-b
pre- emption and by bidding It off at auction
BY the first system anybody can take posses
sion of fifty hectares of government Ian
(about 1913 acresl. and by fencing it and givin
notice of the fact to the authorities OF II
district in which it is situated, and OF h
intention to cultivate 1t, no one can di
tunb him in his possession and enjoymel
of the same for two years. During this tin
he lis obliged to begin the cultivation Of b
homestead.
Should he fail to do so, the place may
taken by some other person, who would ha'
to pay him the value Of whatever improve
ments he has made. But If he has compile
with the requirements Of the law, he become
It's absolute owner at the end Of. two year
and providing he keeps 1t under reasonab
cultivation. he can then go to work on ff
,other hectares, and so on, ad infnitum, sui
iect always to the same conditions.
BY the bidding at public sales. persf
can go to the land Office and ask the sale
auction of any government land, to an exte
not exceeding 500 hectares Q,235 acres), +
each adult, and when the sale occurs. Il
person who has asked for II has the prtvtleI
Of purchasing the land for himself at VIVA
evar price It hrtnas At auction q
"a