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

The lowest price that can be bid is SIS per
hectare for level pasture land, 81 for timber
Or wooded land, including rubber, vanilla,
dye woods, and other natural products; So
for the same kind of land without those ad-
vantages, and 81 for marshy, stony or barren
lands. II more than fifteen miles from a
railroad, or from town of 5000 inha bitants,
the land is valued at one-haf the price above
given; if distant more than thirty miles, at
one-fourth, and If sixty miles. at eighth.
Buying Public Lands.
The purchasers Of public lands have the
option Of paying cash down or within ten
years, at an interest of per cent per an
mum upon the value of the purchase, with
the interest payable at the end Of every
year But the oldest and most liberal pro-
visions of the law are yet to come, as follows:
Whenever the purchaser can establish 4
sufficient evidence that he has made i'm
provements worth twice as much as the in
terest on the land purchased, he shall be ex-
empt from the payment Of said interest due:
and II the improvements amount to double
other things which are not apparent upon the
surface They should realize. too. that low
class natives to the manner born can work
for 20 cents a day and save money, by liv-
ing on beans and bananas, and that sparse
ness of population. scarcity Of intelligent la
Dor, dearth Of money absence CT necessary
transportation, and even Of roads in many
ulSIIlCCS, duu cNcildSIluS pOAitiSui tioobASS-
all initiate together against compensation
from new industries inaugurated in these
countries, and profitable returns upon cap
ital invested.
Coffee as n Moncy-NLnI<er.
Although in coffee culture, in many
branches of business, the saying holds coed.
sit takes money to make money. there IS
no doubt that under proper conditions more
money is made in coffee with less labor and
fhcr,o
product. The details of coffee growing are
much the same everywhere with slight varia-
tons owing TO soil and atmosphere. In Costa
RIGA the farmer who makes his own nursery
plants the seeds in May, SO as to be ready
for setting out the young trees In May Of the
following year. Two years afterward there
will be a sprink.ins of coffee, and at the end
Of three years fair crop. The yield will coz
tinue to increase each year until the grove is
seven years old, when full crop is produced
In setting out groves the trees are placed
from ten to fifteen feet each way making as
an average 500 trees to the acre. The coffee
is a delicate plant. and needs protection from
wind, and sun; and to this end bananas are
planted between, and quick-growing. wide
spreading tree called poro b.anco. The first
year small crops, such as potatoes and beans.
may be grown between the rows. Where
the land is very fertile, the young tree is
topped when one year old, and two branches
only allowed to put out. which are topped
at the end Of the second year and allowed
to throw out two branches. This topping
is to prevent the trees from growing so tall
as to make it inconvenent to gather the
berries; but it is not practlced now so much
as formerly. After the plantation begins to
bear, five or six weddings are needed every
year This Is done altogether by hand labor.
and the culture must be very shallow. The
annual cost per acre of working a coffee
plantation varies in different localities, &C
cording to the nature of the soil, but a fair
average may be stated, at Sc. In the first
week OF December the berry is bright red
color, which indicates that the coffee is fully
ripe. Then every man, woman and child
is pressed into the service Of picking coffee,
and, with basket swung around the waist,
picks from sunrise to sunset. The operation
is delicate one and is watched very closely
to prevent the leaves from being broken, az
the next crop starts from the angle formed.
from the leaf and branch
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.