Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1907-11-10
COFFEE RAISED
BY WOMAN
IS FINE
Tells of Going to Mexico for
Benefit Of Husbands Health
and Managing Plantation in
Vera Cruz.

red him. Il wasn't considered as
dangerous in those days as it is now.
but still had | known that | would
catch the disease the next day | should
have married hini.
Soon after the birth of cur FIRST
child persuaded him to give up his
place in the factory and go South. We
went to Texas, near Galveston.
we were there for year, when an
old doctor told me that If ! would
take my husband 20 Mexico and make
him work ami exercise out Of doors
he would live much longer even If he
didn't get entirely well My husband
had got to the melancholy stage and
il was pretty hard TO make him be-
lieve there was anything to look Tor
ward tc
We had two children then. and one
was only three months old, but
knew we couldn't afford to put off our
departure. We spent about twenty
months going from one place to ar
other, trying to find some place thai
would suit my husband
We reached Vera Cruz finally.
There we found a small farm few
miles from the city that suited US and
we started to raise coffee.
a few Of cur plants bore in their
third year. The next year we had
coffee to sell, but because there was
only few dozen pounds we had to
lose about half the profits by dis
posing of it to a large coffee planter,
who shipped it to New York.
Such an arrangement suited Meth.
er my husband nor me. We determ-
ined 20 go ato the business sufficiently
to pay. Ten years from the time we
moved into our little farm we shipped
our first coffee direct to this market.
Ny husband died three years ago aud
since then / have conducted the bust
nesc.
There are two varieties of coff &c
raised in Mexico. That which thrives
best on the temperate tableiands is
called by the natives arabica, and is
much like mocha 1t is easils az
fected by the weather and is neither
as thrifty. nor as prolific as the hot
country variety, which resembles
Java coffee.
AS my far mis- in Vera Cruz it is
this hot country coffee that | cultivate
and know most about. 1t is best prop
agated by seed. which are planted in
beds under cultivated trees.
The coffee plant seldom blossoms
before its third year. AT that time
its foliage is a vivid green, the
blooms and subsequent berries grow
ing along the stems in clusters. The
blooms are more like JASMINE b.Cs-
SONS than any flower here AMI sweet
er, more fragrant, than the dover Of
the orange.
"The coffee berry is at frst a
glossy green, then brown and finally
dark crimson. Picking is slow end
tedious process, as each berry INST be
picked separately and dropped into
the bag or basket which the picker
carries suspended around his neck. AS
a rule. the coffee pickers in Mexico
are poor peon women and children.
The pay is % cents in Mexican NON
ey, which amounts to about ~ cents
in United States currenSy, for each
basket or bag OF fifteen pounds.
AT present about the oniy prob
lem that the coffee planter OF Mexico
has TO face is that of Iabo9. 1he
Mexican means are -xexg n1.leh like
the American negro and while ,.e5ple
from the Southern States 6nl them
easy enough to get on with, those
nave alhtu HI TIE Aals tlt-A@AfAAsg
in New England. are harder 10 ple2se.
While the peon viii only work
when he feels like it he reJu.res that
you treat him with the utmost corgid-
Grafton and dignity. They are the
most Independent people in the
world and are always SUSPICIOUS of the
gringos, as they call al white peo-
i'ple. The peon may be s.thout d piece
to lay his head and half starving. but
he viii not work for q gcingo re els
likes.
Some of the largest coffee planters
are solving this problem by importing
Chinese coolies The CelectiaI by rea-
son of his energy. industry and Gag.
erness TO save money is about as sat
| factory a servant as could be asked.
| Perfectly content to work year in
and year out with never z day OF OF
holiday to celebrate, he is as cheap
as the peon and has no exalted ideas
Of his own dignity.
From all ! have read and heard
fancy that life on the large Mexican
coffee plantations today is very much
like the life on the old Southern cot
ton plantations before the civil war
While we are isolated and at Ger
tain seasons there is much OF hard
work, for the greater part Of the
time there IS plenty OF leisure
~The Mexicans are fond of dancing
and when my three children are at
home from school there are generally
several dances each week on my dry
| ing floor. In the daytime when the
place is not occupied by coffee beans
there is always game Of tennis going
on
~As the demand for Mexican cosee
in the United States is still far
ahead CT the supply. I have never
experienced any trouble in disposing
OF my crop at a good figure.
Perhaps IN the course of time
there msy be an over supply, but
don't look for 1t in my Day.
Coffee planting is not a work that
many people rush into. because to
most beginners Ave years seems a
| long time to wait for your first pay.
ing crop. Most people wish to put
their money in something that will
| give quicker returns.
As Ter buying a ready to wear
coffee plantation, well. they are hard
| to get don't know Of a good one
on the market If did I would glad.
| " take the money I have invested in
| railroads and government bonds out
and mt II into n