bt bt be bt be bt he bt Bt eelede tere ng ras Nit, a ay iy 7 ‘ st Aa et: if eM re AN aa Ei : ay vie yi Aga ae) A 7 OF CoN py ener “ap | MAY #1896: a oe / wore *o wasHit? = as 7 OFFEE GROWING ee AS ANee INVESTMENT Copyright 1896, by H. W. BENNETT. Bop Wl Dea e Mexican Gulf Agricultural ~ COMPANY: :.. anton { ovn~ Jerr apy Rigys ? & at = * 2 | MAY 96 1896 Incorporated Under the Laws of Missouri. Kansas City, Mo.: Lawton & BURNAP, MODERN STATIONERS AND PRINTERS. 1896. OFFICERS. H. W. Bennett, President. D. J. Harr, Vice-President. R. E. Suryock, Secretary and Treasurer. DIRECTORS. H. W. BENNETT. R. E. SHRYOCK. E. F, SwINNeEY. D. J. Harr. . E. W. WooDcock. J. Q. WaTkINs, JR. W. A. LAWTON. ADVISORY BOARD. C. E. Moss. C. D. PARKER. Louris Kunz. Heck PALE. Home Office: 100 and 101 New England Building, Kansas City, Mo. April, 1896. ebralel, Mone 82 ot O77 ARR ene waar ot x = Rye H ¥ ee \ y 25 c pat ee : a “q) ee 7 : ied 2c Wy + @ A oe ge ee \ FOWUANTEPES. | as aoe ee see re et > we We SHIT WIA VASA US Ww arity i. Pee oe ye caper 2 [Paso De? Nor Del Worle FR Er Pais be ie, =. “york ay 1: we Z sont - To SandwithIslands. = - = - my ae eae Tas Ta Cnina ond Sapnn- - -- » i LVETRE Os SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTE AND THE LANDS OF THE MEXICAN GULF AGRICULTURAL ete re OE et ote KANSAS CITY, MO., U. S. A. AWTON & BURNAP, PRINTERS, KANSAS CIT a eee THe LANDSIN | DARK SECTIGN | ARE THOSE OF AD o --- -=— Propos ed Ra//road ——— Completed Ru, /naad ot tiMy, or | TERUANTEPEC . | : Car\\on-Rose Lay ne Japgh- CAjag & AI mal ant | WO1194ae% WAKO, 30 3cOnr PHA YAO M asap. pA 46 ie warns? , FAT LM ot weerioh be co INS sts cl Nwewa\s of finew = % | ire, 10 ins. 5 SSVI TMAUHAT Ae 3X 7 Aig or SS le ry “ z Seer 4 end tah: nothro dD NS is) hae }.. tu Sh, Aw INTRODUCTION. 2eae HE organizers of the Mexican Gulf Agricultural Com- C pany were first attracted toward Mexico as a field for investment, some four years ago, by the prominence that Republic had attained in the financial circles of the world, the large fortunes being made there, and the constantly decreasing returns from home investments. While it has always been known and never denied that Mexico was a coun- try of vast resources and offering wonderful inducements to Anglo-Saxon enterprise and capital, yet prior to 1888 the investments in that Republic were comparatively small and the progress’ slow, owing to a lack of confidence in the sta- bility of the government, on account of the constantly recur- ring revolutions and other political troubles to which the country had been formerly subjected. This condition of things is now entirely changed, how- ever, and there is no doubt but that the government of Mexico is on a solid and stable basis and willso continue, and that the time is now ripe for capital and immigration. Within the last few years Mexico has made remarkable progress. She is in good condition financially and socially. Over eight thousand miles of railroad have been built; her harbors have been im- proved ; telegraph lines connect every part of the Republic, and the country is in close communication with all parts of the world. Her mineral, agricultural and industrial resources are being developed very rapidly, and a strong, liberal gov- ernment offers every encouragement and protection to life and property. Capital invested with prudence in Mexico must necessa- rily yield splendid returns, superior by far to what may be expected from any other country at the present time in the eons same ratio, for the simple reason that any new country with small competition, undeveloped resources and lack of capital offers to the enterprising pioneer great advantages over the limited chances of profit in old and thoroughly developed dis- tricts, where capital abounds and competition is keen, and in which the profits of both industry and capital are reduced to a minimum. The greatest riches of any country are derived from its agricultural development, and toward this field we directed our particular attention. We gave the subject of coffee cult- ure in particular the most thorough and complete study and exhaustive research, and sent capable men down there and went ourselves for the express purpose of investigating trop- ical products. We were not wedded to any locality, our only desire being to locate in the best territory we could find suit- able for our purposes, keeping always in mind four principal considerations to guide us in our investigations. First, cli- matic conditions ; second, transportation facilities ; third, cost and supply of labor ; fourth, fertility of the soil. A great deal of time and money was spent before lands satisfactorily answering these requirements and possessing good title could be found ; but being finally secured we started in on our new enterprise, which, after two years of practical experience, we find no reasons to regret. geese JRIGIN OF THE COMPANY * 2% % ° The original purpose with which the organizers of this Comany set out to investigate the possibilities of tropical agri- culture, was in the nature of a personal search for a good investment, and to ascertain if the growing of coffee in Mexico was a business safe and profitable enough to warrant the plac- ing of our money in a foreign country, and in an enterprise from which no material returns could be expected before five years. Having found the investment a most attractive one, pos- sessing to a wonderful degree the elements of security and profit, we went into the business on a large scale and as a close cor- poration, with no other idea than that of developing and main- taining the property with our own funds and for our own exclusive benefit. The proposition offered the public was subsequently embraced in our plan of operation, merely as a means of reduc- ing the cost and expense of maintaining our own plantation, made possible by the recent demands for Mexican coffee lands; brought about as a result of the splendid exhibit of Mexico at the World’s Fair and the strong efforts put forth by the Mexi- can Government to advertise the agricultural lands of that country. People who five years ago knew nothing of how or where coffee was produced are now familiar with the methods and sources of its production, and the large profits to be derived from its cultivation. They are also aware of the fact that capi- tal, experience, and five years’ time are required to bring a plantation into bearing, putting the business out of the reach of a large majority of those most anxious to go into it. People of limited means cannot put their entire time and capital into an enterprise which yields no income for five years, HO 3 and to the man of means the life of a pioneer in a foreign country is not attractive. In other words, we found there existed a growing demand for small coffee plantations, to be paid for on the installment plan, and that we were in a position to supply this demand to a limited extent, with advantage and profit to the purchaser as well as to ourselves. After mature consideration we decided to buy more lands and make this a feature of our business, for the following reasons : Frrst.— Because it did not in any way interfere with the carrying out of our original ideas. Srconp.— Because, without materially increasing the cost or lessening the efficiency of our management, we can properly . care for these other properties and thereby reduce the expense of maintaining our own. Tuirp.—Because it enables us to contract ata smaller cost a larger amount of labor. FourtH.—Because, by going into the business on so largea scale, we can afford to put a steamboat on the river, reducing the cost of our supplies and facilitating the marketing of our products. Firru.—Because it will enable us to get a better price for our coffee ; the larger the production in any particular dis- trict, the more numerous the buyers, who, as direct repre- sentatives of big importers in New York, Liverpool and Ham- burg, are brought together at our very doors in keen competi- tion. SixrH.— Because the cost of hulling, cleaning and milling our own crop can be reduced by utilizing our plant to handle the output of other properties. SrventH.—Because the Company can make a large and legitimate profit out of the transaction. Thus it can readily be seen that we derive many direct and indirect advantages, and can at the same time give the Onene investor a better plantation at less cost than he could possi- bly secure in any other manner. We state the above facts in order that our position may be clearly understood and the proposition we offer not looked upon as an experiment for which the public are asked to fur- nish the funds. We believe any sound reasoning person can readily see the mutual advantages to all parties concerned and that the in- terests of the Company and its investors are identical. PERSONNEL. Taking it for granted that the growing of coffee is a safe and profitable business, and that our proposition affords a feasible and desirable means of securing a plantation, the question naturally arises in the mind of the prospective buyer, ** Who are these people offering this investment? To what ex- tent can we rely on their representations? And what assur- ance have we that our money will be honestly and judiciously expended? ”’ ; The financial standing and resources of the Company, as well as the ability and integrity of its officers, can be ascer- tained through private inquiry, or by means of Dun’s and Bradstreet’s Mercantile Agencies; also by inquiry of the First National, Union National and Metropolitan National Banks of Kansas City, Mo.; the American Loan & Trust Com- pany, of Boston, Mass., or United States Consul-General to Mexico, Hon. T. T. Crittenden, of the City of Mexico—to any of whom we refer by permission. The personnel of the officers and directors of the Company is here given as a guarantee of honest and capable manage- ment. Mr. H. W. Bennett, president, is manager in this city of the Woolson Spice Company, one of the largest dealers and importers of coffee in the United States, selling over fifty mil- lion pounds every year. Mr. Bennett has been in this business for ten years, and devoted a great deal of time and attention to the careful study of coffee culture. He has an exhaustive correspondence from every part of the world upon the subject and has satisfied himself thoroughly that coffee culture in Mexico is a sound investment and that nowhere could lands be found better adapted to this purpose than those selected by the Company, which he personally inspected. Mr. D. J. Harr, vice-president, is the senior member of the firm of Haff & VanValkenburgh, prominent attorneys of Kansas City. He has devoted much thought and study to the social and financial conditions of Mexico, and made a special trip to that country in connection with this enterprise. Mr. R. E. Suryock, secretary and treasurer of the Com- pany, is the head of the real estate and loan firm of R. E. Shryock & Company, Kansas City, and has personally inspected our property. Mr. E. F. Swinney is cashier of the First National Bank of Kansas City, is well known as one of the most prominent and conservative bankers in the state and has just returned from a trip to Mexico. Mr. C. D. Parker is the head of the real estate and insur- ance firm of Parker, Durfee & Co.; president of the United States Water and Steam Supply Company, and a director of the Mechanics’ Bank of Kansas City. Mr. Witi1am A. Lawron is senior partner in the firm of Lawton & Burnap, one of the largest printing and stationery establishments in Kansas City. Mr. Lawton purchased for himself a coffee plantation some three years ago, has made three trips to the Isthmus and spent over six months upon and in the immediate vicinity of the lands of this company, personally investigating their fertility and products. Mr. Jonn Q. Warkins, Jr. is well known as one of the most energetic and progressive of the younger element of Kansas City’s business men and bankers. Mr. E. W. Woopcock, of Chicago, is agent in that city of Oy shite the West Shore Fast Freight Line. He has owned a planta- tion on the Isthmus for three years, and has made several trips to that country. Mr. C. E. Moss is a retired capitalist and a director of the Metropolitan National Bank of Kansas City. Mr. Lovuts Kunz is a young man well and favorably known in Kansas City, who has spent the past three years upon the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where he has met with noted success and is looked upon as an able and reliable authority on coffee culture. Mr. H. F. Hatt is senior partner of the well known grain exporting firm of Hall & Robinson, Kansas City. gest WHAT WE HAVE DONE. w ot ot ot ot Since starting in this business, two years ago, we have proven by the results of practical experience that our judg- ment was good. The soil, climate and labor have been tested and in no respect found wanting. Over four millions of strong, healthy coffee trees and thousands of rubber, pineapple and banana plants, all in perfect condition, are now growing on our land, proving successful management and demonstrating be- yond a doubt that the soil and climate of this district are per- fectly adapted to the successful cultivation of these products, particularly coffee. Corn, rice, fruit and nearly all kinds of vegetables have also been raised with remarkable success, and we have learned that there is nothing to be feared in the way of frost, extreme heat, drought or strong winds, nor is there any disease, insect or animal to injure our products. We have accomplished more work, with better results and at less cost, than our previous calculations had led us to expect. For the reasons enumerated in the first part of this pamphlet, we decided, a year ago, to undertake the develop- ment and care of a number of smaller plantations, and in the spring of 1895 placed on the market and quickly sold four thousand acres of our land on this plan. Our experience in the development and care of these properties during the past year has demonstrated the advantages and feasibility of this feature of our business, and that the results are satisfactory to our investors is evidenced by the letters and reports of all those who have visited their properties, some of which are published, with the writers’ permission, in the back part of this pamphlet. We have shown our ability to do this work in the best and cheapest manner possible, by the fact that we are now caring for plantations in our own vicinity, whose owners are actual residents on the land. STD In the eighth year this income will be increased $4,000 by the product of the 4,000 rubber trees alone, not to mention the large increased income from the additional improvements the owner will naturally make from the sixth to the eighth years, inclusive. At the present time the lowest cash value of a plantation, such as the above, is $25,900 (gold), and could be readily sold at that price, and this for a cash outlay on the part of the purchaser of only $3,000, extended over a period of five years. Each tract of 50 and 25 acres will have respectively one-half. and one-fourth of the amount of improvement on a tract of 100 acres, with the exception that there will be no house on the tracts of 25 acres. The cost and income are proportionately the same. From the fact that there will be considerable vacant land upon all of these tracts, the income can be largely increased by planting additional coffee, rubber or fruit, or whatever the planter may deem most profitable. After the fifth year the company will care for the property, harvest and market the crop for ten per cent of the profits, in case the owner does not care to give it his personal attention. Again we repeat that the above estimates as to the income from these tracts 7s in every way a conservative one. While we have figured on a yield of three pounds of coffee from each tree, we confidently expect five pounds or more, for the reason that they will receive from the very start the best of care and be given every advantage in the way of proper soil and high cultivation, such as weeding, shading, pruning, topping and other important and essential features. It must be borne in mind that you are not getting an ordinary Mexican coffee plantation, but one laid out and cared for from the start in the best possible manner by men who have had years of experi- ence in this business. The present price of the grade of coffee produced by these lands is to-day in New York 2034 cents per pound, yet we have podlermae WHAT WE HAVE DONE. © % % % Since starting in this business, two years ago, we have proven by the results of practical experience that our judg- ment was good. The soil, climate and labor have been tested and in no respect found wanting. Over four millions of strong, healthy coffee trees and thousands of rubber, pineapple and banana plants, all in perfect condition, are now growing on our land, proving successful management and demonstrating be- yond a doubt that the soil and climate of this district are per- fectly adapted to the successful cultivation of these products, particularly coffee. Corn, rice, fruit and nearly all kinds of vegetables have also been raised with remarkable success, and we have learned that there is nothing to be feared in the way of frost, extreme heat, drought or strong winds, nor is there any disease, insect or animal to injure our products. We have accomplished more work, with better results and at less cost, than our previous calculations had led us to expect. For the reasons enumerated in the first part of this pamphlet, we decided, a year ago, to undertake the develop- ment and care of a number of smaller plantations, and in the spring of 1895 placed on the market and quickly sold four thousand acres of our land on this plan. Our experience in the development and care of these properties during the past year has demonstrated the advantages and feasibility of this feature of our business, and that the results are satisfactory to our investors is evidenced by the letters and reports of all those who have visited their properties, some of which are published, with the writers’ permission, in the back part of this pamphlet. We have shown our ability to do this work in the best and cheapest manner possible, by the fact that we are now caring for plantations in our own vicinity, whose owners are actual residents on the land. EADS 2 In the eighth year this income will be increased $4,000 by the product of the 4,000 rubber trees alone, not to mention the large increased income from the additional improvements the owner will naturally make from the sixth to the eighth years, inclusive. At the present time the lowest cash value of a plantation, such as the above, is $25,000 (gold), and could be readily sold at that price, and this for a cash outlay on the part of the purchaser of only $3,000, extended over a period of five years. Each tract of 50 and25 acres will have respectively one-half. and one-fourth of the amount of improvement on a tract of 100 acres, with the exception that there will be no house on the tracts of 25 acres. The cost and income are proportionately the same. From the fact that there will be considerable vacant land upon all of these tracts, the income can be largely increased by planting additional coffee, rubber or fruit, or whatever the planter may deem most profitable. After the fifth year the company will care for the property, harvest and market the crop for ten per cent of the profits, in case the owner does not care to give it his personal attention. Again we repeat that the above estimates as to the income from these tracts is in every way a conservative one. While we have figured on a yield of three pounds of coffee from each tree, we confidently expect five pounds or more, for the reason that they will receive from the very start the best of care and be given every advantage in the way of proper soil and high cultivation, such as weeding, shading, pruning, topping and other important and essential features. It must be borne in mind that you are not getting an ordinary Mexican coffee plantation, but one laid out and cared for from the start in the best possible manner by men who have had years of experi- ence in this business. The present price of the grade of coffee produced by these lands is to-day in New York 2034 cents per pound, yet we have “BLAS figured upon a basis of but sixteen cents, leaving a margin of nearly five cents to cover any possible decline in prices. The cost of production and marketing will without doubt be less than five cents per pound, as calculated in the estimate. The yield from the rubber trees is only one-half the amount usually counted upon, and owing to the constantly in- creasing demand and consumption, the price of this article is correspondingly advancing. The banana planters of Honduras and Nicaragua last year averaged a net profit of thirty-six cents (gold) on each bunch of bananas sold, and we have every advantage over that coun- try in the way of quick and cheap transportation, with a quality of fruit in every way equal, if not superior. The planters of Florida last year realized an average net profit of four and a quarter cents each from their pineapples. Consid- ering the fact that the “Verde-Madura” pineapple grown on the Isthmus is the finest known in the world, averaging seven pounds in weight, with a small coreand no fibre, and that they will come into market in the United States two months earlier than the Florida product, we feel that we are fully justified in expecting a net profit from them of five cents each. One very attractive feature connected with these tracts is the fact that they will be all together and lying immediately around the town of * Dos Rios,” which, like the plantations themselves, will be chiefly populated by Americans, giving the settler who goes down there at the end of five years every advantage in the way of the society and language of his own countrymen. Besides, as above stated, the Company will, as soon as the coffee plantations commence to bear, put upa large plant fully equipped with the latest and most modern machinery for pulping, curing, cleaning and sizing, thereby enabling the surrounding planters to get this work done at the least possible cost and avoid the expenditure of from eight hundred to two thousand dollars for coffee machinery, which the ‘solated settler is compelled to buy for his own plantation. poet a gays The good faith of the Company, and our confidence in the ability of the tracts to realize the income figured upon, is evinced by the agreement to accept the products of the land in payment of the mortgage, and the fact that we give a bond for the faithful performance and carrying out of our contracts. WHY? After reading our pamphlet thus far, you will probably ask: Why? If this is such a wonderful country and so much money can be made there —Why, then, does not all the world rush into the production of coffee on the Isthmus of Tehuan- tepec? Why? For the very same reason that you yourself have not done so. Hither it has not been called to your atten- tion, or you would prefer to make less money and live in the United States, or you have not the necessary capital to wait five years for a return and support yourself meanwhile. But if you could gecure some of the immense profits that coffee culture on the Isthmus is bound to yield, and could con- tinue to live in the United States while the plantation was being cared for and brought into a perfect bearing condition : when you could then migrate to the land of the Aztecs and there enjoy the easy life and munificent income of a coffee planter ; if you could do this without being compelled imme- diately to invest the large amount of ready cash required to accomplish these results, but instead could pay for it gradu- ally out of your income and at the same time avoid the great risk taken by the inexperienced planter, the isolation from society, and the toil and privation incident to the life of a pio- neer, what then ? The Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company is prepared to make all this possible for you, and on the most reasonable terms. As to the security of money invested in coffee culture in Mexico, and the profit to be derived therefrom, we give you in 6 lays te the following pages, in a condensed form, the result of our own inquiry and investigations,extending over a period of four years; also a number of letters and reports covering the subject in a general way and bearing directly on the merits of our propo- sition. wary & IEXICO AS A COFFEE ROWING COUNTRY. There is no field in the world at the present time that offers such opportunities for the safe and profitable invest- ment of capital as that of the heretofore neglected one of coffee cultivation in the Republic of Mexico. Throughout the civilized world there is at the present time a rapid and constant increase in the consumption of coffee, six hundred million pounds being consumed last year in the United States alone ; and, although there has been a very marked increase in the production of this now necessary article of diet, yet the supply hardly keeps pace with the demand. Coffee can only be successfully grown on virgin forest land, and the territory possessing the proper requirements for its cultivation is limited and rapidly becoming more so. The supply received from Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and other old districts is constantly decreasing, owing to the death of the plantations from natural causes and over-worked and worn out soils. These are some of the principal reasons why Mexico is des- tined to become one of the greatest coffee producing countries in the world, as she possesses every feature essential to the successful cultivation of this product at the lowest cost and with the greatest profit. The coffee lands of Mexico are only inferior to those of Brazil in extent, being far superior in the variety and quality of their product, and only remain idle and unimproved from lack of enterprise and capital for proper development. The topographical and climatic conditions of the coffee district of the lower part of the state of Vera Cruz are especially adapted to the production of varieties and grades of coffee as large in size, as bold in style and as rich in flavor as nine-tenths of that produced in the old and celebrated coffee countries of the aoabtiaeec world ; and the adaptability and capacity of these lands for its production have been thoroughly tested by more than fifty years of experience in its cultivation, while experience has fully demonstrated the quality of the product as well as the profit to the planter. geese IS THERE A PROFIT IN RAISING VIEXICAN COFFEE? .% ot xt 2% st ut The average price during the past twenty years for Bra- zilian coffees has been over fourteen cents per pound, to which must be added from three to six cents, as the relative value of Mexican coffees, making the average price of Mexican coffee for the last twenty years between seventeen and twenty cents per pound. It looks as if there should bea profit when we can grow it and put it in New York at from ten to thirteen cents less than we get for it per pound. The present price of medium high grade Mexican is, in New York, twenty cents per pound, which, upon a high estimate of cost of six cents, leaves to the planter a profit of fourteen cents per pound, or nearly three hundred per cent profit above the cost of production, as can be shown by actual experience and from reports by the high- est of authority on this question. This certainly shows that coffee culture is profitable, and especially so in Mexico. What is the worst that could happen ? Suppose in any one year that the price of Mexican coffee should fall from twenty cents to ten cents per pound, and sup- pose that same year the yield should fall from three pounds per tree to one pound per tree! There would still be 20 per cent more profit to the planter in raising coffee than he could real- ize from any agricultural pursuit in this country. Various troubles, civil and international, in Brazil and Central America, have had the effect of curtailing production in those countries, the result of which, unquestionably, will be felt for many years. Fifty years ago, one hundred and fifty thousand tons of coffee were deemed ample to supply Europe and America combined, but in 1848 these two continents con- sumed two hundred and fifty thousand tons; in 1868, three hundred and seventy-five thousand tons, and in 1893, over Sot oer seven hundred thousand tons—more than double that of fifty years before. ‘The world’s consumption of coffee is now nearly nine hundred thousand tons, or one billion eight hundred million pounds per annum, and constantly increasing The consumption in this country now being estimated at between eight and one half and nine pounds per capita, while in Hol- land and some of the northern provinces of Europe the con- sumption is as high as twenty-two pounds per capita. When we take into consideration the fact that for every acre of new cottee being brought under development, old fields are going out of bearing through the natural exhaustion of the soil, it can readily be seen that there is no danger of lowering the price by over-production. ADVANTAGES OF THE ISTHMUS..*.% One of the highest authorities on coffee culture says: “The principal points which determine the value of a location for the successful and profitable cultivation of coffee are cli- mate, soil, labor and transportation facilities. A temperate climate, within the tropics, is to be preferred at all times, a certain degree of warmth and humidity combined being essen- tial; one having a mean temperature of seventy to eighty degrees Fahrenheit, and not falling below fifty-five at any time. Frost, even though it be at night and for a short period, is fatal, and a drouth would be the cause of a most serious in- jury to the plantation. A constant and uniform moisture, either natural or artificial, together with a rainfall of from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty inches per annum, well distributed, are requisite and indispensable to the free devel- opment of the trees. A rich, dark soil, friable and containing plenty of potash, is the best. The richer and deeper the soil the larger the yield and the longer the trees will continue to bear. Virgin forest Jand is the most suitable for coffee plantations, having become naturally enriched by decaying vegetable mat- ter. Flat lands holding water are fatal to profitable coffee growing, while extremely steep slopes are objectionable on account of the wash occasioned by rains carrying away the soil and exposing the roots of the shrubs. ” All of these requirements are complied with upon the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to a fuller extent than in any other portion of this hemisphere. Our climate is a mild and even one, with an average temperature of seventy-nine degrees Fahrenheit, never falling below sixty degrees, with frost and drouth entirely unknown. We have an annual rainfall of one hundred and thirteen inches, evenly distributed throughout the season, which, with the heavy dews falling at night during ceraliee the dry season, renders irrigation entirely unnecessary. Our soil is a rich, dark earth and friable, containing a large amount of potash. It is all virgin forest land that has become enriched by decayed vegetable matter for hundreds and thousands of years. The land is neither flat nor rough, but a gently slop- ing mass of small and evenly rounded hills. Thus we have every requirement in the way of soil and climate, with an abundant supply of good and reliable labor at an extremely small cost, and the finest of transportation facilities. For these reasons we say that the Chalchijapa Valley is the best country in the Western hemisphere, and equal to any in the world, for coffee culture. With high cultivation, the soil will yield enormously a medium grade of coffee, which is considered by experts the most profitable grown, having at all times a ready sale among the mass of coffee drinkers. The high grade of Isthmus coffee, as compared with that of otber low alti- tudes, is due to the superiority of our climate ; the distance from ocean to ocean being only a little over one hundred miles, and the strong, cool sea breezes blowing more than half the day, give an even, temperate climate, the same as that possessed in alti- tudes from two thousand to four thousand feet above sea level. Another thing that will appeal strongly to the mind of a conservative investor is the fact that these lands are equally - well adapted to the culture of rubber, cacao, nutmegs and other spices, sugar, tobacco and all kinds of tropical fruits. The most profitable of these products require from six to eight years before bearing, but after that time call for very little care, and the profits therefrom are so enormously large as to appear almost incredible to any one not familiar with tropical agriculture. Thus the planter upon the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has over a dozen different ways in which to utilize his land. It is well to know that the planter can at all times be absolutely independent of any one crop, with the advantage of having at APA all times constant employment for his labor, the lack of which is the most serious drawback to coffee culture in Guatemala and other one crop countries, where the demand for labor during the coffee picking season greatly exceeds the available supply. In high altitudes these advantages do not exist, as the soil and climate will not permit, and the proper facilities for cheap and quick transportation are wanting; and while these higher altitudes possibly produce a grade of coffee which may be a little finer in flavor and commanding a slight ad- vance in price, yet we claim, what is lost in quality we gain four or five fold in quantity, to which all authorities will agree. These are some of the reasons why the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is going to be, not only the greatest coffee grow- ing district of Mexico, but a dangerous rival of California, Florida and Central America in the production of fruits; and will be known as the most prosperous, progressive and readily accessible semi-tropical country in the world. On account of the climate being one in every way agree- able to the Anglo-Saxon, this country is going to be populated to a large extent by our own countrymen. In fact, nearly all of the best land is now controlled by American capital, and large portions of it being placed under cultivation. Within the past twenty-four months an aggregate of over a million dollars has been invested in lands in our vicinity, and a large number of plantations are well under way. Kansas City parties alone are the owners of twenty-one three year old plantations, of from one hundred to three hundred acres each, all located within a radius of fifteen miles of the property of this company. LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF OUR LAND. & 2% % % % % In the lower part of the Republic of Mexico, between the sixteenth and eighteenth degrees of latitude and the ninety- third and ninety-fifth degrees of longitude, with the Gulf of Mexico on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the south, lies a little strip of land called the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The ter- ritory comprising this district proper is only forty miles wide and one hundred and forty-two miles across, and within the northern slope of this limited area lies the Nile valley of America. In no part of Mexico, or perhaps in the whole world, are lands so deep and fertile, with so pleasant and healthful a climate. It is well drained by flowing rivers, broad and deep, whose waters are as clear and sparkling as mountain streams, and wholly free from alkali or other min- eral substances. Erom the lower lands of the coast, the coun- try stretches back in beautiful, undulating hills to the ele- vated table lands of the interior, and as far as one can see are magnificent areas of rich agricultural lands clothed with forests and plants in perpetual green. These forests abound in game, and the rivers swarm with fish. Yet, until the last few years, this country was, like many other parts of Mexico, comparatively unknown and undeveloped. In the heart of the very best portion of this small territory, so blessed by nature and neglected by man, are the lands of the Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company, located at the junction of the Coatza- coaleos and Chalchijapa rivers, fourteen miles from the Tehuantepec Railway and fifty miles from the Gulf port of Coatzacoalcos, both reached by navigable rivers. FERTILITY OF THE SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS..*.* Lands in the central portion of the Isthmus, north of the divide, are remarkable for the great depth and marvelous fer- tility of the soil. Dense tropical forests have been growing, falling and decaying for hundreds and thousands of years, and in consequence we have a soil that cannot be excelled, if dupli- cated, in any part of the world. At no place on our land is the soil, which is of a rich, dark loam, less than six, and in the larger portion of it between sixteen and twenty feet in depth. The rainy seasons can always be relied upon with great regu- larity, which, with the numerous rivers and their tributaries, and heavy dews in the dry season, furnish an abundance of moisture. This, in connection with the hot, tropical sun dur- ing the day, serves to bring forth the wonderful resources and fertility of the soil in a truly remarkable and almost incredible manner. Over twenty different products can be grown upon this land with great profit. Among these are rubber, pineapples, bananas, cacao, vanilla, sugar cane, tobacco and corn. Some of the above preducts, however, require considerable time and attention before producing. Rubber bears its first crop in eight years; cacao in five; and a banana plantation is profitable after the first year. The chief product of this country is, and will be, the one with which we have to deal principally, viz.: Coffee. That coffee can be grown with great success upon the Isthmus is beyond doubt, as we have the necessary temperature, rainfall, depth and quality of soil. Many parts of Mexico are well suited to the culture of coffee, and we do not pretend to claim that we have the only soil and the only climate adapted to that purpose; but we do claim that in no part of Mexico or the whole world can land be found so perfectly adapted in every way to coffee culture, and at the same time possessing equal advantages in the way of cheap labor and transportation facilities. HEALTH AND CLIMATE. It might be inferred, the lands being within the tropics, that the climate is excessively hot, insalubrious and ex- ceedingly tropical in character, but the reverse of this is the case, and for many obvious reasons, notably the peculiar con- figuration on the Pacific coast side, which forms, as it were, a -gate, walled on both sides by heavy masses of snow-capped mountains of the Sierra Madre range, through which pass currents of air, rendering the country they traverse perfectly salubrious. Our land is directly in the course of these breezes, making the climate everything that could be desired. While it is hot in the sun it is always cool in the shade. The nights are cool and bracing, and a blanket is necessary for comfort. During the year 1895 the average temperature was seventy-nine degrees, highest ninety-two degrees, lowest sixty degrees. From June until August there are light rains ; from August until December, very heavy rains; December to Feb- ruary, light showers; February to June, warm, pleasant weather with southerly winds. The rainfall for 1895 was one hundred and fifteen inches, seventy-five per cent of which fell in the night. The climate here, considering all seasons, is about perfect, and one which should prove very attractive to the settlers from the North, who appreciate the waste of life in an arctic climate of seven months each year, when all vege- tation ceases to grow and man himself can be kept alive only by artificial heat, and tho farmer must toil wearily four months in the blazing, scorching sun for the uncertain crop that is to sustain him during all the famine months. The whole plain of the Coatzacoalcos river is a remark- ably healthy country, and one to which an Anglo-Saxon can readily adapt himself. The government statistics for the year 1893 show that in - 26 Minatitlan (situated on the Coatzacoalcos river, thirty miles from our land) there is a population of four thousand eight hundred and seventy-two souls, and during the year the deaths numbered forty-three, or an average death rate of 8.7 per thousand. No better proof could be offered to show the healthfulness of this district. TRANSPORTATION. Of all obstacles to a rapid development of the resources of a country or state, the want of easy communication between the interior and the seaboard, or local market, is one of the most serious. Cheap, expeditious and certain transportation is essential. Our lands are particularly favored in this re- spect, as the Coatzacoalcos river is navigable for river boats the year round, by which we can send our products quickly and at an extremely small cost to the port of Coatzacoalcos. At the same time, if desirable, either for freight or passenger traffic, our boats can ascend the Coatzacoalcos and Jaltepec rivers, a distance of fourteen miles, to the station of Santa Lucretia, upon the Tehuantepec railroad, from which ship- ments can be made either by the way of Salina Cruz, upon the Pacific ocean, or Coatzacoalcos, upon the Gulf of Mexico. This road is owned and operated by the Mexican government. Commerce always seeks the shortest route, and as this new road brings San Francisco, China and Japan ports more than a thousand miles nearer New York and European ports than Panama does, it can easily be seen that traffic which now reaches Europe by Cape Horn and Panama will soon find its way over the Tehuantepec road. This will bring steamships from every part of the world to the ports of Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos and make the Isthmus of Tehuantepec a promi- nent and well known country. A number of American and European steamship lines are already making these ports reg- ularly, and abundant means can always be depended upon for cet cee the cheap and speedy carrying of our products to all parts of the United States and Europe. In regard to transportation, as well as cheap labor and freedom from frost, we have every advantage over the fruit growers in California and Florida. Fruit-carrying ocean steamships ascend the Coatzacoalcos river to Taoamichapa island, a distance of thirty-seven miles, giving every opportunity for the secure and expeditious load- ing of perishable fruit, and avoiding the spoilage and expense of lighterage to which ali the Central and South American fruit ports are subject. Bananas and pineapples can be loaded on our river boats at the plantation on the evening of one day and delivered early on the morning of the next to the gulf steamships, and arrive in Galveston after a trip of fifty hours. This gives us from three to six days’ advantage over the banana growers of Central America, which means a saving of a large percentage of expense and loss from spoilage. On account of the dis- tance saved, and being able to ship our coffee direct from the plantation to New York City, we have a much smaller cost for freight than any coffee-growing district in North, South or Central America. ave LABOR: DESCRIPTION, SUPPLY AND COST..+ The Indians on the Isthmus are the most industrious, hon- est and peaceful in Mexico, of a mild and gentle disposition, and not inclined toward war or disturbances of any nature. They are very muscular, and possess wonderful endurance. In color, they are lighter than our own Indians; their features are much finer, and the expression of the face more pleasant. At present abundant labor is available at an average cost of fifty cents per day for afull grown man, and, if employed regeu- larly, from ten to twelve dollars per month (Mexican silver). Women and children do a great deal of the work on a coffee plantation, and during the picking season the major part of it, for which they receive a much smaller compensation than men. After a plantation is five years old, the owner can figure his labor at an average cost of twenty-five cents per day. ° Mexican silver is always subject to a large discount as compared with gold, resulting in material advantage to the planter, as all his labor is paid in silver, while the product is sold in foreign countries for gold. TAXES. There are no taxes on unimproved property in Mexico, and the tax upon improved property is less than in the United States, and is based on the income derived therefrom. TITLE. This property was purchased from the Pacheco estate and the title is perfect, having been passed upon by Senor Louis Mendez, President of the Bar Association of Mexico and one of the ablest native attorneys of the Republic, as well as by our own legal counsel, Mr. D. J. Haff, of Kansas City, who made a special trip to Mexico for that purpose. ‘ 99 AN IMPORTANT FEATURE.» 2 ot After having secured land possessing the necessary re- quirements for successful coffee growing, in the way of climate, soil, transportation and labor, another equally important and essential feature must be supplied, viz: Men to take charge of the property who are thoroughly experienced in planting and caring for the trees and harvesting their products, and at the same time possessing a thorough understanding of the laboring element which must be employed to do this work, so as to get the largest and most satisfactory returns for the money expended, without causing friction and discontent in their midst. We have spared neither trouble nor expense to secure what was necessary in this direction, with a result that we can and do, without fear of contradiction, assure our patrons that no plantation in Mexico, Central or South America has men better fitted and more competent in every way to take charge of such properties than the gentlemen we have secured for that purpose. This is an item of the utmost importance, and adds to the many advantages people dealing with this company will enjoy. They are not putting their money into the hands of irresponsi- ble and inexperienced people to experiment with, but entering into a clearly defined business transaction with a solid, re- sponsible concern, so fully equipped in every respect as to afford the greatest security and profit, with the element of chance reduced to the smallest possible minimum. TS URE WHAT OTHERS SAY, 2% 2% ot ot In order that the probable investor may not be left entirely dependent upon our judgment, we submit the opinions of those in a position to know whereof they speak. Any further infor- mation in this direction will be cheerfully furnished, and there is in our office an immense amount of literature, covering this whole subject, including Consular Reports for a series of years, from all parts of the world where coffee growing is car- ried on as an industry. We also have a large number of pho- tographs, from which one can gain a good idea of the existing condition of our plantations, as well as samples of different grades of coffee produced in this locality, all of which will be cheerfully shown and explained to visitors, who are welcome at any and all times. EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS. * + EXTRACTS FROM “THE RAILWAY REVOLUTION IN MEXICO.” By Bernard Moses, Ph. D., University of California, San Francisco, 1895. “Among the more general economic effects of the building of railways in Mexico may be observed an increasing tendency to establish and conduct productive enterprises with corporate capital. A conspicuous weakness of the Spaniards in Spain, and their descendants in America, has been their inability to form and conduct successfully industrial and commercial cor- porations. “The missionary of the modern industrial system is in the field ; and through his personal solicitations, and through the force of the example of. corporations already organized, Mexico is destined to be carried more and more into line with those nations that have at present largely supplanted individual in- dustry by corporate industry. “At present the cultivation of coffee is attracting special attention, and on the Eastern slope much progress has already been made. “Among the reasons is the extraordinary profit which the production of coffee offers. “The cost of its production in Mexico in general is be- tween 8 and 10 cents per pound, Mexican money, and it sells at from 25 to 32 cents. “The facts indicate that the present extraordinary de- mands for coffee lands in Mexico have a reasonable founda- tion. “Mexico has important advantages. * * * She has a territory adapted in soil and climate to this form of cultiva- tion, and, in the Indians, an excellent body of laborers, perhaps better fitted for this kind of work than the ordinary laborers of any other country. “From an examination of the statistics we get the fol- ane general results, showing the exports of coffee from @€X1CO : _———— Dera BER Sane tea Picea eee rerctc ators oe ee Omhacee wale SES 1 432,100 pounds bial elo ls\ Sc eget eines. sca AL a hats 6 ha Go toes ie 18,598,419 pounds a Dolo lehs Ma tag Soaint dees Ler arene at ack tiny oc Sa Sa Pe aie 21,755,956 pounds Rane css OL Sie las Seba Bm Ice soe 27,797,056 pounds FROM “COFFEE: ITS CULTURE AND COMMERCE,” By C. G. Warnford Lock, F. L. 8., Published in London in 1888. “Though Mexico scarcely figures in the coffee producing countries, its capacity and adaptability have been tested by successful cultivation. * * * Mexico as a coffee producing country has been tested by more than fifty years’ experience. * * * That coffee has not assumed the first place in expor- tation is to be attributed to the same causes which have re- tarded all other developments of the country. * * * The production has been mostly consumed by the home demand, which is quite large, as coffee is in general use by all classes. * * * When the plant is five years old it gives a full crop. * * * The trees continue bearing from twenty to twenty-five years. There are, however, trees sixty to seventy years old which are bearing a fine crop. It is not uncommon to find trees yielding 5 to 7 pounds. * * * After the plants begin to bear a full crop, the annual cost of production, up to sale in market, is 6 to 7 centsa pound. * * * The favor- able report on sample lots sent to Europe in 1873 gave an im- petus to the cultivation, since when planting continues to in- crease and coffee promises to become the principal article of export.” FROM “COFFEE IN MEXICO: CULTIVATION AND PROFIT.” By Joseph Walsh, Philadelphia, 1894. “The industry of coffee culture is still in its infancy in Mexico, though the product is of a superior quality and grad- ing among the best grown in any country of the world. ‘* Mexican coffee is worth at present from 20 to 22 cents per pound in the American market, while the average cost of production is 7 cents. A plantation will pay from one to three ab oer hundred per cent on the capital invested, each tree yielding annually from 3 to 10 pounds. “The value of coffee plantations in full bearing is calcu- lated at the rate of $1.00 per grown tree; a single acre produc- ing from 600 to 800 trees. “The soil and climate suitable for coffee growing are also adapted to the cultivation of tobacco, corn, beans, bananas and most tropical and sub-tropical fruits. But among all market- able fruits, the growing of which is here accessory to coffee culture, the pineapple is the least expensive and most profit- able, especially where the planter has close and cheap trans- portation to the Gulf ports.” FROM “COFFEE FROM PLANTATION TO CUP.” By Francis B. Thirber. “Mr. Willis Weaver, who made this subject a study, wrote to Hon. Wm. G. LeDuc, Commissioner of Agriculture at Washington, D. C., as follows: “ ae + Ss ee VANE . = ARKO 184 84 —- =. —