"That is a new thought to me," said James. "So it seems that some products are made only where there are no railroads." "Or where there is no great city within a few hundred miles," added Walter. "I suppose there is molasses in this brown bread," said Lucy Baxter. "Molasses comes from Porto Rico," said Mabel, who was studying the West Indies just at this time in her geography lessons at school. "Some of it," said her oldest sister. "But most of the sugar comes from Cuba." "But not all," said James. "This sugar has been traveling for nearly two weeks to reach New York. First a sea voyage of more than two thousand miles, and then a railroad journey of more than three thousand miles, and yet the section where it grew is a part of the United States." "It must have come from Honolulu then," said Walter. "I wonder whether the Sandwich Islands, being now a part of the United States, will interfere with the raising of sugar cane in our Southern States?" "Very little probably, but now that the United States possesses Hawaii and Porto Rico, it will scarcely be necessary for us to import any sugar and molasses," said Fred. When the dessert and fruit were brought on, new subjects for conversation were found. "What do you call this pudding, Alice?" asked her husband. "It is a peach-tapioca pudding," was the reply. "The peaches are from Delaware; canned, of course." "Here, again, the West Indies are represented," said James; "the tapioca came from Hayti." "And the East Indies also," added Walter, "for I taste nutmeg, which comes from the Molucca Islands. These islands furnish such an amount of spice that they are commonly called the Spice Islands." The discussion of foods continued throughout the dinner. The oranges, almost the last of the season, had been brought from California. Florida oranges were scarce that year. The bananas were from Mexico and almost a luxury. The war with Spain had destroyed trade with Cuba, from which island the great bulk of bananas had usually come. Among the nuts were almonds that had been imported from Italy, filberts that had been sent across the ocean from England, and walnuts that had come from California. Finally the coffee was from the island of Java. [Illustration: DRYING COFFEE IN JAVA.] Before the dinner party broke up, Mr. Smith reviewed the facts which had been learned in the conversation. He especially called attention to the small number of articles that are not profitably raised in the United States.