The altitudes at which the coffee plant is most successfully cultivated are between 1,500 feet and 5,000 feet above sea level, according to the locality and quality of the soil. The temperature at which the greatest productiveness is obtained varies from a minimum of 60° Fahrenheit to a maximum of 90°. In the lowlands the trees have to be shaded in order to prevent the leaves from being scorched by the heat. There is an abundance of native trees which answers this purpose. Occasionally, too, bananas are raised in conjunction with coffee since their broad leaves furnish an excellent protection. In districts where the mean altitude is 4,500 feet a different sort of protection is necessary in order to shelter the coffee leaves from the northern winds which blow during the months of December, January, and February. In these high altitudes the ranges of hills form the best natural protection. To bring the coffee plant to full production from five to seven years are required, though after two years the bush will produce about two pounds of the berry annually. The coffee plants are raised in nurseries and afterwards transplanted to the cafetales or coffee plantations. The critical season for the crop is the blooming period. A heavy rainfall while the trees are in flower will seriously damage the plants by washing away the pollen and thus preventing fructification. This period lasts three or four days when the blossoms fall and the cherry or berry begins to appear. The cherry reaches maturity in October and is ready for gathering and pulping, that is, for the removal of the outer shell and pulp. After this process it is washed and carried to dry, spread out in brick paved yards exposed to the sun. The grain is known as _pergamino_, or shell coffee, after the removal of the red pulp, while it retains the inner white or yellow parchment covering. After this parchment is removed it is known as _oro_, clean coffee, and this is the common commercial term. So many elements enter into the cost of planting and bringing to maturity a coffee plantation that it is difficult to estimate the expenditure necessary to ensure a given profit. Experienced coffee growers are guided largely by their knowledge of the local conditions and requirements. However, a reasonable amount of capital in the beginning is necessary and many investors possessing the capital prefer to buy fincas or plantations that are already producing. The government of Guatemala lays an export tax of one dollar in gold. Germany takes the bulk of the Guatemala product, though Great Britain is a large buyer and the United States is receiving larger quantities from year to year. With the increased facilities for transportation there would appear to be an excellent opportunity for dealers to make a specialty of Guatemala coffee in the United States, for the article once introduced would be sure to have an increased consumption. SUGAR AND OTHER PROFITABLE PRODUCTS.