In 1826 she pledged herself to Great Britain that, beginning with 1830, she would suppress the traffic in African negro slaves. This promise, however, she failed to keep, so the British parliament passed an act directing the seizure of all slave ships found in Brazilian waters. In every instance the slaves were liberated and the slave dealers brought before British tribunals. Complete suppression of the importation of slaves was the result. In 1871 children born of slave parents were declared free by law, and the movement in favor of emancipation continued until 1888, when slavery was entirely abolished without any indemnity to the slave owners. The long reign of Dom Pedro II was marked by progress and prosperity. The emperor had the best interests of his people always at heart and concerned himself more with economic development than with political activities. Broad and liberal in his views, he made no attempt to prevent the spread of socialistic doctrines, which, about the year 1880, began to seriously affect the thought of the educated classes. The feeling of unrest and the desire for change engendered in this way culminated in the military conspiracy of 1889, and, as was only natural, the former slave owners, smarting under their losses, took sides against the emperor. The monarchy fell and was replaced by a republican form of government, which, despite several attempts to restore the empire, has endured to the present day. In the sugar-growing regions of the north and center methods of cultivation do not show much improvement over the practice of early times. Cane is planted in holes about nine inches deep and five feet apart, no fertilizer being used. Some five weeks later the soil is turned up and after fifteen months’ growth the cane matures. In São Paulo, however, the planters work on more scientific lines, and ploughing, furrowing, tilling, fertilizing and weeding are done in a thorough manner. The crop depends upon rainfall entirely, and in a normal season ripens in from fourteen to sixteen months. As soon as the cane is cut the dry cane leaves are burned and ploughing begins. The plough passes close enough to the cane roots to tear them more or less, thus helping the new growth. Shortly after the new cane shoots appear, the ground is spaded up or ploughed, just as in the case of plant cane. Ratoons ripen in twelve or fourteen months, and as a rule four to six ratoon crops are grown before replanting is done. The yield of cane varies with the rainfall and the richness of the soil, and ranges from 20 to 30 tons per acre for first ratoons, diminishing with succeeding crops. The sugar content frequently reaches 18 per cent.