Manila coffee is highly prized in Spain and her dependencies. They have, of course, nothing so rich in flavor as the Mocha bean of Arabia, but a kind, called caracolillo, that resembles it in taste and in shape. It has only one seed to the berry, while, on the other hand, all other varieties have two. The merchants in Manila are extremely cautious in their dealings with the provincial planters, giving the preference to coffee from Cavité, Batangas, and La Laguna. In Mindanao coffee is sent to the market without being looked over, the result being a distasteful compound of good and bad beans. This is sold to the unfastidious natives at very low prices, but is wholly unfit for European consumption. Indifference of Coffee-planters. Cavité planters--whether Spaniard or Indian--show an indifference to a dozen details that their competitors in the other provinces named are extremely particular about. They are careless in the selecting of sites for their plantations, which should be on hilly ground; careless in the choice of the soil, of the seed, in pruning, in attention to the ripe fruit; in detaching the bean from its outer coating; and, above all, in many places, careless to separate the good beans from the bad. All this is due to the inertness of the planter and to the indolence of his laborers. And while this continues, the Philippines will never be known as one of the great coffee-producing countries of the world; though its possibilities in that direction are simply incalculable. Speculation in Coffee. Coffee is a good deal of a speculation in the islands. Collectors drive about paying for crops still ungathered. Moreover, if the large planters do not produce enough to fill their contracts, they depend upon the small plots of the natives,--which will account for much variety in the bean, and for the occasional extremely-poor quality already spoken of. The money advanced is always gauged by the price per picul that coffee brought the year before in the Manila market. For instance, if it then cost $12 a picul, $8 will be advanced to the planter on the crops in the ground. The collector always tries to protect himself by a pretty good margin. He occasionally loses, however. In one case, some years ago, coffee advanced to $31 a picul, and enormous fortunes were made. Fluctuations are constantly occurring in the coffee market, owing to the peculiar nature of the transactions, as purchases are invariably made before the crop has come to fruition. But a startling rise like the one mentioned, is unprecedented in the history of the trade, and is hardly likely to occur again. Methods of Cultivation. A coffee-site, as I have said, should be chosen on high ground, and on the side of a hill; for the reason that, while the body of the plant requires a great degree of moisture, which is given by the heavy rains of the country, the roots, on the other hand, must be kept dry.