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.