The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-05
AMERICANS USE
 MUCH COFFEE
LEAD THE WORLD, EXCEPT HOLLANn
 IN THE USE OF THE BEAN,
England Exccls in Using Tea-Euormous Increase in Cultivation and Use Of These Stimulants fin the
 Past Quarter Century,

1
 washington Special to Brooklyn Eagle The people of the United States are among the greatest drinkers of non-alco- | holic stfmulants in the world They drink I more coffee than any other nation. save Holland Americans also rank well np among the tea drinkers and are fast learn | ing to like cacao Some interesting facts l m regard to the consumption of coffee. tea ana cacao are contained in a forthcoming bulletin of the Department of Commerce and Labor. The report will show an enor- nous increase. both in the cultivation and consumption. of these stmulants during the past quarter of a century.
 The per capita consumption of coffee in the United States last year was 10. 79 pounds; of tea. 80 pounds and cacao o. .7e pounds. The people of Holland alone ex- ceed the per capita consumption of coffee In the United States. averaging IA. 39 pounds for each man. woman and child Germany and France consumed about the same quan- tity of coffee last year. which was a trifie more than half the amount drunk in the United States. Britishers drink very little coffee. their per capita consumption last year being little less than one pound. They made 1t up by drinking tea. their per capita consumption of which was more than six pounds. easily leading all other nations. Three-Fourths Worlds Coffee from Brazil. The centre of production may be said to have been transferred to South and Central America from Africa. to which country the plant is indigenous. The terms Java" and Mocha" which in olden times indicated the source of origin. have now become mere characteristics of quality and blend In case of tea. the spread of culture precedes, in point of time. that of coffee. China, which was the centre of the tea trade in the earlier parts of the last century. has been superseded now b~ India and csyion. so far at least as imports into the United Kingdom are concerned
 The cultivation of these two articles of popular consumption is restricted to certain well limited areas. the bulk of coffee being raised at present in central and southern parts of the American continent and tea being produced on the Asiatic mainland and adjacent islands. On the other hand. the consumption of these products. in the lead- ing European and American countries at least is far from being equally distributed Roughly speaking. between two-fifths and One-hah of the marketed coffee product of the world is taken by the United States while o~~yhalf of the tea product entering the worlds markets is taken by the United Kingdom. Another fact worth mentioning Is that the rate of consumption of these two articles. wherever they have become part of the popular diet. tends to increase continually. ..
 Great Increase in Coffee Drinking.
 Taking only these countries the statistics of which show considerable consumption of coffee such as the United States Germany United Kingdom. Holland. Belgium and
  bined consumption has increased almost GO per cent, or from 1.14O.74O. 900 pounds in 1884 to 1.S16.4470 900 pounds in 1904. as com pared with an increase in population of about 90 per cent in the countries named during the same period. In the United States the total consumption has almost doubled in quantity. while the per capita consumption has increased about 26.9 per pounds per head during the period under consideration. The remarks apply to the more important tea-consuming coun- tries for which detailed statistics are pre- sented. the United Kingdom Russia. United States. Germany. Holland and France, fin which the tea consumotion has increased E8.9 per cent from 3l7.9S2000 pounds fin 1904. while the population of these countries has increased only about 27 per cent during the same period. Thes% consumption per head. in those countries where tea is as popular A beverage coffee in this coun- try, shows. therefore. about the same rate of increase. In the United Kingdom the per caDita tea consumption has increased from 4. 90 pounds to pounds. 22.5 per cent between the years 1884 and 1904.
 Coffee Industry Helps Porto Rico.
 Of special interest to the United States is the coffee industry of Porto Rico It's banner year" was 1S96 when the island exported 5S.763,476 pounds. valued at ss 31S.544. The fall in prices. which became acute about that time combined with the hurricane of August. 1899. the change fin money standard. and the partial loss of the Spanish French and Cuban markets caused an abrupt decline. that in the fiscal year 100O-01 the exports only l2I59,- Oos pounds. valued at sl.67s9ss, Since then there has been steady increase. 'hA exports for 1904 being 34329,972 pounds pect that the record of the banner year will soon be equalled, especially since Cuba under the reciprocity treaty grants to Porto Rican coffee a 20 per cent reduction nF dat onA tha yoaku rlra af nf he ted States. which formerly took only triflinR quantities. absorbs a rapidly increas- ing amount of the Porto Ricon product.
 coincident with the spread of tea culture fin the Asiatic colonies of Great Britain marked fall in the price of tea is noted. The import price of tea brought into the United States. which was as high nt 31 ' cents per pound in 1873. the highest price marked during the last seventy-five years. has been declining gradually since that date until the year 1901. when the lowest import price level of l2.2 cents per pound was reached. How far this fail in price was due to the depreciation of silver (the monetary standard obtained in most of the tea producing countries at the time) would be hard to answer. For the purpose of this practical study 1t Is sufficient to state that, but for the rapid decline in the value of silver since ls7b tea prices. on the whole. would have probably maintained a higher level. at least during the earlier part of the period under consideration.
 Millions Of Pounds or Cacao COnsumeu'
 The consumption of cacao has increased at a rate greater than that of coffee and tea. Figures showing the worlds produc- ton are available for the last decade only According to an authoritative trade jour nal. the consumption has increased from 142.212.S11 pounds in 1893 to 2So, eSi. 2sS pounds in 1904. or 975 per cent. The In crease is especially heavy in the United States. namely. from 17.4s4.936 pounds In 1894 to s2.s4s.917 pounds in 1903. or 259 per cent. Owing to the fact that caoao Is consumed both In the solid and in the liquid form. its consumption in some Flu ropean countries. such as France. Germany and Holland is noVg larger than that of tea