The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1912-12-12
THE COFFEE INDUSTRY.

l. ne DGCf6UdFy Vi hStiouitutO hno
issued Bulletin No. 10, of the Di-
vision of Research and Reference, Bur-
eau of Statistics, on the coffee indust-
ry. 1t contains a record of the history,
origin and cultivation of the tree,
worlds production, trade and consump-
tion by countries; per capita consump-
tion in specified countries; prices on
New York market for series of years
and tariff rates in various countries.
The bulletin is of more than usual in
terest, in view of the extensive use of
coffee in the United States.
In the worlds production of coffee,
Brazil holds the preemipent place. In
1900 the exports from Brazil amounted
to l,720 pounds; they have steadily in
creased until in 1909 they were more
than p billion pounds The area in
Brazil suitable for coffee cultivation
covers about l, ,15s,000 square miles, or
an area larger than the States of New
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ne
braska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklaho-
ma, Texas and California; but the area
under cultivation is small compared to
that which could be cultivated, but lit
tie over two million acres being in cof-
fee in 1905. About three-fourths of the
worlds output is grown in Brazil and
the State Of Sac Paulo alone produces
one-half of the worlds supply. al
The history of the valorizaton
scheme by Brazil is of great interest,
not only to those interested in coffee,
but to students of economics in gener-
al. The State lof Sac Paulo borrowed
more than seventy millions of dollars
in 1908 and bought and stored nearly
one billion pounds OF coffee for the pur-
pose of maintaining prices on the vari-
Gus markets, these having become very
low, due to over-production. Since the
buying and storing of this coffee the
Government through committee has
sold between three and four hundred
million pounds.
Venezuela and Columbia rank next
in amount produced, each growing in
the neighborhood of one hundred mil
lion pounds annually. Mexico, the
Central American States and the
Dutch East Indies, also produce large
quantities. The only coffee produced
in the United States is grown in Porto
Rico, Hawaii and the Philippine Is
lands.
The United States received coffee
from 4S different countries in the past
tire years, he great bulk coming from
South and Central America and Mexi-
co: lesser amounts were imported from
the Dutch East Indies and British
West Indies, and one and one-half
million pounds from Arabia (Aden.)
In the total amount of coffee consum-
ed, the United States leads all other
countries by a wide margin. The i'm
ports amounted to over one billion
pounds annually in three of the last
ten years
The price of Santos No. I coffee on
the New York market rose from TO
7s cents per pound in 1902 to l2s to l6a
cents in 1911, an increase of more than
100 per cent in the ten year period.
The import and export duties levied
on coffee in the principal countries and
their possessions show wide range.
The tariffs on this produce range from
free admission in some of the principal
consuming countries to absolute prohi-
bition from entry in some of the pro-
ducing countries. The principal coun-
tries admitting coffee free of duty are
the United States, Netherlands, Ger
man Southwest Africa and several of
the British Colonial Possessions.