Evening star., 1915-11-07
, Largest Coffee Plantations in the World

beans: The next process is to take
the skin off. This is done in a Sec
ond ventilator. in which the skins are
blown Off like the chaff in threshing
but at the end the coffee flows out in
beans Of a light olive green. These
beans are of different sizes and shapes.
Some are almost round and others are
fiat or half-oval. like the Java coffee
you find in the stores. I have already
written of the little round beans from
the ends of the stalks. They are
known as Mocha coffee. The fiat beans
are Java and other varieties.
The next process is In the grading
machines. which sort them, and when
they come out through the different
pipes they are in grades each of It's
own size and of about the same shape.
Each grade has its own price and its
own name in the market. Some of 1t is
sold as Mocha. some as Java. some
Porto Rico and Guatemala. The coffee
is put into bags or sacks of 1872 pounds
each, and it is in this shape that 1t
is carried on the cars to the steamers
at Santos or Rio de Janeiro, from
where it goes to all parts of the world.
And this brings me to the price Of
coffee and how 1t falls and rises with
the size of the crop. The question of
price is as vital to Sac Paulo as tho
price of cotton is to our southern
states. They have the same agitation
here to the regulation of the coffee
crop that we have as to the regulation
of the cotton crop. Coffee can still be
grown at a profit at less than cents
pound. In times past the planters
have burnt immense stocks OF conee to
cut down the amount that would other
wise be thrown on the market. This
state of Sac Paulo has passed prohibi-
tive taxes with regard to the laying out
of fresh plantations, and 1t has tried
to corner the coffee crop. borrowing
at one time as much as $75.o0o.00o for
hat he q
movement for the valorization of coffee.
which raised the price in the United
States by the millions of dollars.
Some one has estimated that II made us
pay for while something like one
of cent more cup
for all that we drank At any rate. the
government took hold of the matter
and prevented the movement to GER
tain extent. At that time the valoriza-
tion schemers had on hand something
like 100000 bags of coffee.
The exports from Sac Paulo were to
be limited to something like 100000
sacks and the export tax was raised
from so cents to 81. The size of the
crop was reduced for time, but there
is no doubt but that any increase in
price will result in more planting and
the crop may again reach the famous
one of 1906. when Brazil produced more
than e0.O00.o00 bags. or more than
100000 900 pounds. At that time Sac
Paulo alone produced 15.o00.00o bags,
or 100000 more than the valorization
company decided should be annually
exported.
In the meantime the increase of tho
coffee crop of Brazil has been steady.
In the year 1900 the exports amounted
to less than 1000 pounds. In 1909 they
dc
that time Sac Paulo bought and stored
nearly 1.000.000.000 pounds to keep up
the prices.
There is also to be considered the fact
that other countries are raising more
and more coffee. Last year we bought
nearly 100, 100000 pounds from Colon
bia, 60.000,000 pounds from Venezuela
and 45.000.o00 pounds from Central
from Mexico and 100000 from other
parts of the world. These imports. all
told. formed about one-fourth of the
coffee we bought, the other three-
pounds. coming from Brazil. We are
raising more and more coffee in our
own territories. We got from Porto
Rico last year in the neighborhood OF
100000 pounds. or almost seven times
as much as we imported from there
before We took possession of that is
land.
We got three and one-half million
pounds from HaWaes, whereas unueI
the old regime we usually imported
something like 100000 pounds. Our
Porto Rican and Hawaiian conees are
steadily growing in favor. and they
now bring a higher price than the
coffees from other countries.
AS to the consumption of coffee, we
drink more than any other people. We
are now taking more than ten pounds
per capita, and the amount We con-
sumo is steadily increasing. The next
nation among the worlds coffee drink
ers is the German, and after it come
the Dutch, French, Belgian and the
Austro- Hungarian. The coffee produc-
tion of Ceylon and India is rapidly
increasing, the two now producing
more than $4,000, 600 pounds. In India
they are planting coffee in the shade
of the rubber trees, SO that that coun-
try is cutting into both rubber and
coffee, the two chief crops of Brazil.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.