Chapter 45
Abyssinian, or wild, coffee is also known as Kaffa coffee, from one of the districts where it grows most abundantly in a state of nature. This coffee has a smaller bean and is less rich in aroma and flavor than the Harari; but the trees grow in such profusion that the possible supply, at the minimum of labor in gathering, is practically unlimited. It is said that in southwestern Abyssinia there are immense forests of it that have never been encroached upon except at the outskirts, where the natives lazily pick up the beans that have fallen to the ground. It is sh.e.l.led where it is found, in the most primitive fas.h.i.+on, and goes out in a dirty, mixed condition.
Formerly, much of this Kaffa coffee was sent to market through Boromeda, Harar, and Dire-Daoua. An average annual crop was about 6,000 bags, or 800,000 pounds, of which something more than one-half usually went through Harar. A customs and trading station has lately been established at Gambela, on the Sobat River: and with the development of this outlet, there has been a substantial and increasing exploitation of the wild-coffee plants since 1913. Large areas of land have been cleared, with a view to cultivation, and attention is being given to improved methods of harvesting and of preparing the coffee for the market. At one time a fair amount of coffee from this region went to Adis Abeba on the backs of pack mules, a journey of thirty-five or forty days, and then was carried to Jibuti, nearly 500 miles, part of the way by rail. Now practically all of it goes to Gambela, thence by steamers to Khartoum, and by rail to the s.h.i.+pping-point at Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES. Practically every part of Africa seems to be suitable for coffee cultivation, even United South Africa, in the southern part of the continent, producing 140,212 pounds in 1918. To name all the countries in which it is grown would be to list nearly all the political divisions of Africa. Among the largest producers are the British East African Protectorate, 18,735,572 pounds in 1918; French Somaliland, 11,222,736 pounds in 1917; Angola, 10,655,934 pounds in 1913; Uganda, 9,999,845 pounds in 1918; former German East Africa, 2,334,450 pounds in 1913; Cape Verde Islands, 1,442,910 pounds in 1916; Madagascar, 707,676 pounds in 1918; Liberia, 761,300 pounds in 1917; Eritrea, 728,840 pounds in 1918; St. Thomas and Prince's Islands, 484,350 pounds in 1916; and the Belgian Congo, 375,000 pounds in 1917.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A GALLA COFFEE GROWER, AND HIS HELPER, IN HIS GROVE OF YOUNG TREES NEAR HARAR]
ANGOLA. Coffee is Angola's second product, and there are large areas of wild-coffee trees. With a production of nearly 11,000,000 pounds, Angola ranks about third in Africa as a coffee-growing country. The coffee is gathered and sold by the natives, and there are also several European companies engaged in the coffee business. The chief coffee belt extends from the Quanza River northward to the Kongo at an alt.i.tude of 1,500 to 2,500 feet. In the Cazengo valley the wild trees are so thick that thinning out is the only operation necessary to the plantation-owner.
When the trees become too tall, they are simply cut off about two feet above ground; and new shoots appear from the trunks the following season.
The largest coffee plantation, owned by the Companhia Agricola de Cazengo, produced in 1913, a record year, nearly 1,500 tons.
LIBERIA. Coffee is native to Liberia, growing wild in the hinterland of the negro republic, and in the natural state the trees often attain a height of from thirty to forty feet. Cultivated Liberian coffee, _Coffea liberica_, has become a staple of the civilized inhabitants of the country, and is grown successfully in hot, moist lowlands or on hills that are not much elevated. On account of the size of the trees, only about four hundred can be planted to the acre. In recent years the native Africans have been planting thousands of trees in the district of Grand Cape Mount. Coffee is grown in all parts of the republic, but chiefly in Grand Cape Mount and Montserrado.
GENERAL OUTLOOK IN AFRICA. In the African countries under control of European governments much recent progress has been made in promoting coffee growing and in improving methods of cultivation.
British interests were reported in 1919 as having started a movement toward reviving interest in the coffee growing industry in the British possessions in Africa. The report stated that Uganda, in the East African Protectorate, had 21,000 acres under coffee cultivation, with 16,000 acres more in other parts of the Protectorate, and 1,300 acres in Nyasaland; also that there is no hope of an immediate revival of the industry in Natal, where it was killed twenty years ago by various pests; "but it should certainly be established in the warmer parts of Rhodesia; and in the northern part of the Transvaal an effort is being made to bring this form of enterprise into practical existence."
Coffee growing possibilities in British East Africa (Kenya Colony) are alluring, according to reports from planters in that region. Late in 1920, Major C.J. Ross, a British government officer there, said that "British East Africa is going to be one of the leading coffee countries of the world." Coffee grows wild in many parts of the Protectorate, but the natives are too lazy to pick even the wild berries.
On the more advanced plantations in all parts of Africa the approved cultivation methods of other leading countries are carefully followed; especial care being given to weeding and pruning, because of the rank growth of the tropics. On the whole, however, little attention is given to intensive methods.
ARABIA. Whether the coffee tree was first discovered indigenous in the mountains of Abyssinia, or in the Yemen district of Arabia, will probably always be a matter of contention. Many writers of Europe and Asia in the fifteenth century, when coffee was first brought to the attention of the people of Europe, agree on Arabia; but there is good reason to believe the plant was brought to Arabia from Abyssinia in the sixth century.
Once all the coffee of Arabia went to the outside world through the port of Mocha on the eastern coast of the Red Sea. Mocha, which never raised any coffee, is no longer of commercial importance; but its name has been permanently attached to the coffee of this country.
_Mocha_ (_Moka_, or _Morkha_) coffee (i.e. _Coffea arabica_) is raised princ.i.p.ally in the vilayet of Yemen, a district of southeastern Arabia.
Yemen extends from the north, southerly along the line of the Red Sea, nearly to the Gulf of Aden. With the exception of a narrow strip of land along the sh.o.r.es of
Coffee can be successfully grown in any part of Yemen, but its cultivation is confined to a few widely scattered districts, and the acreage is not large. The princ.i.p.al coffee regions are in the mountains between Taiz and Ibb, and between Ibb and Yerim, and Yerim and Sanaa, on the caravan route from Taiz to Sanaa; between Zabeed and Ibb, on the route from Taiz to Zabeed; between Hajelah and Menakha, on the route from Hodeida to Sanaa, and in the wild mountain ranges both to the north and south of that route; between Beit-el-Fakih and Obal; and between Manakha and Batham to the north of Bajil. The plant does best at elevations ranging from 3,500 to 6,500 feet.
[Ill.u.s.tration: WILD KAFFA COFFEE TREES NEAR ADIS ABEBA]
In the Yemen district, coffee is generally grown in small gardens. Large plantations, as they exist in other coffee-growing countries, are not seen in Arabia. Many of these small farms may be parts of a large estate belonging to some rich tribal chief. The native Arabs do not use coffee in the way it is used elsewhere in the world. They drink _kisher_, a beverage brewed from the husks of the berry and not from the bean.
Consequently, the entire crop goes into export. But bad conditions of trade routes, political disturbances, and small regional wars, absence of good cultivation methods, and heavy transit taxes imposed by the government, have combined to restrict the production of Yemen coffee.
Land for the coffee gardens is selected on hill-slopes, and is terraced with soil and small walls of stone until it reaches up like an amphitheater--often to a considerable height. The soil is well fertilized. For sowing, the seeds are thoroughly dried in ashes, and after being placed in the ground, are carefully watched, watered, and shaded. In about a year the shrub has grown to a height of twelve or more inches. Seedlings in that condition are set out in the gardens in rows, about ten to thirteen feet apart. The young trees receive moisture from neighboring wells or from irrigation ditches, and are shaded by bananas.
At maturity the trees reach a height of ten or fifteen feet. Since they never lose all their leaves at one time, they appear always green, and bear at the same time flowers and fruits, some of which are still green while others are ripe or approaching maturity. Thus, in some districts, the trees are considered to have two or even three crops a year. All the trees begin to bear about the end of the third year.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A RARE PICTURE SHOWING MOCHA COFFEE GROWING ON TERRACES IN YEMEN, ARABIA]
CUBA. Coffee can be grown in practically every island of the West Indies, but owing to the state of civilization in many of the lesser islands, little is produced for international trade, excepting in Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Tobago. In past years a considerable quant.i.ty of good-quality coffee was produced in Cuba, the annual export in the decade of 1840 averaging 50,000,000 pounds. Severe hurricanes, adverse legislation, the rise of coffee-growing in Brazil, the increase in cultivation of sugar and other more profitable crops, practically eliminated Cuba from the international coffee-export trade.
MARTINIQUE. This is a name well known to coffee men, the world over, as the pioneer coffee-growing country of the western hemisphere. Gabriel de Clieu introduced the coffee plant to the island in 1723 by bringing it through many hards.h.i.+ps from France. For a time, coffee flourished there, but now practically none is grown. Such coffee as bears the name Martinique in modern trade centers is produced in Guadeloupe, and is only s.h.i.+pped through Martinique.
JAMAICA. Coffee was introduced into Jamaica in 1730; and so highly was it regarded as a desirable addition to the agricultural resources of the island, that the British Parliament in 1732 pa.s.sed a special act providing for the encouraging and fostering of its cultivation. Later, it became one of the great staples of the country. Disastrous floods in 1815, and the gradual exhaustion of the best lands since then, have brought about a decline of the industry, which is now confined to a few estates in the Blue Mountains and to scattered "settler" or peasant cultivation in the same districts but at lower alt.i.tudes.
The tree was formerly grown at all alt.i.tudes, from sea-level to 5,000 feet; but the best height for it is about 4,500 feet. Four parishes lead in coffee producing: Manchester, with an area of 5,045 acres; St.
Thomas, with 2,315 acres; Clarendon, with 2,172 acres; St. Andrew, with 1,584 acres. Nine other parishes that raise coffee have less than 1,000 acres each under cultivation. There were 24,865 acres devoted to coffee in 1900. In addition, it was estimated that there were 80,000 acres suitable for the cultivation, nearly all being owned by the government.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PICKING BLUE MOUNTAIN BERRIES, JAMAICA]
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Coffee was once the leading staple in the Dominican Republic as in the adjoining Haitian Republic; but in recent years cacao, sugar, and tobacco have become the predominating crops. Said to have the world's richest and most productive soil, one-half of the republic's area is particularly suited to the cultivation of a good grade of coffee of the highland type. But political and industrial conditions have made for neglect of its cultivation by efficient methods. Lack of suitable roads has also militated against the development of the coffee industry.
In spite of many drawbacks, it is to be noted that, from the beginning of the twentieth century, the coffee-growing area has been gradually expanded until exports increased from less than 1,000,000 pounds to 5,029,316 pounds in 1918, although in the next two years there was a recession in the total exports to 1,358,825 pounds in 1920.
The princ.i.p.al plantations are in the vicinity of the town of Moca and in the districts of Santiago, Bani, and Barahona. Generally speaking, the methods of cultivation in the Dominican Republic are somewhat crude as compared with the practise in the larger countries of production in Central America and South America.
GUADELOUPE. Guadeloupe has an area of 619 square miles, and about one-third of this area is under cultivation. About 15,000 acres are in coffee, giving employment to upward of 10,000 persons. The average yield of a plantation of mature trees is about 535 pounds to the acre.
In the early years of the industry in Guadeloupe, production and export were considerable. From old records it appears that in 1784 the exports amounted to 7,500,000 pounds. During the closing years of the eighteenth century the annual exports were from 6,500,000 to 8,500,000 pounds, and in the beginning of the next century they registered about 6,000,000 pounds. Toward the middle of the nineteenth century the growing of sugar cane overtopped that of coffee in profit, and many planters abandoned coffee. After 1884, with the decadence of the sugar industry, coffee was again favored, the government giving substantial encouragement by paying bounties ranging from $15 to $19 per acre for all new coffee plantations.
In recent years, considerable _liberica_ and _robusta_ have been planted in place of the exhausted _arabica_.
[Ill.u.s.tration: COFFEE PICKERS RETURNING FROM THE FIELDS, GUADELOUPE]
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are small factors in international coffee trading. Coffee can be grown almost any place on the islands; but its cultivation is confined princ.i.p.ally to the districts of Maracas, Aripo, and North Oropouche. Both the _arabica_ and the _liberica_ varieties are grown.
HONDURAS. Soil, surface, and climate in Honduras, as far as they relate to the cultivation of coffee, are similar to those of the adjoining regions of Central America. The tree grows in the uplands of the interior, thriving best at an alt.i.tude of from 1,500 to 4,000 feet.
Scarcity of labor and insufficient means of transportation have been the chief obstacles in the way of the large development of the industry.
The departments of Santa Barbara, Copan, Cortez, La Paz, Choluteca, and El Paraiso have the princ.i.p.al plantations. The ports of s.h.i.+pment are Truxillo and Puerto Cortes. Annual production in recent years has been about 5,000,000 pounds. In 1889 the United States imported 3,322,502 pounds, but in 1915 its importations fell away to 665,912 pounds.
BRITISH HONDURAS. British Honduras has never undertaken to raise coffee on a commercial scale despite the fact that conditions are not unfavorable to its cultivation. It has failed to produce enough even for domestic consumption, importing most of what it has needed. Annual production, as recorded in recent years, has been upward of 10,000 pounds.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE-YEAR-OLD COFFEE TREES IN BLOSSOM, PANAMA]
PANAMA. Panama presents a very favorable field for the growing of coffee. The best district is situated in the uplands of the district of Bugaba, where vast areas of the best lands for coffee-growing exist, and where climatic and other conditions are most favorable to its growth.
No shade is required in this country; and the only cultivation consists of three or four cleanings a year to keep down the weeds, as no plowing, etc., are necessary. Coffee matures from October to January. Water power being abundant, it is used for running all machinery.
The annual output of the province of Chiriqui, which produces the bulk of the coffee, is approximately 4,000 sacks of 100 pounds each; all of which is produced in the Boquete district at present, as the coffee planted in the Bugaba section is still young and unproductive. The local supply does not meet the domestic demand; and instead of exporting, a great deal is imported from adjoining countries, although, there is a protective tariff of six dollars per hundred pounds.
THE GUIANAS. Coffee has had a precarious existence in the Guianas.
Plants are said to have been brought by Dutch voyagers from Amsterdam in 1718 or 1720. They flourished in the new habitat to which they were introduced, and in 1725 were carried from Dutch Guiana into the district of Berbice in British Guiana and into French Guiana. There the berry was a considerable success for a time; Berbice coffee especially acquiring a good reputation; and when Demerara was settled, coffee became a staple of that region. Shortage of native labor, and the difficulty of procuring cheap and capable workers from outside the country, ultimately compelled the practical abandonment of the crop in all three sections, Dutch, French, and British. In British Guiana it is now grown mainly for domestic consumption, and the same is true of French Guiana, which also imports.
From the time of its introduction, about 1718, until about 1880, the only coffee grown in Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, was the _Coffea arabica_.
It was not a bountiful producer, and with labor scarce and unreliable, its cultivation was expensive. Therefore experiment was made with the _liberica_ plant. This proved to be very satisfactory, growing luxuriantly, producing abundantly, and requiring minimum labor in care.
In 1918 some 16,000,000 pounds were produced.
ECUADOR. Though not of great commercial importance, coffee in Ecuador grows on both the mainland and on the adjacent islands. The area planted to coffee is estimated at 32,000 acres having an aggregate of about 8,000,000 trees. The trees blossom in December, and the picking season is through April, May and June. Coffee ranks third in value among the exports of the country.
PERU. Although possessed of natural coffee land and climate, little has been done to develop the industry in Peru. A finely flavored coffee grows at an alt.i.tude of 7,000 feet, while that grown in the lowlands along the Pacific coast is not so desirable. Such small quant.i.ties as are grown are cultivated in the mountain districts of Choquisongo, Cajamarca, Perene, Paucartambo, Chaucghamayo, and Huanace. The Pacific-coast district of Paces-mayo also grows a not unimportant crop.
BOLIVIA. Comparatively little attention is given to coffee cultivation in Bolivia. Agricultural methods are crude, and are limited to cutting down weeds and undergrowth twice a year. The coffee is planted in small patches, or as hedges along the roads or around the fields of other crops. The first crop is picked at the end of one and a half or two years. The trees bear for fifteen to twenty years. The average yield is from three to eight pounds per tree. The best grades of coffee are grown at 2,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level.
Coffee is cultivated in the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, El Beni, and Chuquisca. In the department of Santa Cruz there are plantations in the provinces of Sara, Velasco, Chiquitos and Cordillera.