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 quantity 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 hardships 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 shipped 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 passed 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 altitudes. The tree was formerly grown at all altitudes, 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. [Illustration: 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.