All about coffeeUkers, William H. (William Harrison)
History
All about coffee
Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Coffee; Coffee Industry; Drinking customs
PORTO RICO. The cultivation of coffee in Porto Rico dates back to the
middle of the eighteenth century; but exportation does not seem to have
been much more than a million pounds a year until the first years of the
nineteenth century. Between 1837 and 1840, the average exportation was
about 10,000,000 pounds; and by 1865, this had risen to 24,000,000
pounds. Ten years later, it was 25,700,000 pounds. In recent years, it
has averaged about 37,000,000 pounds; the 1921 figure, including
shipments to continental United States, being 29,968,000 pounds.
Production since 1881 has been between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 pounds;
the heaviest being in 1896 when the total output was 62,628,337
pounds--the largest figure in the island's history. The industry was
greatly damaged by a disastrous storm in 1900, and was also adversely
affected by the European War, as a large part of Porto Rico's crop goes
to Europe. Porto Rican coffee has not been popular in the United States,
which takes only limited amounts. Cuba is one of the island's best
customers.
GUADELOUPE. Coffee production in Guadeloupe reached its highest point in
the latter part of the eighteenth century, when more than 8,000,000
pounds were raised. The figure was about 6,000,000 in 1808; but the
output declined during the succeeding decades, and forty years later was
only 375,000 pounds. The amount produced in 1885 was 986,000 pounds;
and there has been a gradual increase, so that the crop has been large
enough to permit the exportation of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 pounds, or
more, since the beginning of the present century. Exports in 1901 were
1,449,000 pounds; in 1908, 2,266,000 pounds; and in 1918, 2,144,000
pounds.
OTHER WEST INDIAN ISLANDS. Some little coffee is gathered for home
consumption in many other West Indian islands, but little is exported.
The island of Martinique, which is said to have seen the introduction of
the coffee plant into the western hemisphere, does not now raise enough
for its own use. Cuba was formerly one of the important centers of
production; but for various reasons the industry declined, and for many
years the country has imported most of its coffee supply. A century ago,
the plantations numbered 2,067; and the annual exportation amounted to
50,000,000 pounds. When the island became independent, steps were taken
to revive coffee planting; and in 1907 there were 1,411 plantations and
3,662,850 trees, producing 6,595,700 pounds of coffee. The Cubans,
however, now find it convenient to obtain their coffee from the
neighboring island of Porto Rico and from other sources; and
importations have remained around 20,000,000 pounds a year. In Trinidad
and Tobago, exports have reached as high as 1,000,000 pounds a year; but
in recent times they have fallen off heavily. St. Vincent exported 485
pounds in 1917, and Grenada, 251 pounds in 1916. The Leeward Islands
exported 1,415 pounds in 1917, and 2,946 pounds in 1916, the acreage
being 274, the same as for many years past.
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