WHERE COFFEE GROWS
_Locating the principal coffee-growing districts
in the world’s coffee belt—With a commercial coffee
chart of the leading growths, giving market names and
general trade characteristics._
The coffee belt of the world lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the
Tropic of Capricorn. The coffee tree, while native to Abyssinia and
Ethiopia, grows well in Java, Sumatra, and other islands of the Dutch
East Indies; in India, Arabia, equatorial Africa, the Pacific islands,
Mexico, Central and South America, and the West Indies.
The leading growths that find favor in the world’s markets are listed
in the Commercial Coffee Chart on page 36, reproduced from _All About
Coffee_, where they are described in greater detail. Their general
trade uses are, however, discussed farther along in this work in the
chapter entitled, “Green and Roasted Coffee Characteristics.”
Mexico is the principal producing country in the northern part of the
western continent, and Brazil in the southern part. In Africa, the
eastern coast furnishes the greater part of the supply; while, in Asia,
the Netherlands Indies, British India, and Arabia lead.
Within the last two decades there has been an expansion of the
production areas in South America, Africa, and in southeastern Asia,
and a contraction in British India and the Netherlands Indies.
In Mexico, although coffee growing is widely distributed in most of
the more southern states, the principal coffee territory is Vera
Cruz, where lie the districts of Cordoba, Orizaba, Huatusco, and
Coatepec. In the same region are the Jalapa district and the mountains
of Puebla, where considerable coffee is grown. Farther south are
the Oaxaca districts on the mountain slopes of the Pacific Coast,
and still farther south the districts in the state of Chiapas. The
youngest district is Soconusco. On the Gulf slope of Oaxaca are many
plantations; also in the western regions of the table lands of Colima
and Michoacan.
In Guatemala, coffee is grown on the table lands of three great
mountain ranges. The principal districts are Costa Cuca, Costa Grande,
Barberena, Tumbador, Coban, Costa de Cucho, Chicacao, Xolhuitz,
Pochuta, Malacatan, San Marcos, Chuva, Panan, Turgo, Escuintla, San
Vincente, Pacaya, Antigua, Moran, Amatitlan, Sumatan, Palmar, Zunil,
and Montagua.
In Salvador, the berry is grown in all districts that have altitudes
of 1,500 to 4,000 feet. The most productive plantations are in the
departments of La Paz, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, San Salvador, San
Vincente, San Miguel, Santa Tecla, and Ahuachapam.
In Costa Rica, the coffee-growing districts are principally on the
Pacific slope and in the central plateaus of the interior. Plantations
are in the provinces of Cartago, Tres Rios, San José, Heredia, and
Alajuela.
The principal plantations in Honduras are in the departments of Santa
Barbara, Copan, Cortez, La Paz, Choluteca, and El Paraiso. British
Honduras doesn’t raise enough coffee for domestic consumption. In
Nicaragua, the most extensive plantings are in the departments of
Managua, Carazo, Matagalpa, Chontales, and Jinotega. The best district
for coffee growing in Panama is Bugaba, where great suitable areas
exist, but the Boquete district in the province of Chiriqui produces
the bulk of Panama’s coffee.
On the island of Haiti, coffee grows well in the republic of Haiti
and in the Dominican Republic. The principal plantations are in the
vicinity of the town of Moca in the eastern or Santo Domingo section of
the island, and in the districts of Santiago, Bani, and Barahona.
In Jamaica four parishes lead in coffee producing,—Manchester, St.
Thomas, Clarendon, and St. Andrew. A few estates in the Blue Mountains
produce the famed Blue Mountain variety.
In Porto Rico, the coffee belt extends through the western half of the
island beginning in the hills along the south coast around Ponce and
extending north through the center of the island almost to Arecibo,
near the western end of the north coast. Some coffee is grown in 64 of
the 68 municipalities. The largest plantations are in Utuado, Adjuntas,
Lares, Las Marias, Yauco, Maricao, San Sebastian, Mayaguez, Ciales, and
Ponce.
Coffee can be grown in practically every island of the West Indies,
and is grown in a small way in many of them. Little is produced for
international trade except in the islands already mentioned. Cuba was
formerly a heavy producer, but now only a small quantity is grown
there, and she has been forced to import from Porto Rico to supply
her own needs. Guadeloupe grows coffee, some of which is shipped to
Martinique and exported as the product of that country; no longer the
coffee producer it was in the 18th century after De Clieu introduced
the plant there. Small amounts of coffee are grown on Trinidad and
Tobago.
Colombian coffees are grown in nearly all departments where the
elevations range from 3,500 to 6,500 feet. Chief among them are
Antioquia (capital, Medellin); Caldas (capital, Manizales); Magdalena
(capital, Santa Marta); Santander (capital, Bucaramanga); Tolima
(capital, Ibague); and the Federal District (capital, Bogotá). The
department of Cundinamarca produces a coffee that is counted one of the
best of Colombian grades. The finest grades are grown in the foothills
of the Andes, in altitudes 3,500 to 4,500 feet above sea level.
In Venezuela, there are no great coffee belts as in Mexico and Central
America. Many districts are days rides apart. The chain of the Maritime
Andes, reaching eastward across Colombia and Venezuela, approaches the
Caribbean coast in the latter country. Along the slopes and foothills
of these mountains are produced some of the finest grades of South
American coffee. Here the best coffee grows in the _tierra templada_
and in the lower part of the _tierra fria_, and is known as the _café
de tierra fria_, or coffee of the cold, or high, land. In these regions
the equable climate, the constant and adequate moisture, the rich
and well-drained soil, and the protecting forest shade afford the
conditions under which the plant grows and thrives best. On the fertile
lowland valleys nearer the coast grows the _café de tierra caliente_,
or coffee of the hot land.
The Guianas (British, Dutch, and French) grow coffee, but little more
than is needed for home consumption.
Brazil’s commercial coffee-growing region has an estimated area of
1,158,000 square miles, and extends from the river Amazon to the
southern border of the state of São Paulo, and from the Atlantic
Coast to the western boundary of the state of Matto Grosso. This area
is larger than that section of the United States lying east of the
Mississippi River, with Texas added. In every state of the republic,
from Ceará in the north to Santa Catharina in the south, the coffee
tree can be cultivated profitably, and is, in fact, more or less grown
in every state, if only for domestic use. However, little attention is
given to coffee growing in the north, except in Pernambuco, which has
only about 1,500,000 trees, as compared with the 764,000,000 trees of
São Paulo in 1922.
The chief coffee-growing plantations in Brazil are on plateaus seldom
less than 1,800 feet above sea level, and ranging up to 4,000 feet. The
principal coffee-growing districts are in the states of São Paulo, Rio,
Minas Geraes, Bahia, and Espirito Santo.
Coffee is grown in a small way in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile,
Paraguay, and Argentina. Ecuador gives the greatest promise. Cayo is
the leading district.
In Arabia, coffee growing is confined to the mountains in the vilayet
of Yemen, a district along the southwestern coast, back from the Red
Sea. Coffee can be grown almost anywhere in Yemen, but it is cultivated
entirely in small gardens in a few scattered districts, and the total
acreage is not large.
In India, half of the coffee-producing area is in Mysore; other
plantations are to be found in Kurg (Coorg), the Madras districts of
Malabar, and in the Nilgiri hills.
In the East India Islands, Java and Sumatra lead. Coffee is produced
commercially in nearly every political district in Java, but the
bulk of the yield is obtained from East Java. The names best known
to the trade are those of the regencies of Besoeki and Pasoeroean,
because their coffees make up 87 percent of Java’s production. Some of
the better known districts are Preanger, Cheribon, Kadoe, Samarang,
Soerabaya, and Tegal. Practically all the coffee districts in Sumatra
are on the west coast, with Padang as headquarters. The best known
are Angola, Siboga, Ayer Bangies, Mandheling, Palembang, Padang, and
Benkoelen. The east coast has recently gone in for heavy plantings of
_Robusta_. Coffee is also grown in several other islands of Dutch East
Indies, chiefly Celebes, Bali, Lombok, the Moluccas, and Timor. In the
Malay States, _Liberica_ is mostly grown.
In Africa, Abyssinia supplies two coffees known as Harar and
Abyssinian. The former is grown in the province of Harar and mostly
around the city of Harar. The latter is the fruit of wild _Arabica_
trees that grow mainly in the provinces of Sidamo, Kaffa, and Guma.
Coffee also grows in Angola, where there are large areas of wild trees;
in Liberia, Uganda, Nyasaland, and Kenya Colony.
The Kona side of the island of Hawaii produces the best known Hawaiian
coffee. Other districts are Hamakua, Puna, and Olaa.
The Philippines produce a negligible amount of coffee, as does also
the Queensland district of Australia. The industry is being developed
in French Indo-China, however, where _Robusta_ has been found to do
very well. Some coffee is still grown in Ceylon, but it is commercially
unimportant.
COMMERCIAL COFFEE CHART
World’s Leading Growths, with Market Names and General Trade
Characteristics
==========+===========+===========+==============+==================
_Grand_ |_Country_ |_Principal_|_Best Known_ |_Trade_
_Division_| |_Shipping_ |_Market Names_|_Characteristics_
| | _Ports_ | |
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+—————————-
North |Mexico |Vera Cruz |Coatepec |Greenish to yellow
America | | |Huatusco |bean; mild flavor.
| | |Orizaba |
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+——————————————————
Central |Guatemala |Puerto |Coban |Waxy, bluish bean;
America | | Barrios |Antigua | mellow flavor.
| | | |
|Salvador |La Libertad|Santa Ana |Smooth, green bean,
| | |Santa Tecla | neutral flavor.
| | | |
|Nicaragua |Corinto |Matagalpa |Large blue washed,
| | | | fancy roast;
| | | | acid cup.
| | | |
|Costa Rica |Puerto |Costa Ricas |Blue-greenish bean;
| | Limon | | mild flavor.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
West |Haiti |Cape |Haiti |Blue bean; rich,
Indies | | Haitien | | fairly acid;
| | | | sweet flavor.
| | | |
|Santo |Santo |Santo Domingo |Flat, greenish-
| Domingo | Domingo | |yellow bean;
| | | | strong flavor.
| | | |
|Jamaica |Kingston |Blue Mountain |Bluish-green bean;
| | | | rich, full flavor.
| | | |
|Porto Rico |Ponce |Porto Ricans |Gray-blue bean;
| | | | strong, heavy
| | | | flavor.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
South |Colombia |Savanilla |Medellin |Greenish-yellow
America | | |Manizales | bean; rich, mellow
| | |Bogota | flavor.
| | |Bucaramanga |
| | | |
|Venezuela |La Guaira |Merida |Greenish-yellow
| |Maracaibo |Cucuta | bean; mild, mellow
| | |Caracas | flavor.
| | | |
|Brazil |Santos |Santos |Small bean; mild
| |Rio de |Rio | flavor. Large
| | Janeiro | | bean; strong cup.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
Asia |Arabia |Aden |Mocha |Small, short, green
| | | | to yellow bean;
| | | | unique, mild
| | | | flavor.
| | | |
|India |Madras |Mysore |Small to large,
| |Calicut |Coorg (Kurg) | blue-green bean;
| | | | strong flavor.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
East |Malay |Penang |Straits |Liberian and
India |States | (Geo’t’n)|Liberian | Robusta growths
Islands | |Singapore |Robusta | for Malaysia.
| | | |
|Sumatra |Padang |Mandeheling |Large, yellow to
| | |Angola | brown bean; heavy
| | |Ayer Bangies | body; exquisite
| | | | flavor.
| | | |
|Java |Batavia |Preanger |Small, blue to
| | |Cheribon, | yellow bean, light
| | | Kroe | in cup.
| | | |
|Celebes |Menado |Minahassa |Large, yellow bean;
| |Macassar | |aromatic cup.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
Africa |Abyssinia | Jibuti |Harar |Large, blue to
| | |Abyssinia | yellow bean; very
| | | | like Mocha.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
Pacific |Hawaiian | Honolulu |Kona |Large, blue, flinty
Islands |Islands | |Puna |bean; mildly acid.
| | | |
|Philippines| Manila |Manila |Yellow and brown
| | | | large bean;
| | | | mild cup.
——————————+———————————+———————————+——————————————+———————————————————
[Illustration: COFFEE NURSERY UNDER A BAMBOO ROOF IN COLOMBIA]