WEST INDIAN COFFEES. 157 



Caracolillo or " Mexican pea-berry," is a concave- 

 convex bean, grown on the new wood at the end of 

 branches of trees that are pruned year after year; but 

 though not confined to any particular species, such trees 

 yield almost entirely male or pea-berry coffee, being the 

 only instance on record, and is considered the fanciest 

 grade grown in Mexico. 



Mexico possesses more and better coffee lands than 

 many other, countries where it is now extensively grown, 

 a small proportion of which only are under cultivation. 

 The popularity of the product increases as it becomes 

 better known, besides being the nearest and most accessi- 

 ble coffee producing country to the United States, the 

 largest and best coffee market in the world. More atten- 

 tion is now being directed to the cultivation of coffee in 

 Mexico, however, by both natives and foreigners than 

 has ever before been given to the industry in that country. 

 Native Mexicans are quietly, but steadily laying out new 

 coffee plantations or enlarging and reviving old ones 

 and many large tracts of land adapted to the growth of 

 coffee have recently been purchased there by foreigners 

 with that object. But while Mexico practically has no 

 limit to her production of coffee, yet the average annual 

 exports amounts only to about 10,000,000 pounds, the 

 bulk of which is shipped to France, where it is graded 

 as " Verde," or Green, and " Blanco," or White, the 

 United States receiving the largest proportion of the 

 remainder. 



The West India Islands at the beginning of the present 

 century were noted for the extensive quantity and excel- 

 lent quality of their coffee product, ranking at that period 

 with the largest coffee-growing countries of the world. 



