37 



Ibs. 



1855 ..- $! . 11,506,283 



1856 '. i 4<K-;;- : . 9,935,000 



1857 . r / - 8,245,000 



1858 v . '<..- . 9,814,000 



1859 . . ; --. . 13,457,000 



The exports of coffee from the island of CUBA, which were 

 in 1840 upwards of 2,000,000 arrobas, were in 1858 but 

 21,000 ; and in 1859, 5000 or 6000. 



BHAZIL. The coffee-plant has been known in Brazil for 

 many years ; it is but about fifty years, however, since the 

 first regular plantation was made by Mr. Moke, a Belgian, 

 who brought the cultivation of coffee to great perfection. His 

 plantation is still in the neighbourhood of the capital, and is 

 carried on by his son with much success. It is astonishing 

 to what an extent coffee has been cultivated since Mr. Moke 

 first made his plantation. Two millions of bags of 160 Ibs. 

 each are annually exported from Bio de Janeiro, taking the 

 average of the last seven years ; 1862 was, however, short of 

 this about half a million bags. At Barahyba do Sul, which is 

 within a few miles of B,io, there are plantations employing six 

 and seven hundred slaves. 



The best plantations are those owned and conducted by 

 foreigners chiefly English, French, and Belgian they have 

 an air of neatness and comfort about them of which those 

 owned by Brazilians and Portuguese 'are totally destitute. 

 The foreigners use improved machinery also in preparing the 

 berry for market, which the Brazilians, with some exceptions, 

 do not. The coffee-berry contains two seeds, covered with a 

 gummy, mucilaginous substance, and enclosed in a skin which 

 is thick, sweet, and dark and red when ripe. The foreigners 

 take off this skin by means of machinery, and the beans are 

 washed until they are divested of the mucilage which covers 

 them. They are then dried and put into bags ready for market. 



