A VISIT TO THE BRAZILIAN COFFEE 
COUNTRY 
By Rozgert De C. Warp, Harvarp UNIVERSITY, 
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. 
N THE gently sloping hillsides 
of the northern portion of a 
single State of the great Brazil- 
ian Republic there are growing 700 mil- 
lion coffee trees. Here on the famous 
rich, red soil (terra rossa), under extra- 
ordinarily favorable climatic conditions, 
the State of Sao Paulo is producing 
annually about three-quarters of the 
world’s total coffee crop. Small wonder 
is it that this State ranks so high in the 
number and in the character of its popu- 
lation; in the development of its rail- 
roads; in its general commercial and in- 
dustrial activity. Small wonder is it that 
the city of Sao Paulo is so full of life 
and energy; that Santos has become so 
famous a port; that the Santos docks and 
the Sao Paulo Railway attract so many 
visitors. Coffee is the mainspring of all 
this development. Coffee is the prevail- 
ing topic of conversation. Coffee is the 
key to the financial situation. Coffee is 
king. 
As a famous waterfall, or an immense 
steel plant, or a great forest, or a won- 
derful view attracts the traveler, so this 
remarkable Brazilian coffee district has 
a fascination all its own for the “globe- 
trotter,’ or for the more leisurely trav- 
eler who seeks to know something more 
definite about our South American neigh- 
bors; or, more particularly, for any one 
to whom man’s achievements in changing 
the face of nature by making the earth 
produce what he needs and what he finds 
profitable are a source of satisfaction and 
of inspiration. 
Recently the writer had the good for- 
tune to visit this famous coffee district. 
The direct object of the trip was for the 
purpose of collecting information, at first 
hand, concerning the general geographic, 
and especially the climatic, conditions 
under which the Brazilian coffee grows, 
and also for the purpose of seeing the 
various stages in the cultivation and har- 
vesting of coffee and in its preparation 
for market. Surely a crop whose impor- 
tance is so great that a national govern- 
ment has gone into the business of con- 
serving it deserves careful study. . 
The heart of the coffee country can be 
reached in less than three weeks from 
New York. To any one whose experi- 
ences in crossing the Atlantic are limited 
to the “Atlantic Ferry,” with its crowded 
steamers, its frequently boisterous seas, 
and its changeable and stormy weather, 
the voyage to and from Rio de Janeiro 
will be a delight which cannot fail to 
satisfy even those who are not naturally 
lovers of the sea. What can be more 
ideal for any one who is tired out with 
the wear and tear of a busy life than 
that voyage of 16 or 17 days from New 
York to Rio, over the calm seas and 
under the bright skies of the tropics? 
Most of the voyage is spent sailing in 
the trades, those wonderful easterly 
winds, blowing steadily day and night, 
year in and year out; where the sea is 
smooth, but where there are enough 
whitecaps to give it life; where the beau- 
tiful, cumulus clouds, like our own sum- 
mer clouds at home, only more slender 
and more delicate, shine brilliantly in the 
tropical sun by day, grow to larger size 
in the afternoon hours, sometimes giving 
brief showers, but dissolve after glorious 
sunsets; where the temperature never 
varies more than a very few degrees 
above and below 80, and is perfectly 
comfortable because of the fresh breeze. 
FROM RIO TO THE COFFEE CENTER 
From Rio de Janeiro a journey of 
about eight hours takes the traveler 
across the coast range of mountains 
‘(Serra do Mar) and along the valley of 
