CHAPTEE XIX. 



COFFEE PEODtrCT OF CENTRAL AMEEICA. 



Coffee is the chief article of export from the Central Amer- 

 ican States. The climate and soil are well adapted to its cultiva- 

 tion. The finest coffee is raised on the highlands, and is pos- 

 sessed of a delicate aromatic flavor, vs^hile its drinking qualities 

 equal, if they do not surpass, the better-known Java and Mocha. 

 The States of Costa Rica and Guatemala lead in the cultivation 

 of this variety, and then, in the order named, San Salvador, 

 Nicaragua, and Honduras. In 1845 the Republic of Costa Eica 

 passed a decree encouraging the development of coffee plantations. 

 The sides of the magnificent hills about the towns of San Jose 

 and Cartago were soon covered with coffee-trees, the planters 

 rapidly growing rich from the product. Thirty-five years ago 

 coffee culture in Costa Rica amounted to very little, while in 1876 

 the crop was 18,000,000 pounds ; in 1877, 25,987,101 pounds ; 

 and in 1878, 18,065,206 pounds. 



Li the New York market the term Costa Rica was formerly 

 applied to all imports of coffee from Central America, but re- 

 cently the Central American product has further taken the dis- 

 tinctive names of the various states from whence it comes. 



Definite statistical information respecting the crops of the dif- ■ 

 ferent states in Central America is hard to obtain. ' An estimate 

 made in February, 1881, by importers in this city largely inter- 

 ested in the Central American coffee trade, places the average 

 crop of Guatemala at 300,000 to 350,000 quintals (30,000,000 

 to 35,000,000 pounds) ; Costa Rica, 300,000 to 350,000 quintals 

 (30,000,000 to 35,000,000 pounds); Salvador, 150,000 quintals 

 (15,000,000 pounds); Nicaragua, 25,000 quintals (25,000,000 

 pounds); Honduras, 10,000 quintals (10,000,000 pounds)— a 



