153 corFEE. 



the best grades of Maracaibo. In color it varies from a dark to a 

 light grayish green. When roasted it has a heavier body than 

 Java or Maracaibo, possessing a fine, rich flavor, considered by 

 experts as equal to the finest kinds grown. It is worth noticing 

 that in opposite quarters of the globe, Costa Eica and South In- 

 dia occupy the same north latitude, and that their respective 

 growths approach one another in quality. The Costa Kica pea- 

 berry is a very fine coffee, that is often sold for Mocha. It is 

 grown upon Mocha shoots, but it loses the hard flinty appearance 

 of the true Mocha bean, and varies from it in size and color. The 

 difference in climate and soil also changes its flavor from that of 

 the true Arabian product. 



The cultivation of the coffee tree in Guatemala is increasing, 

 so much so that it is expected the export will reach 20,000 tons 

 within the next five years. In 1875, the export was 7,302 tons, 

 and in 1876, 9,260 tons. The yield on the Pacific slope reaches 

 three pounds per tree, and in specially favored spots as high as five 

 pounds, while on the Atlantic side, in the Yera Paz, or Coban dis- 

 trict, only one pound is obtained. The Guatemala bean varies 

 from a dark to a bluish green. Some of it runs unusually uniform 

 in size, as it is carefully picked over several times. The finer 

 grades are regarded as equal in flavor, and by some judges, supe- 

 rior to any other coffee grown. The Salvador bean is of a yellow 

 cast, and is possessed of a very sweet smell. The product of Hon- 

 duras is mottled in appearance, and the beans broken. Nicaragua 

 produces but little, the whole of which goes to market as Costa 

 Bica or Guatemala coffee. 



Recently some 70,000 trees have been planted in the Chiriqui 

 district, in the State of Panama, and this marks the beginning of 

 the enterprise in that state. 



A San Francisco trade report for the year 1880, says : 



" "We are slowly but surely obtaining the whole of the trade 

 in Central American coffee grown on the Pacific coast. During 

 the past year imports exceeded by over six and a half million 

 pounds those of 1879, and by more than four million pounds those 

 of the greatest importing year ever before noted. The shipments 

 from Costa Eica during 1880 were unusually large, being aug- 

 mented by that portion of the previous crop, which, owing to 



