COFFEE. 



63 



Althougli by the extent of its present production scarcely meriting 

 priority of notice, I will give Martinique precedence in my retro- 

 spective survey. 



Martinique. — The annual produce of an hectare of land (21^ acres) 

 under coffee in Martinique is from 500 to 1000 lbs. Owing to the 

 attacks of the coffee insect [Elachysta Coffeola) impoverishment of the 

 soil, hurricanes, atmospheric influences, and other causes, the pro- 

 duction of coffee is declining here. In 1873 there were about 1270 

 acres under coffee, and new plantations have since been established. 

 There is a large island consumption, and hence the quantity shipped 

 is but trifling. The following shows the crops of late years in kilo- 

 grammes of a little over 2 lbs. : 



Kilos. 



1868 254,553 



1869 145,575 



Kilos. 



1870 169,480 



1873 210,000 



The shipments to France direct from Martinique vary considerably 

 and are but small in any year. 



Another French colony, Guadaloupe, was much indebted for its 

 ancient prosperity to coffee ; in 1790 it exported about 7,500,000 lbs., 

 in 1856, 6,943,239 lbs. Of late years the war, hurricanes, and the 

 attacks of the coffee insect, contributed greatly to diminish the pro- 

 duction. The shipments in 1861 were 655,290 lbs., and in 1874, 

 625,200 lbs. Nearly all produced here is sold in France as Marti- 

 nique coffee. There were in 1873 3588 hectares under cultivation 

 with coffee, the average produce being about 1000 lbs. per hectare. 



Jamaica is admirably suited for coffee culture from its elevated 

 mountain ranges, and the island used to produce large crops of a 

 very fine quality. The culture was introduced in 1728 ; in 1752, 

 60,000 lbs. were exported, and the average annual shipment in the 

 three years ending 1807 was 28,500^000 lbs. In 1844 there were 

 671 coffee plantations in the island, and it was estimated that 

 20,000,000/. was invested in coffee estates. But the culture was 

 almost entirely abandoned, the coffee planters of the East having long 

 quite outstripped those of the West Indies by the advantages of 

 capital, labour, and suitable land, with facilities for shipment. 

 Jamaica, among the British islands, is now paying increased atten- 

 tion to the growth of coffee, though the distance from ports of 

 shipment is often greater than it is in the smaller islands. 



There were 20,131 acres under coffee cultivation in Jamaica in 

 1874. The principal parishes in which coffee is grown are St, 

 Andrew's, St. Catherine's, Manchester, Clarendon, and St. Ann's. 



The following have been the exports for a series of years : 



Lbs. 



1859 5,055,089 



1860 6,176,589 



1861 6,715,581 



1862 5,467,802 



1863 8,184,869 



1864 4,141,903 



■1865 6,229,712 



1866 8,513,532 



Lbs. 



1867 6,264,861 



1868 7,855,488 



1869 5,501,887 



1870 9,671,564 



1871 5,611,245 



1872 9,510,739 



1873 7,199,144 



1874 10,351,570 



