COFFEE. 



63 



Caracas coffee ranks in our market with good ordinary St. 

 Domiiigo. 



The decline in the produce of coffee in the British W^est India 

 possessions has been verr great. In 1338, ^Ye imported from the 

 "W^est India IsLinds and British Guiana 17i million pounds of 

 coffee, in 1850 we only received 4^ million pounds from thence. 

 The shipments from Jamaica have decreased from about 15 million 

 pounds in 1836, to 4 million pounds in 1850; Berbice and Deme- 

 rara. from 5 million pounds in 1837, to about 8,000 pounds in 1850. 



Production of coffee in tlie Brazils. — Porty-two years ago the 

 annual crop of coffee in Brazil did not exceed 30,000 bags, and 

 even in 1820 it only reached 100,000 bags. About that time the 

 high price of coffee in England, superadded to the diminished pro- 

 duction in Cuba, stimulated the Brazilian planters to extend its 

 cultivation, and in 1830 they sent to market 400,000 bags, or 

 64,090,000 lbs., and in 1847, the enormous quantity of 300,000,000 

 lbs. 



It would seem from the annexed figures that the production of 

 coffee in Brazil doubled every five years, up to 1840, since when it 

 has increased eighty per cent. The increase since 1835 has been 

 upwards of two hundred millions of pounds, and of that increase 

 the United States ha^"e taken one half. 



lbs. 



1820 .... 15,312,000 



1825 .... 29,201,600 



1830 .... 62,685,600 



1835 .... 100,346,400 



1840 .... 170,208,800 



1850 .... 303,556,960 



The sources from whence the United States derives its sup- 

 plies of coffee are shown in the following table : — 



Years. 



Brazil. 



Cuba. 



St. Domingo. 



Java. 



Total. 



1835 . . 



35,774,876 



29,373,675 



19,276,290 



4,728,890 



103,199,577 



1840 . . 



47,412,756 



25,331,888 



9,153,524 



4,343,254 



94,996,095 



1845 . . 



78,553,616 



1,157,794 



13,090,359 



3,925,716 



108,133,369 



1850 . . 



90,319,511 



3,740,803 



19,440,985 



5,146,961 



144,986,895 



1851 . . 



107,578,257 



3,009,084 



13,205,766 



2,423,968 



152,453,617 



Coffee, up to 1830, paid a duty in the United States of five 

 cents a pound. Since 1832 it has been free. 



The population of the United States in 1840 was, in round 

 numbers, seventeen millions ; the average consumption of coffee 

 for the three years ending 1841, 98 J millions of pounds, which gave a 

 consumption of Sflbs. per head. The average for the three years 

 endmg 1850, was 143 millions of pounds, and the population was 

 twenty-three millions, which gave a consumption of G^lbs. per 

 head. In 1830 the consumption was only 3 lbs. per head ; but 



