COFFEE PLANTING IN BRAZIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5209, 1 December 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

COFFEE PLANTING IN BRAZIL.

(From a correspondent m umAltti C i/‘forn!-f.) 11l addressing ,V«IU at this time perhaps it may be of some interest to you to mention of the history ami traditions of the great coffee pro net umieh lias become important iu all the commercial centres of the worl i. It seems that coffee became known to civilisation about the time that Columbus aud Fan t In Ipecl to further intelligence anil to increase iho material hles-ings ami ailvantiges which the Creator iu the I ©ginning place. 1 at the ili-po-al of man for bis cultivation and advancement. The coffee tree is conceded to lie indigenous in tiontlicro Abyssinia and Arabia, and the first n-e made of the coffee bean is ascribed to a Dervish name 1 Umer who, in the year HIS 3, was d. icon out of Mocha, pur-lied among the rocks, and surrounded hy his enemies who kept guard o\ er his position, expecting to starve him. In the extren.i y of hunger he steeped s mie of the parciied berries in water to ipiench his thirst, ami thus diseovere I their agreeable flavor, an i found that the liquid was nutritions. His persecutors finding that he did not die after a number of days, regarded hi- preservation as a great miracle, ami ia’er cou-ide-ed liioi a Saint, and gifted with power to save life. A iMahomedaii High Priest, returning from Persia to Const intinople, introdne d the custom of coffee drinking among ids countrymen. Finding it very exhilarating he applied it to Ids monks who ir-" o f f-->-i p, n-| t at their devotions. Coffee as a beverage arm became so popular among the nia ses in Constantinople that a law was enacted that any one among the lower classes who refused to supply his wife with coffee committed an offence which was ample ground for procuring a divorce. From the city of the Sultan, the use of coffee passed into Western Europe. Some seeds were planted iu a botanical garden in Holland, whence plants were transmitted to gardens iu Paris, and thence to Martinique and Guadalupe, iu the West Indies, where it became an important staple. The plant soon

found its way to Uu!> i, where ic w.n fexfcensively cultivated, arid while nt mie time, Cuba was one of the principal coffee producing coim tries, at tlie pi'- ss it time i: does not produce enough for the consumption of the people. The Coffee product there seems suddenly to have been superseded by the cultivation of the sugar cone. About the time when Cuba discontinued the cultivation of coffee. Brazil began to di-contimie the cultivation of sugar and indigo. Coffee was introduced into Brazil in 175-1, but it was not until the port of Itio was op -n to free foreign trad", and high prices for coffee were riding in Europe, caused by the failing off in productions and increase of consumption, that the planters of Brazil extended the cultivation of coffee. The prices of slaves were low and long credits were given, so that the planters were able to pursue the planting and cultivation of the coffee tree, which lias resulted in making Brazil the leading coffee-producing country in the world. The coffee districts of Brazil are tfan Paulo and R.o de Janeiro. The greatest cnffie re'di-m is on the hanks of the Parahiba, in the Province of San Panin. The coffee fiel Is of Brazil are gradually increasing in magnitude, yet labor at the present time is inadequate to properly’ cul ivate a id secure the products of the lands now under cultivation. It is well known that there are localities where coffee B actually wasted because there is no labor to gather it. The question of labor promises to be a very serious problem to the material interests of Brazil. The people seem adverse to importing Chinese; yet the number of laborers is steadily deertasiog on account of the em mcipatioil of the slaves. Yet the intro luctiou of modern machinery, utilised in preparing coffee for the mirket, and tlsc five, hundred miles of railway connecting Rio and Santos and running through all the regions where coffee is at present mmt extensively cultivated, does away with a large amount of manual labor which was formerly necessary in threshing coffee and carrying it on pack animals great distances to the seaports. The coffees from Brazil are exported from the ports of Rio, Santos, and Bahia, although the latter place exports but litt'e. Santos exports annually about 1,090,009 bags ; the bulk finds its way to the markets of the world from Rio. The other exports of the country are cottop, sugar, tapioca, diamonds, dye-stuffs, hides, rubber, Brazil nuts, and fancy woods.

The city of JCi -> is most admirably situated. It skirts the southern shore of • the bay of the same name ; it is one of the most beautiful in the world. Upon entering the harbor from the Atlantic, the scene is among one of the most attractive landscapes of the world. The buy is surrounded by high hills and mountains, among which are included the Sugar Loaf, ('orcavado, and the famous Orange Mountains. The city is so well lighted'on the water front that the scene at uigat from the hay is very attractive and beautiful. ■ Toe moment the stranger enters the city the fascination vanishes. The streets are narrow, irregular, and filthy. The climate is almost unbearable on account of the extreme heat. Ic is not well built, yet it has some fine edifices, beautiful parks, and a few stately monuments, the most attractive of which is iu the centre of Constitution-square, which represents U. Pedro I. declaring the'Constitution of Brazil. The buildings as a rule are of low and quaint architecture. They are roofed with red fire-brick tiles, which soon become heated under the burning sun ; the heat from the roof and sides of the buildings is almost as unbearable in the night as in the sunlight. The sanitary statu oi the city is sadly neglected ; the water supply is inadequate to the requirements o' the people ; the sewers or the city are imperfect and without sufficient fall to keep them clear ; the mouths of the sewers empty into the hay, which has but little current or tide force; therefore, when you add to these mi-fo times the fact that there are a great number of uncleanly blacks and thousands of fidhy Italians of the lowest class, one may readily imagine that being in the Tropics, Rio is necessarily subjected to rainy fatal epidemics, which at times sweep away her population, iu a measure almost equal to the terrible caruageof the hattlefiel 1. Nearly all of the export trade from Rio is done by German, Knglish, French and American houses, who in turn also import from their respective countries the merchand se required here; yet Portugal does a considerable trade, principally in importing to Rio the products of Portugal. It seems almost impossible to realise the truth that the people ol this country in this age will allow strangers, those from other cou tries, to control so large and lucrative a part of their trade.