the Belgian duty not a tenth part; so
that the French do not use 1 lb. of coffee per head, while the
Belgians consume 7 lbs. each per annum. The proportion in England is
not more than 11/2 lb. per head to the population. The United States are
the largest consumers of coffee, as it is admitted into their ports
free of duty, and can therefore be sold for nearly the price per pound
which the British Government levies on it for revenue. The entire
consumption of the United States and British North America, calling
their population 23,000,000 and ours 30,000,000, exceeds ours, on an
estimate of population, by sixfold. Thus the average consumption of
coffee by each American, annually, is about 81/2 lbs., while the
quantity used by each person in the European States is less than 11/2
lb.

The changes in the sources of supply, within the last fifteen or
sixteen years, have been very remarkable. The British possessions in
the East have taken the place which our islands of the West formerly
occupied. The British West Indies have fallen off in their produce of
coffee from 30,000,000 to 4,000,000 lbs. Ceylon which, fifteen years
ago, had scarcely turned attention to coffee, now exports nearly
35,000,000 lbs. San Domingo, Cuba, and the French West India colonies
are gradually giving up coffee-cultivation in favor of other staples;
and it is only Brazil, Java, and some of the Central American
Republics that are able to render coffee a profitable crop. The export
crop of Brazil (the greatest coffee-producing country), grown in 1850,
for the supply of the year ending July, 1851, amounted to no less than
302,000,000 lbs., of this a large quantity remained in the interior to
supply the deficiency of the current year.

It is scarcely thirty years ago that the coffee-plant was first
introduced into Bengal by two refugees from Manilla; and the British
possessions in the East Indies now yield 42,000,000 lbs. Sufficient
extent has not yet been given to enable it to be decided in what
district of _Continental_ India it may be most advantageously
cultivated. It is in the fine island of Ceylon, however, that
coffee-culture has made the most rapid progress.

It is an important fact that the supply of coffee from Ceylon, even at
the present moment, and irrespective of land already planted but not
yet come into full bearing, is in excess of the whole consumption of
Great Britain, and the planter is thus compelled to carry the surplus
to contine