obtain advances on their crops from
the importing houses in New York, Havre, Hamburg, or other foreign
centers.

[Illustration: THE TEST BY CUPS, SANTOS]

_The Exchange at Santos_

A new coffee exchange began business at Santos on May 1, 1917, sitting
with the Coffee Brokers Board of Control. This Board consists of five
coffee brokers, four elected annually at a general meeting of the
brokers of Santos, and one chosen annually by the president of the state
of Sao Paulo. Among the duties of the Board are the classification and
valuation of coffee, adjustment of differences, etc.

[Illustration: WHERE COFFEES ARE SIGHT-GRADED BEFORE BEING SUBMITTED TO
CUP TESTS]

[Illustration: HAND & RAND BUILDING: FIRST FLOOR, STORAGE; SECOND FLOOR,
OFFICES]

[Illustration: NEW YORK COFFEE IMPORTERS' MODEL ESTABLISHMENT AT SANTOS]

[Illustration: PACK-MULE TRANSPORT IN VENEZUELA]

_Transporting Coffee to Points of Export_

Transportation methods from plantation to shipside naturally vary with
local topographical and economic conditions. In Venezuela, the bulk of
the coffee is transported by pack-mule from the plantations and shipping
towns to the head of the railroad system, and thence by rail to the
Catatumbo River, where it is carried in small steamers down the river
and across Lake Maracaibo to the city of Maracaibo. In Colombia, coffee
is sent down the Magdalena River aboard small steamers direct to the
seaboard. In Central America, transportation is one of the most serious
problems facing the grower. The roads are poor, and in the rainy season
are sometimes deep with mud; so much so that it may require a week to
drive a wagon-load of coffee to the railroad or the river shipping
point.

[Illustration: COFFEE-CARRYING CART, GUATEMALA]

_Buying Coffee in Abyssinia_

Coffee is generally grown in Abyssinia by small farmers, who mostly
finance themselves and sell the crop to native brokers, who in turn sell
it to representatives of foreign houses in the larger trading centers.
Trading methods between farmer and broker are not much more than the old
system of barter. In the southwestern section, where the Abyssinian
coffee grows wild, transport to the nearest trading center is by mule
train, and not infrequently by camel back. In the Harar district, the
women of the farmers living near Harar the market center, carry the
coffee in long shallow baskets on their heads to the native brokers. In
the more remote places the