n be cultivated profitably; and is, in fact, more or less grown in
every state, if only for domestic use. However, little attention is
given to coffee-growing in the north, except in the state of Pernambuco,
which has only about 1,500,000 trees, as compared, with the 764,000,000
trees of Sao Paulo in 1922.

The chief coffee-growing plantations in Brazil are situated on plateaus
seldom less than 1,800 feet above sea-level, and ranging up to 4,000
feet. The mean annual temperature is approximately 70 deg. F., ranging
from a mean of 60.8 deg. in winter to a mean of 72 deg. in summer. The
temperature has been known, however, to register 32 deg. in winter and
97.7 deg. in summer.

While coffee trees will grow in almost any part of Brazil, experience
indicates that the two most fertile soils, the _terra roxa_ and the
_massape_, lie in the "coffee belts." The _terra roxa_ is a dark red
earth, and is practically confined to Sao Paulo, and to it is due the
predominant coffee productivity of that state. _Massape_ is a yellow,
dark red--or even black--soil, and occurs more or less contiguous to the
_terra roxa_. With a covering of loose sand, it makes excellent coffee
land.

Brazil planters follow the nursery-propagated method of planting, and
cultivate, prune, and spray their trees liberally. Transplanting is done
in the months from November to February.

Coffee-growing profits have shown a decided falling off in Brazil in
recent years. In 1900 it was not uncommon for a coffee estate to yield
an annual profit of from 100 to 250 percent. Ten years later the average
returns did not exceed twelve percent.

[Illustration: FAZENDA GUATAPARA, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, WITH 800,000 TREES
IN BEARING]

In Brazil's coffee belt there are two seasons--the wet, running from
September to March; and the dry, running from April to August. The
coffee trees are in bloom from September to December. The blossoms last
about four days, and are easily beaten off by light winds or rains. If
the rains or winds are violent, the green berries may be similarly
destroyed; so that great damage may be caused by unseasonable rains and
storms.

The harvest usually begins in April or May, and extends well into the
dry season. Even in the picking season, heavy rains and strong
winds--especially the latter--may do considerable damage; for in Brazil
shade trees and wind-breaks are the exception.

Approximately twenty-five percent of the Sao Paulo plantations are