237,448 acres; in 1896, as
303,944 acres. Since then there has been a progressive decrease on
account of damage from leaf diseases difficult to combat, and by
competition with Brazilian coffee.

New land that had just been planted with coffee in plantations reported
for 1919-20 amounted to 7,012 acres; while the area abandoned was 8,725
acres, representing a net decrease in cultivated area of 1,713 acres.

[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF A COFFEE ESTATE IN MYSORE, INDIA]

Of the total area devoted to coffee cultivation (126,919 acres), 49
percent was in Mysore, which yielded 35 percent of the total production;
while Madras, with 23 percent of the total area, yielded 38 percent of
the production. The total production for the year 1920-21 is reported as
26,902,471 pounds.

Yield varies throughout the country according to the methods of
cultivation and the condition of the season. On the best estates in a
good season, the yield per acre may be as high as 1,100 or 1,200 pounds,
and on poor estates it may not be over 200 or 300 pounds. The _arabica_
variety is chiefly cultivated. The _robusta_ and _Maragogipe_ have been
tried, but without much success.

A representative plantation is the Santaverre in Mysore, comprising 400
acres, at an elevation of from 4,000 to 4,500 feet, where the coffee
trees, cultivated under shade, produce from 100 to 250 tons of coffee a
year. Other prominent estates in Mysore are Cannon's Baloor and
Mylemoney, the Hoskahn, and the Sumpigay Khan.

NICARAGUA. Coffee trees will grow well anywhere in Nicaragua, but the
best locations have altitudes of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea
level. At such elevations the yield varies from one pound to five pounds
per tree annually; but above or below those, the average production
diminishes to from one pound to one-half pound a tree.

Lands most suitable for the berry are on the Sierra de Managua, in
Diriambe, San Marcos, and Jinotega, and about the base of the volcano
Monbacho near Granada. Good land is also found on the island Omotepe in
Lake Nicaragua, and around Boaco in the department of Chontales, where
cultivation was begun in 1893.

There are also plantations in the vicinity of Esteli and Lomati in the
department of Neuva Segovia. The most extensive operations are in the
departments of Managua, Carazo, Matagalpa, Chontales, and Jinotega, and
from those regions the annual crop has attained to such quantity that it
has become the chief agricu