In British Guiana it is now grown mainly for
domestic consumption, and the same is true of French Guiana, which also
imports.
From the time of its introduction, about 1718, until about 1880, the
only coffee grown in Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, was the _Coffea arabica_.
It was not a bountiful producer, and with labor scarce and unreliable,
its cultivation was expensive. Therefore experiment was made with the
_liberica_ plant. This proved to be very satisfactory, growing
luxuriantly, producing abundantly, and requiring minimum labor in care.
In 1918 some 16,000,000 pounds were produced.
ECUADOR. Though not of great commercial importance, coffee in Ecuador
grows on both the mainland and on the adjacent islands. The area planted
to coffee is estimated at 32,000 acres having an aggregate of about
8,000,000 trees. The trees blossom in December, and the picking season
is through April, May and June. Coffee ranks third in value among the
exports of the country.
PERU. Although possessed of natural coffee land and climate, little has
been done to develop the industry in Peru. A finely flavored coffee
grows at an altitude of 7,000 feet, while that grown in the lowlands
along the Pacific coast is not so desirable. Such small quantities as
are grown are cultivated in the mountain districts of Choquisongo,
Cajamarca, Perene, Paucartambo, Chaucghamayo, and Huanace. The
Pacific-coast district of Paces-mayo also grows a not unimportant crop.
BOLIVIA. Comparatively little attention is given to coffee cultivation
in Bolivia. Agricultural methods are crude, and are limited to cutting
down weeds and undergrowth twice a year. The coffee is planted in small
patches, or as hedges along the roads or around the fields of other
crops. The first crop is picked at the end of one and a half or two
years. The trees bear for fifteen to twenty years. The average yield is
from three to eight pounds per tree. The best grades of coffee are grown
at 2,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level.
Coffee is cultivated in the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa
Cruz, El Beni, and Chuquisca. In the department of Santa Cruz there are
plantations in the provinces of Sara, Velasco, Chiquitos and Cordillera.
In the Yungas and the Apolobamba districts of La Paz, its cultivation
reaches the greatest importance, but even there is not of large
proportions.
CHILE, PARAGUAY, AND ARGENTINA. Coffee is of minor, almost
insignificant, importance in the agriculture of
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