World War, having taken more
than all the rest of the world put together. The world's chief coffee
"stream," so to speak, is now from Santos and Rio de Janeiro to New
York, other lesser streams being from these ports to Havre, Antwerp,
Amsterdam, and (in normal times) Hamburg; and from Java to Amsterdam and
Rotterdam. It is said that a movement, fostered by Belgium and Brazil,
is under way to have Antwerp succeed Hamburg as a coffee port.

The rise of Brazil to the place of all-important source of the world's
coffee was entirely a nineteenth century development. When the coffee
tree found its true home in southern Brazil in 1770, it began at once to
spread widely over the area of excellent soil; but there was little
exportation for thirty or forty years. By the middle of the nineteenth
century Brazil was contributing twice as much to the world's commerce as
her nearest competitor, the Dutch East Indies, exports in 1852-53 being
2,353,563 bags from Brazil and 1,190,543 bags from the Dutch East
Indies. The world's total that year was 4,567,000 bags, so that
Brazilian coffee represented about one-half of the total. This
proportion was roughly maintained during the latter half of the
nineteenth century, but has gradually increased since then to its
present three-fourths.

[Illustration: PRE-WAR AVERAGE ANNUAL IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED
STATES BY CONTINENTS

Fiscal years: 1910-1914

Total pounds: 899,339,327]

The most important single event in the history of Brazilian production
was the carrying out of the valorization scheme, by which the State of
Sao Paulo, in 1906 and 1907, purchased 8,474,623 bags of coffee, and
stored it in Santos, in New York, and in certain European ports, in
order to stabilize the price in the face of very heavy production. At
the same time, a law was passed limiting the exports to 10,000,000 bags
per year. This law has since been repealed. The story of valorization is
told more fully in chapter XXXI. The coffee thus purchased by the state
was placed in the hands of an international committee, which fed it into
the world's markets at the rate of several hundred thousand bags a year.
Good prices were realized for all coffee sold; and the plan was
successful, not only financially, but in the achievement of its main
object, the prevention of the ruin of planters through overproduction.

[Illustration: PRE-WAR AVERAGE ANNUAL IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED
STATES BY COUNTRIES

Fiscal