n the different
producing countries. The foregoing description covers the underlying
principles in practise throughout the world; while the following is
intended to show the local variations in vogue in the principal
countries of production, together with brief descriptions of the main
producing districts, the altitudes, character of soil, climate, and
other factors that are peculiar to each country. In general, they are
considered in the order of their relative importance as producing
countries.

BRAZIL. In Brazil, the Giant of South America, and the world's largest
coffee producer, the methods of cultivation naturally have reached a
high point of development, although the soil and the climate were not at
first regarded as favorable. The year 1723 is generally accepted as the
date of the introduction of the coffee plant into Brazil from French
Guiana. Coffee planting was slow in developing, however, until 1732,
when the governor of the states of Para and Maranhao urged its
cultivation. Sixteen years later, there were 17,000 trees in Para. From
that year on, slow but steady progress was made; and by 1770, an export
trade had been begun from the port of Para to countries in Europe.

[Illustration: UP-TO-DATE WEEDING AND HARROWING, SAO PAULO]

The spread of the industry began about this time. The coffee tree was
introduced into the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1770. From there its
cultivation was gradually extended into the states of Sao Paulo, Minas
Geraes, Bahia, and Espirito Santo, which have become the great
coffee-producing sections of Brazil. The cultivation of the plant did
not become especially noteworthy until the third decade of the
nineteenth century. Large crops were gathered in the season of 1842-43;
and by the middle of the century, the plantations were producing
annually more than 2,000,000 bags.

[Illustration: Photograph by Courtesy of J. Aron & Co.

GENERAL VIEW OF FAZENDA DUMONT, RIBEIRAO PRETO, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL]

Brazil's commercial coffee-growing region has an estimated area of
approximately 1,158,000 square miles, and extends from the river Amazon
to the southern border of the state of Sao Paulo, and from the Atlantic
coast to the western boundary of the state of Matto Grosso. This area is
larger than that section of the United States lying east of the
Mississippi River, with Texas added. In every state of the republic,
from Ceara in the north to Santa Catharina in the south, the coffee tree
ca