A Flourishing Coffee Estate in Chiapas, Mexico
Laborers Bringing in the Day's Pickings, Near Bogota, Colombia
MILD-COFFEE CULTURE AND PREPARATION
Costa Rica. English, French, and German capital was heavily invested in Costa Rica before the war, and all three nations were interested in the coffee trade. For many years England had maintained the lead as a coffee customer, and shipments continued in large volume after the war. The following figures are for the crop year ending September 30:
| Coffee Exports from Costa Rica | |||
| Exported to | 1903 Pounds | 1913 Pounds | 1921 Pounds |
| United States | 6,388,236 | 1,625,866 | 14,137,605 |
| Great Britain | 27,756,661 | 23,464,827 | 13,418,527 |
| France | 1,241,816 | 741,548 | 313,538 |
| Germany | 2,676,841 | 2,581,055 | 376,649 |
| Other countries | 147,925 | 288,521 | 1,155,066 |
| ————— | ————— | ————— | |
| Total | 38,211,479 | 28,701,817 | 29,401,385 |
In 1900 total shipments were 35,496,055 pounds, of which 20,587,712 pounds went to Great Britain; 8,874,014 pounds to the United States; and 3,904,566 pounds to Germany.
"Other countries" in 1903 included Spain, 49,189 pounds; Italy, 4,104 pounds. In 1921, they included Netherlands, 837,496 pounds; Spain, 308,308 pounds; Chile, 9,259 pounds.
Mexico. Mexico has naturally sent most of her coffee across the border into the United States, and she continued to do so during and after the war. But she had worked up a very important trade with Europe, chiefly with Germany; and German capital, and German planters and merchants were prominent in the industry. France and England also were interested in the trade, and purchased annually several million pounds. During the war, as shown by the exports in its final year, this trade almost entirely ceased, and the United States and Spain remained as the only consumers of Mexican coffee. Details of the after-war trade are not yet available in published statistics. In the following table, 1900 and 1918 are calendar years, and 1913 is a fiscal year.
| Coffee Exports from Mexico | |||
| Exported to | 1900 Pounds | 1913 Pounds | 1918 Pounds |
| United States | 28,882,954 | 28,012,655 | 23,816,044 |
| Germany | 10,074,001 | 10,461,382 | ——— |
| Aus.-Hungary | 163,934 | 30,864 | ——— |
| Belgium | 25,855 | 39,722 | ——— |
| Spain | 546,132 | 184,941 | 6,184,494 |
| France | 3,927,294 | 4,482,011 | ——— |
| Netherlands | 220,607 | 46,296 | ——— |
| Great Britain | 3,848,605 | 2,170,669 | ——— |
| Cuba | 467,201 | 37,921 | 171,527 |
| Italy | 157,653 | 347,758 | ——— |
| Other countries | ——— | 655,073 | ——— |
| ————— | ————— | ————— | |
| Total | 48,314,236 | 46,469,292 | 30,172,065 |