Panama. Panama presents a very favorable field for the growing of coffee. The best district is situated in the uplands of the district of Bugaba, where vast areas of the best lands for coffee-growing exist, and where climatic and other conditions are most favorable to its growth.
No shade is required in this country; and the only cultivation consists of three or four cleanings a year to keep down the weeds, as no plowing, etc., are necessary. Coffee matures from October to January. Water power being abundant, it is used for running all machinery.
The annual output of the province of Chiriqui, which produces the bulk of the coffee, is approximately 4,000 sacks of 100 pounds each; all of which is produced in the Boquete district at present, as the coffee planted in the Bugaba section is still young and unproductive. The local supply does not meet the domestic demand; and instead of exporting, a great deal is imported from adjoining countries, although, there is a protective tariff of six dollars per hundred pounds.
The Guianas. Coffee has had a precarious existence in the Guianas. Plants are said to have been brought by Dutch voyagers from Amsterdam in 1718 or 1720. They flourished in the new habitat to which they were introduced, and in 1725 were carried from Dutch Guiana into the district of Berbice in British Guiana and into French Guiana. There the berry was a considerable success for a time; Berbice coffee especially acquiring a good reputation; and when Demerara was settled, coffee became a staple of that region. Shortage of native labor, and the difficulty of procuring cheap and capable workers from outside the country, ultimately compelled the practical abandonment of the crop in all three sections, Dutch, French, and British. 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 Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina. In Uruguay the climate is altogether unsuitable for it.