Show coffee again Is making r headlines lead lines in world news brazils changed policy mystifies producers produce IS washington D C coffee famous bean that contributes to millions of american breakfasts is making world headlines again brazil worlds largest producer of coffee has reduced her export tax on the commodity and world coffee producers are wondering how this may affect their fortunes more than coffee trees three fifths of all there are in the world are busily producing coffee in brazils cool uplands and 38 33 or more other countries and colonies are adding to the world crop which reached tons in the last crop year enough to make two and a half pounds for every human has consumed far less coffee than it has produced and coffees success story has changed lately to a tale of woe with brazils own production increasing and other countries planting coffee trees to compete with her coffee prices have dropped hoping to improve the situation brazil began destroying part of her crop long before the united states began plowing under cotton and killing off pigs to boost prices brazil was burning surplus coffee by the ton since 1931 nearly bags or tons have been destroyed some of the ash was used as fertilizer on brazilian farms leading producers in new world in the crop year of 1936 37 brazil alone produced i a million bags more of coffee than the world consumed in the same period the standard bag of coffee weighs pounds world coffee production in that crop year was bags in excess of the amount consumed leading coffee producers next to brazil are colombia netherlands east indies venezuela guatemala and salvador once called intoxicant coffee trees thrive best on land from 1000 to feet above sea level in the tropics they are evergreen a and nd blossom two or three times a year coffee blossoms are pure white and fragrant and the berries are dark red very much like cherries the coffee bean is the seed of this berry strangely enough the leaves of the coffee tree contain more caffeine the stimulating alkaloid found in coffee than coffee beans in some regions for this reason a sort of tea has been made from coffee leaves but is not an especially pleasant drink because of the stimulating properties of coffee it was once con being on earth says the national geographic society coffee is an immigrant from ancient ethiopia that made good in the new world on the highlands of the old african kingdom recently conquered by italy coffee tr trees ees have grown wild since early times legend says the stimulating properties of coffee were discovered by a priest who noticed that goats refused to take their ordinary rest after eating coffee berries from ethiopia coffee crossed the red sea to arabia then traveled to java and final finally came as a vegetable immigrant to the americas coffees success story there began coffees real success story like many human immigrants coffee made good in the new world to an extent far beyond anything ever dreamed of in the old country south america became its greatest producer and north america its greatest consumer in the 1936 37 crop year brazil alone grew approximately 63 per cent of the worlds coffee production and the united states used half of all the coffee consumed Gons umed in the world abut but the world in recent years |