Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/217

Rh Cruz, held in Orizaba in the autumn, the export of coffee from the canton of Cordova for 1880 was 5,500,000 pounds; for 1881, from 7,000,000 to 7,500,000 pounds! The area in coffee trees is constantly being added to, and the trees themselves are growing rapidly, and I do not fear to predict for 1883 a crop yielding not far from 10,000,000 pounds. The trade is largely in the hands of New Orleans parties, who buy the berry at less than ten cents per pound.

Much is being said regarding the superiority of the coffee from Michoacan, but Michoacan is a far country, a country of volcanoes and internal strife. Experience has proved that coffee grown in one section can be raised equally well in another, and the difference

between the dry climate of Michoacan and this may be obtained by a change of altitude. Coffee introduced from Liberia into the West Indies flourished just as well as it did in Africa. The planters here are not insensible to the advantages sometimes resulting from a change of seed, and are experimenting with several varieties, chiefly with some from Colima. I must confess that I never tasted worse coffee than I got in Mexico; and if it is the result of my taste having been depraved by chicory, then give me chicory.