SECTION III.. Production and Supply.

PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY.

The changes in the sources of supply of coffee within the last quarter of a century are very remarkable. The British possessions in the East, where land and labour is cheap, have taken the place which our Western possessions formerly occupied.

The British West India Islands and Demerara have fallen off in their production of coffee from 30,000,000 lbs. to 4,000,000 lbs. San Domingo, Cuba, and the French West India colonies are also gradually giving up coffee culture in favour of other staples. It is chiefly Brazil, some of the Central American republics, Java, Ceylon, and British India, that are able to render coffee a profitable crop.

At the close of the last century the consumption of coffee was under one million pounds; the only descriptions then known in the London market were Grenada, Jamaica, and Mocha--the two former averaging about 5l. per cwt., and the latter 20l. per cwt. Grenada coffee is now unknown, and Ceylon, Java, and Brazil are the largest producers.

In 1760 the total quantity of coffee consumed in the United Kingdom was 262,000 lbs., or three-quarters of an ounce to each person in the population.

From 1801 to 1804 the average quantity of coffee consumed by each individual of the population was only about 1 oz., whilst 1½ lbs. of tea per head was used. From 1805 to 1809 the consumption of coffee was 3 oz. per head. From 1810 to 1824, when the duty was reduced by about one-third, the consumption was 8 oz. After this, when the duty on British-grown coffee was further reduced to 9d. and 6d. the pound, the consumption rose to 1 lb., and by 1850 to 1½ lbs. But this consumption was not uniform for the United Kingdom, for while in England 1 lb. 12 oz. was used, in Scotland only 6 oz. were consumed, and in Ireland but 2 oz.

The quantities of coffee consumed in Great Britain in each decennial period, comparing the consumption with the growth of the population, and exhibiting the influence of high and low duties, are shown by the following statement. The figures up to 1841 are from Porter’s “Progress of the Nation.” Those since are computed from official documents:

-----+-------------+---------+---------------+------------ | No. of lbs. | Duty on | Population | Average | consumed. | B. P. | of |consumption. | | coffee. |Great Britain. | -----+-------------+---------+---------------+------------ | | s. d. | | lbs. oz. 1801 | 750,000 | 1 6 | 10,942,646 | 0 1·09 1811 | 6,390,122 | 0 7 | 12,596,803 | 0 8·12 1821 | 7,327,283 | 1 0 | 14,391,631 | 0 8·01 1831 | 21,862,264 | 0 6 | 16,262,301 | 1 5·49 1841 | 27,298,322 | 0 6 | 18,532,335 | 1 7·55 1851 | 32,504,545 | 0 3 | 21,000,000 | 1 4·98 1861 | 35,204,040 | 0 3 | 23,266,755 | 1 1·33 -----+-------------+---------+---------------+------------

It appears from the foregoing figures, that, when the duty amounted to 1s. 6d. per lb., the use of coffee was confined altogether to the rich. The quantity then used throughout the kingdom scarcely exceeded on the average one ounce for each inhabitant in the year.

Although about a quarter of a century ago the average consumption rose to nearly 1½ lb., it has since been gradually declining, for last year (1863) the total consumption was, with an increased population, 2¼ million pounds below the quantity taken for consumption in 1861.

The following table shows the changes in our sources of supply of coffee even in the last ten years, taking the quantities entered for consumption only.

COFFEE TAKEN FOR CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

1853. 1862. lbs. lbs. British India (including Ceylon) 24,980,375 5,422,369 Ceylon -- 23,886,007 British West Indies and Guiana 2,742,913 2,380,683 Central America 4,948,848 2,087,638 Brazil 814,133 280,837 Venezuela 1,033,071 -- Hayti 862,254 20,701 Java 112,892 -- Holland, &c. 442,863 8,862 Egypt 112,360 90,932 United States 112,673 30,476 New Granada -- 133,144 Chili 379,930 -- Mauritius 61,884 -- Portugal -- 23,052 Philippine Islands -- 82,820 Other parts 487,574 216,650 ---------- ---------- 37,091,770 34,664,135 Exported on drawback 108,648 212,369 ---------- ---------- 36,983,122 34,451,766

There is imported into Europe annually about 270,000,000 pounds of coffee, of which France consumes one-sixth, the consumption there having increased fully fifty per cent. within a very brief period.