Coffee Production In The British Empire ( Originally Published
1900 ) THE chief coffee-producing countries in the Empire are
India, Jamaica, British Central Africa, and Ceylon. Small
quantities of the product are grown also in Queensland, British
Honduras, and Natal, whilst in almost every part of the tropical
regions of the Empire one or other species of coffee is
cultivated for local use. As might be anticipated from the fact
that this country is the chief source of " British-grown "
coffee consumed in the United Kingdom, and of some twenty per
cent. of our total supply, India is the principal seat of coffee
production in the British Empire. The most recent returns
estimate the area under coffee cultivation in India as close
upon 213,000 acres, almost all in Southern India, and about one-
half in Mysore. - Unfortunately, the general tendency appears to
be to decrease the area under coffee in the country. It is not
difficult to see the reason why. When coffee was first
cultivated the land was obtainable at a