BRAZIL: Bumper Crop

South Africa can leave its diamonds in the ground but the only way to keep coffee expensive enough to suit Brazilian growers is to burn it in big, grey-green mounds. Since 1931 Brazil’s National Coffee Department has sent $250,000,000 worth of Brazil’s chief crop up in smoke. Last week the Department, estimating that the year’s bumper crop of 26,000,000 sacks (132.2 Ib. apiece) would leave a 10,000,000-sack surplus to add to the accumulation already on hand, announced that this year it would buy 70% of the crop to burn. Daily burning quota will go up from 60,000 to 100,000 sacks, daily cost to Government and growers up to $620,000.