According to a summary for the six years 1901 to 1906, derived from official sources and published in the annual _Retrospecto_ of the _Jornal do Commercio_, of Rio de Janeiro, the values of the imports and exports for those years (exclusive of coin), reduced to pounds sterling at the average rate of exchange (or value of one milreis) for each year, were as follows:--
+------+-----------+------------+-------------+ | | Average | | | | Year.| Value of | Imports in | Exports in | | |the Milreis|Pounds Ster.| Pounds Ster.| | | in Pence. | | | +------+-----------+------------+-------------+ | | | £ | £ | | 1901 | 11.33 | 21,377,270 | 40,621,993 | | 1902 | 11.93 | 23,279,418 | 36,437,456 | | 1903 | 11.99 | 24,207,811 | 36,883,175 | | 1904 | 12.22 | 25,915,423 | 39,430,136 | | 1905 | 15.94 | 29,830,050 | 44,643,113 | | 1906 | 16.17 | 33,204,041 | 53,059,480 | +------+-----------+------------+-------------+
Nearly 76½% of the exports of 1906 were of coffee and rubber, the official valuations of these being: coffee 245,474,525 milreis gold (£27,615,884), and rubber (including maniçoba and mangabeira), 124,941,433 milreis gold (£14,055,911).
Brazil is essentially an agricultural country. No other country has been able to equal Brazil in the production of coffee, and under better labour conditions the country might compete with the foremost in the production of cane sugar, cotton and tobacco. Besides these it might easily excel in producing many of the tropical fruits for which there is a commercial demand. During the colonial period sugar cane was cultivated from Parahyba S. to the vicinity of Santos, and sugar was the principal export of the colony. Before the middle of the 19th century coffee became one of the leading exports, and its cultivation in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes has been so increased since that time that it represents over four-fifths in value of the total export of agricultural produce. The principal sugar-producing states are Alagôas, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, and the production is between 200,000 and 300,000 tons, the greater part of which is consumed in the country. Cotton has been widely cultivated since early colonial days, principally in the northern Atlantic states. Tobacco is also widely cultivated, and the product of some states, such as Bahia, Minas Geraes and Goyaz, has a high local reputation for its excellence. Cacáu (cocoa) is cultivated extensively in the Amazon Valley and along the coast as far south as southern Bahia, and forms one of the leading exports. In 1906 São Paulo offered premiums for its cultivation in the state. Rice has been cultivated in places, but without much success, although the quality produced compared favourably with the imported article. Indian corn grows luxuriantly everywhere, but it does not mature well in the humid regions of the Amazon region and the coast. The product of the elevated inland regions is good, but the costs of transportation and the small profits afforded have prevented its extensive cultivation, and it is imported from the La Plata republics for consumption along the coast. Much has been said in regard to the production of wheat, and efforts have been made in various places to promote its cultivation. It was once cultivated in Rio Grande do Sul with some success, and it has been grown in Minas Geraes and São Paulo, but in no case have the returns been sufficient to give it a permanent standing among the productions of the country. The great majority of the people are unused to wheaten bread, using the coarse flour of the mandioca root instead, consequently the demand for wheat and flour is confined to the large cities, which can obtain them from Argentina more cheaply than they can be produced in the country. One of the most common and important productions of Brazil is _mandioca_ (_Manihot_), of which there are two well-known species, _M. utilissima_ and _M. aipi_. The first named, which is poisonous in its native state, is the _cassava_ of Spanish America. From it is made _farinha de mandioca_, which is the bread of the common people of Brazil, and tapioca. The poison is extracted by soaking the bruised or grated roots in water, after which the coarse flour is roasted. Mandioca was cultivated by the natives before the discovery of America, and the wide area over which it has been distributed warrants the conclusion that the discovery of its value as a food and the means of separating its poisonous properties must have occurred at a very remote period. The peanut, or ground-nut (_Arachis hypogaea_), is another widely-cultivated plant, dating from pre-Columbian times.