Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-02-19
Prof. AgaSsiZ'S Account of Il Brazilian
Coffee Plantation.

The following description of plantation
N Brazil is from " y Journey in Brazil,
by Prof and Mrs Louis Agassz, i'll press
" Ticknor < Fields:
- The Fazcnla da Fortaleza de Santa
Anna lies at the foot Of the Sierra de Bah
yonia The house itself makes a part Of
, succession OF low white buildings. enclos-
n an oblong square divided into neat lots.
destined for the drying Of coffee in the I'M
mediate vicinity Of the house, though it
seems a very general custom, must be an
uncomfortable one for the drying-lots are
laid down in a dazzling white cement, from
the glare Of which, III this hot cl'n~t", Tho
eve turns YEARLY away, longing for green
spot on which to rest. Just behind the
house on the slope of the hill, is the orange
rv. | am never tired Of these golden or
chards, and this was one Of especial beauty.
The small, dtepcolored tangerines, some
times twenty or thirty in u cluster the
large, choice orange, Laranja- SeIecfa, "
as it Is called, often ten or twelve together
IN a single bunch, and hearing the branches
to the ground with their weight; the paler
" LimeO d0ce." or sweet lemon, rather IN
sipid, but greatly esteemed here for its cool
others, for the variety OF oranges Is far
greater than we Of the temperate zone con-
ceve it to be, make mass of color in
which gold, deep orange and pale yellow
are blended wonderfully with the back
ground of green.
Beyond the house enclosure, on the
opposite side Of the road, are the gardens,
With aviary, and fsh-ponds in the centre
With these exceptions, all the property
which Is not forest is devoted TO coffee,
covering all the hiIlsides for miles around.
The seed is planted in nurseries especially
prepared where it undergoes its first year 5
rrowth 1t is then transplanted to its per-
uanent home and begins to bear IN about
three years, the first crop being, Of course,
a very light one From that time forward.
under good and with favorable SOIL it will
continue to bear and even TO yield two
.rops or more annually, for thirty years in
succession At that time the shrubs and
the soil are alike exhausted, and according
to the custom Of the country, the fazendeiro
cuts down new forest and begins new
plantation, completely abandoning his old
one, without Il thought of redeeming or
/ fertiizing the exhausted land
..One OF the ong-sighted reforms under
taken by our host is the manuring of all
the old, deserted plantations on his estate
He has already number of vigorous young
plantations, which promise to be good
as if a virgin forest had been sacrificed to
produce them He wishes not only to pre-
-erve the wood on his estate. and to show
that agriculture need not be cultivated a
h,,t ra
mind his country people also, that, exten
5ive as are the forests, they will not las
forever, and that it will be necessary tC
emigrate before long to find new coffee
grounds, if the old ones are to be consid
cred worthless. Another of his reforms il
that of the roads already alluded to. Tn
ordinary roads in the coffee plantations
, like the mule tracks all over the country
are carried straight up the sides of tn
hills between the lines of shrubs, gullie'
by every rain. and Offering besides, s.
steep an ascent that even with eight or te
] oxen it is often quite impossible to drlv
clumsy, old fashioned carts up the slope
, and the negroes are obliged to bring grea
, part Of the heaviest down on their head;
An American, who has been great dea
on the coffee faZenuaS IN iil'S Ic8ioH' 'oi
f me that he had seen negroes 'ring ing enoI
nous burdens Of this kind on ;helr head
, down almost vertical slopes.
! ION Senior Lagos estate all tAese ol
r roads are abandoned, except where the
are PLANTED here and there with alley
orange trees for the use of the negroes an
E he has substituted for them winding road
y on the side of the hill with a very gradui
d ascent, so that light carts dragged by
t single mule can transport all the harve
). from the summit of the plantation to IT,
/ driving ground. 1t was the harvestin
E season. and the spectacle was pretty on
j The negroes, men and women were s'A