The Placer herald., 1874-08-29
COFFEE In CUBA.

Coffee is grown in Cuba. This is its
history there, and these are all the facts to
be gained on that island that can be of use
to coffee growers.
The first coffee plantation was established
in 1746, but sthe cultivation did not com
mence in earnest until 1895. The principal
place where it is grown is in the coffee noun
tains of the Yateras, in the extreme south
east Of the island. The plantations are On
l'the summit of the mountains, and the fields
are usually prepared by merely cutting
down the native timber and burning it.
The size of the plantations varies from one
hundred to one thousand and more acres;
and they employ fifty to sixty hands for
every thousand acres. The seeds are
planted in regular rows, four inches and one
half apart, and four inches are left between
every two plants. Ten or dozen kernels
are planted together in holes made by stick
On sharp iron. They are weeded every
month for two years, when all that are thir-
ty inches high are cropped. They begin to
and bear fully the fourth; require pruning
after the sixth or seventh; bear only every
other year after the tenth, but give good
crops on good lands for twenty-five to thirty
years. The trees blossom according to the
locality, from February to June, and con-
tinue in flower two days. The berries be-
gin TO mature in September and continue
ripening until November. The picking ac-
companies the rpening. Plantain, cocas,
/ III Lid f,,,,t soo1c nj, tod
with the coffee to furnish shade for it. The
product in good seasons is 81, 500 pounds
from the 200, 900 trees on every 264 acres !:
the average yield being one-quarter of a
pound to every tree-lhe best trees giving
hall pound each. The hands turned in
to pick, gather two bags and basketfu
daily. The coffee is Immediately carried to
a pulping mill. .i
This is a large wheel revolving in crcu-
lar trough, into which the coffee is poured.
Then it is felmented in btah twelve hours
to separate the rind, and afterwards washed.
Next it is carried to great outdoor floors,
GO 80 feet, and dried seven to nine days
in the sun on them. If rain comes, the
coffee has to be placed under cover. Hav-
ing been stored little while, it is again run
through the pulping mill to remove the dry
skin, and through the tanning mill. 1t goes
into the puping mill again and is colored by
adding half an ounce of lainpblack to every
1000 pounds, in order to give it the green
color that was washed away in the pulping
process, and has to be restored ariticially.
Some planters use charcoal, soapstone or
white lead to give a color, in order to suit
the taste or fancy Of different markets 1t
is next run through sieves by machinery, in
the asserting room, to separate the sizes.
A small, round berry brings the highest
price, but is really no better than the other.
A room full of women receive it from the
sitting room and pick the whole over care
fully, to be sure it is clear and good. 1t is
assorted in three qualities, and the finest is
sif,ed once more. Then it is placed in bags
of lO7 pounds each and sent to market.
The marketing is very troublesome and
expensive addition. The roads are SO bad
that it cannot be carried in carts or wagons;
so trains of mules and horses are made up,.
with from ten to forty animals in each train.
Every animal carries two bags; and this car
riage adds fifty cents to the price of every
bag for every twenty miles. The bags
bring k25 for, each 100 pounds, and so pay
$15, 900 to every plantation whose 100000
trees on 264 acres grow 62,5OO pounds
Something had been begun to lessen some
of the expenses by Introducing labor-saving