Wichita eagle., 1888-07-29
A COFFEE ESTATE.
METHOD OF RAISING THE POPULAR
BERRY IN GUATEMALA.

Selecting the Ground for a Plantation.
i A Nursery of Coffee Iwigs-LAbor Per-
| formed by Indians-weeding and Pick
| irs-Ready for Market.
/ He who makes up his mind to create
his own coffee estate or ''fnca," must
also be prepared 10 endure from four 10
1 SIX years Of the hardest work In clear
ing ne must chop wood, cut away under
brush and weed his land He must Do
ready 10 work from sunrise TO shutdown.
Neither the damp cold Of the morning.
the heat OF the noon, nor the heavy after
noon rains should deter him from his.
work. Ii is true he may hire native
/ labor 10 assist him, but that labor eanno.
I be depended upon should he turn his
back upon 1t. IL selecting the ground i.
/ is the best 10 choose = well drained sur
I face, so that the heavy rains of the wet
I season will not prove too much for the
trees and rot them. Ii is not necessary
10 have one general slope, bur hillocks
/ and hillsides give as good results as any
| ether surface; in fact, il has been my ex-
/ perience that the more inaccessible the
I point the better grows the tree
/ After his ground is well cleared he
/ starts his nursery by planting coffee twigs,
/ which for three years must be carefully
/ nurtured and attended TO, when they ars
transplanted 10 their proper places, each
being eight feet distant from its immedi-
ate neiShbors- At the close of the fourth
/ year comes the blossoms, closely followed
/ by the fruit. Then may the proprietor
complacently contemplate his growing
fortune; the beautiful tube rose lkeh
white flower, showing against the dark,
: iustrous green of the leaf passes away;
/ then appears the green berry, ripening
gradually, first a ,.elicate pink changing
l by degrees 20 a dark cherry red. when it
/ is ripe and ready TO be gathered The
management of a finca requires experience,
/ great activity, and attention 10 details.
/ As few are better able 10 care for children
( than a mother who has raised them. few
are more competent To manage a fnca
/ than he who has cared for it since its very
/ birth.
/ All the labor is performed by Indians.
I called in Central America mozos IL IS
/ paid very low. and great tact is necessary
/ IL lis management. The demand for
mozos Is no greater than the supply, but
J the mozo iaborer can find enough work to
Keep him alive almost auywh here, and as
/ he requires very llttle, even less than a
! Chinaman, he VIII not work more than is
( necessary for his own comfort. He wen
knows that his class Of work is paid low.
and he recognizes the fact that he cannot
acquire sufficient wealth 70 hire Others To
work fer him; that -, he IS y laborer for
lie. Thus, having no ambition, he viii
/ Stiiler nothing that may seem TO him To
be hard or unjust treatment merely for
the purpose OF earning few dollars more.
the average Tnozo character is composed
of few virtues and many y,CeS-he is in
termittently fond Of his family; he will
make them work, take their wages get
drunk, and repay them with brutal treat
ment; ne is "a born gambler, viii steal any
thing he can la. bis hands upon. aud is
an unmitigated liar His principal food
Is tic tortilla, slap jack made Of ground
corn and water, raw sugar cane. baked
plantain, cinnamon, and ALI the whisky
he can get. The important work on a
coffee estate Is To keep the ''csfetal" or
coffee tract, ''cleau;" that is the ground
well cleaned Of weeds and the trees them
selves freed from moss and all parasitical
growth which thrives in the damp local.
ties. This wedding every three months
not only adds to the richness and abund-
ance of the berry in the ensuing crop, but
the ground being clean the berries which
ripen and fall during the gathering are
easily seen and saved by the coffee pick
crS. The value Of the berry il SO great
that many precautions are taken so pre-
vent the pckers from stealing It. For
This mOzos OF high class are EMPLOYED
designated as corporals and paid salaries;
each corporal Is placed in charge of a
squad OF plckers. and il is Lis duty 10 see
that no thievng occurs and that thos,
under him work But even TINS somo-
times fails. and not seldom these corpo-
rails are discovered TO be IN collision with
their suborciuates
The picker i paid in proportion 10 the
amount of cGGre le gathers. "A good steady
hand being able tp eaIn 80 centayOs per
day IN the Guatcr4ia currency. OF about
80 cents IN Al. relu gold Few, how
ever, earn So II .l. for the mOzo il
devil may care fellow: he VIII laugh
and talk instead Of attending strictly to
stripping the tree in front Of him and
will be -atisfes. II he earns : "real-" per
day. or % cents In other walks Of life
his character j. the same. be will sit I'm
the plaza all day long under hot sun.
chatting away with has ueigh;ors. making
5 or 10 cents net profit a day selling
native soap or corn. and he VII decline
many 5ohs h "a nigh net tim 81
day. There Is some yaHlty in this. for
when he sits exhibiting his wares he
imagines himself up 20 the level 81 the
shopkeepeI, while If lie performs manual
labor he feels tina. lie has gone down the
social ladder.
AT the close n day the gathered cofYe.
Is brought by the pickcrs 70 certain deslg-
mated and Convenient points, where carts
are sent 10 carry II 10 the warehouse The
amount each individual has gathered il
meas red py n responsible party, the
PICKER receiving ia return metal check
which Is redeemed at the iuca Office at
the close Of the week, the holder receiving
in silver coin the amount due him The
surface OF the coffee berry is ike the
smooth surface 81 the acorn, aud when
taken from the tree il called 'cereza" or
Cherry, 81 reason OF e. color This On
t1e same day is put in ccncfe:e water
tanks, and lie well stirred by fnsn with
wooden rakes and shoyels ia order To
separate the good from the poor. The
poor or light grains 70 % the top Of the
water and float away on the surface.
a small gate To their own taur
This soaking also swell. the 0u.er shelIs
* ia then worked in machines called
''despuipsdo-es. which remove the esu,-
side heavy sheath allowing the twins IN
sepsrats, for there are two grain. In
pod, exnep; r. he rare highest quality. m
which there f. but one spherical grain.
IL Is now called ''eascAvillsS or sat~,-
4srniIao. each grain being eIosHef In
thin shell, which when sun crs>d t1errn.s
cr6p and brittle, AID II easily removed &,
rDortars. the coffee - then sad 10 10 ia
''oro, or god, from ia yeiIow color snd
n Practically ready 20 Be s1as,.A xnd