Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-31
A COFFEE ESTATE.
METHOD or RAISING THE POPULAR
BERRY ~ GUATEMALA.

L s"c erVuuu uor y fInntotfODs
A Nursery Of coTse Twiss--Labor Fer
| formed by Indians wceding and Piok.
ing-Ready for Market.
He who makes up his mind to create
| ms own coffee estate or "finca," must
also be prepared to endure from four 10
| SIX years OF the hardest work. In clear
ing he must chop wood, cut away under
brush and weed his land Ho must bc
ready to work from sunrise TO sundown.
| Neither the damp cold OF the morning,
the heat OF the noon, nor the heavy after
noon rains should deter him from his
work. IL Is true hc may hire native
labor to assist him, but that labor cannot
be depended upon should he turn his
BACK upon II. In selecting tho ground It
Is the best to choose well drained sur.
face, so that the heavy rains Of tho wet
season Will not prove too much for the
trees and rot them. II il not necessary
to have one general slope, but hillocks
and thillsidcs give as good results rs any
other surface; In fact, it has been my OK.
pericnce that the more inaccessible tho
point the better grows the tree.
After his ground Ia well cleared he
starts his nursery by planting coffee twigs,
which for three years must be carefully
nurtured and attended TO, when they arc
transplanted to their proper places, each
being eight feet distant from its immedi-
ate neighbors. At the close of the fourth
year comes the blossoms, closely followed
by tho fruit. Then may the proprietor
complacently contemplate his growing
fortune; tho beautiful 'tube rose like''
white flower, showing against tho dark.
lustrous green OF the leaf, passes away;
then appears the green berry, ripening
gradually, first delicate pink, changing
by degrees to dark cherry red, when ID
IL ripe and ready to be gathered. Tho
management of a flnca requires experience,
great activity, and attention 70 details.
As few are better able TO care for children
than mother who has raised them, few
are more competent to manage finca
than he who has cared for 1t since its very
BIRTH
All the labor is performed by Indians,
called In Central America mozos. IL is
paid very low, and great tact is necessary
IN its management The demand for
mozos Is no greater than the supply, but
the H,ozo laborer can find enough work TO
keep him i,cf1ye almost anywhere, and as
he requires very little, even less than a
Chinaman, he will nor, work more than Is
necessary for his own comfort. He well
knows that HIS class of work IA paid low,
and he recognizes the fact that hon cannot
mcguire sufficient wealth TO hire others 10
work for him; that IL, he Is a laborer for
life. Thus, having no ambition, hc will
suffer nothing that may seem TO him TO
be hard or unjust treatment merely for
the purpose Of earning few dollars more.
The average mozo character is composed
OF few virtues and many vices--he Is in
termittently fond Of his family; no will
make them work, take their wages. get
drunk, and repay them with brutal treat
ment; he IL born gambler, will steal any
thing he can lay his hands upon, and il
an unmitlgated liar. His principal food
is the tortilla, n slap jack made OF ground
corn and water, raw sugar cane, baked
plantain, cinnamon, and all tho whisky
he can get. Tho important work on
coffee estate is to keep the "cafetal," or
coffee tract, "clean;" TINT Is, the ground
well cleaned Of weeds and the trees them
selves freed from moss and nll parasitical
growth which thrivcs IN the damp locali.
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 arc
easily seen and saved by the coffee pick
ers. The value OF che berry Is 40 great
that many precautions are taken 30 pre-
vent the pckers from stealing Il. For
this mozos Of high class are employed.
designated as corporals-and paid salaries;
each corporal is placed In charge of a
squad OF pickcrs, and 1t Is his duty to SEQ.
that no thicving occurs and that those
under him work. But even this some
times fails, and not seldom these corpo-
rails are discovered to be In collusion with
their subordinntes.
H'ba rirEar 10 n, Al In, Al.
amount OF coffee he gathers, n good steady
hand being able to earn 80 centayos per
day In the Guatemala currency, or about
30 cents In American gold. Few, how
ever, earn so much, for the mozo Is q
"devil may care" fellow; he will laugh
and talk instead Of attending strictly TO
stripping tho tree In front OF him, and
will be satisfied II he earns "rcals'' per
day, or 25 cents. In other walks of life
his character is the snme; he will sit I'm
the plnza all day long under hot sun,
chatting away with his ncighbors, making
D or 10 cents net profit day, selling
native soap or corn, and he will decline
many Jobs which might net him 81 a
day. There is some vanity in this, for
when he sits exhibiting his wares he
imagines himself up to the level of tho
while II he performs manual
labor he feels that he has gone down the
social ladder.
At the close Of day the gathered coffee
Is brought by the pckers to certain desig-
mated and convenient points, where carts
are sent to carry II to the warehouse The
amount each individual has gathered Is
measured by responsible party, the
picker receiving In return metal check,
which Is redeemed mt the fnca Office at
the close OF the week, the holder receiving
in silver coin the amount due him The
surface OF the coffee berry Is like the
smooth surface Of tho acorn, and when
taken from the tree Is called "ccreza," or
cherry, by reason,of its color. This on
the same day Is put in concrete water
tanks, and Is well stirred by men with
wooden rakes and shovels In order to
separate the good from the poor The
poor or light grains rise to the top of the
water and float away on the surface,
through small gate, TO their own tank
This soaking also swells the outer shells.
1t Is then worked In machines called
"despulpadores, which remove the out
side heavy sheath, allowing the twins to
separate, for there are two grains in q
pod, except In the rare highest quality, In
which there is but one spherical grain.
IL Is now called "cascavillan or "per-
gamino," each grain being clothed In a
thin shell, which when sun dried becomes
crisp and brittle, and is easily removed in
mortars; the coffee Is then said to be in
''oro, " or gold, from its yellow color, and
Il practically ready to be toasted and
ground for table use. After this it IL re-
yolyed in the "septadores," or hot cylin-
ders perforated with small holes, To grade
1t according 10 the size Of the grain, and
1t is then placed in sacks 10 be shipped IN
market. Heat is necessary in the grading
process only; all OF the other manipula-
ton Is done with water power.--Francis
j. A. Dare in New York Times.