Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-09-08
EXPORTING COFFEE.
THE JOURNEY FROM THE BRAZILIAN
ORCHARD no THE OCEAN.

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ORCHARD no THE OCEAN.
The FayoTite American Breakfast Bevcr-
age Undergoes Many Experiences Be
fore It Comes Before Is Hot and
steaming HOW the Berry T. Secured.
Coffee il not shrub, as il generally
supposed, but a tree, which, If allowed
to 60 untrimmed, would attain twenty
feet OF more in height, but which is gen
orally kept down To eight or ten feet for
convenience in picking. A grove ean
be started by burying the berries or
from slips. Tho latter are preferable
placed about six feet apart, ana those
plants which have been taken from the
nursery with considerable earth around
their roots will bear fruit It'll two years.
though their full yield IS not attained
under four years. 1T is calculated that
1000 thrifty trees viii yield on a fair
average 3,200 pounds of coffee Der an-
mum, but in some parts Of San Paulo
province the yield IL as high az 8 100
pounds. There are two and sometimes
three harvests to year. but after fifteen
or twenty years the old trees must be
cut down to give place to new ones.
When fully ripe the berry il about the
size, shape and color Of a large Gran
berry. The tough red skin incIoses two
grains on seeds. The old way Of prepar-
ing it for market, still much used III
Brazil, was as follows: When the berries
have acquired rich blood red they Are
picked into bags by the negroes, twenty
three pounds being considered a fair
days work for one picker. The bags
are then elptied on the terreno or dry
ing place, which i generally a level
piece Of ground beaten smooth or Gov
cred with cement. After a few davs i'll
the sun the outer skin becomes black.
hard and shriyeled, and then the berries
are pounded in huge wooden mortars
until the skins are broken without in
juring the tough grains.
By sitting, the skins aud grains are
separated and the latter are again spread
out in the sun until the pellicle enYelop-
ing each grain is dry as dust Then
they are again subjected to the lnortars
and the winnowing fan, and are ready
for sale on immediate consumption.
The improved method now IN vogue Oh
the wealthier estates consists in drying
the freshly picked grains on wooden
trays OF pavements, by which they
escape the earthly favor acquired when
dried on the bare ground, and the outer
and inner envelopes are removed by
passing them through two mills.
The main feature Of the first mill j.
horizontal copper cylinder, whose sur
face is roughened after the manner Of
raSp. 1t revolyes against a board, be-
tween which and the teeth space is left
for the grains to pass, but not the husks.
The grains drop into water ana are left
to soak twelve hours, in which time the
parchmentlike film that envelops each
seed is softened. They are spread out
again on trays III the sun, and when
thoroughly dry are passed through the
second mill, which resembles those used
for grinding plaster, except that the
two vertical, rellia - arenf wood
six feet ia dialndter and five inches
thick. their light weight abrading the
pellicles without injJring the grains.
Then the tanner is brought into requisi-
tion and the berries are put III bags for
transportation.
The freight on a sack Of coffee (I3S
pounds is about one cent per mile:
therefore. coffee coming from the end
Of the Dom Pedro Ill railway must pav
in the neighborhood Of four dollars the
sack for transportation To the shipping
point--one-third Of its value when de-
livered il Rio From Rio To New York
the freight rarely exceeds sixty cents
sack, and it IS often as low as twenty
five cents. Thus fifty miles of railroad
carriage in the country where it grows
costs more than $500 miles of ocean.
Many Of the planters still send their
coffee to market by mule train, consid-
ering that the cheaper way Of transpor-
tation
The entrance into Santos of mule
train from the interior is something
worth seeing The train II always pre-
ceded by a white horse wearing a string
Of bells, ana the mules obediently follow
the leader. Sometimes troops Of Several
hundred arrive ia u morning, and again
there are weeks when none appear.
Every mule brings two bags Of coffee on
his back. Having made long. slow jour-
neys, often hundreds Of miles, the ami
mails are pitiable looking objects when
their burdens are removed, for the con
slant saving Of tile loads has not only
abraded the skin, but IL many instances
ground off tile flesh W tile bone.
The bags ARE dumped in huge piles In
tie custom house yards, and around
them cargadores Immediately collect
like swarns Of black bees. There is an
export duty to nay, and every bag must
be pierced and sample withdrawn III
order to determine the quality and the
duty thereon The tariff, based on the
market price, is regulated anew every
Saturday.
The sanpling instrument is a brass
tube. shaped exactly like Pen. When
the point IS pushed into a sack Of coffee
the berries run down through THE tube,
and after handful has been abstracted
the instrument is withdrawn and its
point turned over like a crochet hook,
thus closing the opening. The operation
occupies only few seconds, and the
samples" taken ont amount to many
tons in the course Of a year. They, tn-
gether with all samples Of exported sus-
ars, are presented to the lepers' hospital.
The gangs of cargadores employed ia
'-totingH the coffee away from the Gus
tom house and loading il upon waiting
vessels are u feature OF Santos. Naked,
except from waist 10 knees their choco-
late colored hides gIisten i'll the sun and
their wen cultivated muscles stand out
like whipcorls. Each gang has its lead
er, generally tho tallest and most pow
erful negro among them, who carries a
rattle. to the music Of which his follow
ers keep step in q rapid jog trot, singing
\ low, mon0tonoUs song meanwhile In
words to u uninteihgible. Sometimes
the rattle gives place to a small flag
Cor. Providence Journal.
How 10 Conciliate an Editor.