The Republican journal., 1896-11-05

'"Nio pidceS Two crops are gathered every
year; but one crop is the rule, to be
gathered at the close of the dry sea-
son. The fruit should never be picked
un'll 1ully ripe, as even a slight adj
mixture of green, or partially ripe ber-
rles INJURIES the flavor of all the rest Each
days picking is left piled upon the driving
floor long enough to permit the necessary
fermentation to take place before the
beans are spread out to dry If the dry
ing is done by the sun alone the coffee
must be covered every night to protect it
from the dew. In cafetal of consequence
the sweating and drying floors cover large
areas, and are the most important part of
the whole concern. Usually they are
simply tracts of hard beaten CLAW, or
cement; sometimes cowhides, or straw
mats, spread upon the ground; but in the
better plantations are covered with the
large home made tiles. Our New York
friend has patent coffee dryers, which ap-
pear to be constructed on the same plan
as California fruit dryers. Here is fine
chance for the Yankee inventor. 1t is so
much pleasanter to imagine that the delic-
ious beverage set before you in the morn
ing, with suggestions of tropical bloom
and sunshine in its aroma, was prepared
for market through clean machinery, in
stead of having been swept up from a CLAW
floor with dirty brooms, and walked over
by barefooted natives. If one wishes to
retain his relish for coffee, it is no more
advisable to watch it's preparation for mar
ket by the present process, than to visit a
salmon canning, or Goldfish curing or fig.
drying establishment. Hulling coffee
the work of taking two of the beans, as
we see them in the market, out of the
pulp and skin that envelops each pair
is accomplished in many places by rub
bling the pods under huge wheels revolv-
ing around a stone ring, much as gold
and silver ores are amalgamated by arras-
tras. If one is rich enough he has mod
ern hulling machine, which looks like
portion of our roller flour mills, bat is
yet very imperfect, (another chance for
Yankee inventon;) and the most primi-
tive way of all, but yet largely practiced,
is to pound the beans by hand in mortars
great cedar stumps followed out. with
pestles like PAYERS hammer Then fol-
lows the washing, winnowing, cleaning,
sacking and shipping. Women are employ
ed to sort over the coffee, picking up the
berries, kernel by kernel, putting the
plump ones by themselves and the smaller
and imperfect ones into other receptacles
This sorting determines the name quality
and price of the coffee, and for it the
women are paid at the rate of 30 cents for
100 pounds. The fact cannot be 700
strongly impressed upon foreigners who
aspire to become coffee planters in Cen
without sufficient capital. While coffee
lands Tin name) can be secured for $40
per acre, and government land for almost
nothing, it will be found on investigation
that all the best land is already preempt-
ed under some "concession," and that
wild land suitable for coffee raising can
not be fully prepared for less than SO an
acre. An American gentleman who re-
Gently made a careful study of the subject
says that it costs 81, 100 to bring to ma
tuIity $4,000 coffee trees, on Honduras
government land, the title to which is as
perfect as it could be in the United States.
IN the estimate he calculated on 10 acres
OF land in its wild state, s. acres for cot
fee and the rest for pasturage, gardens,
buildings, etc, and also included the liv-
ing expenses of a family for 3 years.
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.