The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-07-26

! the Rio Parairda. but every year their
region is extended. Far as you can see
! in every direction run straight rows Of
coffee trees-aloug the bases of the
| foot hills and up their sloping sides. 1t
is the same way all along the railroad
from Rio de Janeiro to sac Paulo, and
away back into the interior. Almost
the only other product that attracts at
tention is manioc, the staple food of
the people, which also furnishes the
tapioca of commerce. Nothing can be
more beautiful than a coffee grove
whether clad only in rich, dark greer,
or ablaze with scarlet berries, or white
with starry blossoms. The trees burst
, into bloom simultaneously hiding all
the green in single night, making the
whole plantation white as snow drift,
and filling the air with fragrance like
that of orange blossoms, only far more
powerful In another twenty-four
hours both fragrance and flowers have
passed away.
There is a great deal of labor con-
nected with coffee growing after the
picking. The skin and grains are
separated by sitting, and the grains are
spread out in the sun until the pellicle
enveloping each grain is dry as dust,
Then they are again subjected to the
mortarS and the wlnnoWlng fans. On
the Weather estates, where improved
methods prevail the freshly picked
grains are dried. on wooden trays or
patches Of adobe pavement, by which
they escape the earthly riavor acquired
when dried on the bare ground. Then
the outer and inner envelopes are res
moved by passing the grains through
two mills The main feature OF the
first mill is a horizontal copper cylinder
whose surface is roughened after the
fashion of a rasp, 1t revolves against
board, between which and the teeth IS
LETT space Tor the grains to pass, but
not the huSbs The grains drop into
the water. and are left to soak twelve
hours. in which time the parchment
like film that enveIops each seed IS
sottened. Then they are again spread
out III the sun and when thoroughly
dried are passed through the second
mill, which resembles those for grind
ing plaster, except that the two vertical
roller discs are of wood, six feet in
length and five inches i'll diameter,
their light wood abrading the pelllcles
without injuring the grain. Then the
tanner is brought into requlsltlon and
the coffee is at once put into bags for
transportation.
The freight on sack OF coffee ll36
pounds is about one cent per mile byrall
therefore coffee coming from the end OF
the Dom Pedro II Railway must pay
about $500 per sack for transportation
to the shipping point-one third Of Its
value when delivered in Rio. From
Rio to New York the freight rarely eX-
ceeds 90 cents per sack, and Is some
times as low as % cents. Thus nifty
miles of railroad carriage in the coun-
try where it grows costs more thah the
5,200 miles of ocean. Many OF the
planters still send their coffee to mar
ket by mule trains, considering that
the cheapest way of transportation;
The entrance into Santos the great
coffee port of southern Brazil, OF a
mule-train from the interior IS some
thing worth seeing. The train is al
WAYS preceded by a white horse, wear
ing a string of bells around its neck,
and all the mules obediently follow the
leader. Sometimes troops OF several
hundred arrive in morning; and
| again there are weeks when none APP
pear. Every mule brings two bags OF
| coffee on his back, each bag weighing
13S pounds. Having made long, slow
| JOURNEYS, often hundreds of miles over
the worst imaginable apologies for
| roads. the animals are pltiaDle looking
objects when their burdens are remov-
| ed. for the constant saving of the load
| has not only abraded the skin, but in
| MANY instances Sloulltl Oll lilt HeSil W
the bone. The bags are dumped in
huge piles in the custom house yard,
and around them the professional
cargadores lporters) Immediately collect
like swarms of black flies. There is an
export duty to pay, and every bag
must be pierced and sample with
drawn, in order to determine the
quality of the coffee and the duty
thereon. The tariff, based on the mar
ket price, is regulated anew every
Saturday The sampling instrument
is a brass tube, shaped exactly like
pen. When the point is pushed into
sack of coffee, the berries run down
through the tube; and, after handful
has been distracted, the instrument is
withdrawn and its point turned over
| like crochet hook, thus closing the
opening. The: operation occupies only
few seconds to each bag, and the
samples" taken out amount to many