The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-02-23

four years after they have been re-
moved from the nurseries, where they
grow in wicker baskets, under shade.
The fruit. when ripe, is red, and re-
sembles a small cherry, or cranberry.
in general appearance. The coffee
which we see in the grocery store Is
the seed of this coffee berry.
Normally each berry contains two
seeds, fiat on one side and rounded On
the other, the fat sides being together.
The seeds are imbedded In a sticky,
whitish pulp, and are further them
selves surrounded by two envelopes.
Before the coffee bear can be put
upon the market the outer covering,
the pulp, and the two inner coverings
must be removed. 1t is customary to
classify the methods of preparing cof-
fee for market into the wet and the
dry. They are alike, after a certain
stage, and there is disagreement among
experts as to the relative merits OF the
two in producing the best coffee. In
the dry process the berries are dried
before the pulp is removed, and>t
outer covering, pulp, and inner cover
ings are removed together. In the wet
process the pulp is first removed in
water, and the drying and removal OF
the inner envelopes come later. There
is no absolutely hard and fast rule, in
variably followed on all fazendas
alike, in the preparation for market OF
the coffee beans.
A considerable water supply and a
carefully planned system of small
canals and of basins is needed in the
wet method, and it is partly for this
reason, ias well as because of the
preference of some f~azendeiros for
the dry method. that the wet method
is not everywhere in use.
Harvest Lasts Several Months.
The harvest begins in May and lasts
into August, or even September. This
Is the dry season, so that the weather
conditions are very favorable. net only
for the harvest itself, but for drying
and transporting the crop after It has
been gathered. In picking the coffee.
the boughs are pulled down With the
left hand and held at the outer end
while the right hand is run along the
bough from the base to the tip, thus
stripping off the berries as we'll as
many leaves and twigs. For the up
per branches rude s~tep-ladders are
used.
The usual method of harvesting liz
to let the berries, twigs, etc, fail d.
rectly on the ground, where they are
later raked together with wire rakes
with rounded teeth, and the first rough
sorting is made. The next stage is a
W knowing by means of a wire sieve,
the hand being used TO pick out the
wigs and leaves and the wind bow
ing away a good deal or the dust as
the contents of the sieve are thrown
| up into the air and caught again sew
cral times. In a less common method
the results of the harvesting are al
lowed to fall into cotton cloths spread
out underneath the trees. This makes
The gathering of the crop quicker. The
berries are then assembled In sacks.
From this point on the berries are
subjected to various mechanical treat
ments. Under the wet methodt they
are washed, churned with hoes, al
lowed to soften, and are then run
through a mechanical pulper. The
seeds, still enveloped by their inner
skins, are strained from the "mush"
resulting from the pulping operations,
and are then placed in basins to fer
ment slightly SO that any remaining
pulp will be loosened. They are then
spread out on large paved surfaces to
dry in the q N. When properly dried
the seeds are gathered up and run
through ingenious machines which rub
off the skin. The particles of skin are
sifted and blown out and the coffee
beans-hulled, cleaned and sorted
fall directly from the last machine into
the bags. When these contain 132
pounds each they are sewed up Snd
are ready for shipment to market.
Along the roads, deep In red dust,
six o eight yoke of oxen draw the
heavy wagon. loaded with the precious
sacks, to the nearest railroad station.
In cases where the. railroad does not
come directly into the fazenda. as It
often does.
I or to the. south 60 the trains, .firse
to the city OF Sac PauIo, and then
down the steep eastern slopes Of the
Sierra do Mar to the worlds famnus
coffee post. In Santos. coffee sabso>
iutely dominates the lives OF the peo-
pie. Coffee Is everywhere--on the
streets, In the warehouses, on the
train- Every n Ii busy with ccffee>