The Coolidge examiner., 1931-08-28

| growing areas in black he would
! find most of his dark area on the
! portion of the world map between
the Tropic of Capricorn and the
Tropic of Cancer. Mexico would
be filled in from the TrOpic of Can
Ger to its sOuthernmOst border The
whole area of Central America and
a wide coastal rim around the
northwestern shoulder of South
America, including portions of Ec-
uador, Bolivia and Peru on the
Pacific, and Columbia and the
Guianas on the Atlantic would also
be marked, as well as Jamaica
Haiti, Porto Rico and Santo Do
mingO.
An inverted pear-shaped area Oh
the Atlantic coast of Brazil from
Bahia to a point south of Rio de
JaneirO in Brazil is the worlds S
leading coffee producing area. In
this region is Sac Paulo state whose
prosperity rises and falls with the
condition of the coffee industry
Coffee is responsible for the fact
that the state has more miles of
railroads than any other state in
the republic. The railroad leading
from Santos, the worlds chief cOf-
fee port, to Sac PaulO, the worlds
coffee capital, is one of the richest
steel highways because it is lit
orally a coffee funnel, the smaller
end of the funnel being set in
ships holds at Santos.
The first coffee berries did not
reach Brazil until 1927. Today cof-
fee and Brazil are nearly synony-
nous. In Sac Paulo state alone
there are more than 10000 coffee
plantations with 996,0O0,000 trees in
production. New trees numbering
15S,00O,000 have been set out and
soon will be in production. One
plantation owns its own railroads,
highways, shops, stores and ware
houses.
Africa has several coffee-grow-
ing regions. Liberia, Sierre Leone
and a portion of southern Nigeria
are large producers. The coastal
zones of the Belgian Congo and a
portion of Angola, Mozambique and
Kenya are dotted with plantations.
while Ethiopia, original home of
the famous coffee berry, continues
to produce. Coffee plantations in
Madagascar are confined to the
eastern half of the island.
The southwestern corner of the
Arabian Peninsula continues to
grow the sO-called Mocha coffee.
while the southern tip of India and
Ceylon also are important coffee
growing regions of Asia. Java and
neighboring islands have success
fully grown coffee transplanted
from Liberia, and New Guinea's
eastern plantations are showing
promise in the coffee industry.
Australia'S cOffee-growing region
is in Queensland, the so-called
sugar bowl of the continent.
How the Bean Is Handled.
The coffee plant grows to a height
of from 10 to 20 feet. Its blossoms
remain on the plant only a day or
two, when the petals wither and
fall and the fruit begins to take
shape. A bush produces from two
to three crops year. Ripe cof-
fee berries resemble dark red cher
ries. Inside the cherries" are two cof-
fee beans (the coffee of commerce)
which are extracted by various
processes.
The bars are enveloped in a
delicate skin and tleshy pulp. In
Arabia these coverings are re-
moved by the old drying method.
The berries are spread out on a
drying floor a few inches deep.
where they are frequently stirred
so that each berry may be exD0sed
to the sun. The pulpy covering
dries in from two to three weeks
after which the berries are pound
ed until the coffee beans are set
free.
The most popular method of hull
ing is the wet method. The ber-
ries are brought in from the field
and placed in tanks. The mature
berries will sink to the bottom of
the tank, where they are drawn off
through pipes and conveyed to
crushing machines The crushed
mass passes to a water tank where
it is stirred to separate the beans.
The beans fall to the bottom of the
tank and are withdrawn. At this
stage the beans are covered with
a Shiny film which is removed bv
placing them in a vat where fer
mentatiOn sets up. Then they are
washed, dried and sacked for mar
ket, the latter process consisting of
asserting the beans into sizes.
colOrs, and eliminating any foreign
bodies from the mass.
Young coffee plants must be
given protection from the sun for
several months after they break
through the ground. Some planters
shade them with palm leaves: some
by building a mating covered
frame over the plants about three
feet above the ground. When the
plants are more than a foot high
the shade may be removed grad
uaIly.
The plants are usually set out
10 to u feet apart. Often catch
crops such as maize and beans are
planted between the young plants.
These crops are useful and give