132 JAVA COFFEES. 



plant in a season. Again, in Java there does not appear 

 "to be any fixed or certain season for the plant to arrive 

 at maturity, as in the Western countries, the gathering 

 usually commencing in June or July, and it is not until 

 late in the following April that the entire crop is 

 delivered to the go-downs. The picking season in gen- 

 eral, however, consists of three pickings or crops of 

 which the first or "roor-pluk," which is small, begins 

 in February, the second or " main-pluk " in May or 

 June, when the heaviest portion is gathered. It is also 

 termed the "full-pluk," from being the most abundant of 

 the season the third or " after-pluk/' being what is left 

 to open on the trees, may be considered more of a glean- 

 ing, as it is merely a general sweep of the fallen berries. 

 When the berries become of a dark crimson color they 

 are plucked off one by one with the assistance of a light 

 bamb(5o ladder, the greatest care being taken not to 

 shake off the blossoms which still remain on the tree or 

 to pluck the unripe fruit. The women and children of 

 the country usually do the picking, the men attending to 

 the heavier work around the plantations. Attached to 

 every village near which there are coffee plantations of 

 any extent, there is a " drying-house," to which the 

 newly-gathered coffee is carried and where it is placed on 

 hurdles about four feet from the floor, under which a 

 slow wood-fire is kept up during the night; the roof is 

 opened in the mornings and evenings to admit the air, 

 the berries being frequently stirred meanwhile to prevent 

 fermentation. As the excessive heat of the sun is con- 

 sidered prejudicial, the roof of the " drying-house" is 

 closed during mid-day, this operation being continued 

 until the husk is thoroughly dried. The coffee dried 

 in this manner is generally small, sea-green or grayish 

 in color and is supposed to acquire a peculiar flavor 



