Iron Stores. 201 



Stores may be constructed of iron, masonry, or 

 wood ; those of the first-named material are, how- 

 ever, largely preferred, and have much to recom- 

 mend them. In the first place, they are not liable 

 to be burnt down ; next, they are easily put up, 

 being manufactured in numbered sheets which only 

 require to be fitted together ; then, they are com- 

 paratively inexpensive ; and, finally, the material is 

 well suited for keeping coffee dry and warm. 



Iron stores are usually about 30 feet wide and 

 100 to 1 20 feet long, being of corrugated sheets, 

 and in the form of an arch, springing from, and 

 resting on, a foundation of masonry. 



Coffee stores in general, whatever their material, 

 have usually two storeys, the upper floor, and very 

 often both, being made of iron gauze or coir mat- 

 ting, laid over reepers an inch or so apart, so as to 

 admit of a free circulation of air through the coffee 

 which may be laid on it ; sometimes, however, the 

 lower floor is of asphalte or boarded. The objects 

 of a coffee-store may be summed up in two words, 

 dryness and security. In Ceylon, the great difficulty 

 in crop time is the wetness of the season, and various 

 appliances have to be resorted to, to compensate for 

 this. In some parts of Southern India, on the other 

 hand, the weather is so dry at this season that many 

 planters build no store at all, merely piling up the 

 coffee on the barbecues until it can be sent off to 



