Prompt Pulping. 2 i 7 



in the cherry-loft for only a single night, a certain 

 amount of fermentation will ensue, and the parch- 

 ment become discoloured in consequence. 



After being pulped, the parchment, as the coffee 

 is now called, should be left undisturbed in the 

 receiving cistern for from thirty-six to forty-eight 

 hours, to allow the saccharine mucilage enveloping 

 the beans to become decomposed. The parchment 

 should then be shovelled out into the washing 

 cistern, and there be well trodden out by coolies, 

 so as to free the beans from any pulp or slime still 

 adhering to them. Water may now be turned in, 

 the whole contents of the cistern being violently 

 churned and stirred until the latter is nearly full. 

 In the course of this process all the light and worth- 

 less berries and beans will float to the surface, 

 whence they may be skimmed off in a basket or 

 sieve, and thrown in a heap by themselves. All 

 the dirty water may now be allowed to flow off, 

 together with all the skins, which, being lighter 

 than the parchment, will have a tendency to drift 

 towards the lower end of the cistern. This escape 

 runs into a lower cistern provided with a grating 

 at one end, the skins and any stray parchment in 

 their company being thus retained for subsequent 

 treatment. 



The washing cistern must now be partially re- 

 filled with clean water, the previous operation being 



