2 1 8 Coffee Planting . 



repeated ; any remaining skins or other refuse 

 being gradually raked down with the escaping water 

 as before. The operation of washing is now com- 

 plete, and the parchment being perfectly clean and 

 free from foreign matters, is carried out and allowed 

 to drain, previous to being spread out to dry. 



As soon as the coffee has been washed it must 

 be spread out to dry in the sun, over a large 

 surface, and not more than, say, an inch and a half 

 to two inches deep. Coolies should then be ap- 

 pointed to walk up and down through it, turning 

 it with their feet into straight furrows about four 

 inches wide, which greatly accelerates the drying 

 process. Once the coffee has been got partly dry, 

 the greatest care must be taken not to allow it to 

 get wet again, and should rain threaten, it must be 

 quickly raked up into heaps and covered over with 

 mats or tarpauling, or, if sufficiently dried, put 

 into the store. But it is 'not desirable that this 

 drying process should be very rapid, nor should the 

 wet coffee be immediately exposed to the rays of 

 a hot sun for a great length of time, as this causes 

 the parchment covering to shrink and burst, laying 

 bare the bean before it has been sufficiently dried 

 to withstand discolouration, and which consequently 

 becomes bleached. Before being bagged up for 

 despatch to the coast, the parchment should, if 

 possible, have undergone three full days of sun- 



