Drying Coffee 73 



direct from the fermenting tanks, only 24 

 hours, or even less, are necessary. The 

 Okrassa Patent Drying Machine has many 

 advantages over the Guardiola ; but both 

 have many advantages over the drying 

 grounds, amongst which I may particularly 

 mention the time that is saved in drying, 

 whereby a planter is in a position to export his 

 coffee more quickly; great saving in hand 

 labour, as a drying machine only requires say 

 one or two men, according to the size of the 

 machine ; whereas a drying ground requires 

 quite a number of men for keeping it in order 

 and for moving and spreading the coffee. 

 Another, and not less important, advantage of 

 the artificial dryers is that the coffee can be 

 dried in any weather, the planter not having 

 to depend on this; and further, if for some 

 reason the coffee plantation has to be aban- 

 doned, a coffee dryer can easily be dismounted 

 and taken to wherever it may be required. 



In drying coffee, the same as in the crystal- The pointer 

 lisation of sugar, a pointer is usually employed, ^ drying 

 one employee having sufficient experience to 

 discharge this duty, for a man without any 

 experience in coffee drying may consider coffee 

 sufficiently dried when in reality it is not. To 

 ascertain when coffee is sufficiently dried to pass 



