BEVERAGE PLANTS 285 



Mountain" coffee, grown at high elevations in 

 Jamaica, commands the highest prices paid any- 

 where. This is a very small crop, absorbed by a 

 very special trade. Mexico is growing coffee 

 that is cheap, as it competes for a place in popular 

 esteem. Hawaii is an ideal coffee country, and 

 growers are clamoring for protection that will 

 enable the industry to get on its feet. They 

 produce a large, mild, but high-flavored berry, at 

 a cost of about 9 cents per pound. 



The cherries are treated by the wet or dry process 

 to free the beans. They may be "pulped" by 

 running through a mill that scrapes off the flesh, 

 then allowed to soak and ferment a day or so to 

 rot away the slimy substance that would not come 

 off in the pulping process. 



After thorough washing (formerly by trampling 

 the submerged berries with bare feet, now by 

 agitating them mechanically), the water is drawn 

 off, and a number of rinsings clear away the scum, 

 and leave the berries to dry in their bright parch- 

 ment hulls. As rain and dew would retard the 

 drying, the plan is to cover the berries when the 

 sun is gone. Sliding roofs or sliding platforms, 

 that may be shoved under cover, protect the dry- 

 ing berries. Artificial heat is sometimes used. 



Next, the berries may be sacked for shipment, 



