ALAJUELA AND THE VOLCANO POJS 329 



berries. Owing to eccentricities in the rainfall at the time 

 of flowering the cofi'ee was not ripening evenly and several 

 pickings were necessary on many farms. The ox-carts laden 

 with coffee were rolling steadily into El Brazil all day (ex- 

 cept during the hot noon hours) and part of the night. The 

 berries were measured from the ox-cart into a big double- 

 hectoliter measure, which held about three hundred pounds 

 of fruit and made a load for two men, and were then turned 

 into a receiving vat full of water. There were two large 

 cement-lined vats in the courtyard, with such an arrange- 

 ment of water inflow and outflow that they could be filled or 

 emptied at will, the outflowing water carrying the coffee with 

 it. As quickly as possible after arrival the berries were passed 

 from this first vat to be "pulped" by machinery and then 

 carried by water to other cement vats for fermenting from 24 

 to 60 hours, according to the temperature. Fermenting was 

 conducted for the purpose of removing the mucilaginous 

 substance surrounding the grains, and was continued until 

 they no longer felt slippery when rubbed. After fermenting 

 they were conveyed by means of a centrifugal pump and 

 piping to the troughs surrounding the patios, where they 

 were thoroughly washed. The water ran by gravity (10 

 per cent fall) through these ditches and there were numerous 

 ingenious arrangements of gates and movable dams so that 

 the coffee was repeatedly washed and the trash and such 

 hulls as had slipped in were carried off. The smaller, inferior 

 grains were also separated from the larger and heavier ones. 

 Then the coffee was spread out on the patios to dry. During 

 the day it was spread out in a comparatively thin layer 

 which was constantly turned over and moved about by bare- 

 footed men armed with a peculiar wooden hoe. Towards 

 evening, or if a shower threatened, it was raked into piles 

 or long ridges and carefully covered with tarpaulin as a pro- 

 tection against rain or dew. When the coffee was one day 



