148 COFFEE I ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



room for the inmates to sleep on never let them 

 lie on the ground. In some Coffee districts the 

 housing of the labourers is a matter for Government 

 inspection ; and it is always good, sound policy to 

 make the workers contented and comfortable. 



Pulping and drying sheds are alluded to in the 

 succeeding chapters, here it is not necessary to go 

 very fully into their construction, since they are 

 amongst the last requirements of the estate. Before 

 they have to be put up, the planter will probably 

 have been round his district and learnt by personal 

 inspection the peculiar designs of the country, the 

 forms best suited to its needs, and last, but not 

 least, to what style the length of his purse justifies 

 him in going. 



Cattle sheds, tool sheds, stables, and storehouses 

 will have to be erected from time to time. Their 

 cost and build will vary considerably according to 

 the material selected for their construction, and 

 whether the locality is advanced in civilization or 

 only partially opened jungle. 



Perhaps the most important item in all buildings 

 is the roof, and special care should be given to 

 it. Iron roofing is only suitable to pulping sheds 

 and stores. The sheets are not nailed down, as 

 they might be in England, but buckled together 

 with iron Z 's. Palm leaf roofs are picturesque and 

 well enough, but dangerous and not permanent ; 

 lemon - grass thatching always leaks like a sieve 

 under its first "drencher," but improves as it felts 



