25O COFFEE I ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



" Coffee, Coffee everywhere : whole forests cleared away 

 to make place for Coffee whole hills close shorn for Coffee ; 

 Coffee above on the right and again below on the left ; Coffee 

 along the valleys and along the hill-brows, and down the 

 slopes and up the rise ; Coffee drying in the sun on flat 

 open floors in front of peasants' houses ; Coffee in piles near 

 the cottage doors, or in sacks ready for carting ; waggon-loads 

 of Coffee being drawn toilfully along towards the railway; 

 Coffee, too, in little cups on the counters of wayside inns 

 in fact, everywhere Coffee. It is deplorable to see the 

 awful destruction of vegetable life in the production of this 

 berry. The virgin forest is burnt, and the hill-side disfigured 

 with smouldering logs and stumps. The lovely valleys are 

 stripped clean, and Coffee reigns supreme over hill and dale. 

 Agassiz convinced himself that this rich country had been 

 swept by glacial action, and that most successful Coffee 

 plantations were found exactly where the movements of ice 

 had most enriched the soil by transportation and mixture 

 of its combined elements. Half the entire supply of the 

 world comes from these hills, which are said to produce 

 no less than 260,000 tons per annum!" 



The Brazilian climate varies greatly. As a rule 

 the rainy season commences in June and lasts until 

 November. The limits differ, however, according 

 to locality. In June all vegetation ceases, all seeds 

 ripen ; in July the leaves commence to turn yellow 

 and to fall ; in August vast tracts of land present 

 the aspect of a European winter without snow, with 

 two or three exceptions the trees being denuded of 

 leaves. Where the old mode of harvesting is in 

 vogue, this is the most favourable season for the 

 preparation of the Coffee cultivated on the moun- 

 tains. Being gathered, it is spread on the ground, 

 which exhales no moisture, but, on the contrary, 



