70 COJffEE. 



The manufacture of this staple commodity, with a view to its improvement 

 in quality, is a subject which demands our serious attention ; and when we ob- 

 serve the vast importance and pecuniary advantage which accrue upon the 

 slightest shade of improvement either in colour or appearance, it becomes the 

 more imperative on us to use all those means which are available, in order to 

 place ourselves on a footing with the foreign groover . It is true that we are 

 unable to enter the contest with the East Indian or slave cultivator, from the 

 abundance and cheapness of labour which is placed at their command ; but by 

 means of our skill and assiduity, we can successfully compete with them by the 

 manufacture of superior produce. 



To this portion of plantation management I have given an attentive inquiry, 

 and shall shortly proceed to state my views on the system best adapted to the 

 curing and preparing for market of good quality produce. 



The fruit should be gathered in when in a blood-ripe state, to all appearance 

 like cherries. The labourers are principally accustomed to reap the crop in 

 baskets, of which they carry two to the field ; and when the coffee is bearing 

 heavily, and is at its full stage of ripeness, the good pickers will gather in four 

 bushels per diem, and carry the same on their heads to the works. 



The fruit is then measured and thrown into a loft above the pulper in a henp. 

 It should be submitted to the first process of machinery, the pulper, within 

 twenty-four hours after, if not immediately ; but it not unfrequently hr.ppens 

 that the manager is unable to pulp his coffee tor two and sometimes three days, 

 by which time fermentation ensues, and it becomes impossible after pulping to 

 wash off the mucilage, which rather adheres to the outer envelope of the berry, 

 and gives the produce what is termed a "red" or "blanketty" appearance 

 when spread out on the barbacues. The produce is let down by means of a 

 small hole cut into the floor of the loft, or a floating box, into the hopper of the 

 pulper, and by means of a grater forcing the fruit against the chops, the berries 

 are dislodged from the pulp and fall upon a sieve, which being shaken by the 

 machinery, lets the berries fall into the cistern, whilst the grater catches the 

 pulp and carries it backwards at each evolution of the roller, around which it is 

 encircled. 



The fruit which might have passed through without being more than half 

 squeezed, and having only ejected one berry, is then returned (after being 

 shaken off by the sieve) into the hopper, to undergo the process a second time. 

 The pulped coffee is then permitted to remain in the cistern for a day and a 

 night, during which period it undergoes a process of fermentation ; it is then 

 washed out in two or three waters, and the whole of the mucilaginous stuff 

 which had risen from the berry by the fermentation is entirely washed off, and 

 the coffee presents a beautiful white appearance. From this the produce is 

 turned out to drain on a barbacue, sloped so ,s to throw all the water to the 

 centre, where a drain is placed to carry it all off. 



In an hour or so after, the coffee may be removed to the barbacues for curing; 

 it is there spread out thinly and exposed to the sun, which, if shining strong, 

 will in eight or nine hours absorb all the water, and the coffee be fit for housing 

 that day. I say fit for housing, because I have repeatedly seen coffee washed 

 out early in the morning and put up the same evening. I cannot say I approve 

 of the system, though in fine weather it has been attended with success. From 

 the time the coffee is first exposed to the sun till the silver skin starts, is the 

 stage, in my opinion, during which the produce suffers most injury. In the 

 first instance, it should be kept constantly turned, in order to get the water ab- 

 sorbed as early as possible ; and after it has been housed, the greatest precaution 

 should be taken to prevent its heating : and it is for this reason that I disap- 

 prove of early housing, for if wet weather should intervene, and the coffee cannot 

 be turned out, it is sure to get heated. From this neglect I have seen a perfect 

 steam issuing from the house in the morning when the doors have been opened ; 

 and I have known, as a natural consequence, the adhesion cf the silver skin to 

 the berry so firm, that it could not be removed by a sharp penknife without 

 slicing the berry. 



In a succession of wet weather the produce ha.s remained on the barbacues 

 for several weeks, without the slightest advance in curing ; and, unless it be 



