PULPING AND PREPARING. QI 



purpose, the chief objects in all cases being to pulp 

 rapidly, thoroughly and without injury to the bean, for 

 if the inner or "silver-skin" of the bean be broken the 

 latter is wasted. 



But the latest and most simple form of " pulping- 

 machine is what is known as the " Disc Pulper," in 

 which the separation of the bean and the pulp is effected 

 by means of rotating discs, covered with a thin sheet of 

 copper, whose surface has been " knobbed," is raised 

 into sort of oval knobs by the application of a blend 

 punch. Pulpers of this class being portable and cheap, 

 are most frequently used in the opening of distant estates. 

 The " single " form is very light, and when driven by 

 three plantation hands, it will pulp all the way from 20 to 

 25 bushels of berries an hour. The " double " form, which 

 has two discs and which is furnished with a feeding-roller 

 inside the hopper, requires from four to six hands to pulp 

 40 bushels an hour, but when driven by power, it will hull 

 from 70 to 80 bushels in the same time. In the machine 

 the discs are placed between " cushions " of smooth 

 iron, set at such a distance that the berries cannot pass 

 without being bruised. The cushions rest in a movable 

 bed of iron, set so that no bean can pass downwards. 

 When the disc revolves, the berries are driven forward 

 and squeezed, the corrugations then catch the skins and 

 drag them between the disc and bed. These small 

 pulpers have an advantage over the larger ones, in that 

 each can be set to suit the size of a portion of the crop — 

 which always varies in size — and in that, with two or 

 more machines, there is less liklihood of complete stop- 

 page in case of accident. One disc pulper to every 30 

 or 40 acres — that is, about three to every 100 acres, two 

 to be set alike for large size and one for smaller berries — 

 should be ample in a fair-sized estate. 



