i BivAZwolAN COE EE (COUNTRY. 
is one of the greatest interest. Coffee is 
everywhere. Miles and miles of coffee 
trees stretch away, up and down the 
gentle slopes of the rolling topography, 
often as far as the eye can see—great 
broad waves of green, with the narrow 
lines of the red soil showing in marked 
contrast with the green of the leaves. It 
is a sight which is not soon forgotten. 
Here and there are small patches of 
forest which have not yet been destroyed 
to make way for the coffee. And then 
there come great stretches of rugged 
grass-lands, partly used for grazing pur- 
poses, or locally for farming, where the 
soil is not right for the coffee tree. 
Here and there on the lower slopes of 
the hills or on the lowlands, standing out 
in marked contrast with the green coffee 
trees, are the white buildings of the 
fazendas—great, substantial stone and 
stucco manor-houses, with wide verandas 
and large windows, surroufided by gar- 
dens filled with palm, and banana, and 
orange, and mango trees; the extensive 
outbuildings, for the stables and for the 
machinery, for the laborers and for the 
superintendent, being placed at a respect- 
ful distance from the manor-house. 
HOSPITALITY THAT IS PROVERBIAL, 
Picturesque these Brazilian fazgendas 
surely are, and hospitality to the stran- 
ger is one of the proverbial character- 
istics of their owners. Through the 
courtesy of Dr. Plinio da Silva Prado, 
of Sao Paulo, the writer, on his recent 
trip, was entertained at two well-known 
and representative coffee fazendas—that 
of Santa Veridiana and that of Santa 
Cru 
At the former (see picture, page 911) 
he was the sole occupant of the great 
house, which was put entirely at his dis- 
posal. There was nothing in the way of 
hospitality which the excellent admuinis- 
trador of Santa Veridiana, Senhor Ro- 
setti, left unthought of or undone. The 
same thing was true of Administrador 
Carlos Meizner, of the fazenda Santa 
Cruz, which, by the way, was the one 
selected for inspection by Senator (then 
Secretary) Root during his trip to South 
America, a few years ago. The name of 
913 
the nearest railroad station was at that 
time changed to “Elihu Root” in his 
honor. 
All these Brazilian fagendas have a 
peculiar charm—an appearance of soli- 
darity, of comfort, of peace, and of 
prosperity—as they lie there, surrounded 
by the wealth of their coffee trees, with 
cattle grazing on the neighboring fields, 
and with the ever-busy, picturesque Ital- 
ian laborers caring for the precious crop, 
whose market prices are quoted daily in 
all the important papers throughout the 
civilized world. Grim and forbidding 
some of these manor-houses certainly do 
look from the outside, but once inside 
them there is no feeling except that of 
being at home. 
THE FRUIT OF THE COFFEE TREE 
The coffee trees on a Brazilian planta- 
tion begin to bear in from two to four 
years after they have been removed from 
the nurseries, where they grow in wicker 
baskets, under shade, to their permanent 
places in the open. The fruit, when 
ripe, is red, and resembles a small cherry, 
or cranberry, in general appearance. The 
coffee which we see in the grocery store 
is the seed of this coffee berry. 
Normally each berry contains two 
seeds, flat on one side and convex on 
the other, the flat sides being together. 
The seeds are imbedded in a sticky, whit- 
ish pulp, and are further themselves sur- 
rounded by two envelopes. Of these, the 
inner one, when dry, is a delicate and 
closely adherent membrane, known as the 
“silver skin,” and is much like the thin 
white skin which covers the onion. The 
second, or outer, covering is tougher and 
thicker, fits more loosely, and is not un- 
like the husk of wheat. 
Before the coffee beans can be put 
upon the market the outer covering, the 
pulp, and the two inner coverings must 
be removed. This is done by first wash- 
ing and softening the whole berry in 
water, then removing the outside skin 
and pulp in the pulping machine (“wet 
method’’), then drying the beans in their 
two inner envelopes, and finally remov- 
ing these inner coverings by friction in 
the hulling machines. 
