EOASTIN& THE BEAN. 23 



by the impossibility of obtaining uniform work from tbe crude 

 appKances used, and a still greater obstacle was encountered in tbe 

 lack of experience and tbe occasional stupidity on the part of 

 persons intrusted with tbe work. At tbat time there were a few 

 eo-caUed " coffee and spice mills," whose proprietors roasted cof- 

 fee for th'feir own trade, in large cylinders turned by machinery. 

 The results obtained were so satisfactory that wholesale grocers, 

 in order to hold their trade, began to employ these " miEs " to 

 roast coffee for them, and this business has steadily increased 

 until now there are coffee-roasting establishments, using steam- 

 power, in every city of considerable size in this country, and the 

 demand for coffee thus roasted has so increased that some of the 

 ^ larger wholesale grocery houses have found it expedient to erect 

 mills especially for their own accommodation. 



The first complete apparatus for roasting and grinding coffee, 

 was set up in Wooster street, New York, opposite the present 

 Washington square. It was brought over from England by 

 James Wilde, in 1833 or 1834, and consisted of two cylinders, 

 with an engine of sufficient power to run the roasters and a miU 

 for the grinding. Prior to this time, a Mr. Ward roasted coffee 

 for the grocers, by hand, making this his special business. Mr. 

 Withington, in Dutch street, about the same time, used horse- 

 power for running his roasters. In 1835, the once famous Hope 

 Mills were started in Elizabeth street, near Bleecker street. Cof- 

 fee-roasting was undertaken by the proprietors on a large scale, 

 four cylinders being nm. These mills were burnt in 1846, after 

 which the business was transferred to Yl Fulton street, near to 

 the present establishment of Mr. John Bynner, who, I believe, 

 is the oldest living representative of the coffee trade in New York. 

 In subsequent years numerous smaller machines have been de- 

 signed for the use of families and retaU dealers. Almost without 

 exception, however, those designed for the use of families have 

 failed to give satisfaction, owing to the great difficulty of roasting 

 the beans with any degree of uniformity in small quantities. 



The largest sized portable machines for the use of retail gro- 

 cers have yielded somewhat better results ; still it is only now and 

 then that the experience of those using them is entirely satisfactory. 

 It is with difficulty that uniformly good work can be obtained, and 



