



[Enclosun 



'•] 









Coffee Husking 



in London. 









lied Lion a 



nd Three Crai 



tea Wharf, 







Upper r . 



rhames Street, 

 March 1S02 



London, E.G., 



Havi 



ng been th( 











. and being 



frequently asked f< 



:>r a few particulars as to the 





nt of the r 







it the following 









are interests 



1 in the question. 







uld mention that the operation is 



chiefly applicable 



to coffee treated by 



what is called in some eounlries 



the <•• West India 



Prepar, 



ition," i.e., to "washed" coffees 



, which are known by the trade 



here as 





As these descriptions are most 



sought after by 







nd far higher prict 





lalities known as 



" unwashed," it is 



obvious that plantei 







endear* 





it their crops in the 





on, the difference 



in prio 



e in a normal market being fu 



lly 20*. to 25* 



. per cwt. in its 



To obtain the best results, it is necosaiy thai cadi operation, com- 

 mencing with the gathering of the crop, should be performed with 

 great care and discrimination. Only cherries of uniform ripeness 

 should be plucked, as otic ad most of the subsequent 



operations will be made difficult to perform, and the cleaned coffee will 

 lack that uniformity of appearance and colour which is so highly prized 

 by the buyers. The cherry coffee should be passed through the pulper 

 (the machine for removing" the pulp from the berries) as soon as possible 

 after it is gathered, as the pulp is more easily removed before it has had 

 sufficient time to dry and shrivel ; care must be taken to see that the 

 cherry pulp is thoroughlv peeled from the berries, and as several of the 

 latter will escape the action of the pulpers. sieves of a size which will 

 allow only the free parchment collec to pass through must be used, so 



machine. After pulping, the parchment codec has to undergo a process 

 of fermentation, and subsequently of washing in suitable tanks, when 

 the adhering saccharine matter is got rid of; during this hitter opera- 

 tion, it is of great importance that the parchment should be constantly 

 stirred about, as by this means the light, black, and imperfect beans rise 

 to the surface of the water, as well as sticks, leaves, and such like im- 

 purities, which should be skimmed off and heated separately. _ At no 

 subsequent stage can this important object be attained in anything like 

 so cheap and effective a manner, as the inferior beans can only be after- 

 wards separated by hand-picking, a tedious and costly operation. 



After washing, the parchment coffee has to he thoroughly dried, an 

 operation requiring perhaps more knowledge of the article than any 

 Other, as on the wav it is carried out depends to a vcr\ great extent the 

 subsequent market' value of the crop. If not sufficiently dried, the 



,"■;■£ 



