46 COFFEE PLANTERS’ MANUAL. 
earth. Again some planters prefer trays or platfo ms 
upon which to dry the coffee. Thee consist of tables: 
set on posts, the tables being 4 or 5 feet wide and 
as long as the space admits. They are covered w.th: 
waratchies, or reepers, and a mat spread over them; — 
to keep the coffee from falling through. Two or three 
days will generally suffice for drying the coffee fit. 
for transporting; or for retaining in store if the wea~ 
ther be too wet for despatching. It is then sent. off 
to Colombo, the port of shipment, where it under- 
goes the processes of peeling, sizing, packing, and’ 
shipping. These I need only briefly describe; as: 
they form no part of the planter’s work on the es- 
tate, but may be convenient for him to know. 
On this point, however, I may be asked why send 
the coffee to Colombo for preparation. Why not do 
this on tke estate and save the carriage of the parch- 
ment? Because there is seldom sufficient drying wea- 
ther on estates in the interior at the time when the: 
crop comes in, and because labor is more plentiful im 
Colombo for such work; also because it would greatly 
interfere with the labor of the estate which is usually. 
all required immediately after crop to put the estate 
in order by weeding, pruning, &c., while in Colombo. 
at that season there is abundance of labor and always: 
bright sun. Arrived at Colombo then, the coffee. is:. 
first spread out on barbacues, where it gets one, two,. 
or three days’ drying as it may require to fit it for- 
peeling. It is then put into the peeler. This is a 
large circular trough in which a wheel about 6 feet 
in diameter and about 1 foot in breadth, like » 
gigantic grindstone suspended, is made to run round 
upon the coffee, bruising the parchment into chaff,. 
and leaving the beans unhurt. They are afterwards: 
passed through a winnower to take off the silver skin: 
Then through a sizer, which divides the sizes into 
No. 1, 2, 3, and peaberry. Thereafter itis packed 
in casks or bags and shipped. 
Having thus cursorily described all the necessary 
operations of the planter, from the felling of the first 
tree to the gathering in and despatching of his crop, 
I shall take my leave of the reader, hoping that this: 
humble effort to inform the tyro in Coffee Culture 
will be received in the spirit in which it is meant, 
not as a full and complete Treatise on Coffee Culti-. 
vation, but merely as a Handbook for Beginners, 
placing before them, simply and concisely, the routine 
of duty that will devolve on them in this pursuit. 
The want of such a portable little work which any 
man could carry in his pocket to the field or else-. 
where has long been felt: and in my early planting. 
