6 



Preparation," i.e., to " washed" cofEees, which are known by the trade here as " coloury." As these 

 descriptions are most sought after by buyers, and command far higher prices than the qualities known 

 as " unwashed," it is obvious that planters in their own interests should endeavour to market their 

 crops in the former condition, the difierence in price in a normal market being fully 20s. to 255. per 

 cwt. in its favour. 



To obtain the best results, it is necessary that each operation, commencing with the gathering of 

 the crop, should be performed with great care and discrimination. Only cherries of uniform ripeness 

 should be plucked, as otherwise the pulping and most of the subsequent operations will be made diffi- 

 cult 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 thoroughly peeled from the berries, and as several of the latter will escape the action of the 

 pulpers, sieves of a size which allow ovlj the free parchment coffee to pass through must be used, so 

 that the cherries remaining in the sieves may be returned to the pulping machine. After pulping, the 

 parchment coffee 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 latter operation, it is of great 

 important 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 impurities, 

 which should be skimmed off and treated 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 be thoroughly dried, an operation requiring perhaps 

 more knowledge of the article than any other, as on the way it is carried out depends to a very great 

 extent the subsequent market value of the crop. If not sufficiently dried, the parchment becomes more or 

 less musty in transit and the colour deteriorates thus seriously affecting its selling value, and from the 

 fact that the outer layer of coffee in the bags dries on the voyage to a greater extent than the bulk in 

 the centre, it is impossible for us when we dry it here before husking to obtain an even result. In 

 addition to this, freight and charges have to be paid on extra weight, which is an obsolute loss : we may 

 mention that many parcels we have received in a damp state have lost over 20 per cent, after drying, 

 exclusive of the loss in weight naturally caused by the removal of the parchment. It will thus be un- 

 derstood that it is imperative the parchment should be properly dried, especially as extra charges are 

 incurred for drying here. On the other hand, care must be taken not to over-dry the coffee, as other- 

 wise the colour will be impaired to some extent, which will reduce the market value , it is therefore ap- 

 parent that the greatest care and experience is required to ascertain when the parchment is in really 

 prime condition. After drying, coffee intended for husking in London has only to be shipped without 

 further loss of time. 



The advantages to be derived by planters in forwarding their coffee in parchment are several. The 

 parchment covering acts as a great protection to the bean, while in transit, from all the deleterious in- 

 fluences to which it is necessarily subjected while in the close hold of steamers, on quays, &c., and above 

 all it preserves the colour. This is probably one of the greatest advantages of any, as the finer the colour 

 of the coffee, the higher is the price paid by the buyers, and it has been abundantly proved that coffee 

 husked here fetches prices higher by several shillings a hundred weight than the same coffee when 

 cleaned abroad. Planters are also enabled to market their crop, probably several weeks earlier, than if 

 they have to wait to husk it themselves. A material saving of labour is effected in districts where it 

 is scarce, or where the crop is a heavy one, at a time when it is extremely important all hands shovJd 

 be concentrated on harvesting, and when this is complete, on the more careful cultivation of the planta- 

 tion, thus increasing its powers of production, and at the same time getting the husking of the coffee 

 done as cheaply as it could be effected on the estate. The outlay on machinery and other incidental ex- 

 penses would be saved, and capital that would be locked up is set free ; further, the dangers of a break- 

 down are avoided, a very serious matter on estates, where every important piece of machinery has to be 

 obtained some thousands of miles away. Receiving as we do many thousand bags of parchment coffee 

 each year, we have necessarily obtained considerable experience in the manipulation, and are enabled to 

 work each parcel in the way best calculated to meet the requirements of the trade in all its different 

 variations. 



The total cost of receiving from import ship, landing, husking, sizing, and all the usual operations 

 is 2s. 6d. per cwt., which we beliave is at least as cheap as it can ordinarily be performed by planters, if 

 not cheaper. The charge for drying is extra, and depends entirely on the condition of the parcel, but 

 from what we have already stated, it is a charge which, in their own interests, planters should never 

 incur here. The loss in weight from husking varies largely according to the nature of the parchment, 

 and ranges from about 15 per cent, up to, in a few exceptional cases, about 22 per cent. The average 

 loss is from about 18 per cent, to 20 per cent. The whole of the various operations are carried out in 

 our bonded warehouses, under the immediate supervision of the officers of the Crown, which affords an 

 important guarantee to importers that the correct weight is returned to them ; no customs duty is 

 charged by the Crown authorities on the husk. 



"We have occasionally received parcels of coffee, dried in the cherry, to husk, but we cannot recom- 

 mend this mode of shipment, though it is possible that in a few individual cases planters might find it 

 desirable to adopt it. In the first place, it adds unduly to the charge for freight, the coffee never turns 

 out of such fine colour as it does if prepared as already detailed, and, of course, the loss in weight after 

 removal of the cherry and parchment covering is much heavier, besides it is much more difficult to work, 

 and necessitates a charge of at least 3s. ^d. per cwt. The foregoing remarks apply solely to coffee of 

 the Arabian sort. As regards Liberian coffee, we have no hesitation in advising, that ualess absolutely 



