52 



COrFEE. 



heing formed entirely of iron, cog-wlieels being substituted in the 

 place of straps and drums to move the riddle, and the riddle itself 

 is now formed of t\vo sieves, by vrhich the chance of unpulped 

 berries reaching the parchment is lessened. On some estates 

 water-wheels have been put up to drive several pulpers at one 

 time, which otherwise would require from two to four men each 

 to wort them, bat from the costly buildings and appurtenances 

 which such machinery renders necessary, they are rare. 



Although the operation of pulping is so simple, it is one which 

 requires the machine to be set in such a way that tiie a'reatest quan- 

 tity of wovji maybe done, or, in other words, tli? - u: lie -r quaiitiry 

 of unpulped berries be allowed to pass through. On the other hand, 

 the berries must not be subjected to injury from the barrel ; for 

 if the parchment skin is pricked through, tlie berry will appear, 

 when cured, with an unsightly brown mark upon it. Several new 

 coverings for barrels, instead of punctured copper, have been 

 tried; among others, coir-cloth and wii'e net, but the old 

 material is not as yet superseded. After pulping, the cofiee in 

 parchment is received into cisterns, in which it is. by washing, 

 deprived of the mucilaginous matter that still adheres to it. 

 Without this most necessary operation, the mucilage would fer- 

 ment and expose the berry to injury, from its hi grJy corrosive 

 qualities. 



As some p jrt'.on of pulp finds its way with the cofiee to the 

 cistern, which, if siiiiered to remain would, by its lo:ij retention 

 of moisture, lengthen the subsequent drying pi' various 

 methods have been adopted to remove it. One mode is to pass 

 the coffee a second time through a sieve worked by two men ; 

 another to pick it off the surfaces of the cistern, to which it natu- 

 rally rises. 



In August, 1843, premiums were awarded by the Ceylon Agri- 

 cultural Society to Messrs. Clerihew and Josias Lambert for the 

 improvements they had introduced into coffee-pulpers, whicli, by 

 their exertions, had been brought to great perfection. The first 

 improved complete cast-iron pidper received in the island, was 

 made for Mr. Jolly, from dra\vings sent home by Mr. Lambert to 

 Messrs. B. Hick and Son. endneers. This pulper is one of the 

 most perfect in every respect thiu has yet been brought into use, 

 the disadvantages belonging to the old machine haAung been en- 

 tirely remedied. The sieve crank has a double eccentric action. 

 The chops are regulated by set screws, and the sieve suspended in a 

 novel and secui^e manner, the whole combining strength and 

 eScacy, together with an elegance of form, which will likewise be 

 appreciated. 



Mr. W. Clerihew, of Ceylon, submitted to the Grreat Exhibition 

 a model of his approved apparatus for drying coffee (which has 

 been patented in the name of Eobert B. Banks, Great Greorge 

 Street, Westminster), and received the Isis gold medal for the same. 

 The intention is to dry the vegetable and aqueous moisture of the 

 berry. Before this is requii-ed, the coffee has previously undergone 



