664 
THE TRQPICAL 
AGPJCULTURIST. 
[April 1, 1902. 
the drying, which by the old method requires about 
sixty days, is accomplished iu a few hoars, with a 
vast economy of labour. Under this sytem drying 
is done in large shallow pans of zinc, heated by steam 
coils beneath, moie uniformly, and with no danger 
of iniury from sudden rain. The coffee, after drying, 
is still enclosed in the inner and outer skins, which 
have been rendered more brittle by the drying, ihe 
machinery necessary for the removal of this is some- 
what complicated and expensive The /o.^^-e 
brought from the drying house, and placed in bins, 
whence it is carried to a ventilator, where it is 
cleared of rubbish and dirt by sifting and {".nimg. 
From the venulator, the coffee is carried to the 
aheller (descascador). The grains and broken husks 
are carried by a pipe to a second ^entilatoi, where 
the latter are sifted out, and fanned away, and the 
former are carried by an elevator to the separator 
This is composed of hollow copper cylinders, pierced 
with holes of different shapes and sizm These 
cylinders are kept constantly revolving, and the coffee 
gS passing through the holes, fall into separate 
bins being thus assorted according to their size and 
shape The coffee thus mechanically classified goes 
into the markets of the world, where it is sold, the 
small round grains as "Mocha." the large, fiat grams 
a,a " Java " A small portion of the pergaminho 
which still remains, is removed by the briimdor 
nolisher) by trituration and fanning. Finally, alter 
passing through all this series of machines, the 
coffee 13 carefully picked over by hand, and is ready 
to be put into bags. As an indication of the extent 
to which coffee cultivation is pursued m Brazil, the 
Secretary of Agriculture of the Sao Paulo Govern- 
ment may be Quoted as follows;-" There are m 
^ao Pauto' 15.075 plantations of which 11.234 have 
UDwards of 50,000 trees; 1,814 possess from 50,000 to 
100 000 999 between 100,000 and 200,000; 597 rom 
200 000 to 500,000 trees. On these platations, l,70d 
machines are to be found for cleaning coffee, 1,243 
of which are worked by steana, and 460 by water 
In Minas Gecaes it is said that there are 2,7d9 
coffee plantations, 1,234 with less than 50,000 coffee 
trees each, 814 with over 100,000 trees each, and 
64 with over 500,00i) trees each. Of these planta- 
tions 500 use water power and 1,243 steam. iirazi- 
lian planters complain that only their inferior grades 
of coffee are known abroad in their true character, 
their better qualities being sold under the dis- 
guise of such titles as " Mocha, " "Java, "M.jrti- 
niane " &c. It is said, even, that this spurious trade 
ia strengthened by the shipments of Brazilian coffee 
from various parts of Europe to Egypt, and thence 
to Arabia, via Aden and Jeddah, &o., so that it 
may there be packed in Mocha fashion, after which 
it is shipped to Syria or other places, or returned 
to E"VPt as genuine Mocha. The total proauction 
of coffee in Brazil, which amounted to 4,622,000 bags 
in 1899-90, rose in 1894-95 to 6,977,000 bags, and in 
1899-1900 to 11,000,000 bags, the bag containing about 
132 lbs.— /0Mr«a^ of the. Society of Arts. 
COCONUTS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 
An interesting report regarding the production of co- 
conuts in South America was recently issued by the 
Consular Department at the city of Washington U.S. A. 
The countries deilt with were Brazil, Colombia, 
Ecuador, The Guianas, Peru, and Venezuela, And 
the report was based on information received through 
the consuls at the places mentioned. 
Coconuts in Brazil. 
Although a great many coconuts are raised in the 
Bahia consular district of Brazil, it does not produce 
one-third as many as the Pernambuco district, vi'hich 
is particularly rich in coconut palms, on account 
of its peculiar coast formation. 
In the Bahia district, the trees are found wherever 
there is a aettlernent, but grow chiefly on the strip 
of low-lying sandy land along the coast. This land 
ia thQ moat desirable for coconut plantations, aa 
the proximity of the salt water makes the trees more 
productive and the fruit a better quality. Occasionally 
a piece of land is found at a considerable distance 
from the coast upon which the palms will flourish, 
but this is unusual. Single trees are scattered h^re 
and there inland ; but these are raised with consider- 
able difficulty, produce only an indifferent fruit, and 
die at an early age. 
The number of trees and their prodnotivenesa in- 
creases as the Pernambuco district is neared and 
decreases in the same ratio southward. The largest 
plantations are a short distance north of Bahia City, 
where there is one that has more than 7,000 and 
several which have as miny as 5,000 trees each; but 
no particular efforts at cultivation are made. The 
coconuts have simply been planted and allowed to 
come up and produce what they will, the fruit being 
gathered from time to time. The owners are usually 
engaged in other businesses ; the proprietor of the 
large plantation above mentioned, for instance, is a 
local merchant. 
It is impossible to get any information as to the 
extent of the coconut crop. The nuts are gathered 
in all seasons and are used both in the green or 
soft and in the ripe or hard state by all classes. The 
yield, however, must be enormous, as there are 
few households that do not use the nuts in some 
form or other, and in spite of the vast number of trees, 
the supply does not seem to equal the demand. 
Before the shell of the nut becomes thick and hard, 
and while the meat is soft and about the consistency 
of clabber, many of the nuts are gathered and sold 
upon the street corners and in the <irink shops. The 
nuts are cut open with a machete The milk proves 
a most refreshing drink, while the mpat is eaten 
with a spoon or, more o'ten, with a silver oat from 
the shell. No attempt is maile to husk the nuts so 
used, though frequently a portion of the husk is 
trimmed off to lessen weight for transportation. 
The hard-shelled or ripe nuts have various uses. 
When of good quality, they are sold at retail. Many 
kinds of sweet-meats are also made from them, while 
the milk and the meat, variously prepared, are con- 
stituent parts of many articles of daily diet, such aa 
fish stews, beans, rice, corn, etc The ripe nuts are 
always sent to market husked. They are brought to 
Bdhia by small sailboats, which ply ap and down 
the coast, and on account of the demand are sold at 
comparatively high prices. The price paid for them 
at the plantations ranges from 9 to 14 milreis ($2'18 
to $3'36) per hundred (without respect to size,) 
according to season, the wholesale price in Bahia 
City being a couple of milreis higher per hundred. 
The retail price is from 120 to 320 reis (2,88 to 7-61 
cents) per nut, according to size nnd season. 
There is such a demand for good nnts at Rio de Jan- 
eiro and other points south that it is far more porfit- 
able to ship the nuts there than to ntilize them in the 
manufacture of copra ; and even if the prices at local 
markets were not so good, there would, nevertheleai, 
be no nuts for foreign export. 
It is only the nuts that have been left too long 
on the trees that are ncilized in the mannfactnre 
of by-products. From these nnts the oil is crudely 
extracted by grinding the meat submitting it to pres- 
sure and purifying the resulting liquid, or by grinding 
and boiling the meat, and skimming the oil. This 
oil is used for machinery, lamps, cooking, soap-making , 
etc. It is also used by the resid-nt Africans for 
hair oil and for anointing the body. It sells at 
wholesale at the place of manufacture at from 800 
to 1,200 reis (19 2 to 28-8 dollar cents), per litre. 
There is still a great amount of uncultivated land 
well suited for coconut plantations- Few trees are 
being planted, yet it requires no labour other than 
that of putting a mature nut into the ground prior 
to the rainy season, and that after five or six years 
the trees will bare almost indefinitely. 
Coconuts in Colombia. 
The oonsal at Cart^eua, Colombia^ was placed at 
ft disadvantage iu gathering data for hia report on 
