364  Coffee:  Its  History  and  Commerce.    { AmAtgusi,Pmlm 
formed  on  land  already  covered  with  full-grown  trees.  Often  when 
the  coffee  trees  have  become  large  enough  to  shade  the  soil  the 
other  trees  are  cut  out. 
(3)  Pruning. — Naturally  the  coffee  trees  would  become  15  to  25 
feet  high.  By  "  topping  " — i.e.,  cutting  off  the  top  of  the  main 
stem — they  are  kept  within  6  to  10  feet,  chiefly  for  convenient 
picking.  Naturally  the  branches  would  begin  at  about  4  feet  trom 
the  ground  and  the  top  would  be  spherical.  By  pruning  and  train- 
ing the  tree  is  made  nearly  conical,  the  primary  branches  horizontal 
and  to  begin  close  to  the  ground.  The  pruning  has  the  effect  also 
of  making  new  branches  shoot  out,  thus  increasing  the  yield  of 
fruits. 
(4)  Bearing  begins  about  the  end  of  the  third  or  fourth  year, 
increases  until  the  eighth  or  ninth  year,  after  which  it  is  nearly  uni- 
form. Profitable  crops  are  yielded  until  the  tree  becomes  25  to  30 
years  old,  and  in  some  cases  much  longer. 
(5)  Yield. — From  2  to  3  pounds  of  merchantable  coffee  per  annum 
seems  to  be  a  fair  average  for  a  good  tree.  Some  authorities  say  as 
much  as  8  pounds,  while  others  place  it  as  low  as  1^  pounds. 
(6)  Times  of  Harvest. — The  whole  crop  does  not  ripen  at  the 
same  time,  nor  do  the  berries  on  each  tree,  hence  several  pickings 
are  necessary.  In  Java  the  picking  begins  in  January  and  continues 
three  or  four  months.  In  Ceylon  the  chief  crop  is  gathered  from 
April  to  July  and  a  smaller  crop  from  September  to  December.  In 
Brazil  the  harvest  begins  in  April  or  May  and  continues  until 
September. 
V.  PREPARATION  FOR  MARKET. 
(1)  Pulping. —  In  the  primitive  method  of  preparing  the  coffee  the 
fruits  are  allowed  to  dry.  When  the  pulp  and  parchment  become 
brittle  they  are  easily  removed  from  the  seeds  by  a  pestle  and  mortar 
or  other  crushing  process.  The  coffee  thus  prepared  is  called  sun- 
dried  or  thick  hull  and  is  inferior.  The  best  coffees  are  pulped  as 
soon  as  picked.  The  fresh  berries  are  placed  in  a  tank  from  which 
a  gently  flowing  stream  of  water  feeds  them  to  the  pulping-machine. 
A  common  type  of  pulper  consists  of  two  metal  plates  with  their 
surfaces  close  to  each  other  and  made  to  revolve  in  opposite  direc- 
tions. Projections  catch  and  tear  or  crush  away  the  pulp  as  the 
berries  are  fed  between  the  plates. 
