1 Fep., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 149 
In 1895, the crop was estimated at 7,000,000 bags; in 1896 it was even 
larger. 
The coffee plant is not indigenous to Brazil, but it is to-day completely 
acclimated. One finds, it is true, in the forests of Bonucato (State of San 
Paulo) a so-called wild coffee plant (Coffea amarelio), but they are without 
doubt plants that haye come up from seeds carried by birds or monkeys. The 
cultiyated variety is called in the country Coffea vermelho. The height of the 
tree varies from 2 to 5 metres (63% feet to 162 feet), and the stem measures 
from 40 to 70 centimetres (152 inches to 2758; inches) in circumference. The 
processes of cultivation vary according to the locality. Thus, in the province 
of Ceara, according to a pamphlet by Mr. Job, quoted from by Mr. Viener, 
the coffee plant is always started in green-houses. ‘The roots are transplanted 
at the age of two years, preferably from January to April, and are planted at 
a distance of from 10 to 12 palmos (the palmo is equivalent to about 9 inches). 
They begin to yield at four or five years. The season for gathering the crop 
is not always the same; on the other hand, it has quite a long duration, varying 
somewhat according to the heaviness of the rainy season, which generally 
begins in May or June and ends in August. 
The beans are placed on a paved floor (uncovered), called in the country 
fachine, and the drying lasts from thirty to thirty-five days. In the State of 
Ceara, the old system of decortication, by grinding by millstones (rodieros) 
turning in a stone trough, is still employed. This method leaves much to be 
desired, for many of the grains are crushed by the weight of the stones. The 
cleaning and burnishing are done usually by hand. ‘ 
In the States of San Paulo and Minas Geraes, the cultivation of coffee 
occupies vast areas, and the treatment of the coffee after the crop has been 
gathered is done in a much more perfect manner than in Ceara by the most 
improved machinery. : 
The largest fazenda (plantation) in Brazil, and perhaps in the world, is 
the Dumont plantation (State of Minas Geraes) established by a Frenchman, 
whose name the plantation still bears. The total extent of the property is 
30,000 hectares (74,133 acres), 6,150 of which (15,197 acres) are planted in 
coffee. The number of plants in 1896 was 4,718,000 (or about 310 trees per 
acre). 
te cultivation is carried on by Italian emigrants, of whom there are 
8,000 employed. Each year the extent of this plantation grows, and the 
production becomes larger and larger. 
Tn 1895 the yield from the Dumont fazenda alone amounted to 4,100,000 
kilogrammes (about 4,035 tons, equivalent to 594 lb. per acre). ‘The crop of 
1896 rose to 4,500,000 kilogrammes (4,429 tons). p 
This plantation was sold three years ago to a Brazilian company for the 
sum of 12,000,000 franes (£500,000).—Zropical Agriculturist, Colombo. 
As to the planter’s life in Brazil, Planting Opinion says, referring to Mr. 
|, L. Villiers, a Ceylon planter who recently went to Brazil as manager of the 
Dumont Coffee Company’s estates there:—Mr. Villiers went with Mrs. 
Villiers to the estate, but found the life there rougher than he anticipated and 
very different to a planter’s life in Ceylon. ‘The heat, he says, was very trying, 
almost as bad as Colombo, and yellow fever was very prevalent in the neigh- 
bourhood, so that he managed to get his agreement with the company cancelled, 
and left Brazil after a very brief stay. His description of planting life in 
Brazil is very interesting. There are very few English in the country, and 
they are not popular with the indigenous population. There was a Buropean 
family on the Dumont Company’s property—the secretary and his wife—but 
the nearest European doctor was a sixteen-hours’ railway journey away, and 
the labourer is Italian, with little in common either with the coolie or the 
planter. he little narrow-gauge railway that traverses the San Paulo district 
