and maturity.

The machinery for removing the external pulp of the coffee-bean is
seldom of a very perfect description in this island, and the loss
sustained in consequence is often very considerable. It is almost
uniformly moved by the power of horses or oxen, working in a gin,
and the name it bears is that of the _Descerecador_. The Barbecues,
when the coffee is laid out to dry, are called indiscriminately
_Tendales_ or _Secadores_. They are more numerous and of smaller
dimensions than is customary in the British colonies, where a single
barbecue, laid down with tiles or plaster, is considered sufficient
for a whole estate.

The warehouse for receiving the crop and preserving the coffee after
it is put into bags and ready for the market, is generally of such
limited dimensions as to be barely sufficient for the purposes for
which it is designed; so that, when the harvest has been abundant,
or when anything has occurred to interfere with the despatch of what
is ready for removal, the constant accumulation is attended with
serious inconvenience. In fact, the occupation of the coffee planter
has been for some time on the decline in the island, owing to the
superior rate of profit derived from the making of sugar; and
everything reminds you of it, the _moleno de pilar_, the
_aventador_, and the _separador_, down to the humblest implement of
husbandry on the estate.

The gathering of the fruit commences in Cuba in August; but November
and December are the most active and important months of the
harvests. The labourers are sent out with two baskets each, one
large, the other small. Every labourer has a file of coffee trees
assigned to him; the large basket he leaves near the place where his
work is to begin; the other he carries with him to receive the
berries from the trees; and as often as it is full he empties it
into the large one. The baskets are made of rushes, willows, or
bamboo; and the large one is of such a size that three of them ought
to fill the barrel, without top or bottom, which serves the purposes
of a measure at the _Tendal_ or Secador.

Three baskets, or one barrel-measure, of the newly-gathered coffee
berry, ought to produce thirty pounds after the process of drying,
the removal of the pulp, and the final preparation for the market.
When there is a s