ssing through the holes of corresponding sizes. The
majority of the machines are constructed to separate the beans into five
or more grades, the principal grades being triage, third flats, second
flats, first flats, and first and second peaberries. Some are designed
to handle "elephant" and "mother" sizes. The grades have local
nomenclature in the various countries.

After grading, the coffee is picked over by hand to remove the faulty
and discolored beans that it is almost impossible to remove thoroughly
by machine. The higher grades of coffee are often double-picked; that
is, picked over twice. When this is done on a large scale, the beans are
generally placed on a belt, or platform, that moves at a regulated speed
before a line of women and children, who pick out the undesirable beans
as they pass on the moving belt. There are small machines of this type
built for one person, who operates the belt mechanism by means of a
treadle.

_Preparation in the Leading Countries_

The foregoing description tells in general terms the story of the most
approved methods of harvesting, shelling, and cleaning the coffee beans.
The following paragraphs will describe those features of the processes
that are peculiar to the more important large producing countries and
that differ in details or in essentials from the methods just outlined.

_In the Western Hemisphere_

BRAZIL. The operation of some of the large plantations in Brazil, a
number of which have more than a million trees, requires a large number
and a great variety of preparation machines and equipment. Generally
considered, the State of Sao Paulo is better equipped with approved
machinery than any other commercial district in the world.

In Brazil, coffee plantations are known as _fazendas_, and the
proprietors as _fazendeiros_, terms that are the equivalent of "landed
estates" and "landed proprietors." Practically every _fazenda_ in Brazil
of any considerable commercial importance is equipped with the most
modern of coffee-cleaning equipment. Some of the larger ones in the
state of Sao Paulo, like the Dumont and the Schmidt estates, are
provided with private railways connecting the _fazendas_ with the main
railroad line some miles away, and also have miniature railway systems
running through the _fazendas_ to move the coffee from one harvesting
and cleaning operation to another. The coffee is carried in small cars
that are either pushed by a laborer or are drawn b