t it is believed that thereby a better crop of more uniform grade is
obtained and in the aggregate with less waste of time and effort.

Colombian planters classify their coffees as _cafe trillado_ (natural or
sun-dried), _cafe lavado_ (washed), _cafe en pergamino_ (washed and
dried in the parchment). They grade them as _excelso_ (excellent),
_fantasia_ (_excelso_ and _extra_), _extra_ (extra), _primera_, (first),
_segundo_ (second), _caracol_ (peaberry), _monstruo_ (large and
deformed), _consumo_ (defective), and _casilla_ (siftings).

[Illustration: PREPARING COLOMBIAN COFFEE FOR THE MARKET]

VENEZUELA. Venezuela employs both the dry and the wet methods of
preparation, producing both "washed" and "commons" and also, like
Colombia, has a large part of the coffee cleaned in the trading centers
of the various coffee districts. Dry, or unwashed, coffees are known as
_trillado_ (milled), and compose the bulk of the country's output.
Venezuela's plantation-working forces are largely natives of Indian
descent and negroes, some of them coming during harvesting season from
adjoining Colombia and returning there after the picking is done. The
resident workers labor under a sort of peonage system which is tacitly
recognized by both employee and employer, although no laws of peonage or
slavery have ever existed in Venezuela. Under this system, the laborers
live in little colonies scattered over the _haciendas_, as the coffee
plantations are called in Venezuela. Company stores keep them supplied
with all their wants. Modern plantation machinery is very scarce; the
ancient method of hulling coffee in a circular trough where the dried
berries are crushed by heavy wooden wheels drawn by oxen, is still a
common sight in Venezuela. In preparing washed coffees, some planters
ferment the pulped coffee under water (wet fermentation process); while
others ferment without water (dry fermentation).

[Illustration: THIS OLD-FASHIONED HULLING MACHINE IS OPERATED BY OX
POWER IN VENEZUELA]

The principal ports of shipments for Venezuela coffees are La Guaira,
Puerto Cabello, and Maracaibo. Caracas, the capital, is five miles in an
air line from the port of La Guaira; but in ascending the three thousand
feet of altitude to the city the railroad twists and turns among the
mountains for a distance of twenty-four miles. By rail or motor the trip
is one of much charm and great beauty.

SALVADOR. The planters in Salvador favor the dry method of co