clean and absolutely free from grass. The
capillary roots of the trees extending horizontally near the surface of
the soil are much affected by the presence of any other vegetation, and
by the collection of insects which this produces and harbours. Frost,
rain, and the heat of the sun naturally affect the trees more when the
soil is dirty than when kept clean. Many of the coffee estates suffer
considerably from insufficient labour. The effects of this are quickly
visible on the trees. Artificial fertilization is useful, even necessary
after a number of years, and so is careful pruning in order to keep the
trees healthy, strong and clean.

[Illustration: A Beautiful Waterfall at Theresopolis.]

[Illustration: Antonio Prado's Coffee Estate.]

Coffee trees have many natural enemies--chiefly vegetable and animal
parasites--which mostly attack the leaves. The _Ramularia Goeldiana_, a
parasite not unlike the _Cercospora Coffeicola_, is one of the worst, and
undoubtedly the chief offender in Brazil, although great is the number of
insects prejudicial to the trees. The most terrible of all, perhaps, are
the ants and termites, such as the _Termes opacus_, which attack and
destroy the roots of young trees. The _cupim_ (_Termes album_) or white
ant, and the _carregador_ or _Sauba_, a giant ant with which we shall get
fully acquainted later on our journey, are implacable enemies of all
plants. Also the _quen-quen_, another kind of ant. These ants are so
numerous that it is almost an impossibility to extirpate them. Various
ways are suggested for their destruction, but none are really effective.
Certain larvae, flies and cochinilla, owing to their sucking habits,
deposit on the leaves and branches a viscous sugary substance, which, on
account of the heat, causes fermentation known locally as _fumagina_.
This produces great damage. Birds pick and destroy the berries when ripe;
and caterpillars are responsible for the absolute devastation of many
coffee districts in the Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo States. Other pests
of the _Heteroptera_ type attack the roots to such an extent as to cause
the death of the trees.

Among the diseases of the trees are the _Aphelencus Coffeae_ and the
_Loranthus brasiliensis_--the latter a terrible parasite which quickly
envelops the stem and branches of the tree and ends by killing it.

The collection of the berries is the busiest process in the fazendas, and
has to be performed with considerable ca