In Brazil's coffee belt there are two seasons--the wet, running from September to March; and the dry, running from April to August. The coffee trees are in bloom from September to December. The blossoms last about four days, and are easily beaten off by light winds or rains. If the rains or winds are violent, the green berries may be similarly destroyed; so that great damage may be caused by unseasonable rains and storms. The harvest usually begins in April or May, and extends well into the dry season. Even in the picking season, heavy rains and strong winds--especially the latter--may do considerable damage; for in Brazil shade trees and wind-breaks are the exception. Approximately twenty-five percent of the Sao Paulo plantations are cultivated by machinery. A type of cultivator very common is similar to the small corn-plow used in the United States. The Planet Junior, manufactured by a well known United States agricultural-machinery firm, is the most popular cultivator. It is drawn by a small mule, with a boy to lead it, and a man to drive and to guide the plow. The preponderance of the coffee over other industries in Sao Paulo is shown in many ways. A few years ago the registration of laborers in all industries was about 450,000; and of this total, 420,000 were employed in the production and transportation of coffee alone. Of the capital invested in all industries, about eighty-five percent was in coffee production and commerce, including the railroads that depended upon it directly. An estimated value of $482,500,000 was placed upon the plantations in the state, including land, machinery, the residences of owners, and laborers' quarters. [Illustration: Copyright by Brown & Dawson. PICKING COFFEE IN SAO PAULO] In all Brazil, there are approximately 1,200,000,000 coffee trees. The number of bearing coffee trees in Sao Paulo alone increased from 735,000,000 in 1914-15 to 834,000,000 in 1917-18. The crop in 1917-18 was 1,615,000,000 pounds, one of the largest on record. In the agricultural year of 1922-23 there were 764,969,500 coffee trees in bearing in Sao Paulo, and in Sao Paulo, Minas, and Parana, 824,194,500. [Illustration: Photograph by Courtesy of J. Aron & Co. INTENSIVE CULTIVATION METHODS IN THE RIBEIRAO PRETO DISTRICT, SAO PAULO] Plantations having from 300,000 to 400,000 trees are common. One plantation near Ribeirao Preto has 5,000,000 trees, and requires an army of 6,000 laborers to work it. Another planter owns thirty-two adjacent plantations containing, in all, from 7,500,000 to 8,000,000 coffee trees and gives employment to 8,000 persons. There are fifteen plantations having more than 1,000,000 trees each, and five of these have more than 2,000,000 trees each. In the municipality of Ribeirao Preto there were 30,000,000 trees in 1922. [Illustration: Photograph by Courtesy of J. Aron & Co. PRIVATE RAILROAD ON A SAO PAULO COFFEE FAZENDA Showing coffee trees and laborers' houses in the middle distance at right]