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 by horse or mule. [Illustration: PICKING COFFEE ON A WELL KEPT FAZENDA] [Illustration: MANAGER'S RESIDENCE ON ONE OF THE BIG SAO PAULO FAZENDAS] [Illustration: Photographs by Courtesy of J. Aron & Co. DRYING GROUNDS ON A MODERN ESTATE IN RIBEIRAO PRETO] [Illustration: MAKING BRAZIL COFFEE READY TO MARKET] Some of the larger _fazendas_ cover thousands of acres, and have several millions of trees, giving the impression of an unending forest stretching far away into the horizon. Here and there are openings in which buildings appear, the largest group of structures usually consisting of those making up the _cafezale_, or cleaning plant. Nearby, stand the handsome "palaces" of the _fazendeiros_; but not so close that the coffee princes and their households will be disturbed by the almost constant rumble of machinery and the voices of the workers. [Illustration: Copyright by Brown & Dawson. WORKING COFFEE ON DRYING FLATS, SAO PAULO] Brazilian _fazendeiros_ follow the methods described in the foregoing in preparing their coffee for market, using the most modern of the equipment detailed under the story of the wet method of preparation. On most of the _fazendas_ the machinery is operated by steam or electricity, the latter coming more and more into use each year in all parts of the coffee-growing region. In some districts, however, far in the interior, there are still to be found small plantations where primitive methods of cleaning are even now practised. Producing but a small quantity of coffee, possibly for only local use, the cherries may be freed of their parchment by macerating the husks by hand labor in a large mortar. On still another plantation, the old-time bucket-and-beam crusher perhaps may be in use.