These are put into an iron cylinder heated by steam. In the bottom of the cylinder is a copper plate filled with holes having the centers filled. A cover fitted to a great screw which turns by machinery is placed on top. This slowly, but steadily, presses the paste downward. It is thus forced through these openings, and of course comes out in the form of round, hollow pipes. [Illustration: FIG. 33.--Drying Macaroni in Italy.] As these pipes issue from the cylinder, they are straightened out on a wooden tray or platform, and with a large, sharp knife cut into lengths of about three feet. They are then taken to a drying room and spread on wire frames covered with oiled paper. Here they are left for about five days, after which they are placed in boxes and are ready to ship. The only difference between macaroni and vermicelli is that the pipes of vermicelli are very small and are not hollow. When vermicelli is wanted, two plates are placed on the bottom of the press. The under one is of iron and contains holes about one inch in diameter. The upper one is of copper and contains _groups_ of very small openings. There are sometimes eighty of these openings in a group. When the plates are screwed together, the groups of small holes are directly above the larger openings. As the paste is pressed, it passes through the little holes and then issues from the larger ones; this keeps each little group of pipes somewhat apart from the others. Saffron is added to the paste to color it, and the great golden mass is quite a pretty sight as it steadily lengthens. The workman cuts off six or seven feet of it at a time; and holding it above his head with one hand, he shakes it out with the other, as one might shake the folds of a piece of silk. The pipes tangle up very little. They are cut into lengths of about eighteen inches. It is then taken to the drying room and spread out on the trays just as the macaroni is. A handful of the vermicelli is taken at a time, and by a peculiar twist of the arm it is placed on the paper in a form something like that of the letter _n_. After drying for five days it is packed and shipped. ON A COFFEE PLANTATION Juan and Lupe live in a beautiful valley where palm and banana trees wave their broad leaves in the breeze. It is never cold there, so that many kinds of plants and flowers grow out of doors which we do not see in our country except in greenhouses. On clear days they can see lofty mountains far to the westward, which sometimes wear caps of white. Juan is fourteen years old and Lupe is twelve. Their skin is much darker than yours, and they have bright black eyes and black hair. Their father owns a great coffee plantation in Brazil, not far from the city of Rio Janeiro. There are many men, women, and children employed on the plantation, and Juan and Lupe enjoy roaming about from place to place and watching them at their work.