_Customary preparation of the berry in the pulp_.--When the coffee is picked and brought into the village, it is piled up in a heap in the open air, and left in that manner for twenty-four hours. Thus heaped up it gets warm, and this creates a certain fermentation of the juice which is in the berry. That fermentation promotes the drying and loosens the silvery pellicle which is attached to the bean inside the parchment, and which cannot be entirely got rid of in any other way. Coffee which still retains that pellicle is called in trade "grey coffee," and is lower priced than good clean sorts. After the fermentation, the coffee is spread out in rather thick layers, and turned over twice a day. If it rains during this first spreading out, the coffee does not require to be sheltered, as the washing causes the juicy substance to evaporate, and this accelerates the drying afterwards. In proportion as the coffee becomes dryer, the thickness of the layer must be reduced, and the turning over must be more frequent till the coffee is quite dry outside and the pulp has become hard. Then the coffee is laid out on drying floors, which can be easily and speedily covered in rainy or damp weather, and is dried by the powerful heat of the sun. This system of drying in the pulp requires six weeks or two months, as it is advisable not to be over hasty with drying. When the coffee is entirely dry, it is either at once pounded or placed in the stores to await that operation. In order to know if the coffee be sufficiently dry, take a handful of it and shut your hand close; shake it to your ear, and listen if the beans rattle freely in the pulp. Or try them by biting the berry, and see if the bean and pulp are both brittle and crisp, which shows that the fruit is dry enough.