In the third or fourth year of the plantation, the trees, according to the best system of husbandry, are pruned down to the height of three feet from the ground on the richest soil, and still lower in proportion to its sterility.  All the branches which are not as nearly as possible at right angles with the trunk, are likewise removed by the pruning-knife, so that in the following spring the whole stem is covered with fresh shoots.  By this operation the power of nature seems to be exhausted, as for that year the trees in general bear no fruit; but in subsequent seasons the loss is amply repaid by a crop often greater than the branches can support, or than the flow of nourishment is always able to bring to full size and maturity.

The machinery for removing the external pulp of the coffee-bean is seldom of a very perfect description in this island, and the loss sustained in consequence is often very considerable.  It is almost uniformly moved by the power of horses or oxen, working in a gin, and the name it bears is that of the Descerecador.  The Barbecues, when the coffee is laid out to dry, are called indiscriminately Tendales or Secadores.  They are more numerous and of smaller dimensions than is customary in the British colonies, where a single barbecue, laid down with tiles or plaster, is considered sufficient for a whole estate.

The warehouse for receiving the crop and preserving the coffee after it is put into bags and ready for the market, is generally of such limited dimensions as to be barely sufficient for the purposes for which it is designed; so that, when the harvest has been abundant, or when anything has occurred to interfere with the despatch of what is ready for removal, the constant accumulation is attended with serious inconvenience.  In fact, the occupation of the coffee planter has been for some time on the decline in the island, owing to the superior rate of profit derived from the making of sugar; and everything reminds you of it, the moleno de pilar, the aventador, and the separador, down to the humblest implement of husbandry on the estate.

The gathering of the fruit commences in Cuba in August; but November and December are the most active and important months of the harvests.  The labourers are sent out with two baskets each, one large, the other small.  Every labourer has a file of coffee trees assigned to him; the large basket he leaves near the place where his work is to begin; the other he carries with him to receive the berries from the trees; and as often as it is full he empties it into the large one.  The baskets are made of rushes, willows, or bamboo; and the large one is of such a size that three of them ought to fill the barrel, without top or bottom, which serves the purposes of a measure at the Tendal or Secador.