124 The Fermentation of Cacao 



guide, I may say that the roasting should be 

 stopped when the shells tend to spit or crackle 

 (platzen\ which may be recognized by a 

 crackling sound. After roasting, the shells 

 must be removed, and after cooling the beans 

 are broken up in a coffee-mill to about the size 

 of buck-shot ; these are then rubbed into a 

 fine powder by being passed through a machine 

 with rollers. Six grammes of this fine powder 

 are mixed with 100 c.c. of water and then 

 brought to the boil. 1 The colour of the in- 

 fusion, the taste, and aroma are the points 

 by which the quality is judged. 



The Export of the Beans. 



It would be an ideal state of affairs if a 

 plantation could produce cacao in bulk of 

 uniformly good appearance and flavour all the 

 year round. But this is as unlikely to occur 

 in the case of cacao as it is with any other 

 plantation product. The great value attached 

 by the trade to the proper packing of their 

 purchases and to the goods being graded 

 according to quality, &c., is seen to a very 

 marked degree in the case of indigo. From 

 each plantation in Bengal samples of each day's 

 product, marked with consecutive numbers, are 

 sent after the crop to the broker in Calcutta, 

 and the entire output is ' packed according 

 to his instructions. 



Tea is also packed according to quality, 



1 Half water and half milk may also be used. 



