Mr. George S. Hudson 219 



useful experimenting in the direction of vinegar- 

 making in the Tropics. It is probable that a 

 series of four tanks built of concrete, and lined 

 with glazed earthenware or slate, fitted with 

 acid-resisting joints, would fulfil an ordinary 

 estate's requirements. They should have tight- 

 fitting covers to exclude dirt, dust and vermin. 



CACAO ALCOHOL. 



The fermenting juice of cacao fulfils all the 

 conditions necessary to the making of a potable 

 spirit by distillation, and even of the making 

 of wine. Unless, however, a superior and 

 high-priced liquor were produced (and hitherto 

 all cacao literature is silent on this point) it is 

 probable that its production would not be 

 profitable. 1 It would be most interesting to 

 ascertain what sort of a new drink cacao juice is 

 capable of producing, and it is a matter that a 

 Tropical Agricultural Department with a little 

 initiative might well follow up, containing as 

 it does the prospect of creating a market for 

 several hundred thousands of gallons of liquor 



1 In Para, I understand, many of the planters pay 

 more attention to producing an intoxicating drink from 

 the green cacao than to the commercial beans them- 

 selves. I am told that the characteristic flattened 

 shape of Para cacao is due to the pressure it undergoes 

 in the cylinders made of Indian woven matting, which 

 by means of weights, or hand-pulling at the end (as 

 when making "farine" or cassava, which has to be 

 freed of its poisonous juices), squeezes out almost the 

 last drop of liquid in the mass. H. H. S. 



