The Last Word 265 



It is very doubtful whether, with the present 

 class of manufactured cacao that is in demand 

 it is worth the planter's while to improve the 

 quality of their beans, provided that they can 

 ship them even in quality, size, appearance and 

 " break," and the following reasons can be 

 advanced against incurring unnecessary ex- 

 pense to improve the class of bean shipped 

 at present (provided always the bulk runs 

 even as just mentioned): 



(1) The cacao-market has an increasing 

 tendency to minimize the differences in price 

 between the good and ordinary cacaos. Ten 

 years ago the proportional value between the 

 Cameroons and Caracas beans was as 100 to 

 240 approximately ; now it stands at about 

 100 to 140. Even granted that the quality of 

 Caracas cacao may have deteriorated some- 

 what, and that of the Cameroons cacao may 

 have improved, the tendency to level down 

 or up all kinds, already spoken of, is un- 

 mistakeable. 



(2) There is no recognized general standard 

 as to the quality of a cacao, and there is also 

 no uniformity of opinion as to what constitutes 

 an ideal bean as to quality. Since flavour is 

 the main guide, the valuation of the same cacao 

 may differ very markedly according to the 

 different experts sampling it ; on this account 

 the broker who settles the price as a rule 

 judges quite differently to the manufacturer. 1 ' 



1 Do we find this in London ? H. H. S. 



