COCOA 55 



should be paid for in silver, no notes or cheques being 

 accepted. Owing to competition during the past few 

 years, the agents have often paid the grower a sum of 

 money long before his crop was ready for picking, in 

 order to guarantee that it may be bought by no one else. 

 This has had the effect of making the grower careless 

 in the preparation of his crop, and has caused the pro- 

 duction of much bad material. The report that at 

 another town, often distant by many days' journey, a 

 higher price is being paid than that obtained in a market 

 close at hand, will frequently induce a native to convey 

 his head-loads to the distant market, regardless of the 

 fact that the extra shilling or so he may receive does 

 not appear to be sufficient compensation for the additional 

 labour and time expended. This points to the fact that 

 the native does not put the same value on his time and 

 labour when he is working for himself as he does when 

 he is employed by others. 



The buyers of cocoa pack it in bags for shipment, and 

 these are conveyed to the ports by motor lorries or 

 placed inside large casks, similar to those used for palm 

 oil, and rolled along the roads. Some of the shipments 

 are conveyed in river steamers on the Volta, and, more 

 recently, owing to the growers having found a better 

 market for a short time at Kumassi, a considerable amount 

 was sent by rail from that place to Sekondi. In conse- 

 quence of the imperfect state of dryness in which the 

 cocoa is often sold by the planter, a great amount of 

 care should be exercised before mixing and packing. 

 Sorting is not much practised, and some of the beans 

 often become attacked by mildew before reaching Europe, 

 which depreciates the value of the whole package. It 

 is partly owing to the disregard of the precautions of 

 sorting and final drying that the West African cocoa has 

 earned such a bad name, and if more shippers were to 

 follow the example set by the one firm that has erected 

 a drying apparatus, it would do much to improve matters 

 in this direction. Cocoa is difficult to dry completely 

 in the growing districts by means of the sun, as the 

 atmosphere in these localities is often so humid that the 

 beans absorb moisture when removed from the sun's 

 rays, and it is for this reason especially that the final 

 drying should be done by the shippers. Transport to 



