76 COCOA 



of switches for turning the crushed material into various 

 special channels for discharge. The actual crushing, 

 however, is all done in a small bell-shaped apparatus, 

 which is divided into grooves fitted with teeth ; the 

 grooves are adjustable in width, and act on the nut- 

 cracker principle. But the best crushing apparatus 

 yet designed will not break beans of various sizes and 

 shapes into pieces of similar size. Most of the beans get 

 nicely broken into pieces known as " coarse," but 

 some of them are smashed to powder, whilst the flat 

 specimens may pass unbroken through the nut-cracker 

 grooves. The powder is rejected through a screen, 

 and is conducted to a separate machine for winnowing. 

 The unbroken beans are thrown out for a furthei 

 passage through the crushing apparatus. The vast 

 concourse of coarse pieces, comprising the bulk of the 

 raw material which has emerged from the crushing 

 apparatus and representing the best results of the 

 operation, is discharged into the capacious body of the 

 crushing machine, and comes into contact with a 

 system of meshes working in conjunction with a system 

 of fans. The meshes of varying sizes grade the material 

 to encourage perfect winnowing, and at the same time 

 the fans separate the pieces of shell from the pieces of 

 bean kernel, or " nibs." The machine finally discharges 

 its contents in four separate streams, consisting of: 

 (1) Nibs perfectly clean, smallish pieces of bean, en- 

 tirely free from shell and ready to be made into cocoa 

 or chocolate. (2) Dust tiny fragments of bean, which 

 may have some shell amongst them and consequently 

 will need further winnowing. (3) Shell useful as an 

 ingredient of cattle food. (4) Undecided pieces of 

 nib to which bits of shell are still adhering, making it 

 necessary for them to be recrushed and rewinnowed. 



