32 PICKING. 



Some will argue that it pays them better to make (what 

 they consider) an inferior article, instead of making (what they 

 consider) a superior one. Now the facts are, that the so called 

 superior article id one which has gone through a large amount of 

 fermentation, and the so called inferior article, is one which ha* 

 been treated to a lesser amount of preparation. There cannot be 

 the slightest doubt that the prepared article is of the best flavour 

 but if the market demands at times a lower scale of preparation 

 it will of course generally be to the interest of the producer to 

 supply the quality which is in demand, whatever the ideal may 

 be of superior or inferior quality, but he should nevertheless 

 not lose sight of the fact that a superior article is always saleable, 

 while an inferior article has at times to suffer in price for the 

 want of a buyer. 



The quality of Cacao however depends much more largely 

 upon the special kind of variety grown, than upon the quality 

 of the land, or the amount of preparation it receives. Of course 

 preparation can be well done, and badly done ; but, given a bad 

 class of Cacao, no preparation whatever could ever make it a 

 first class sample, it may make it better, but never first class. 

 For instance all the knowledge of preparation available in 

 Trinidad would not suffice to make a sample of Trinidad Cacao 

 into a sample which could be identified with that of Ceylon or 

 Java, for the reason, that the class of Cacao itself is essentially 

 different; and per contra, it would puzzle the Ceylon planter to 

 turn out a sample to match that of the best Trinidad unless on 

 estates where the Forastero variety has been introduced ; and 

 Trinidad could only turn out a sample like the Ceylon produce,, 

 by growing the exact strain which produces that class of Cacao* 



