124 The Fermentation of Cacao 
guide, I may say that the roasting should be 
stopped when the shells tend to spit or crackle 
(platzen), which may be recognized by a 
crackling sound. After roasting, the shells 
must be removed, and after cooling the beans 
are broken up in a coffee-mill to about the size 
of buck-shot; these are then rubbed into a 
fine powder by being passed through a machine 
with rollers. Six grammes of this fine powder 
are mixed with 100 c.c. of water and then 
brought to the boil.t The colour of the in- 
fusion, the taste, and aroma are the points 
by which the quality is judged. 
The Export of the Beans. 
It would be an ideal state of affairs if a 
‘plantation could produce cacao in bulk of 
uniformly good appearance and flavour all the 
year round. But this is as unlikely to occur 
in the case of cacao as it is with any other 
plantation product. The great value attached 
by the trade to the proper packing of their 
purchases and to the goods being graded 
according to quality, &c., is seen to a very 
marked degree in the case of indigo. From 
each plantation in Bengal samples of each day’s 
product, marked with consecutive numbers, are 
sent after the crop to the broker in Calcutta, 
and the: entire output is packed according 
to his instructions. 
Tea is also packed according to quality, 
1 Half water and half milk may also be used. 
