276 



[October, 1912. 



it is reached there is much to be done in the way of education and the 

 breaking down of old prejudices and habits. But the instinct of associ- 

 ation is deeply implanted in the people and the success that has attended 

 the first experiments in co-operative credit offers the promise of greater 

 things in other directions. Hitherto the departments of agriculture and 

 co-operation have worked independently. In future their orbits must 

 increasingly converge. When the scientific department has demonstrated 

 the value of a particular method of cultivation or of an improved im- 

 plement, the co-operative society ought to supply the channel, so greatly 

 wanted, by which these improvements will be carried down to the 

 ryots. Even now some use is made of the societies in this direction, and 

 more might be done. If the two departments so work together, and if, 

 most important of all, the people themselves and especially the more 

 enlightened classes co-operate, the history of the next fifty years will 

 have much to tell of improvement in the lot of the Indian peasantry. — 

 Agricultural Journal of India, July 1912. 



WEST AFRICAN COCOA AND NEW 

 METHODS OF CURING. 



The Imperial Institute Bulletin of July lyl2 deals with reports on 

 cocoa samples submitted from Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast. 



Sierra Leone. It would appear that the chief fault in the beans is 

 their deficient fermentation. The valuations made by brokers range 

 from 46s. to 49s. per cwt at Liverpool (March 1910), and from 53s. to 57s. 

 per cwt. ex quay Liverpool (October 1911). 



Gold Coast. The samples sent from here were of two kinds, clayed 

 and unclayed. The brokers valued the samples at 51s. per cwt ex wharf. 

 They expressed the opinion that unclayed cocoa would sell more readily 

 than clayed. 



With regard to the contention that claying prevents mould by the 

 clay absorbing moisture, it is pointed out that thorough drying after 

 fermentation is the best means of avoiding mouldiness. 



Among new methods that have been suggested for curing cocoa with- 

 out fermentation is that of Dr. Fickendey, Victoria, Kamerun, who ad- 

 vises subjecting the bean, after removal of the pulp, to change of temper- 

 ature either by heating to 122° or 140° F. for 24 hours or keeping at a 

 temperature of 32° to 33° F. for three hours. 



Fickendey's method was tried in the Gold Coast at the suggestion of 

 the Imperial Institute, and samples so prepared were received in January, 

 1911. Brokers, as well as manufacturers, regarded the fermented cocoa as 

 superior to the unfermented ; but of the latter, the samples treated accor- 

 ding to Fickendey's process (both with heat and cold) were valued at a 

 higher figure than those which were merely washed and dried, since they 

 (the former,) were found to have undergone to some extent that change in 

 colour and flavour which is usually attributed to fermentation. This 

 result wculd appear to support Fickendey's contention that fermentacion 

 could be dispensed with, provided that some means are adopted (heat or 

 cold) to kill the embryo of the seed without destroying the enzymes 

 responsible for the changes in colour and flavour. 



On the whole it is thought that this new method of curing cocoa is 

 deserving of further trial. 



