Feb. 1908.] 



121 



Edible Products. 



about a square yard. The best material 

 on which to spread the leaf is wood. The 

 time needed to wither the leaf is usually 

 about fifteen to twenty hours, but the 

 relative humidity of the atmosphere 

 naturally affects it materially. When 

 successfully withered the leaf should feel 

 like thin, soft kid leather, the leaf is 

 then put into the roller. In hand making 1 , 

 a ball of leaves is taken in the two hands, 

 and worked round and round on a table ; 

 the action of the machine is to imitate 

 this movement. In some machines the 

 box containing the leat rotates on a fixed 

 table, in others the leaf holder is fixed 

 and the table rotates ; in either case the 

 leaf is kept in a constant twisting move 

 ment by raised ridges. This piocess 

 gives the twisted look so familiar in 

 dried tea, and prepares the leaf for 

 fermentation by partially crushing the 

 cells, and making their contents accessi- 

 ble. The rolled leaf is passed through a 

 rotating wire mesh cylinder to separate 

 the large from the small leaves (as the 

 large require more fermenting than the 

 small), and each size is spread out thinly 

 on ceinent-coveied tables, and covered 

 with a wet cloth. The leaf when put 

 into the roller was bright green ; on 

 leaving the roller it has become yellow- 

 ish. As fermentatiou proceeds, the 

 colour changes to bronze, and the scent 

 of the leaf changes also. It is during 

 this process that the substances which 

 give flavour to the tea are formed, and 

 good judgment is required by sight and 

 smell to determine the time when the 

 maximum of flavouring matter has been 

 produced, for if left too long the sub- 

 stances giving the flavour are again de- 

 composed, and the tea becomes flat and 

 tasteless. When judged to be ready the 

 leaf is carried to the drier, and subjected 

 to strong heat (say, about 230° P.), which 

 at once stops further fermentation and 

 fixes the products. The tea is spread on 

 wire mesh trays in the drier, the action 

 of which is to pass hot dry air through 

 these trays, and thus carry off the 

 moisture from the tea. The air is heated 

 by passing through flues or tubes 

 arranged in or around a furnace. There 

 are several forms of drier. In some, the 

 hot air passes upward from below ; in 

 others it is forced downward through 

 the trays by a fan ; and in others the 

 leaf is carried through on by moving 

 trays. The leaf being wet when first 

 put into the drier is not scorched by the 

 high temperature, but after a short time 

 it is advisable to move it into another 

 drier at a low temperature, say, 180° to 

 200° F. When thoroughly dry, the tea is 

 stored in large boxes until required for 

 packing; a large quantity is then fed 

 into a rotating cylinder with varying 

 sizes of wire mesh, which sorts the dry 



leaf according to size, the smaller leaves 

 being the finest. It has been the custom 

 to call the various sizes by fancy Chinese 

 names — Pekoe, Souchong, etc. — which are 

 useless for purposes of classification, 

 there being no standard by which to fix 

 the terms. The tea is then packed, either 

 in lead-lined chests, in tins, or in lead 

 packets, and is ready for market. — West 

 Indian Bulletin. Vol. Ill, No. 3, 1907. 



CACAO INDUSTRY OF ST. THOME. 



The cacao industry of St Thome has of 

 late years developed so rapidly that this 

 small island is now one of the most valu- 

 able of the Portuguese possessions. 

 Referring to the production of cacao in 

 St. Thome, the United States Consul at 

 the Madeira Islands writes in his recent 

 Report : — 



The cacao crop of the whole world 

 is estimated to bb 2,300,000 bags of 130 lb 

 each, and of this amount the small island 

 of St. Thome, with only an approximate 

 area of 355 square miles— not more than 

 one-third of which is in actual cultiva- 

 tion— supplies 450,000 bags, or about one- 

 fitth of the total, a harvest worth to 

 them over $8,000,000 annually. Statistics 

 show the growing importance of this 

 island as a producing centre. The crop 

 of 1897 was 141,603 bags of 130 lb. each ; 

 in 1900,-220,14y bags; in 1905,-425,196 

 bags ; and in 1906,-407,452 bags. 



The trees begin to bear after five or 

 six years, but they do not attain matu- 

 rity of productiveness until they are ten 

 years old, after which they continue to 

 give their fruit for about forty years. 

 If one considers these iuitial difficulties, 

 it seems remarkable that St. Thome has 

 been able to more than double her out- 

 put of cacao in so short a period, and 

 looking into the future (assuming the 

 maintenance of present prices), it may 

 not be an exaggeration to say tnat the 

 present production will be again re- 

 doubled in the next ten years, since there 

 is much more land available there for 

 the cultivation of the cacao tree than is 

 now in actuaf plantation; and there is, 

 as might be expected, great activity in 

 soil dealing and crop extension. 



A casual study of the cacao markets 

 of the world would seem to further 

 justify this prophecy. The present 

 demand for cacao can scarcely be satis- 

 fied, and, according to late returns from 

 London, buyers are taking deliveries 

 more freely than ever before. This is 

 not from the fact there is any special 

 shortage of supply, but simply because 

 there is such an eager competition to 

 secure orders for delivery that prices ate 



