6o 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[July  i,  1892. 
age  was  900  trees  per  acre,  and  the  produce  was 
four  to  six  pounds  per  mature  plant.  The  tree  bore 
in  its  fourth  or  fifth  year,  and  would  continue  fifty 
years. 
The  tree  bore  fruit  all  the  year  round,  but  the 
chief  seasons  for  harvesting  were  May  and  June 
and  October  and  November,  known  as  the  St.  John's 
crop  and  the  Christmas  crop.  Great  care  was  taken 
that  only  the  ripe  pods  should  be  gathered,  and  that 
in  removing  the  pods  no  damage  was  done  to  the 
tree.  The  colour  was  generally  sufficient  indication 
of  the  degree  of  ripeness,  but  those  pods  within  reach 
were  generally  gently  tapped  to  acertain  whether 
the  seeds  had  shrunk  from  the  pulp  surrounding 
them.  The  stalk  of  the  pod  was  then  cut  with  a 
sharp  knife,  and  the  part  remaining  shrank  up  and 
fell  off,  leaving  the  tree  sound.  The  pods  grew  on 
soft  places  which  had  been  the  axil  of  a leaf,  and  if 
the  pod  were  torn  away  it  would  take  the  soft  part 
with  it,  leaving  the  tree  sterile  at  that  spot.  The 
pods  were  placed  in  a heap,  and,  soon  as  convenient, 
they  were  cut  open  and  the  seeds  separated  from 
the  pulp  surrounding  them,  great  care  being  taken  to 
remove  all  black  or  unripe  ones.  They  were  then  taken 
to  the  “ sweating  ” or  curing-house,  the  operations 
in  which  were  of  great  importance,  as  the  commer- 
cial value  of  the  bean  depended  upon  the  care  with 
which  they  were  performed.  The  beans  were  first 
allowed  to  ferment,  which  loosened  the  adherent 
pulp,  and  also  modified  the  bitter  character  of  the 
seeds.  This  process  lasted  from  two  to  seven 
days,  according  to  the  weather,  when  the  seeds 
were  easily  removed  from  the  now  slimly  pulp,  and 
were  found  to  have  changed  from  their  bright  red- 
dish colour  to  a deep  brown.  They  were,  after- 
having  been  freed  from  the  pulp,  covered  for  a day 
with  red  earth  or  sand  for  further  fermentation. 
The  next  step  was  to  dust  them  with  earth,  which 
dried  the  mucilage  still  adhering,  and  by  careful  and 
systemetic  rubbing  put  on  a nice  appearance,  which 
was  therefore  not  quite  natural.  The  seeds  were 
then  exposed  to  the  sun  until  dry,  when  they 
were  fit  for  shipment.  Unfermented  seeds  were 
also  to  be  had,  but  they  were  poor  in  flavour  and 
bitter,  and  were  often  used  for  the  cheap  cocoas  with 
which  a large  proportion  of  starch  and  sugar  was 
mixed. 
The  cocoa  industry  in  this  country  was  one  of 
great  importance,  and  one  which  was  growing.  The 
manufacturers  were  no  longer  content  to  make 
cocoa  only,  leaving  the  French  and  Swiss  to  import 
various  kinds  of  chocolate,  creams,  and  sweet- 
meats, as  this  was  having  its  effect  on  the  com- 
parative imports  of  raw  and  manufactured  cocoa. 
Those  engaged  in  the  trade  bought  in  the  best 
markets,  and  as  they  combined  the  best  materials 
and  the  best  skill  in  their  manufactures,  they  were 
able  not  only  to  hold  their  own,  but  to  increase  their 
trade.  The  chocolate  was  put  up  in  fancy  boxes  in 
a great  variety  of  forms,  and  it  -was  therefore  not 
surprising  that  the  industry  should  have  increased 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  should  have  become  one 
of  the  first  importance  as  a home  industry. 
Cocoa,  as  imported,  was  not  in  a fit  condition  for 
consumption  without  further  treatment.  The  first 
Erocess  was  that  of  roasting  which  caused  the  husk  to 
ecome  loose  and  fit  for  removing,  it  developed  a dis- 
tinct aroma,  and  caused  the  seed  to  become  friable. 
This  was  a process  requiring  great  skill,  and  the 
men  employed  had  to  be  men  of  great  experience 
and  capable  of  acting  on  their  own  judgment.  The 
beans  were  passed  over  sieves  to  obtain  uniformity 
of  size,  and  were  then  placed  in  rotating  cylinders. 
After  the  roasting,  which  was  done  at  from  500°  to 
600°  Falir.,  they  were  cooled  and  the  husks  separ- 
ated from  the  nib,  which  was  then  ground  in  a 
mill,  which,  if  the  cocoa  was  to  be  made  into  a 
paste,  was  warmed,  for  the  purpose  of  melting  the 
fat,  which  could  then  be  squeezed  out  by  pressure. 
As  cocoa  fat  did  not  become  rancid,  the  melted 
mixture  was  generally  run  into  blocks  and  so  kept 
for  subsequent  treatment  or  for  sale.  Cocoa  had 
been  for  long  manufactured  at  the  Admiralty  victual- 
ling yards  for  use  in  the  navy.  In  1825  it  was  in- 
troduced as  a substitute  for  gruel  for  breakfast.  Then, 
and  for  seventeen  years  after,  the  husks  and  nibs 
were  all  ground  up  together,  as  was  often  done  in 
commerce  still,  but  as  it  had  a bad  effect  on  those 
who  habitually  used  it,  in  1842-44  a change  was  made 
and  the  husk  excluded.  The  husks  were  now  sold 
at  111.  per  ton,  and  as  they  lent  themselves  readilv 
to  the  purpose  of  adulteration,  few  ground  cocoas 
were  now  made  which  did  not  contain  some  of  it 
The  navy  cocoa  consisted  of  80  per  cent,  of  cocoa 
and  20  per  cent,  of  Demerara  sugar,  and  was  called 
ordinary,  or  of  20  per  cent,  of  refined  sugar  and  the 
same  of  arrowroot,  when  it  was  called  soluble  cocoa 
Ihe  aim  of  the  manufacturers  was  to  obtain  a 
soluble  cocoa,  and  the  success  with  which  their 
efforts  had  been  attended  had  undoubtedly  done  much 
to  increase  its  consumption.  The  manufacturer 
who  first  presented  to  the  public  cocoa  mixed  with 
starch  and  sugar,  had  undoubtedly  done  much  to 
popularise  its  use.  The  quantity  of  fat  which  cocoa 
contained  rendered  it  unsuitable  for  dyspeptic  per- 
sons, and  thus  the  homoeopathic  cocoas  were  intro- 
duced, in  which  the  cocoa  was  diluted  with  starch 
Iceland  moss,  Ac.,  and  sugar.  The  sugar  sweetened 
the  liquor  while  the  starch  granules,  by  bursting  on 
the  addition  of  hot  water,  formed  a gelatinous  men- 
struum in  which  the  finely  ground  cocoa  was  held 
m suspension  The  prices  paid  for  these  mixtures 
showed  that  the  public  had  to  pay  a very  high  price 
indeed  for  the  starch  and  sugar  ‘ present  in  them 
Ihe  series  of  analyses  conducted  at  the  Inland 
Revenue  Laboratory  had  shown  that  there  was  small 
chance  of  anyone  being  injuried  by  reason  of  the 
proportion  of  fat  present. 
The  admixture,  of  starch  did  not  long  please  and 
manufacturers  still  sought  to  produce  a really  'solu 
ble  cocoa.  By  expressing  all  the  fact  possible,  and 
by  adding  an  alkali,  or  by  further  heating  the  pow- 
der, they  at  last  succeeded  in  making  it  more  soluble 
and  the  enormous  sale  of  these  extracts  made  it 
apparent  that  they  supplied  a public  want.  Each 
maker  had  his  own  speciality,  and  the  following 
table  will  give  the  analysis  of  the  various  makes  •— 
Kind. 
| Percentage  of 
Ratio  o: 
Fat  to 
non- 
fatty 
cocoa. 
£ O) 
«e  t: 
-40  TJ 
Sugar 
(added) 
Mois- 
ture. | 
Fat. 
Non- 
fatty 
cocoa. 
45  "63 
72-50 
66-00 
64-74 
66’27 
24-90 
27-89 
23-74 
13-27 
Finest  Trim  nibs 
Cocoa  extract  . . 
Chocolatine 
Cocoa  extract  . . 
Flake 
Rock 
Prepared 
Iceland  Moss  . . 
Chocolate  de 
Saute 
2-60 
3- 52 
4- 40 
5- 76 
5-49 
2-58 
4- 95 
5- 47 
1-44 
51'77 
23- 98 
29-60 
29-50 
28-24 
22-76 
24- 94 
16-86 
22  08 
1 to  -8 
3-0 
2-2 
2-1 
2-3 
1.09 
1-1 
1-4 
•6 
None 
17-56 
19-19  i 
24-70  1 
2-00  | 
None 
32-20 
23-03 
29-23 
61-21 
Name. 
Percentage  of 
Amount  of 
ash 
soluble  in 
cold  water. 
Ash 
Cocoa  soluble 
in  cold  water. 
Trinidad  nibs  . . 
2-8f 
10-58 
2-44 
Cocoa  extract  . . 
6-81 
18-00 
3-95 
Chocolatine 
6-14 
18-50 
4-50 
Cocoa  extract  . . 
5-64 
16-72 
4-36 
Flake 
5-38 
18-10 
4-00 
Rock 
1*56 
36-70 
0-90 
Prepared 
1-52 
30 ‘66 
1-17 
Iceland  Moss  . . 
1-83 
40-80 
1-06 
Chocolate  de  Sgrnte  . . 
1-76 
65-60 
1-26 
It  was  only  right  for  him  to  add  that  cocoa,  which 
had  been  prepared  by  the  extraction  of  the  fat,  was 
the  very  best  form  for  general  use,  as  the  percen- 
tage of  nitrogen  had  been  increased,  and  it  was  thus 
richer  as  a fiesh-former  than  when  in  its  natural 
state.  Cocoa  did  not  suit  every  constitution,  but 
