Feb. 1, 1900. THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
555 
vear, and that after the payment of R300 extra fees to 
the Directors, in terms of the Eesolution passed oa 
18ih February, 1893, the balance of K,l,472-02 be 
carried forward to the current year's account. 
The estimate for this year is 335,000 lb. Tea against 
an expenditure on working account of R83,545, which 
includes a sum of R6,833 to be expended on manuring. 
A sum of R3.51G is estimated on capital account for 
additions to Machinery and the upkeep of the 33 
acres not yet in beariug. 
During the year uL'der review Messrs. Jas. Forbes 
and W H Figg resigned their seats on the Board, 
and Messrs G C Walker and ■> H Alston were ap- 
pointed to fill the vacancies. 
In terms of the Articles of Association Mr GH 
Alston retires from the office of Directors, but is 
eligible for re-election. 
The appointment of an Auditor will rest v.itli^ the 
Meeting. 
. « . 
A GOOD COCOA BEAN AND A JUDI- 
CIOUS BLEND. 
BY HAROLD HAMEL SMITH. 
[Cocoa Correspondent to the Port of Spain (gazette, 
Trinidad, W.l. ; the Ceylon Observer, Colombo; 
and the Tropical Agriculturist, Ceylon.] 
To properly be able to t<ill a good cocoa bean, it is 
necessary that one should have a slight knowledge of 
its place of origin, and the circumstances under which 
it has been produced and prepared. This is especially 
the case with Ceylon cocoa, from which after Caraccas 
and Puerto Cabello cocoa the finest and most delicate 
Havoured chocolates are produced, Some even pre- 
fer the chocolate made only from the best Ceylon 
cocoa, and say that for delicacy of flftvour this growth 
cannot be surpassed. 
The reason of this is easy to understand when known, 
but can only be found oni by reading up the history 
of the movements of cocoa from one country to another 
which v,'ill show that the finest Ceylons, with the 
cinnamon ' break ' so much sought after by con- 
fectioners, originally came from the same kind, the 
' CrioUo ' as the Caraccas and Puerto Cabello growths, 
the improvement in the flavor, if there is any, being 
due to a higher class cultivation and more careful pre- 
paration than is carried on in Venezuela, whereas 
in Cej'ion no expense or trouble is spared to produce 
the best results. 
For all practical purposes a coufectioner need only 
trouble about 
TWO KINDS OF COCOA 
known as ' CrioUo ' or indigenous, and ' Forastero,' 
or foreign. The light 'break' and delicate flavor 
of the CrioUo cocoa is innate in the growth, 
being due to the cotyledons or kernels 
of the bean, when first taken out of the pod, 
being a milky white color shaded at the margin with 
faint pink, which when fermented and dried, turns a 
light brown or cinnamon color, whilst the flavor of the 
seed when chewed is of a pleasant, nutty, and only 
slightly bitter taste, with a distinct cocoa flavor, in 
marked contrast to the strong bitter taste of the For- 
■ astero bean, which seem to overpower any flavor of 
cocoa in the mouth. The original color of the Forastero 
seed is a deep purple, Vv'hich the process of curing 
turns to a medium or very dark brown, according to 
the time expended on its curing. 
During the last fifteen years cocoas, from nearly 40 
different countries or districts haye been offered for 
saie in London. These I should classify under two 
heads as follows, placing them according to the 
strength or mildness of their flavor : — 
STKONa FI-.i-VOUEED. MILD FLAVOUKED. 
Africans; Surinanis, Ca- Ceylon, Java, Puerto 
ye'.ne, Demarara, Bahias, Cabello, Caraccas, Fine. 
St. Thome, Trinidads, Summer Arriba (Gnaya- 
St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Gre- quil), Colombian and Cau- 
nada, Tobago, Dominica, ca, Carupano, Guiiia, Pe- 
St. Domingo (Jeremie, Sa- ruvian, Mauritius, Sey- 
mana and Sanchez), Cuba chslles, Madagascar, Tu- 
ttnd Para, maco.Esmeraldas. Madras 
Neilgherri and Jamaica, 
The first six growths, as a rule prove too strong— 
that is, the bitterness even when reduced to powder, 
is too marked to allow them to be made up alone as 
cocoa essence, therefore I do not recommend their use 
in confectionery where delicacy of flavour is the first 
consideration ; but v/lien it is only a matter of price 
that alters the case. Even then I would rather use 
Para, which not only is the fattest of all cocoas ex- 
cept Surinam, but is of such a mild flavor that it can 
be made up with any fjrowth, and for this reason is, I 
believe, much 1 ked on the continent, very little of it 
in comparison coming here. 
Opinions differ so much as to which blend is most 
suitable to bring out the full flavour of the cocoa, that 
it is difficult to know which to recommend. The nicest 
chocolate as far as flavor is concerned that I ever 
tasted wasimade entirely of fine Ceylons, and it is insuch 
chocolate .that the advantage of the ' Criollo ' cocoa 
is particularly noticeable, for without extracting any 
of the fat, which contains the essential oil, and so all 
the true flavour of the' bean, you can make your 
chocolate simply by the addition of sugar, whereas 
with the generality of Forastero cocoa^ no matter how 
carefully prepared, a slightly bitter taste is sure to be 
noticeable, it not the cocoa would be found to be of a 
superior variety of Forestero[(called Verugoso amarillo) 
which approaches very near to ' Criollo ' cocoa, the 
interior of the seeds being originally of a violet color 
does not become so dark in curing, it also contains a 
somewhat smaller proportion of essential oil, and is 
therefore not so strong to the taste as the other varie'.ies 
of Forastero. 
AN IDEAL BLEND, 
according to some, is an equal mixture of 
fine Trinidads and fine Ceylons, by which you 
get the superior and stronger flavor of the one, 
toned down b" the delicate taste of the other, and 
the color is pleasing to the eye, a point which I do 
not consider confectioners pay enough attention to, 
especially in cheap chocolates, but from remarks I 
hear dropped by purchasers, the public pay quite as 
much, if not more attention to the color, than they 
do to the flavor. 
As far as flavor is concerned good blends can be 
obtained by mixing almost any of the strong flavored 
growths of column I. with those mentioned in column 
II., preference being given price for price to those 
below the St. Thome in list I., for, as already stated, 
they are generally found to be milder to the taste 
Cheaper qualities of chocolates can be made from the 
same grov.'ths as the best, bnt of cocoa, which, being 
less carefully prepared, sells at louer rates. As far as 
the matter of price goes, every maker of confectionery 
whether he grinds his beans or buys the chocolate 
en bloc, should watch the market reports in the trade 
journals or the daily papers, and note what changes 
have taken place, for prices fluclraate so tremendously 
that it is impossible to recomimend any particular 
blend to be produced at a fixed price. Ceylons for 
instance, sold as high as 130s. per cwt. in 1893, but in 
189-T the highest price was only 65s. 6d., which would 
put it within the reach of confectioners for 'bringing 
up ' the color of all qualities of chocolates, which is 
not the case when fine Ceylon is about SOs. Fine Sum- 
mer Arabia, the flavor of which is particirlarly mild 
and pleasant, even in the bean, also varies greatly 
in price, last year selling at 833. to 85s. ngainst onlj' 
56s. to G2s. in 1896. 
To really find out which blends are the most suit- 
able for one's trade, I would strongly recommend 
every confectioner lo be constantly expeiimenting on 
his own account, no matter hovt' excellent a recipe 
he may already have in his possession. Remember 
there are as good fish in the sea as out of it, and 
it would well repay the trouble if five or six pLimd 
samples of enoh growth ami quality were ground up 
separately and portions blended together according to 
the color required, and the price at which the finished 
article is to bo sold at. By so doing one can see 
exactly what are the results, and test which blend is 
most suito.ble to any particular trado ; and even if 
some of the blends do not tiu'n oi;t satisfactorily, they 
