556 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[Frn. 1, 1900. 
cau always be used for ' foundations,' and so cost very 
little more than the trouble bestowed on them. 
The characteristics of 
A GOOD COCOA BEAN 
varies in every growth. For instance, 'Calabacillo' cocoa, 
which forms the bulk of the Grenada crop is said to be 
unaffected by fermentation, so can never plump up like 
highly fermented Java. However, I am not wrong in 
saying good cocoa beans, no matter wliat the growth 
must be perfectly ripe and well fermented, which 
causes th^m to be more or less plump, and filled out ; 
when broken they should be of a good even ' rod ' 
throughout; the bean should crack up easily, and the 
kernel and shell come apart without trouble. The 
ideal cocoa bean should have the shell a nice bright 
red, with a slight tendency to purple. Of late some 
of the Grenada Cocoa has wonderfully inij.roved 
both in size and ' break, ' so much so that if it ia 
from the same ' Calabacillo ' strain it has been im- 
proved beyond recognition by superior cultivation. 
' Hardness of break ' ' fiintiness," ' soapiuess,' 'grey 
color, ' etc., seen in beans all betoken insufficiency of 
ripeness and ciiring; the nearer the bean is to the 
even-coloured 'red' peculiar to its growth, the better 
prepared, and the riper will it prove to be. 
Of all cocoas Guayaquils give the most trouble to 
distinguish one quality from another. This difference 
in the quality is due to the locality of the estate and 
the season of the year at which the cocoa is picked, 
and as localities run one into the other and seasons 
vary, so do the qualities of the produce, some Carra- 
quez Guayaquil being very difficult tc distinguish 
from some Arribas. 
Beins of the purple or Forastero Oocoa, as Trini- 
dads, Grenadas, Africans, etc., are naturally flatter in 
shape, and have a coarser shell than those of the 
CrioUo kind, as Ceylon Java, etc. Columbian cocoa 
especially that grown in the Cauca district, runs very 
large in size, and is of an excellent quality and flavor, 
selling even higher than the finest Arribas of Guaya- 
quil, which it somewhat resembles in shape, due no 
doubt to the two districts bordering one on the other. 
The difference in the outside color and appearance 
of the various growths is due principally to tlie mode 
employed in the preparation. Some of the bean^, 
as Ceylons, and some Jamaicas are regularly washed 
and all the mucilage x'omoved, whilst in Guayaquils 
it ia left on. With Trinidada and Grenadas it ia 
more or leas rubbed off by hand or other means, and 
with Venezuelian and other ' clayed ' cocoas it is ab- 
sorbed by the cliy. — Oonfectioner's Union, Jan. 15. 
INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION. 
The following is an abstract of proceedings of a 
meeting of the General Committee held on the 16tli 
instant, present :— Messrs. H S Ashton (Chair- 
man). H C Begg (yiee-Chairnian), G G Anderson, 
W Brown, G A Ormiston, M R Quin, li K Toj n- 
bee and T Traill. 
PARLS EXHIBITION, 
Mr. Tye refen ed to the arrangements to be made 
in the Paris Exhibition to ensnn; prominence being 
given to the samples of Indian tea, photographs 
of tea estates, niacliinerj', etc. , and other exhibits 
sent frota India. He .stated that one or two oc- 
tagonal kiosks would 1)6 constructed to display the 
exhibits to the greatest advantage. One of these 
kiosks woul probably be placed in the centre of the 
Tea Court. The London Committee had also had 
a consultation with tiie architect of the Indiaa 
Pavilion, and they had sancti ned arrangements 
for the filling up, decoration, and com((letion of 
the Tea Courts, wiiich it was utulerst-tod were to 
be in readiness by the 1st March 19ii0. The first 
instalment of the grant sanctioned by the < jovern- 
ment of India had been paid to the credit of the 
Indian Committee of the Royal Commission; and 
a further instalment was to be paid on the 1st 
March next. 
NEW MACllINERV. 
Considered letter No. 2703 of 13tli January, fioiii 
Mr. J H Apjohn, Viee-Chairman of the Calcutta 
Port Commissioners, in reference to the machine 
invented by him for bulking and re-packing tea. 
This machine, which had been viewed by the mem- 
bers of the General Committee ni March last, had 
been working experimentally since that time in the 
Port C'onimissioners' Tea Warehouse. Mr. Apjohn 
stated in his letter that the dilliculties of detail at 
fir.st experienced had been overcome, and that as a 
bulker or blender the machine now gave mathe- 
matically accurate results. Pfe had also made ar- 
ran^ienients for the tea to be re|)acked in the cliests 
by hydraulic packing. This had, after experiment, 
proved successful, enabling the tf>a to be re-packed 
in as many seconds as by any other proce.*s it 
would take minutes. He submitted a statement 
showing that up to the present over 5,000 chests 
had been bulked with satisfactory result.=. The 
bulker would l)e capable of dealing witii 5U0 cliesta 
an hour and the tea would be inimediately re- 
packed. Mr, Apjohn proposed to advise the Port 
<Jonimissi(mer.s to charge four atinas only percliest 
for bulking, grossing and taring. The rate would, 
therefore, be one cjuarler of that charged iu 
London and in addition shippers would have the 
advantage of the cei tainiy of tlieir teas being ship- 
ped in good order. jHe was jnoposing to the Poit 
Commissioners to erect one complete bulking and 
packing plant in the Tea Wareliouse and another 
at the Kidderpore Docks ; and he asked for an 
expression of opinion as to whether the bulking 
would be likely to meet a want of the trade. 
The Committee discussed the letter and directed 
the Secretary to inform Mr. Apjohn in reply that 
in their opinion the proposals he made would if 
carried out, meet a want of the trade, more 
especially in the case of shippers who -buy tea at 
Calcutta auctions, and despatch it to foreign 
markets. 
TEA SEED CONTRACT FORM, 
Considered li!e of correspondence, in reference 
to the Tea Seed Contract form, issued to members 
under cover of Circular No. 141-0. of 11th April 
1899. After the publication of the contract certain 
diflerences of opinion were expressed by the Assam 
and Cachar Branches and members of the Associa- 
tion, as to the terms of clause 5. This clause 
provided that in the event of the seed when tested 
"proving to be 10 per cent or more under the 
guarantee" the buyer should have the option of 
cancelling the contract or of taking delive'-y on a 
scale of allowances appended to the contract. 
There appeared to be some conflict of opinion a.s to 
the percentage which should be allowed, and at 
their meeting held on the 5th September, the 
General Committee had decided to recommend to 
the Assam and Cachar Branches that a blank be 
left where the worcl " ten per cent " stand ; thus 
leaving it open for the buyer and the seller in each 
transaction to come to a mutual arrangement on 
the poirit. This had accordingly been done, and a 
reply dated 13tli September had been received from 
the Chairman of the Cachar Bianch approving of 
the suggestion. The Committee had also received 
information through the Hon. Mr. Buckingham, 
that the Committee of the Assam Branch, after 
having submitted the point to their members, also 
supported the proposal. 
In these circumstances the General Committee 
decided to reprint the contract form making the. 
change in question ; and to re-issue it with a 
covering letter to the members of the Association. 
— Planter, Jan. 27th. 
