THE TROPICAL 
AGHtCULTtJBlST. [Aug. 1, 1901. 
of the moon. This has been disputed by scientitic 
authorities, such aa BIr. Hart, of ths Botanic 
Gardens ; but still the belief exists among the 
planters who personally told me that, though they 
can find no scientific reason for it, nevertheless 
they are right. It is necessary on cocoa estates to 
have good drainage, and the drains must be kept 
clear so that the land shall not get soured by the 
accumulation of water. A large quantity of moss 
is all the time gatherin<? on the trees, and this 
moss has to be taken off by the process known as 
" brushing," brushes made of stiff fibre being used 
for the purpose. The moss, of course, accumulates 
on the trees with varying rapidity, according to the 
moisture of the climate, but it is generally conceded 
that in most districts the trees require brnshing 
once in three years. 
How Prupaued for Market. — Tfc may, no doubt, 
be of interest to some of my readers to know just 
how the cocoa is picked and prepared for market in 
Trinidad, and the following account, I think, about 
covers it. Picking is started, say, on Monday, and 
the pods when picked are gathered in piles which 
are left there until Friday morning or afternoon, 
according to the quantity picked. The breaking or 
opening of the pods commences either on Friday 
or Saturday morning. The pods are opened at the 
pile and the beans taken out and " crooked " to the 
sweat-box that is to say carried in baskets on mule-tack 
to the sweat-box. The reasons for not breaking and tak- 
ing the beans in every night are many :— (U Because 
it would be expensive. (2.) Because the fruit is too 
fresh from the tree. (3.) Because the sweating 
would not be regular and it would not be possible to 
get a regular kind of cocoa both as to size and colour. 
(4.) Because too many sweat-boxes would be re- 
quired. 
By allowing cocoa to remain in the pod for four or 
five days in the field before breaking, it is found that 
fermentation gradually begins, and the fruit benefits 
from all the aroma there may be in the pod. Once 
in the sweat-box, the beans are covered with plan- 
tain leaves, and in a couple of days fermentation 
is very strong. The sweat-boxes, on properly 
armnged estates, are fixed in a series so that, when 
fermentation commences, the beans are changed from 
one box to another, and this proi-ess is allowed to 
go on for four, five, or six days, according to the 
quantity of the cocoa it is desired to produce. 
Highly fermented cocoa formerly fetched very high 
prices, but to-day the difference in price is so little 
that the planters are seriously considering the 
question as to whether it is wise to waste the time 
and extra loss of weight that is required for extreme 
fermentation — though it is only right for me to state 
here that there is a great divergence of opinion as 
to whether after a certain period there is any extra 
loss of weight by fermentation. From the sweat-box 
the cocoa is put in the sun and spread out very 
thin, and while it is in that state, labourers, prin- 
cipally coolies, are employed to walk on the cocoa, 
or, as it is called, to " mash " it. Whilst the 
labourers are walking over the beans they are also 
busy picking off any pieces of fibre which may 
adhere to them from the pods. Daring the first 
day the beans are carefully watched and turned 
about so as to let the sun get at all of them. If 
the sun is too hot, the cocoa-house is closed and the 
cocoa heaped up. In the afternoon, it is opened out 
until sunset. After this process is over, the cocoa 
is ■' danced " for two or three days. That is to say, 
coolies are employed to perform a dance on top of 
the cocoa. This must be done when the beans are 
still soft, as when half-dry it is too late and the 
cocoa is apt to get spoiled. The cocoa is cured in 
eight days, provided there is sufficient sun. The 
cocoa drying-house is an interesting building and 
requires some explanation to the uninitiated. Posts 
are firmly driven into the ground at distances. 
Hay, of about four or six feet apart. On these are 
laid beams, and on the beams ia put an iron rail. 
The roof is a pitched roof covered with corrugated 
iron, and is made in two sections, the sheets of one 
slightly overlapping the sheets of the other. Under- 
neath the beams, forming the sides of the roof, are 
wheel.i, which run onto rails. If the cocoa house is 
60 feet long, then 15 feet on either side are left un- 
floored, whilst 30 feet in the middle are floored. 
The roof covers this centre part, but when the 
cocoa is to be exposed to the sun the two parts of 
the roof are pushed apart, leaving the boards bare 
to the sun. A couple of men can open or close the 
house, and they watch for every sign of rain ia 
order to do this. On many well-regulated estates, 
underneath the oocoa house are situated all the rooms 
necessary for the cocoa — the sweat-boxes, the pack- 
ing-room, etc. A good many of the estates, espe- 
cially those in districts where there is a good deal 
of rain, are adopting artificial curing by means of 
hot air, but practically all are agreed that there is 
nothing like Nature for doing the work thoroughly 
and properly. In case of some of the finer grades 
of cocoa, during the dancing process a particular 
kind of red clay is sprinkled on the beans, which 
gives them a bright, shining, brown appearance. 
No cocoa is prepared by our method of washing, 
although this is sometimes done when the beans 
happen to get " weathered." A good many of the 
estates are situated in the highlands, and at present 
there are very few good roads, so that all the cocoa 
has to come down on mule-back either to the rail- 
way station or to the commencement of the cart 
road. 
As regards the future of cocoa in the markets of 
the world, it is difficult to say. For many years 
the consumption of cocoa was comparatively a small 
one, and the article fetched a very high price. The 
fall which took place fifteen years ago called the 
attention of many people to the enormous profits 
being made by cocoa manufacturers. There was a 
sudden development of the industry and the con- 
sumption has been greatly increased. Unlike coffee 
and tea, cocoa has still large areas of cultivation 
to conquer, and, uniting in itself, as it does, the 
properties of a valuable beverage and a wonderfully 
sustaining food, it does look as though the future 
of cocoa is a good one. It must not be forgotten 
that large areas have been placed under cultivation 
recently, and enormous quantities are being grown 
ill many parts of the world. The island of San 
Thome, off the African coast, which was practically 
unknown a few years ago, is now supplying vast 
quantities of cocoa. The only thing that can be said 
is that, at the present price, cocoa is an enormously 
remunerative industry, and that it can bear a con- 
siderable fall in price without its arriving at a point 
where it could not be cultivated. In Trinidad it is 
estimated that the cost of production of a fair bag of 
cocoa is S8, the bag weighing 168 lb. The value of 
that bag of cocoa to-day is bout $21. 
Nearly every day one is hearing of some new use 
to which cocoa is being put. This is largely owing 
to the advertising genius of the manufacturers. One 
can hardly open any magazine or newspaper without 
coming across some advertisement of cocoa or choco- 
late. It has been discovered that the article is of 
great nutritive value, and therefore it is constantly 
being put to some new use. It has been largely 
used by the British troops in South Africa, and has 
been found wonderfully sustaining under hard con- 
ditions of campaigning, with the additional advantage 
that a large quantity of nutriment can be compressed 
into a very small space. But of course I would say 
to Trinidad what I would say to Jamaica — that it 
is a bad thing to rely upon one article of export. 
The life of a cocoa planter in Trinidad is certainly 
most pleasant, and work among the beautiful 
shaded cocoa trees is possible to a European without 
unduly suffering from the rays of the tropical aun. 
A walk through the cocoa plantations when the trees 
are bearing is a most beautiful sight. The same tree 
has on it tlowers, badsi and pods, in every stage of 
