S88 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 2, 1901. 
wbich are intuaions and more stimulants— the whole 
substance of cocoa is absorbed. Bat a late Chan- 
cellor of the Exohequei-— Mc. Gos;hen if memory 
serves aright— attributed the growth o£ its use as 
against coifee to the extensive advertising of rival 
manufacturers. He spok-j regretfully because, as 
between the two ia the raw state, coffee pays the 
higher duty. Whatever the cause, the consumption 
has enormously increased, and contiauea to grow. 
The cocoa we drink and the chocolate we eat— for 
the chocolate powd t from which the beverage is 
made is not very popular here— are two very different 
things. The cocoa bean contains from 40 to 50 per 
cent, of cocoa-butter, the gre-iter part of which has 
to be extracted in order to make the liquid diges- 
tible. In the beat makes some 10 per cent, is re- 
tained. The cheaper qualities have very little left, 
and, moreover, the p'Jwder is mixed %vith the bean 
shell, while arrowr.jot or sago is added, to say nothing 
of colouring matter. But with chocolate confectionery 
in its almost countless forms the case is different, 
or should be. Here the fat is kept, sugar and milk 
is added, with a very small proportion of flavouring 
essence, and generally speaking, the chocolate is 
simply used to cover a cream, an almond, a walnut, 
and things of that sort. 
FoiiEiGN Competition. 
In ft fes? articles of daily consumption has the 
non-British producer laboured so hard to catch trade 
as in this. Of course, there are first-class English 
makers, both of cocoa and of chocolate confectionery. 
But we believe it is the fact that of the first named 
some of the best comes from Holland, and of the 
second from France, Germany, and Belgium. How 
much the home trade has grown, however, is shown 
by the latest Blue-book from the Statistical Depirt- 
ment of the Customs House. In 18'J6 we imported 
the raw material to the extent of 32,218,803 1b. ; in 
1900 the total had mounted up to 52,6-17,818 lb. We 
exported five years ago to foreign countries 474,600 lb. 
and to British nossessions 2,14fi,300 lb, of the manu- 
factured article"; the figures for 1900 being 758,000 lb. 
and 3,850.8001b, respectively. In other works, taking 
both sets of figures we nearly doubled our exports. 
Bat when we turn to the other' side of the slate we 
find that there is room for apprehension. The record 
°f 1896. 1900. 
lb. lb. 
Manufactured cocoa or chocolate... 3,794,422 7,754,879 
Manufac'.ured with the use of spirits 51,603 106,087 
Confectionery containing not more 
fVif>n 50 per cent, of chocolate . . 12,095 37,516 
Ditto, with the use of spirits 22,796 36,937 
Totals .. 3,877,916 7,935,449 
"When it is remembered that the bulk of our exports 
is within the Empire the statistics show how keen 
and successful has been the rivalry of the foreigner, 
A New Aspieant. 
It is in these circumstances of the trade that 
another home-made cocoa has entered the field. In 
the old days when a man had a good thing he used 
to stare making it iii a small wsy and gradually 
push his ware. But oih'^r times other methods. Now 
the phi.n seems to tas to perfect arrangements— taking, 
if need b». years in th« process— and then, iiaving 
prepared the ground a.s thoroughly as a von Mollke 
wonid calculate a campaign, to spring the new pro- 
auct on the con^iuniing world. This is what the 
Mazaw;Utee Tea Company has done. For five years 
experts have be<- n studying the question, experimen- 
ting and inv.jsti>' ; and vary soon the '' Lateriba" 
ojcot'. and ch ioolatas will be proclaimed from the 
housetons, The company's large new works at New- 
cross are divided by a corridor into two portions. One 
is devoted to their tea, which the sweet uses of ad- 
vertisement havo made known in every part of the 
country, and the other to cocoa and chocolate. The 
factory is one of the most perfectly equipped places 
for the preparation of food stuffa it is possible to 
conceive. Electricity is the motive power, generated 
by gas made on the premises. Cleanliness and per- 
feet ventilation have been sought after and attained. 
The compleiion of an immense laundry has enabled 
the compiny to provide linen overalls for every 
employee, though, from the time tea chest or cocoa 
big is opened to the moment the finished product 
is sent out iu its leadfoil packiges or dainty tin, 
hand never touches either article. 
Model W^ouks; 
Every manuf.icturing country contributes to the 
collection of machinery to be found; and many trades 
and crafts go on within the walls. The "woik of 
emment artists in lithographed and printed »a tins 
and boxes— themselves made in the woiks— labels are 
printed, lead and tin mixed to pack tea in— as little, 
in fact, as possible is left for outsiders to supply. 
The process cf ctcoa and confectionery makiug are 
most interesting to watch, especially the second. 
The maternal care which the high-class sweetmeat 
receives would astonish the ladies who eat it. In 
the " covering " room, for instance, the rich brown 
substance is simmering over hot water, but the npper 
air is cooled by b.-ine-charged pipes fixed half way 
up to the ceiling, so that when a little of the deli- 
cate mixture has enclosed cream or praline it may 
settle quickly enough to preserve its taste and aroma. 
Then in the packing there is a notable departure 
from the cugtom of the trade. The sweetmeats are 
placed in tasteful airtight tin boxes, the choco- 
lates rest on layers or crepe paper coloured in harmony 
with the box. This is not merely for effect— though 
that is pleasing— but to ensure that the contents 
shall remain in perfet condition. Choco'ate with its 
large proportion of fat is very susceptible to damp 
and to odours of flavours which may arise from the 
materials composing the cardboard and the coloured 
paper which surround m .nv of the most exptUiive 
forms of this kind U , w ..•,,„eai. Comaminatio-j of 
that sort is of course. dtteMOraiion, and this the 
Mazawattee Company claims wdl be impossible with 
its system of packing. The company's experience 
■with tea has shown it the importance of this con- 
sideration, and, as only one quality of cocoa and 
chocolate is to be made— the best, and all grown iu 
the British Euipire- precautions are doubly neces- 
sary. The cocoa, too, will be all put up in airtight 
cans, which, like the boxes, will be advertisements 
lu themselves. For the MdZiwattee Company believes 
in elucating the eye as well as the palate of the 
people. It has shown this in the past. It intends 
to prove it again immediately. A well-known artist 
his painted an allegorical picture— Britannia welcom- 
ing the new cocoa—the reproduction of which by 
color.r-photography makes a distinot step in the art 
of the hoarding. The actual nrocess is not novel; 
what is new is the size to which it has been found 
possible to make the various blocks. In the character 
of the tones— particularly the dusky flesh tint of the 
female figure representing cocoa— and in the way 
the individuality of the painter is preserved the new 
process is unquestiouably better than the best chromo- 
lithography.— J/ci;-»i'«y Post. 
QUEENSLAND TREES &c. : IN BRIS- 
BANE BOTANIC GARDENS. 
Between the central entrance and the one on the 
river bank is the cricket-field, a considerable stretch 
of ground, ample for ihe purpose. From this en- 
trance, running the whole length of the garden, is 
a row of Araiicaiia B.dwillii, from 40 to 60 feet 
hiuh. As here seeu, litcle can be said in praise of 
tiiis tree for ornamental purposes: its branches, 10 
to 15 feet long, are almost invariably leafless, ex- 
cept from 12 to 21 inches at the end. The immense 
cones, of several pounds weight, are clustered at the 
top, hidden from view, and difficult to obtain without 
the assistance of a storm. 
