438 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[December i, 1890 
Ten experienced men will do ns much work per diem 
(without doing the damage as described) as fifteen 
inexperienced labourers. 
(G.) An evil that ought to be remedied by Govern- 
ment is the clause in the Cocoa Ordinance which 
prevents the cocoa dealers from buying less than ten 
pounds of cocoa. This prohibition induces the small 
holders of cocoa (when they have not got the sufucient 
legal quantity of cocoa of their own to sell) to raid 
on their neighbours’ cocoa for the purpose of making 
up the required 10 lb. j and w'hilat engaged in these 
nocturnal excursions it is only natural to suppose that 
they should make a great addition to the 10 lb. at 
their neighbours’ expense. This pilfered cocoa is 
generally sold green and unfermented to the shop- 
keepers or dealers in the country. The planters who 
heap up the pods in the fields as stated in pax’agraphs 
2 and 3 suffer greatly from these thieves, but by 
taking in the cocoa every evening as mentioned in 
paragraph 5, the robbers have lets chance of stealing ; 
and this is another reason, and a paying one, that the 
mode prescribed in paragraph 5 is the best way to 
ferment cocoa. 
(JEf.) A good sugar planter knows well that to make 
good sugar and to get a good return in the boiling- 
hou.se, be must commence operations in the caue- 
piece from the first agricultural stage. So it ought 
to be with a good cocoa planter. The first care should 
be to cultivate the cocoa trees in a manner that would 
make them bear healthy fruit abundantly. The re- 
sult of this would be a large return of cocoa yielding 
well and the process of fermentation made easy. 
(/.) There are small stinging ants which build an 
earthly nest round stems of the young cocoa pods, 
and there are large black ants that nip the young 
pods ; these depredators destroy at least threo- 
fourlhs of the cocoa crops, and the pods all turn 
black on the trees. There are many of the pods 
injured by the ants which are unhealthy when they 
arrive at maturity, making fermentation difficult. A 
little white lime sprinkled round the roofs of the 
trees will make these destructive little insects migrate 
to more congenial quarters. 
{J.) It would be a boon (o the Colony if His 
Excellency the Governor, who has hitherto been ihe 
great pro'moter cf the major and minor industries, 
would unite with the Ohamber of Commerce and en- 
deavour to prevail upon the English Government to 
reduce the duty on chocolate from 2d. to Id. per 
pound, thus equalizing it with the raw material. 
Capitalists would then be induced to invest in chocolate 
manufactories, and I may venture to say that unfer- 
mented cocoa would never be purchased by them which 
in a great measure would compel the small planters 
to ferment their cocoa properly. The Botanist, Mr. 
Cruger, and many others who followed after him in 
trying to establish cliocolate factories in Trinidad failed, 
as the extra duty on chocolate imposed on arrival 
in England did not allow them to compete with the 
Home factories, and our chocolate Indus ‘ry conseiiuently 
has had to succumb to the adulterated chocolate 
made in England, some of which is actually im- 
ported here where the cocoa trees flourish and where 
the manufacturing of chocolate ought to be one of 
the major industries. 
Talisman. 
[The prize essays are published by direction of His 
Excellency the President of the Central Agrioutural 
Board. The essay of “Talisman” is added because 
in our opinion it is of interest, as illustrating tbo 
•• old and time-hononred ” system of procedure. 
'They cannot bo taken as they now stand for the 
purpose of comi)arisou “ ns prize essays,” because in 
the case of the second essay certain portions have 
been exci-ed as not bearing directly on the subject 
of fermentation, and being unsuitable for publication 
in this journal. 
In the sooond es'ay tlie slatoraent “ that lernien- 
tation begins in the pod” is in our opinion erroneous 
Ghc same tiling is stated by ‘I Talisman ”) ; possibly 
the" author meant to say a certain deyreu of saftewaa, 
pr losing of ueeue rather thau fermeutatiou (t') W6 
all know that the juice of the grape does not ferment 
unless the skin is pricked, and in the same way 
with the contents of a cocoa pod, it must be broleen 
before atmospheric air can gain access to it and 
fermentation take place. 
Mr. Hart, as judge of the competitive essays at the 
San Fernando Exhibition, has promised a Notice in 
the next issue, and he will probably touch on some 
interesting points in the unsuccessful essays at the 
same time. — Editob I 
The Cocoa Prize Essays. 
At the meeting of the Trinidad Central Agricul- 
tural Board, 
Mr. Hart announced that the essays on the fermen- 
tation of cocoa had been opened, and that the first 
prize was awarded to Dr. J. P. Chittenden— (His 
Excellency) : I guessed you would have got it — 
(applause) — The second prize had been awarded to 
Joseph Augustus Crichlow, of Arima. The third piizo 
had been awarded to Mr. Eugene Lange (senior). 
His Excellency had been kind enough to add second 
and third prizes to the prize of §25 originally offered. 
There were nine essays received, and one was dis- 
qualified by coming in too late- With the consent of 
the authors the successful essays would be published 
in the Agricultural li cord. 
BIr. Adrien de Verteuil gave notice of the following 
motion : “ That, with the object of meeting the diffi- 
culties which too often ari.se from coutinucus rainy 
weather, it is advisable to adopt some process for 
drying cocoa by hot air, or any other artificial means, 
and to appoint a Committee who will inquire and 
report on the best method to be recommended.” 
Drying Cocoa by Hot Air. 
Waltham, St. Mark’.?, Grenada, 
March, 1890. 
De.ar Sib, — In reply to your letter asking me for some 
information of the working of ray cocoa-drying house, 
I have pleasure in enclo ing a rough plan, by which 
you will see that the idta is most simple, but it 
aiisw'ers its purpose splendidly. The pipes are of iron, 
and are cue foot in diameter and half an inch in 
thickness. The drawers, or trays, are 7 feet by 2J feet, 
the bottoms of which are of thick wire netting. The 
oven, which is placed outside the house with a shed 
over it to keep off the rain and to store fuel, should 
I think be built of bricks. 
In my house I can thoroughly dry cocoa straight 
from the sweater in 48 hours. 
Ool. Duncan had an American fruit-dryer, but it 
was found useless for drying oocoa. 
I may mention that I was the first in this Island 
who dried cocoa by hot air, and now many of the 
planters here are erecting similar houses. 
I hope you will be able to understand the plan 
of the house. I am not good at draughting. 
Yours, &c., 
Charles H. A. Ross. 
'To Dr. Chittenden, 
Secretary, Central Agricultural Board. 
[The plan Mr, Ross has been kind enough to send 
is hardly suitable for the purpose of a lithograph, 
but it can be seen by any interested in the subject, 
on application. — Editor.] 
The green onyx which is being quarried in the 
west of Grant County, New Mexico, is found in a 
fissure vein about 60 feet wide and over a mile in 
length. The stone is becoming fashionable in the 
United States for interior decoration. It shows a 
var ety of colours — green, white, pink, and salmon 
— is both stripped and mottled, and susceptible of 
a high polish, while it is the only kind of onyx 
which can be carved like marble. Blocks of it have 
been offered by the proprietor of the mines for use 
ill the construction of the exhibition buildings of 
the World’s Globe, 
