June i, if^ga.l 
tHF Trt6r>ieAL AQRl6ULTUftlST. 
909 
MR JOSEPH HATTON'S ARTICLE ON 
“COCOA” IN THE “ ENOLISH 
ILLCSTRATEH MAGAZINE.” 
The artiole which W 0 quote (see page SJ 12) is inter- 
eating not from any special kn' wledge which Mr. 
Hatton poBEeases of Tfieofiroma cacno nnd its onltu e 
aa from the graphic description he givea of iho 
gigantic works and the mnltitudinous machi- 
nery by which the aeeda are roanntautured into 
various preparations at the Messrs. Fry’s extensive 
works in Bristol. Mr. Hatton indeed quotes a 
so-called " technical authority ’’ as writing “ Oooa 
leaf, ooooa-nut, cocoa ; it requires thought before 
one can rightly attribute (he properties and uses 
of these vegetable produots.” We should think so, 
since there is no such vegetable product in com- 
merce or the pharsmaeopeia aa 0000 a leaves: 
indeed cocoa itself is a most unfortunate corrup- 
tion of cacao. What the " technical authority ” 
misnamed “ cocoa leaves ’’ are the leaves of 
Erythroxylon coca, which the Peruvians chew as 
a stimulant, and which has been recently found 
to yield a most valuable anesthetic. Neither is 
there any vegetable production in cxiatenoo, which 
is properly named “ cocoa-nut." The fruit of 
t'oeou nucifera is properly coco-nut, and the tree 
on which it grows is the coeonut palm. The 
grand old lexicographer. Dr. Johnson, knew this, 
and he described the palm by its proper name. 
The confusion arose from the mixing up by 
the printers of the dettnition.s of coconut and 
Theobroma cacao. Let us recapitulate the three 
striotly correct names, to the orthography of which 
all intelligent writers ought to adhere : — 
Coca leaves. 
Coco nuts and palm. 
Cacao seeds, mbs. Fry’s, cso. 
“ Cocoa ’’ is absolutely inadmissible ; and yet a 
practised literary min. like Mr. Hatton, not only 
quotes the “ technical authority ’’ as we have 
shown, but himself writes Many think cocoa 
nibs are made from a root, others associate them 
with the cocoa-nut palm.” And then ho mentions 
an established dictionary in which an engraving 
of a “cocoa-nuf’ palm is used to illustrate the word 
“ ooooa.” The leaves of Thcohronm cacao may in 
shape resemble those of a plum tree, but they are 
really gigantio leaves, suoli as no plum tree ever 
wore. We should say that " 100 nuts or more’* 
in a cacao pod was a rare occurrence, 26 to 60 
being a more common average. But, as we have 
said, the interest of the artiole centres in the 
complicated and numerous manufacturing oper- 
ations described, and hero Mr. Hatton is at 
home describing what he actually saw. Cacao 
differs essentially from coflen and still more from 
tea in requiring bo much preparation before it can 
be used as a beverage, or a confeotion. All 
that ia neceBsary in the case of coffee beans is that 
they should be roasted, ground, niid treated with 
hot water, while the dried tea leaves require simply 
to be infused in boiling water poured over them 
and allowed to remain not more than five minutes. 
AS to oaoBO it is positively bewildering to read of 
the prooesaea to which the beans or nuts are 
subjected by means of maohines fully illustrated in 
the artiole we are noticing. Amongst other 
machines there are hydraulia presses of great 
power, some of whioh are used to express the 
oil whioh exists abundantly in the oaoao beans. 
The ooftee bean and the tea leaves have each 
a subtle essential oil on whioh their flavour depends, 
but we never heard of coffee beans yielding a fatty oil, 
and in the ease of the tea plant suoh an oil is yielded 
only by the seeds. We have never heard that this oil 
of any eoonomio value, like cacao buUcri Cacao, 
in truth, is a food {theobroma, food of the gods) : 
while lea and ooffee, although by no means wanting 
in nutritive properties, are more speoially valuable 
as oheeriog and reatorative stimulants, without 
produoiog any of the reaction whioh aoeompanisB 
the use -of alcohol. The first illustration is an 
engraving from a drawing taken in Ceylon of a 
portion of a osoao plantation with four oharaoter- 
istio Tamil women opening the pods and dropping 
the seeds into baskets. Tben we have : —A corner of 
the roastiog room ; grinding pure chocolate ; a 
pug mill or mixing pan ; rolling sweet ohooolale ; 
hydraulic presses for extraoting " ooeoa" but- 
ler from eonoentrated ’’ coooa": stirring the 
sugar cream ; filling paokels of •• ooooa’’; and 
finally packing fancy ohooolate. In the two 
last women only are represented, many of whom 
find employment on the works, oonneoted 
with whioh altogether, when anew iaotory is oom- 
pletod, there will be very nearly 3,000 men, women 
and children. For the spiritual as well aa the 
physical sud intelleotual well being of their people 
the Messrs. Fry have oonsoieuliously provided. 
It seems that a bad roaat would be aa fatal to' 
oroao as a bad wither would be for tea, and 
granite rollers are used for grinding, as iron would 
set up injurious ohemioal aotion. It will be aeen 
that immense quantities of refined sugar are used 
in the raanafaoture, and that the Messrs. Pry 
make most of the machinery they use, mannfootur- 
iug also wooden, tin and paper boxes djs. It will 
bo noticed that artificial cold is essential to some 
of the prooosses. But for details of great iutereet* 
on whioh wo cannot touch, we must refer our 
readers to the artiole we quote. Before we 
read it, we had no idea of Ibe large measure 
of employment afforded by the menufaetnre in 
Britain of the twbnly-one millions of pounds of 
oacao seeds on whioh duty was paid in 18'Jl. From 
the pointi of view of home employment and the 
ologanoe and delioaoy of the artioles turned out, 
some of them, orange flavoured, — eaoao oertaioly 
excels either tea or ooffee. Our etaple baa the 
great merit, however, of reaching the Home 
market and the oonaumer perfectly ready for 
oonversion into 
“ The cups which cheer but not inebriate," 
whioh ia really the form in which Cowper described 
tea. It is aometbing fur this oolony to boast that 
her ooffee, her tea and her oaoao have been amongst 
the best the world has produeed. Aa to the oaoao, 
there is certainly no question. 
In Ceylon we produce a small quantity of high 
quality coca leave! ; 
a oonsiderable quantity of highest quality cacao ; 
and many millions of ezoellent coco-nut. 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Druggist.) 
London, April 7th. 
CiNOnoNA.— The fortnightly auctions held on Tuesdav 
wore of small extent, the OAtalogues oomprlsing of 
Packages Packages 
Ceylon bark 611 of which 677 were sold 
East Indian bark 1,128 do 1,110 do 
Java bark 6 do 6 do 
Sonth Amerioan bark,.. 249 do 118 do 
Total ... 1,994 do 1,811 do 
The aisortment was a good one, and Included a lamo 
quantity of Indian Ofliolnalls bark, both <rlglnal uSd 
renewed, and several very good lots of red and vellow 
bark. The sales were very irregular, oompetitiou belZ 
almost oouflnod to two firms. Ordinary qualities wnrS 
generally lower, but for rich barks full prioei wara^ld’ 
The average null remained Hd pot lb, 
