COCOA AND CHOCOLATE

_Their History from Plantation to Consumer_

By

ARTHUR W. KNAPPB. Sc. (B'ham. ), F. I. C. , B. Sc. (Lond. ) Member of the Society ofPublic Analysts; Member of the Society of Chemical Industry; Fellowof the Institute of Hygiene. Research Chemist to Messrs. CadburyBros. , Ltd. 

LONDONCHAPMAN AND HALL, LTD. 1920

PREFACE

Although there are several excellent scientific works dealing in adetailed manner with the cacao bean and its products from the variousview points of the technician, there is no comprehensive modern workwritten for the general reader. Until that appears, I offer this littlebook, which attempts to cover lightly but accurately the whole ground, including the history of cacao, its cultivation and manufacture. This isa small book in which to treat of so large a subject, and to avoidprolixity I have had to generalise. This is a dangerous practice, forwhat is gained in brevity is too often lost in accuracy: brevity may bealways the soul of wit, it is rarely the body of truth. The expert willfind that I have considered him in that I have given attention to recentdevelopments, and if I have talked of the methods peculiar to one placeas though they applied to the whole world, I ask him to consider me bysupplying the inevitable variations and exceptions himself. 

The book, though short, has taken me a long time to write, having beenwritten in the brief breathing spaces of a busy life, and it would neverhave been completed but for the encouragement I received from Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Ltd. , who aided me in every possible way. I amparticularly indebted to the present Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Mr. W. A. Cadbury, for advice and criticism, and to Mr. Walter Barrow for readingthe proofs. The members of the staff to whom I am indebted are Mr. W. Pickard, Mr. E. J. Organ, Mr. T. B. Rogers; also Mr. A. Hackett, for whomthe diagrams in the manufacturing section were originally made by Mr. J. W. Richards. I am grateful to Messrs. J. S. Fry and Sons, Limited, forinformation and photographs. In one or two cases I do not know whom tothank for the photographs, which have been culled from many sources. Ihave much pleasure in thanking the following: Mr. R. Whymper for a largenumber of Trinidad photos; the Director of the Imperial Institute andMr. John Murray for permission to use three illustrations from theImperial Institute series of handbooks to the Commercial Resources ofthe Tropics; M. Ed. Leplae, Director-General of Agriculture, Belgium, for several photos, the blocks of which were kindly supplied by Mr. H. Hamel Smith, of _Tropical Life_; Messrs. Macmillan and Co. For fivereproductions from C. J. J. Van Hall's book on _Cocoa_; and _West Africa_for four illustrations of the Gold Coast. 

The photographs reproduced on pages 2, 23, 39, 47, 49 and 71 are byJacobson of Trinidad, on pages 85 and 86 by Underwood & Underwood ofLondon, and on page 41 by Mrs. Stanhope Lovell of Trinidad. 

The industry with which this book deals is changing slowly from an artto a science. It is in a transition period (it is one of the humours ofany live industry that it is always in a transition period). There aremany indications of scientific progress in cacao cultivation; and nowthat, in addition to the experimental and research departments attachedto the principal firms, a Research Association has been formed for thecocoa and chocolate industry, the increased amount of diffusedscientific knowledge of cocoa and chocolate manufacture should give riseto interesting developments. 

A. W. KNAPP. 

Birmingham, _February, 1920. _

CONTENTS

 PAGEPREFACE v

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER ICOCOA AND CHOCOLATE--A SKETCH OF THEIR HISTORY 5

CHAPTER IICACAO AND ITS CULTIVATION 17

CHAPTER IIIHARVESTING AND PREPARATION FOR THE MARKET 45With a dialogue on "The Kind of Cacao the Manufacturers Like. "

CHAPTER IVCACAO PRODUCTION AND SALE 81With notes on the chief producing areas, cacao markets, and theplanter's life

CHAPTER VTHE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 119

CHAPTER VITHE MANUFACTURE OF CHOCOLATE 139

CHAPTER VIIBY-PRODUCTS OF THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY 157(_a_) Cacao Butter, (_b_) Cacao Shell

CHAPTER VIIITHE COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 165(including Milk Chocolate)

CHAPTER IXADULTERATION, AND THE NEED FOR DEFINITIONS 179

CHAPTER XTHE CONSUMPTION OF CACAO 183

BIBLIOGRAPHY 191A List of the Important Books on Cocoa and Chocolatefrom the earliest times to the present day. 

INDEX 207

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Cacao PodsOld Drawing of an American Indian, with Chocolate Whisk, etc. Native American Indians Roasting the Beans, etc. Ancient Mexican Drinking CupsCacao Tree, with Pods and LeavesCacao Tree, shewing Pods Growing from TrunkFlowers and Fruits on main branches of a Cacao TreeCacao PodsCut Pod, revealing the White Pulp round the BeansCacao Pods, shewing Beans insideDrawing of Typical Pods illustrating varietiesTropical Forest, TrinidadCharacteristic Root System of the Cacao TreeNursery with the Young Cacao Plants in Baskets, JavaPlanting Cacao from Young Seedlings in Bamboo Pots, TrinidadCacao in its Fourth YearCopy of an Old Engraving shewing the Cacao Tree, and a tree shading itCacao Trees shaded by Kapok, JavaCacao Trees shaded by Bois Immortel, TrinidadCacao Tree with SuckersCutlassingCommon Types of Cacao PickersGathering Cacao Pods, TrinidadCollecting Cacao Pods into a HeapMen Breaking Pods, etc. Sweating Boxes, TrinidadFermenting Boxes, JavaCharging Cacao on to Trucks in the Plantation, San ThoméCacao in the Fermenting Trucks, San ThoméTray-barrow for Drying Small QuantitiesSpreading the Cacao Beans on mats to dry, CeylonDrying Trays, Grenada"Hamel Smith" Rotary DryerDrying Platforms with Sliding Roofs, TrinidadCacao Drying Platforms, San ThoméWashing the Beans, CeylonClaying Cacao Beans, TrinidadSorting Cacao Beans, JavaDiagram: World's Cacao ProductionMAP of the World, with only Cacao-Producing Areas markedRaking Cacao Beans on the Driers, EcuadorGathering Cacao Pods, EcuadorSorting Cacao for Shipment, EcuadorMAP of South America and the West IndiesWorkers on a Cacao PlantationMAP of Africa, with only Cacao-Producing Areas markedForeshore at Accra, with Stacks of Cacao ready for ShipmentCarriers conveying Bags of Cacao to Surf Boats, AccraCrossing the River, Gold CoastDrying Cacao Beans, Gold CoastShooting Cacao from the Road to the Beach, AccraRolling Cacao, Gold CoastRolling Cacao, Gold CoastCarrying Cacao to the Railway Station, Gold CoastWagon Loads of Cacao being taken from Depot to the Beach, AccraThe Buildings of the Boa Entrada Cacao Estate, San ThoméDrying Cacao, San ThoméBarrel Rolling, Gold CoastBagging Cacao, Gold CoastSurf Boats by the Side of the Ocean Liner, AccraBagging Cacao Beans for Shipment, TrinidadTransferring Bags of Cacao to Lighters, TrinidadDiagram showing Variation in Price of Cacao Beans, 1913-1919Group of Workers on Cacao EstateCarting Cacao to Railway Station, CeylonThe Carenage, GrenadaEarly Factory MethodsWomen Grinding ChocolateCacao Bean WarehouseCacao Bean Sorting and Cleaning MachineDiagram of Cacao Bean Cleaning MachineSection through Gas Heated Cacao RoasterRoasting Cacao BeansCacao Bean, Shell and GermSection through Kibbling Cones and Germ ScreensSection through Winnowing MachineCacao GrindingSection through Grinding StonesA Cacao PressSection through Cacao Press-pot and Ram-plateChocolate MélangeurPlan of Chocolate MélangeurChocolate Refining MachineGrinding Cacao Nib and SugarSection through Chocolate Grinding Rolls"Conche" MachinesSection through "Conche" MachineMachines for Mixing or "Conching" ChocolateChocolate Shaking TableGirls Covering or Dipping Cremes, etc. The EnroberA Confectionery RoomFactory at which Milk is Evaporated for Milk Chocolate ManufactureCocoa and Chocolate Despatch DeckBoxing ChocolatesPacking ChocolatesFactory at which Milk is Evaporated for Milk Chocolate ManufactureCacao Pods, Leaves and Flowers

INTRODUCTION

In a few short chapters I propose to give a plain account of theproduction of cocoa and chocolate. I assume that the reader is not aspecialist and knows little or nothing of the subject, and hence boththe style of writing and the treatment of the subject will be simple. Atthe same time, I assume that the reader desires a full and accurateaccount, and not a vague story in which the difficulties are ignored. Ihope that, as a result of this method of dealing with my subject, evenexperts will find much in the book that is of interest and value. Aftera brief survey of the history of cocoa and chocolate, I shall begin withthe growing of the cacao bean, and follow the _cacao_ in its careeruntil it becomes the finished product ready for consumption. 

_Cacao or Cocoa?_

The reader will have noted above the spelling "cacao, " and to those whothink it curious, I would say that I do not use this spelling frompedantry. It is an imitation of the word which the Mexicans used forthis commodity as early as 1500, and when spoken by Europeans is apt tosound like the howl of a dog. The Mexicans called the tree from whichcacao is obtained _cacauatl_. When the great Swedish scientist Linnaeus, the father of botany, was naming and classifying (about 1735) the treesand plants known in his time, he christened it _Theobroma Cacao_, bywhich name it is called by botanists to this day. Theo-broma is Greekfor "Food of the Gods. " Why Linnaeus paid this extraordinary complimentto cacao is obscure, but it has been suggested that he was inordinatelyfond of the beverage prepared from it--the cup which both cheers andsatisfies. It will be seen from the above that the species-name iscacao, and one can understand that Englishmen, finding it difficult toget their insular lips round this outlandish word, lazily called itcocoa. 

[Illustration: CACAO PODS (Amelonado type) in various states of growthand ripeness. ]

In this book I shall use the words cacao, cocoa, and chocolate asfollows:

_Cacao_, when I refer to the cacao tree, the cacao pod, or the cacaobean or seed. By the single word, cacao, I imply the raw product, cacaobeans, in bulk. 

_Cocoa_, when I refer to the powder manufactured from the roasted beanby pressing out part of the butter. The word is too well established tobe changed, even if one wished it. As we shall see later (in thechapter on adulteration) it has come legally to have a very definitesignificance. If this method of distinguishing between cacao and cocoawere the accepted practice, the perturbation which occurred in thepublic mind during the war (in 1916), as to whether manufacturers wereexporting "cocoa" to neutral countries, would not have arisen. It shouldhave been spelled "cacao, " for the statements referred to the raw beansand not to the manufactured beverage. Had this been done, it would havebeen unnecessary for the manufacturers to point out that cocoa powderwas not being so exported, and that they naturally did not sell the rawcacao bean. 

_Chocolate. _--This word is given a somewhat wider meaning. It signifiesany preparation of roasted cacao beans without abstraction of butter. Itpractically always contains sugar and added cacao butter, and isgenerally prepared in moulded form. It is used either for eating ordrinking. 

_Cacao Beans and Coconuts. _

In old manuscripts the word cacao is spelled in all manner of ways, but_cocoa_ survived them all. This curious inversion, _cocoa_, is to beregretted, for it has led to a confusion which could not otherwise havearisen. But for this spelling no one would have dreamed of confusing thetotally unrelated bodies, cacao and the milky coconut. (You note that Ispell it "coconut, " not "cocoanut, " for the name is derived from theSpanish "coco, " "grinning face, " or bugbear for frightening children, and was given to the nut because the three scars at the broad end of thenut resemble a grotesque face). To make confusion worse confounded theold writers referred to cacao _seeds_ as cocoa _nuts_ (as for example, in _The Humble Memorial of Joseph Fry_, quoted in the chapter onhistory), but, as in appearance cacao seeds resemble _beans_, they arenow usually spoken of as beans. The distinction between cacao and thecoconut may be summarised thus:

 Cacao. Coconut. 

Botanical Name Theobroma Cacao Cocos nucifera Palm Tree Palm

Fruit Cacao pod, containing Coconut, which with outer many seeds (cacao beans) fibre is as large as a man's head

Products Cocoa Broken coconut (copra) Chocolate Coconut matting

Fatty Constituent Cacao butter Coconut oil

CHAPTER I

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE--A SKETCH OF THEIR HISTORY

 Did time and space allow, there is much to be told on the romantic side of chocolate, of its divine origin, of the bloody wars and brave exploits of the Spaniards who conquered Mexico and were the first to introduce cacao into Europe, tales almost too thrilling to be believed, of the intrigues of the Spanish Court, and of celebrities who met and sipped their chocolate in the parlours of the coffee and chocolate houses so fashionable in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

 _Cocoa and Chocolate_ (Whymper). 

On opening a cacao pod, it is seen to be full of beans surrounded by afruity pulp, and whilst the pulp is very pleasant to taste, the beansthemselves are uninviting, so that doubtless the beans were alwaysthrown away until . .. Someone tried roasting them. One pictures this"someone, " a pre-historic Aztec with swart skin, sniffing the aromaticfume coming from the roasting beans, and thinking that beans whichsmelled so appetising must be good to consume. The name of the man whodiscovered the use of cacao must be written in some early chapter of thehistory of man, but it is blurred and unreadable: all we know is that hewas an inhabitant of the New World and probably of Central America. 

_Original Home of Cacao. _

The corner of the earth where the cacao tree originally grew, and stillgrows wild to-day, is the country watered by the mighty Amazon and theOrinoco. This is the very region in which Orellano, the Spanishadventurer, said that he had truly seen El Dorado, which he described asa City of Gold, roofed with gold, and standing by a lake with goldensands. In reality, El Dorado was nothing but a vision, a vision that fora hundred years fascinated all manner of dreamers and adventurers fromSir Walter Raleigh downwards, so that many braved great hardships insearch of it, groped through the forests where the cacao tree grew, andreturned to Europe feeling they had failed. To our eyes they were notentirely unsuccessful, for whilst they failed to find a city of gold, they discovered the home of the golden pod. 

[Illustration: OLD DRAWING OF AN AMERICAN INDIAN; AT HIS FEET ACHOCOLATE-CUP, CHOCOLATE-POT, AND CHOCOLATE WHISK OR "MOLINET. "(From _Traitez Nouveaux et Curieux du Café, du Thé, et du Chocolate_. Dufour, 1693). ]

_Montezuma--the First Great Patron of Chocolate. _

When Columbus discovered the New World he brought back with him toEurope many new and curious things, one of which was cacao. Some yearslater, in 1519, the Spanish conquistador, Cortes, landed in Mexico, marched into the interior and discovered to his surprise, not the hutsof savages, but a beautiful city, with palaces and museums. This citywas the capital of the Aztecs, a remarkable people, notable alike fortheir ancient civilisation and their wealth. Their national drink waschocolate, and Montezuma, their Emperor, who lived in a state ofluxurious magnificence, "took no other beverage than the chocolatl, apotation of chocolate, flavoured with vanilla and other spices, and soprepared as to be reduced to a froth of the consistency of honey, whichgradually dissolved in the mouth and was taken cold. This beverage if soit could be called, was served in golden goblets, with spoons of thesame metal or tortoise-shell finely wrought. The Emperor was exceedinglyfond of it, to judge from the quantity--no less than fifty jars orpitchers being prepared for his own daily consumption: two thousand morewere allowed for that of his household. "[1] It is curious that Montezumatook no other beverage than chocolate, especially if it be true that theAztecs also invented that fascinating drink, the cocktail (xoc-tl). Howlong this ancient people, students of the mysteries of culinary science, had known the art of preparing a drink from cacao, is not known, but itis evident that the cultivation of cacao received great attention inthese parts, for if we read down the list of the tributes paid bydifferent cities to the Lords of Mexico, we find "20 chests of groundchocolate, 20 bags of gold dust, " again "80 loads of red chocolate, 20lip-jewels of clear amber, " and yet again "200 loads of chocolate. "

 [1] Prescott's _Conquest of Mexico_. 

Another people that share with the Aztecs the honour of being the firstgreat cultivators of cacao are the Incas of Peru, that wonderful nationthat knew not poverty. 

_The Fascination of Chocolate. _

That chocolate charmed the ladies of Mexico in the seventeenth century(even as it charms the ladies of England to-day) is shown by a storywhich Gage relates in his _New Survey of the West Indias_ (1648). Hetells us that at Chiapa, southward from Mexico, the women used tointerrupt both sermon and mass by having their maids bring them a cup ofhot chocolate; and when the Bishop, after fair warning, excommunicatedthem for this presumption, they changed their church. The Bishop, headds, was poisoned for his pains. 

_Cacao Beans as Money. _

Cacao was used by the Aztecs not only for the preparation of a beverage, but also as a circulating medium of exchange. For example, one couldpurchase a "tolerably good slave" for 100 beans. We read that: "Theircurrency consisted of transparent quills of gold dust, of bits of tincut in the form of a T, and of bags of cacao containing a specifiednumber of grains. " "Blessed money, " exclaims Peter Martyr, "whichexempts its possessor from avarice, since it cannot be long hoarded, norhidden underground!"

_Derivation of Chocolate. _

The word was derived from the Mexican _chocolatl_. The Mexicans used tofroth their chocolatl with curious whisks made specially for the purpose(see page 6). Thomas Gage suggests that _choco, choco, choco_ is avocal representation of the sound made by stirring chocolate. The suffix_atl_ means water. According to Mr. W. J. Gordon, we owe the name ofchocolate to a misprint. He states that Joseph Acosta, who wrote asearly as 1604 of chocolatl, was made by the printer to write_chocolaté_, from which the English eliminated the accent, and theFrench the final letter. 

[Illustration: NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS ROASTING AND GRINDING THE BEANS, AND MIXING THE CHOCOLATE IN A JUG WITH A WHISK. (From Ogilvy's_America_, 1671)]

_First Cacao in Europe. _

The Spanish discoverers of the New World brought home to Spainquantities of cacao, which the curious tasted. We may conclude that theydrank the preparation cold, as Montezuma did, _hot_ chocolate being alater invention. The new drink, eagerly sought by some, did not meetwith universal approval, and, as was natural, the most diverse opinionsexisted as to the pleasantness and wholesomeness of the beverage when itwas first known. Thus Joseph Acosta (1604) wrote: "The chief use of thiscocoa is in a drincke which they call Chocholaté, whereof they makegreat account, foolishly and without reason; for it is loathsome to suchas are not acquainted with it, having a skumme or frothe that is veryunpleasant to taste, if they be not well conceited thereof. Yet it is adrincke very much esteemed among the Indians, whereof they feast noblemen as they passe through their country. The Spaniards, both men andwomen, that are accustomed to the country are very greedy of thischocholaté. " It is not impossible that the English, with the defeat ofthe Armada fresh in memory, were at first contemptuous of this "Spanish"drink. Certain it is, that when British sea-rovers like Drake andFrobisher, captured Spanish galleons on the high seas, and on searchingtheir holds for treasure, found bags of cacao, they flung them overboardin scorn. In considering this scorn of cacao, shown alike by Britishbuccaneers and Dutch corsairs, together with the critical air of JosephAcosta, we should remember that the original chocolatl of the Mexicansconsisted of a mixture of maize and cacao with hot spices like chillies, and contained no sugar. In this condition few inhabitants of thetemperate zone could relish it. It however only needed one thing, theaddition of sugar, and the introduction of this marked the beginning ofits European popularity. The Spaniards were the first to manufacture anddrink chocolate in any quantity. To this day they serve it in the oldstyle--thick as porridge and pungent with spices. They endeavoured tokeep secret the method of preparation, and, without success, to retainthe manufacture as a monopoly. Chocolate was introduced into Italy byCarletti, who praised it and spread the method of its manufactureabroad. The new drink was introduced by monks from Spain into Germanyand France, and when in 1660 Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, marriedLouis XIV, she made chocolate well known at the Court of France. She itwas of whom a French historian wrote that Maria Theresa had only twopassions--the king and chocolate. 

Chocolate was advocated by the learned physicians of those times as acure for many diseases, and it was stated that Cardinal Richelieu hadbeen cured of general atrophy by its use. 

From France the use of chocolate spread into England, where it began tobe drunk as a luxury by the aristocracy about the time of theCommonwealth. It must have made some progress in public favour by 1673, for in that year "a Lover of his Country" wrote in the _HarleianMiscellany_ demanding its prohibition (along with brandy, rum, and tea)on the ground that this imported article did no good and hindered theconsumption of English-grown barley and wheat. New things appeal to theimaginative, and the absence of authentic knowledge concerning themallows free play to the imagination--so it happened that in the earlydays, whilst many writers vied with one another in writing glowingpanegyrics on cacao, a few thought it an evil thing. Thus, whilst it waspraised by many for its "wonderful faculty of quenching thirst, allaying hectic heats, of nourishing and fattening the body, " it wasseriously condemned by others as an inflamer of the passions!

_Chocolate Houses and Clubs. _

 "The drinking here of chocolate Can make a fool a sophie. "

In the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth, tea, coffee, and chocolate wereunknown save to travellers and savants, and the handmaidens of the goodqueen drank beer with their breakfast. When Shakespeare and Ben Jonsonforgathered at the Mermaid Tavern, their winged words passed overtankards of ale, but later other drinks became the usual accompanimentof news, story, and discussion. In the sixteen-sixties there were nostrident newspapers to destroy one's equanimity, and the gossip of theday began to be circulated and discussed over cups of tea, coffee, orchocolate. The humorists, ever stirred by novelty, tilted, pen in hand, at these new drinks: thus one rhymster described coffee as

 "Syrrop of soot or essence of old shoes. "

The first coffee-house in London was started in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, in 1652 (when coffee was seven shillings a pound); the firsttea-house was opened in Exchange Alley in 1657 (when tea was fivesovereigns a pound), and in the same year (with chocolate about ten tofifteen shillings per pound) a Frenchman opened the firstchocolate-house in Queen's Head Alley, Bishopsgate Street. The risingpopularity of chocolate led to the starting of more of these chocolatehouses, at which one could sit and sip chocolate, or purchase thecommodity for preparation at home. Pepys' entry in his diary for 24thNovember, 1664, contains: "To a coffee house to drink jocolatte, verygood. " It is an artless entry, and yet one can almost hear him smackinghis lips. Silbermann says that "After the Restoration there were shopsin London for the sale of chocolate at ten shillings or fifteenshillings per pound. Ozinda's chocolate house was full of aristocraticconsumers. Comedies, satirical essays, memoirs and private letters ofthat age frequently mention it. The habit of using chocolate was deemeda token of elegant and fashionable taste, and while the charms of thisbeverage in the reigns of Queen Anne and George I. Were so highlyesteemed by courtiers, by lords and ladies and fine gentlemen in thepolite world, the learned physicians extolled its medicinal virtues. "From the coffee house and its more aristocratic relative the chocolatehouse, there developed a new feature in English social life--the Club. As the years passed the Chocolate House remained a rendezvous, but thecharacter of its habitués changed from time to time. Thus one, famous inthe days of Queen Anne, and well known by its sign of the "Cocoa Tree, "was at first the headquarters of the Jacobite party, and the resort ofTories of the strictest school. It became later a noted gambling house("The gamesters shook their elbows in White's and the chocolate housesround Covent Garden, " _National Review_, 1878), and ultimately developedinto a literary club, including amongst its members Gibbon, thehistorian, and Byron, the poet. 

_Tax on Cacao. _

The growing consumption of chocolate did not escape the all-seeing eyeof the Chancellors of England. As early as 1660 we find amongst variouscustom and excise duties granted to Charles II:

 "For every gallon of chocolate, sherbet, and tea made and sold, to be paid by the maker thereof . .. .. 8d. "

Later the raw material was also made a source of revenue. In _The HumbleMemorial of Joseph Fry_, of Bristol, Maker of Chocolate, which wasaddressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury in 1776 (Messrs. Fry and Sons are the oldest English firm of chocolate makers, havingbeen founded in 1728), we read that "Chocolate . .. Pays two shillingsand threepence per pound excise, besides about ten shillings perhundredweight on the Cocoa Nuts from which it is made. "

In 1784 a preferential customs rate was proposed in favour of ourColonies. This they enjoyed for many years before 1853, when the uniformrate, until recently in force, was introduced. This restrictive tariffon foreign growths rose in 1803 to 5s. 10d. Per pound, against 1s. 10d. On cacao grown in British possessions. From this date it graduallydiminished. High duties hampered for many years the sale of cocoa, teaand coffee, but in recent times these duties have been brought down tomore reasonable figures. For many years before 1915 the import duty was1d. Per pound on the raw cacao beans, 1d. Per pound on cacao butter, and2s. A hundredweight (less than a farthing a pound) on cacao shells orhusks. In the Budget of September, 1915, the above duties were increasedby fifty per cent. A further and greater increase was made in the Budgetof April, 1916, when cacao was made to pay a higher tax in Britain thanin any other country in the world. In 1919 Imperial preference wasintroduced after a break of over sixty years, the duty on cocoa fromforeign countries being 3/4d. A pound more than that from BritishPossessions. 

_Duty on Cacao. _

 1855-1915. 1915. 1916. 1919. Cacao beans per lb. 1d. 1-1/2d. 6d. 4-1/2d. Foreign, 3-3/4d. BritishCacao butter per lb. 1d. 1-1/2d. 6d. 4-1/2d. Foreign, 3-3/4d. BritishCacao shells per cwt. 2s. 3s. 12s. 6s. Foreign, 5s. British

In considering this duty and its effect on the price of the finishedarticle, it should be remembered that there are substantial losses inmanufacture. Thus the beans are cleaned, which removes up to 0. 5 percent. ; roasted, which causes a loss by volatilisation of 7 per cent. ;and shelled, the husks being about 12 per cent. Therefore, the actualyield of usable nib, which has to bear the whole duty, is about 80 percent. It may be well to add that the yield of cocoa powder is 48 percent. Of the raw beans, or roughly, one pound of the raw product yieldshalf a pound of the finished article. 

_Introduction of Cocoa Powder. _

The drink "cocoa" as we know it to-day was not introduced until 1828. Before this time the ground bean, mixed with sugar, was sold in cakes. The beverage prepared from these chocolate cakes was very rich inbutter, and whilst the British Navy has always consumed it in thiscondition (the sailors generally remove with a spoon the excess ofbutter which floats to the top) it is a little heavy for less hardydigestions. Van Houten (of the well-known Dutch house of that name) in1828 invented a method of pressing out part of the butter, and thusobtained a lighter, more appetising, and more easily assimilatedpreparation. As the butter is useful in chocolate manufacture, thisprocess enabled the manufacturer to produce a less costly cocoa powder, and thus the circle of consumers was widened. Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , ofBirmingham, first sold their "cocoa essence" in 1866, and Messrs. Fryand Sons, of Bristol, introduced a pure cocoa by pressing out part ofthe butter in 1868. 

_Growing Popularity of Cacao Preparations. _

The incidence of import duties did not prevent the continuous increasein the amount of cacao consumed in the British Isles. When QueenVictoria came to the throne the cacao cleared for home consumption wasabout four or five thousand tons, more than half of which was consumedby the Navy. At the time of Queen Victoria's death it had increased tofour times this amount, and by 1915 it had reached nearly fiftythousand tons. (For statistics of consumption, see p. 183). 

 * * * * *

This brief sketch of the history of cacao owes much to "Cocoa--all aboutit, " by Historicus (the pseudonym of the late Richard Cadbury). Thiswork is out of print, but those who are fortunate enough to be able toconsult it will find therein much that is curious and discursive. 

[Illustration: ANCIENT MEXICAN DRINKING CUPS (British Museum)]

CHAPTER II

CACAO AND ITS CULTIVATION

 O tree, upraised in far-off Mexico!

 "_Ode to the Chocolate Tree_, " 1664. 

How seldom do we think, when we drink a cup of cocoa or eat some morselsof chocolate, that our liking for these delicacies has set minds andbodies at work all the world over! Many types of humanity havecontributed to their production. Picture in the mind's eye the gracefulcoolie in the sun-saturated tropics, moving in the shade, cutting thepods from the cacao tree; the deep-chested sailor helping to load fromlighters or surf-boats the precious bags of cacao into the hold of theocean liner; the skilful workman roasting the beans until they fill theroom with a fine aroma; and the girl with dexterous fingers packing thecocoa or fashioning the chocolate in curious, and delicate forms. To theblack and brown races, the negroes and the East Indians, we owe a debtfor their work on tropical plantations, for the harder manual work wouldbe too arduous for Europeans unused to the heat of those regions. 

_Climate Necessary. _

Cacao can only grow at tropical temperatures, and when shielded from thewind and unimpaired by drought. Enthusiasts, as a hobby, have grown thetree under glass in England; it requires a warmer temperature thaneither tea or coffee, and only after infinite care can one succeed ingetting the tree to flower and bear fruit. The mean temperature in thecountries in which it thrives is about 80 degrees F. In the shade, andthe average of the maximum temperatures is seldom more than 90 degreesF. , or the average of the minimum temperatures less than 70 degrees F. The rainfall can be as low as 45 inches per annum, as in the Gold Coast, or as high as 150 inches, as in Java, provided the fall is uniformlydistributed. The ideal spot is the secluded vale, and whilst inVenezuela there are plantations up to 2000 feet above sea level, cacaocannot generally be profitably cultivated above 1000 feet. 

_Factors of Geographical Distribution. _

Climate, soil, and manures determine the possible region ofcultivation--the extent to which the area is utilised depends on theenterprise of man. The original home of cacao was the rich tropicalregion, far-famed in Elizabethan days, that lies between the Amazon andthe Orinoco, and but for the enterprise of man it is doubtful if itwould have ever spread from this region. Monkeys often carry the beansmany miles--man, the master-monkey, has carried them round the world. First the Indians spread cacao over the tropical belt of the Americancontinent and cultivated it as far North as Mexico. Then came theSpanish explorers of the New World, who carried it from the mainland tothe adjacent West Indian islands. Cacao was planted by them in Trinidadas early as 1525. Since that date it has been successfully introducedinto many a tropical island. It was an important day in the history ofCeylon when Sir R. Horton, in 1834, had cacao plants brought to thatisland from Trinidad. The carefully packed plants survived the ordeal ofa voyage of ten thousand miles. The most recent introduction is, however, the most striking. About 1880 a native of the Gold Coastobtained some beans, probably from Fernando Po. In 1891, the first bagof cacao was exported; it weighed 80 pounds. In 1915, 24 years later, the export from the Gold Coast was 120 million pounds. 

[Illustration: CACAO TREE, WITH PODS AND LEAVES]

_The Cacao Tree. _

Tropical vegetation appears so bizarre to the visitor from temperateclimes that in such surroundings the cacao tree seems almostcommonplace. It is in appearance as moderate and unpretentious as anapple tree, though somewhat taller, being, when full grown, abouttwenty feet high. It begins to bear in its fourth or fifth year. Smoothin its early youth, as it gets older it becomes covered with littlebosses (cushions) from which many flowers spring. I saw one fellow, verytall and gnarled, and with many pods on it; turning to the planter Ienquired "How old is that tree?" He replied, almost reverentially: "It'sa good deal older than I am; must be at least fifty years old. " "It'sone of the tallest cacao trees I've seen. I wonder--. " The planterperceived my thought, and said: "I'll have it measured for you. " It wasforty feet high. That was a tall one; usually they are not more thanhalf that height. The bark is reddish-grey, and may be partly hidden bybrown, grey and green patches of lichen. The bark is both beautiful andquaint, but in the main the tree owes its beauty to its luxuriance ofprosperous leaves, and its quaintness to its pods. 

[Illustration: CACAO TREE, SHOWING PODS GROWING FROM TRUNK. ]

[Illustration: FLOWERS AND FRUITS ON MAIN BRANCHES OF A CACAO TREE. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan& Co. ). ]

_The Flowers, Leaves and Fruit. _

Although cacao trees are not unlike the fruit trees of England, thereare differences which, when first one sees them, cause expressions ofsurprise and pleasure to leap to the lips. One sees what one never sawbefore, the fruit springing from the main trunk, quite close to theground. An old writer has explained that this is due to a wiseprovidence, because the pod is so heavy that if it hung from the end ofthe branches it would fall off before it reached maturity. The oldwriter talks of providence; a modern writer would see in the same factsa simple example of evolution. On the same cacao tree every day of theyear may be found flowers, young podkins and mature pods side by side. Isay "found" advisedly--at the first glance one does not see the flowersbecause they are so dainty and so small. The buds are the size of ricegrains, and the flowers are not more than half an inch across when thepetals are fully out. The flowers are pink or yellow, of wax-likeappearance, and have no odour. They were commonly stated to bepollinated by thrips and other insects. Dr. Von Faber of Java hasrecently shown that whilst self-pollination is the rule, crossfertilisation occurs between the flowers on adjacent or interlockingtrees. These graceful flowers are so small that one can walk through aplantation without observing them, although an average tree will producesix thousand blossoms in a year. Not more than one per cent. Of thesewill become fruit. Usually it takes six months for the bud to developinto the mature fruit. The lovely mosses that grow on the stems andbranches are sometimes so thick that they have to be destroyed, or thefragile cacao flower could not push its way through. Whilst the flowersare small, the leaves are large, being as an average about a foot inlength and four inches in breadth. The cacao tree never appears naked, save on the rare occasions when it is stripped by the wind, and theleaves are green all the year round, save when they are red, if thereader will pardon an Hibernianism. And indeed there is somethingcontrary in the crimson tint, for whilst we usually associate this withold leaves about to fall, with the cacao, as with some rose trees, it isthe tint of the young leaves. 

[Illustration: CACAO PODS. ]

_The Cacao Pod. _

The fruit, which hangs on a short thick stalk, may be anything in shapefrom a melon to a stumpy, irregular cucumber, according to the botanicvariety. The intermediate shape is like a lemon, with furrows from endto end. There are pods, called Calabacillo, smooth and ovate like acalabash, and there are others, more rare, so "nobbly" that they arewell-named "Alligator. " The pods vary in length from five to eleveninches, "with here and there the great pod of all, the blood-red_sangre-tora_. " The colours of the pods are as brilliant as they arevarious. They are rich and strong, and resemble those of the rind of thepomegranate. One pod shows many shades of dull crimson, another gradesfrom gold to the yellow of leather, and yet another is all lack-lustrepea-green. They may be likened to Chinese lanterns hanging in the woods. One does not conclude from the appearance of the pod that the contentsare edible, any more than one would surmise that tea-leaves could beused to produce a refreshing drink. I say as much to the planter, whosmiles. With one deft cut with his machete or cutlass, which hangs in aleather scabbard by his side, the planter severs the pod from the tree, and with another slash cuts the thick, almost woody rind and breaks openthe pod. There is disclosed a mass of some thirty or forty beans, covered with juicy pulp. The inside of the rind and the mass of beansare gleaming white, like melting snow. Sometimes the mass is paleamethyst in colour. I perceive a pleasant odour resembling melon. Likelittle Jack Horner, I put in my thumb and pull out a snow-white bean. Itis slippery to hold, so I put it in my mouth. The taste is sweet, something between grape and melon. Inside this fruity coating is thebean proper. From different pods we take beans and cut them in two, andfind that the colour of the bean varies from purple almost to white. 

[Illustration: CUT POD, REVEALING THE WHITE PULP ROUND THE BEANS(CEYLON. )]

[Illustration: CACAO PODS, SHEWING BEANS INSIDE. ]

_Botanical Description. _

Theobroma Cacao belongs to the family of the _Sterculiaceae_, and to thesame order as the Limes and Mallows. It is described in Strasburger'sadmirable _Text-Book of Botany_ as follows:

 "Family. _Sterculiaceae. _

 IMPORTANT GENERA. The most important plant is the Cocoa Tree (_Theobroma Cacao_). It is a low tree with short-stalked, firm, brittle, simple leaves of large size, oval shape, and dark green colour. The young leaves are of a bright red colour, and, as in many tropical trees, hang limply downwards. The flowers are borne on the main stem or the older branches, and arise from dormant axillary buds (Cauliflory). Each petal is bulged up at the base, narrows considerably above this, and ends in an expanded tip. The form of the reddish flowers is thus somewhat urn-shaped with five radiating points. The pentalocular ovary has numerous ovules in each loculus. As the fruit develops, the soft tissue of the septa extends between the single seeds; the ripe fruit is thus unilocular and many-seeded. The seed-coat is filled by the embryo, which has two large, folded, brittle cotyledons. "

The last sentence conveys an erroneous impression. The two cotyledons, which form the seed, are not brittle when found in nature in the pod. They are juicy and fleshy. And it is only after the seed has receivedspecial treatment (fermentation and drying) to obtain the bean ofcommerce, that it becomes brittle. 

_Varieties of Theobroma Cacao. _

As mentioned above, the pods and seeds of Theobroma Cacao trees show amarked variation, and in every country the botanist has studied thesevariations and classified the trees according to the shape and colour ofthe pods and seeds. The existence of so many classifications has led toa good deal of confusion, and we are indebted to Van Hall for thesimplest way of clearing up these difficulties. He accepts theclassification first given by Morris, dividing the trees into twovarieties--Criollo and Forastero:

[Illustration: DRAWINGS OF TYPICAL PODS, illustrating varieties. CRIOLLOFORASTEROFORASTERO (CALABACILLO VARIETY)]

_Extremes of Characteristics. _

 _Criollo. _ _Forastero. _

(Old Red, Caracas, etc. ) Grading from Cundeamor (bottle-necked) to Calabacillo (smooth). 

_Pod walls. _ Thin and warty. Thick and woody. 

_Beans. _ Large and plump. Small and flat. White. Heliotrope to purple. Sweet. Astringent. 

The cacao of the criollo variety has pods the walls of which are thinand warty, with ten distinct furrows. The seeds or beans are white asivory throughout, round and plump, and sweet to taste. The forasterovariety includes many sub-varieties, the kind most distinct from thecriollo having pods, the walls of which are thick and woody, the surfacesmooth, the furrows indistinct, and the shape globular. The seeds inthese pods are purple in colour, flat in appearance, and bitter totaste. This is a very convenient classification. Personally I believe itwould be possible to find pods varying by almost imperceptiblegradations from the finest, purest, criollo to the lowest form offorastero (namely, calabacillo). The criollo yields the finest andrarest kind of cacao, but as sometimes happens with refined types innature, it is a rather delicate tree, especially liable to canker andbark diseases, and this accounts for the predominance of the forasteroin the cacao plantations of the world. 

_The Cacao Plantation. _

One can spend happy days on a cacao estate. "Are you going into thecocoa?" they ask, just as in England we might enquire, "Are you goinginto the corn?"

[Illustration: TROPICAL FOREST, TRINIDAD. This has to be cleared before planting begins. ]

Coconut plantations and sugar estates make a strong appeal to theimagination, but for peaceful beauty they cannot compare with the cacaoplantation. True, coconut plantations are very lovely--the palms are sograceful, the leaves against the sky so like a fine etching--but "theslender coco's drooping crown of plumes" is altogether foreign toEnglish eyes. Sugar estates are generally marred by the prosaic factoryin the background. They are dead level plains, and the giant grassaffords no shade from the relentless sun. Whereas the leaves of thecacao tree are large and numerous, so that even in the heat of the day, it is comparatively cool and pleasant under the cacao. 

Cacao plantations present in different countries every variety ofappearance--from that of a wild forest in which the greater portion ofthe trees are cacao, to the tidy and orderly plantation. In some of theTrinidad plantations the trees are planted in parallel lines twelve feetapart, with a tree every twelve feet along the line; and as you pushyour way through the plantation the apparently irregularly scatteredtrees are seen to flash momentarily into long lines. In other parts ofthe world, for example, in Grenada and Surinam, the ground may be keptso tidy and free from weeds that they have the appearance of gardens. 

_Clearing the Land. _

When the planter has chosen a suitable site, an exercise requiringskill, the forest has to be cleared. The felling of great trees and theclearing of the wild tangle of undergrowth is arduous work. It is wellto leave the trees on the ridges for about sixty feet on either side, and thus form a belt of trees to act as wind screen. Cacao trees are assensitive to a draught as some human beings, and these "_wind breaks_"are often deliberately grown--Balata, Poui, Mango (Trinidad), Galba(Grenada), Wild Pois Doux (Martinique), and other leafy trees beingsuitable for this purpose. 

_Suitable Soil. _

It was for many years believed that if a tree were analysed the bestsoil for its growth could at once be inferred and described, as it wasassumed that the best soil would be one containing the same elements insimilar proportions. This simple theory ignored the characteristicpowers of assimilation of the tree in question and the "digestibility"of the soil constituents. However, it is agreed that soils rich inpotash and lime (e. G. , those obtained by the decomposition of certainvolcanic rocks) are good for cacao. An open sandy or loamy alluvial soilis considered ideal. The physical condition of the soil is equallyimportant: heavy clays or water-logged soils are bad. The depth of soilrequired depends on its nature. A stiff soil discourages the growth ofthe "tap" root, which in good porous soils is generally seven or eightfeet long. 

[Illustration: CHARACTERISTIC ROOT SYSTEM OF THE CACAO TREE. Note the long tap root. (Reproduced from the Imperial Institute series of Handbooks to theCommercial Resources of the Tropics, by permission. )]

_Manure. _

The greater part of the world's cacao is produced without the use ofartificial manures. The soil, which is continually washed down by therains into the rivers, is continually renewed by decomposition of thebed rock, and in the tropics this decomposition is more rapid than intemperate climes. In Guayaquil, "notwithstanding the fact that the samesoil has been cropped consecutively for over a hundred years, there isas yet no sign of decadence, nor does a necessity yet arise forartificial manure. "[1] However, manures are useful with all soils, andnecessary with many. Happy is the planter who is so placed that he canobtain a plentiful supply of farmyard or pen manure, as this givesexcellent results. "Mulching" is also recommended. This consists ofcovering the ground with decaying leaves, grasses, etc. , which keep thesoil in a moist and open condition during the dry season. If artificialmanures are used they should vary according to the soil, and, althoughhe can obtain considerable help from the analyst, the planter's mostreliable guide will be experiment on the spot. 

 [1] _Bulletin_, Botanic Dept. , Jamaica, February, 1900. 

_Planting. _

In the past insufficient care has been taken in _the selection of seed_. The planter should choose the large plump beans with a pale interior, orhe should choose the nearest kind to this that is sufficiently hardy tothrive in the particular environment. He can plant (1) direct fromseeds, or (2) from seedlings--plants raised in nurseries in bamboo pots, or (3) by grafting or budding. It is usual to plant two or three seedsin each hole, and destroy the weaker plants when about a foot high. Theseeds are planted from twelve to fifteen feet apart. The distance chosendepends chiefly on the richness of the soil; the richer the soil, themore ample room is allowed for the trees to spread without choking eachother. Interesting results have been obtained by Hart and others bygrafting the fine but tender criollo on to the hardy forastero, butuntil yesterday the practice had not been tried on a large scale. Experiments were begun in 1913 by Mr. W. G. Freeman in Trinidad whichpromise interesting results. By 1919 the Department of Agriculture hadseven acres in grafted and budded cacao. In a few years it should bepossible to say whether it pays to form an estate of budded cacao inpreference to using seedlings. 

[Illustration: NURSERY, WITH THE YOUNG CACAO PLANTS IN BASKETS, JAVA. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan& Co. ). ]

[Illustration: PLANTING CACAO, TRINIDAD, FROM YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOOPOTS. ]

[Illustration: CACAO IN ITS FOURTH YEAR (SAMOA). ]

There are no longer any mystic rites performed before planting. In theold days it was the custom to solemnize the planting, for example, bysacrificing a cacao-coloured dog (see Bancroft's _Native Races of thePacific States_. )

_Shade: Temporary and Permanent. _

[Illustration: COPY OF AN OLD ENGRAVING SHOWING THE CACAO TREE, AND ATREE SHADING IT. (From _Bontekoe's Works_. )]

When the seeds are planted, such small plants as cassava, chillies, pigeon peas and the like are planted with them. The object of plantingthese is to afford the young cacao plant shelter from the sun, and tokeep the ground in good condition. Incidentally the planter obtainscassava (which gives tapioca), red peppers, etc. , as a "catch crop"whilst he is waiting for the cacao tree to begin to yield. Bananas andplantains are planted with the same object, and these are allowed toremain for a longer period. Such is the rapidity of plant growth in thetropics that in three or four years the cacao tree is taller than a man, and begins to bear fruit in its fourth or fifth year. Now it is agreedthat, as with men, the cacao tree needs protection in its youth, butwhether it needs shade trees when it is fully grown is one of thecontroverted questions. When the planter is sitting after his day's workis done, and no fresh topic comes to his mind, he often re-opens thediscussion on the question of shade. The idea that cacao trees needshade is a very ancient one, as is shown in a very old drawing (possiblythe oldest drawing of cacao extant) beneath which it is written: "Of thetree which bears cacao, which is money, and how the Indians obtainedfire with two pieces of wood. " In this drawing you will observe howlovingly the shade tree shelters the cacao. The intention in using shadeis to imitate the natural forest conditions in which the wild cacaogrew. Sometimes when clearing the forest certain large trees are leftstanding, but more frequently and with better judgment, chosen kinds areplanted. Many trees have been used: the saman, bread fruit, mango, mammet, sand box, pois doux, rubber, etc. In the illustration showingkapok acting as a parasol for cacao in Java, we see that the proportionof shade trees to cacao is high. Leguminous trees are preferred becausethey conserve the nitrogen in the soil. Hence in Trinidad the favouriteshade tree is _Erythrina_ or Bois Immortel (so called, a humouristsuggests, because it is short-lived). It is also rather prettily named, "Mother of Cacao. " Usually the shade trees are planted about 40 feetapart, but there are cacao plantations which might cause a stranger toenquire, "Is this an Immortel plantation?" so closely are theseconspicuous trees planted. When looking down a Trinidad valley, richlyplanted with cacao, one sees in every direction the silver-grey trunksof the Immortel. In the early months of the year these trees have noleaves, they are a mass of flame-coloured flowers, each "shafted like ascimitar. " It well repays the labour of climbing a hill to look down onthis vermilion glory. Some Trinidad planters believe that their treeswould die without shade, yet in Grenada, only a hundred miles North asthe steamer sails, there are whole plantations without a single shadetree. The Grenadians say: "You cannot have pods without flowers, and youcannot have good flowering without light and air. " Shade trees are notused on some estates in San Thomé, and in Brazil there are cocoa kingswith 200, 000 trees without one shade tree. It should be mentioned, however, that in these countries the cacao trees are planted moreclosely (about eight feet apart) and themselves shade the soil. Professor Carmody, in reporting[2] recently on the result of a fouryears' experiment with (1) shade, (2) no shade, (3) partial shade, says that so far partial shade has given the best results. No generalsolution has yet been found to the question of the advantage of shade, and, as Shaw states for morality, so in agriculture, "the golden rule isthat there is no golden rule. " Not only is there the personal factor, but nature provides an infinite variety of environments, and the bestresults are obtained by the use of methods appropriate to the localconditions. 

 [2] _Bulletin_ Dept. Of Agriculture, Trinidad, 1916. 

[Illustration: CACAO TREES, SHADED BY KAPOK (_Eriodendron Anfractuosum_)IN JAVA. (reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan& Co. )]

[Illustration: CACAO TREES, SHADED BY BOIS IMMORTEL, TRINIDAD. ]

_Form of Tree-growth Desired: Suckers. _

Viscount Mountmorres, in a delightfully clear exposition of cacaocultivation which he gave to the native farmers and chiefs of the GoldCoast in 1906, said: "In pruning, it is necessary always to bear in mindthat the best shape for cacao trees is that of an enlarged openumbrella, " with a height under the umbrella not exceeding seven feet. With this ideal in his mind, the planter should train up the tree in theway it should go. Viscount Mountmorres also said that everything thatgrows upwards, except the main stem, must be cut off. 

This opens a question which is of great interest to planters as towhether it is wise to allow shoots to grow out from the main trunk nearthe ground. Some hold that the high yield on their plantation is due toletting these upright shoots grow. "Mi Amigo Corsicano said: 'Diavolo, let the cacao-trees grow, let them branch off like any other fruit-tree, say the tamarind, the 'chupon' or sucker will in time bear more than itsmother. '"[3] There seems to be some evidence that _old_ trees profitfrom the "chupons" because they continue to bear when the old trunk isweary, but this is compensated for by the fact that the "chupons"(Portuguese for suckers) were grown at the expense of the tree in itsyouth. Hence other planters call them "thieves, " and "gormandizers, "saying that they suck the sap from the tree, turning all to wood. Theyfollow the advice given as early as 1730 by the author of _The NaturalHistory of Chocolate_, when he says: "Cut or lop off the suckers. " InTrinidad, experiments have been started, and after a five years' test, Professor Carmody says that the indications are that it is a matter ofindifference whether "chupons" are allowed to grow or not. 

 [3] "_How José formed his Cocoa Estate. _"

[Illustration: CACAO TREE, WITH SUCKERS, TRINIDAD. ]

After hunting, agriculture is man's oldest industry, and improvementscome but slowly, for the proving of a theory often requires work on ahuge scale carried out for several decades. The husbandry of the earthgoes on from century to century with little change, and the methodsfollowed are the winnowings of experience, tempered with indolence. Andeven with the bewildering progress of science in other directions, soundimprovements in this field are rare discoveries. There is great scopefor the application of physical and chemical knowledge to the productionof the raw materials of the tropics. In one or two instances notableadvances have been made, thus the direct production of a white sugar (asnow practised at Java) at the tropical factory will have far-reachingeffects, but with many tropical products the methods practised are asancient as they are haphazard. Like all methods founded on longexperience, they suit the environment and the temperament of the peoplewho use them, so that the work of the scientist in introducingimprovements requires intimate knowledge of the conditions if hissuggestions are to be adopted. The various Departments of Agricultureare doing splendid pioneer work, but the full harvest of their sowingwill not be reaped until the number of tropically-educatedagriculturists has been increased by the founding of three or fouragricultural colleges and research laboratories in equatorial regions. 

There is much research to be done. As yet, however, many planters areignorant of all that is already established, the facilities foreducation in tropical agriculture being few and far between. There aresigns, however, of development in this direction. It is pleasant to notethat a start was made in Ceylon at the end of 1917 by opening anagricultural school at Peradenija. Trinidad has for a number of yearshad an agricultural school, and is eager to have a college devoted toagriculture. In 1919, Messrs. Cadbury Bros. Gave £5000 to form thenucleus of a special educational fund for the Gold Coast. The scientistsattached to the several government agricultural departments in Java, Ceylon, Trinidad, the Philippines, Africa, etc. , have done splendidwork, but it is desirable that the number of workers should beincreased. When the world wakes up to the importance of tropicalproduce, agricultural colleges will be scattered about the tropics, sothat every would-be planter can learn his subject on the spot. 

[Illustration: CUTLASSING. ]

_Diseases of the Cacao Tree. _

Take, for example, the case of the diseases of plants. Everyone whotakes an interest in the garden knows how destructive the insect pestsand vegetable parasites can be. In the tropics their power fordestruction is very great, and they are a constant menace to economicproducts like cacao. The importance of understanding their habits, andof studying methods of keeping them in check, is readily appreciated;the planter may be ruined by lacking this knowledge. 

The cacao tree has been improved and "domesticated" to satisfy humanrequirements, a process which has rendered it weaker to resist attacksfrom pests and parasites. It is usual to classify man amongst the pests, as either from ignorance or by careless handling he can do the tree muchharm. Other animal pests are the wanton thieves: monkeys, squirrels andrats, who destroy more fruit than they consume. The insect pests includevarieties of beetles, thrips, aphides, scale insects and ants, whilstfungi are the cause of the "Canker" in the stem and branches, the"Witch-broom" disease in twigs and leaves, and the "Black Rot" of pods. 

The subject is too immense to be summarised in a few lines, and Irecommend readers who wish to know more of this or other division of thescience of cacao cultivation, to consult one or more of the fourclassics in English on this subject:

_Cocoa_, by Herbert Wright (Ceylon), 1907. _Cacao_, by J. Hinchley Hart (Trinidad), 1911. _Cocoa_, by W. H. Johnson (Nigeria), 1912. _Cocoa_, by C. J. J. Van Hall (Java), 1914. 

CHAPTER III

HARVESTING AND PREPARATION FOR THE MARKET

 The picking, gathering, and breaking of the cacao are the easiest jobs on the plantation. 

 "_How José formed his Cocoa Estate. _"

_Gathering and Heaping. _

[Illustration]

In the last chapter I gave a brief account of the cultivation of cacao. I did not deal with forking, spraying, cutlassing, weeding, and soforth, as it would lead us too far into purely technical discussions. Ipropose we assume that the planter has managed his estate well, and thatthe plantation is before us looking very healthy and full of fruitwaiting to be picked. The question arises: How shall we gather it? Shallwe shake the tree? Cacao pods do not fall off the tree even whenover-ripe. Shall we knock off or pluck the pods? To do so would make ascar on the trunk of the tree, and these wounds are dangerous intropical climates, as they are often attacked by canker. A sharp macheteor cutlass is used to cut off the pods which grow on the lower part ofthe trunk. As the tree is not often strong enough to bear a man, climbing is out of the question, and a knife on a pole is used forcutting off the pods on the upper branches. Various shaped knives areused by different planters, a common and efficient kind (see drawing), resembles a hand of steel, with the thumb as a hook, so that thepod-stalk can be cut either by a push or a pull. A good deal ofingenuity has been expended in devising a "foolproof" picker which shallrender easy the cutting of the pod-stalk and yet not cut or damage thebark of the tree. A good example is the Agostini picker, which wasapproved by Hart. 

[Illustration:(1) COMMON TYPE OF CACAO PICKER. (2) AGOSTINI CACAO PICKER. ]

The gathering of the fruits of one's labour is a pleasant task, whichoccurs generally only at rare intervals. Cacao is gathered the wholeyear round. There is, however, in most districts one principal harvestperiod, and a subsidiary harvest. 

[Illustration: GATHERING CACAO PODS, TRINIDAD. ]

With cacao in the tropics, as with corn in England, the gathering of theharvest is a delight to lovers of the beautiful. It is a great charm ofthe cacao plantation that the trees are so closely planted that nowheredoes the sunlight find between the foliage a space larger than a man'shand. After the universal glare outside, it seems dark under the cacao, although the ground is bright with dappled sunshine. You hear a noise oftalking, of rustling leaves, and falling pods. You come upon a band ofcoolies or negroes. One near you carries a long bamboo--as long as afishing rod--with a knife at the end. With a lithe movement he insertsit between the boughs, and, by giving it a sharp jerk, neatly cuts thestalk of a pod, which falls from the tree to the ground. Only the ripepods must be picked. To do this, not only must the picker's aim be true, but he must also have a good eye for colour. Whether the pods be red orgreen, as soon as the colour begins to be tinted with yellow it is ripefor picking. This change occurs first along the furrows in the pod. Fewer unripe pods would be gathered if only one kind of pod were grownon one plantation. The confusion of kinds and colours which is oftenfound makes sound judgment very difficult. That the men generally judgecorrectly the ripeness of pods high in the trees is something to wonderat. The pickers pass on, strewing the earth with ripe pods. They arefollowed by the graceful, dark-skinned girls, who gather one by one thefallen pods from the greenery, until their baskets are full. Sometimes abasketful is too heavy and the girl cannot comfortably lift it on to herhead, but when one of the men has helped her to place it there, shecarries it lightly enough. She trips through the trees, her braceletsjingling, and tumbles the pods on to the heap. Once one has seen a greatheap of cacao pods it glows in one's memory: anything more rich, moredaring in the way of colour one's eye is unlikely to light on. Theartist, seeking only an æsthetic effect would be content with this forthe consummation and would wish the pods to remain unbroken. 

[Illustration: COLLECTING CACAO PODS INTO A HEAP PRIOR TO BREAKING. ]

_Breaking and Extracting. _

There are planters who believe that the product is improved by leavingthe gathered pods several days before breaking; and they would followthe practice, but for the risk of losses by theft. Hence the pods aregenerally broken on the same day as they are gathered. The primitivemethods of breaking with a club or by banging on a hard surface arehappily little used. Masson of New York made pod-breaking machines, andSir George Watt has recently invented an ingenious machine for squeezingthe beans out of the pod, but at present the extraction is done almostuniversally by hand, either by men or women. A knife which would cut thehusk of the pod and was so constructed that it could not injure thebeans within, would be a useful invention. The human extractor has theadvantage that he or she can distinguish the diseased, unripe orgerminated beans and separate them from the good ones. Picture the mensitting round the heap of pods and, farther out, in a larger circle, twice as many girls with baskets. The man breaks the pod and the girlsextract the beans. The man takes the pod in his left hand and gives it asharp slash with a small cutlass, just cutting through the tough shellof the pod, but not into the beans inside; and then gives the blade, which he has embedded in the shell, a twisting jerk, so that the podbreaks in two with a crisp crack. The girls take the broken pods andscoop out the snow-like beans with a flat wooden spoon or a piece ofrib-bone, the beans being pulled off the stringy core (or placenta)which holds them together. The beans are put preferably into baskets or, failing these, on to broad banana leaves, which are used as trays. 

Practice renders these processes cheerful and easy work, often performedto an accompaniment of laughing and chattering. 

[Illustration: MEN BREAKING PODS, GIRLS SCOOPING OUT BEANS, AND MULESWAITING WITH BASKETS TO CONVEY THE CACAO TO THE FERMENTARY. ]

_Fermenting. _

I allow myself the pleasure of thinking that I am causing some of myreaders a little surprise when I tell them that cacao is fermented, andthat the fermentation produces alcohol. As I mentioned above, the cacaobean is covered with a fruity pulp. The bean as it comes from the pod ismoist, whilst the pulp is full of juice. It would be impossible toconvey it to Europe in this condition; it would decompose, and, when itreached its destination, would be worthless. In order that a product canbe handled commercially it is desirable to have it in such a conditionthat it does not change, and thus with cacao it becomes necessary to getrid of the pulp, and, whilst this may be done by washing or simply bydrying, experience has shown that the finest and driest product isobtained when the drying is preceded by fermentation. Just as brokengrapes will ferment, so will the fruity pulp of the cacao bean. Presentday fermentaries are simply convenient places for storing the cacaowhilst the process goes on. In the process of fermentation, Dr. Chittenden says the beans are "stewed in their own juice. " This may beexpressed less picturesquely but more accurately by saying the beans arewarmed by the heat of their own fermenting pulp, from which they absorbliquid. 

In Trinidad the cacao which the girls have scooped out into the basketsis emptied into larger baskets, two of which are "crooked" on a mule'sback, and carried thus to the fermentary. In Surinam it is conveyed byboat, and in San Thomé by trucks, which run on Decauville railways. 

The period of fermentation and the receptacle to hold the cacao varyfrom country to country. With cacao of the criollo type only one or twodays fermentation is required, and as a result, in Ecuador and Ceylon, the cacao is simply put in heaps on a suitable floor. In Trinidad andthe majority of other cacao-producing areas, where the forasterovariety predominates, from five to nine days are required. The cacao isput into the "sweat" boxes and covered with banana or plantain leaves tokeep in the heat. The boxes may measure four feet each way and be madeof sweet-smelling cedar wood. As is usual with fermentation, thetemperature begins to rise, and if you thrust your hands into thefermenting beans you find they are as hot and mucilaginous as apoultice. 

[Illustration: "SWEATING" BOXES, TRINIDAD. The man is holding the wooden spade used for turning the beans. ]

 _Time. _ _Temperature. _When put in 25° C. Or 77° F. After 1 day 30° C. Or 89° F. After 2 days 37° C. Or 98° F. After 3 days 47° C. Or 115° F. 

(After the third day the heat is maintained, but the temperature risesvery little. )

The temperature is the simplest guide to the amount of fermentationtaking place, and the uniformity of the temperature in all parts of themass is desirable, as showing that all parts are fermenting evenly. Thecacao is usually shovelled from one box to another every one or twodays. The chief object of this operation is to mix the cacao and preventmerely local fermentation. To make mixing easy one ingenious planteruses a cylindrical vessel which can be turned about on its axis. 

[Illustration: FERMENTING BOXES, JAVA. From the last box the beans are shovelled into the washing basin. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan& Co. )]

In other places, for example in Java, the boxes are arranged as a seriesof steps, so that the cacao is transferred with little labour from thehigher to the lower. In San Thomé the cacao is placed on the plantationdirect into trucks, which are covered with plaintain leaves, and run onrails through the plantation right into the fermentary. Some day someenterprising firm will build a fermentary in portable sections easilyerected, and with some simple mechanical mixer to replace the presentlaborious method of turning the beans by manual labour. 

The general conditions[1] for a good fermentation are:

(1) The mass of beans must be kept warm. 

(2) The mass of beans must be moist, but not sodden. 

(3) In the later stages there must be sufficient air. 

(4) The boxes must be kept clean. 

 [1] For full details see the pamphlet by the author on _The Practice of Fermentation in Trinidad_. 

_Changes during Fermentation. _

No entirely satisfactory theory of the changes in cacao due tofermentation has yet been established. It is known that the sugary pulpoutside the beans ferments in a similar way to other fruit pulp, savethat for a yeast fermentation the temperature rises unusually high (inthree days to 47 degrees C. ), and also that there are parallel and moreimportant changes in the interior of the bean. The difficulty ofestablishing a complete theory of fermentation of cacao has not dauntedthe scientists, for they know that the roses of philosophy are gatheredby just those who can grasp the thorniest problems. Success, however, isso far only partial, as can be seen by consulting the best introductionon the subject, the admirable collection of essays on _The Fermentationof Cacao_, edited by H. Hamel Smith. Here the reader will find thevaluable contributions of Fickendey, Loew, Nicholls, Preyer, Schulte imHofe, and Sack. 

The obvious changes which occur in the breaking down of the fruityexterior of the bean should be carefully distinguished from the subtlechanges in the bean itself. Let us consider them separately:--

(_a_) _Changes in the Pulp. _--Just as grape-pulp ferments and changes towine, and just as weak wine if left exposed becomes sour; so the fruitysugary pulp outside the cacao bean on exposure gives off bubbles ofcarbon dioxide, becomes alcoholic, and later becomes acid. The acidproduced is generally the pleasant vinegar acid (acetic acid), but undersome circumstances it may be lactic acid, or the rancid-smelling butyricacid. Kismet! The planter trusts to nature to provide the right kind offermentation. This fermentation is set up and carried on by the minuteorganisms (yeasts, bacteria, etc. ), which chance to fall on the beansfrom the air or come from the sides of the receptacle. One yeast-celldoes not make a fermentation, and as no yeast is added a day is wastedwhilst any yeasts which happen to be present are multiplying to an armylarge enough to produce a visible effect on the pulp. _Any_ organismwhich happens to be on the pod, in the air, or on the inside of thefermentary will multiply in the pulp, if the pulp contains suitablenourishment. Each kind of organism produces its own characteristicchanges. It would thus appear a miracle if the same substances werealways produced. Yet, just as grape-juice left exposed to everymicro-organism of the air, generally changes in the direction of winemore or less good, so the pulp of cacao tends, broadly speaking, toferment in one way. It would, however, be a serious error to assume thatexactly the same kind of fermentation takes place in any twofermentaries in the world, and the maximum variation must beconsiderable. As the pulp ferments, it is destroyed; it graduallychanges from white to brown, and a liquid ("sweatings") flows away fromit. The "_sweatings_" taste like sweet cider. At present this is allowedto run away through holes in the bottom of the box, and no care is takento preserve what may yet become a valuable by-product. I found byexperiment that in the preparation of one cwt. Of dry beans about 1-1/2gallons of this unstable liquid are produced. In other words, some sevenor eight million gallons of "sweatings" run to waste every year. In mostcases only small quantities are produced in one place at one time. This, and the lack of knowledge of scientifically controlled fermentation, and the difficulty of bottling, prevent the starting of an industryproducing either a new drink or a vinegar. The cacao juice or"sweatings" contains about fifteen per cent. Of solids, about half ofwhich consists of sugars. If the fermentation of the cacao werecentralised in the various districts, and conducted on a large scaleunder a chemist's control, the sugars could be obtained, or an alcoholicliquid or a vinegar could easily be prepared. 

[Illustration: CHARGING THE CACAO ON TO TRUCKS IN THE PLANTATION, SANTHOMÉ. ]

[Illustration: CACAO IN THE FERMENTING TRUCKS, SAN THOMÉ. The covering of banana leaves keeps the beans warm. ]

The planter decides when the beans are fermented by simply looking atthem; he judges their condition by the colour of the pulp. When they areready to be removed from the fermentary they are plump, and brownwithout, and juicy within. 

(_b_) _Changes in the Interior of the Bean. _--What is the relationbetween the comparatively simple fermentation of the pulp and thechanges in the interior of the bean? This important question has not yetbeen answered, although a number of attempts have been made. 

As far as is known, the living ferments (micro-organisms) do notpenetrate the skin of the bean, so that any fermentation which takesplace must be promoted by unorganised ferments (or enzymes). Mr. H. C. Brill[2] found raffinase, invertase, casease and protease in the pulp;oxidase, raffinase, casease and emulsinlike enzymes in the fresh bean;and all these six, together with diastase, in the fermented bean. Dr. Fickendey says: "The object of fermentation is, in the main, to kill thegerm of the bean in such a manner that the efficiency of the unorganisedferment is in no way impaired. "

 [2] _Philippine Journal of Science_, 1917. 

From my own observations I believe that forastero beans are killed at 47degrees C. (which is commonly reached when they have been fermenting 60hours), for a remarkable change takes place at this temperature andtime. Whilst the micro-organisms remain outside, the juice of the pulpappears to penetrate not only the skin, but the flesh of the bean, andthe brilliant violet in the isolated pigment cells becomes diffused moreor less evenly throughout the entire bean, including the "germ. " It iscertain that the bean absorbs liquid from the outside, for it becomes soplump that its skin is stretched to the utmost. The following changesoccur:

 (1) _Taste. _ An astringent colourless substance (a tannin or a body possessing many properties of a tannin) changes to a tasteless brown substance. The bean begins to taste less astringent as the "tannin" is destroyed. With white (criollo) beans this change is sufficiently advanced in two days, but with purple (forastero) beans it may take seven days. 

 (2) _Colour. _ The change in the tannin results in the white (criollo) beans becoming brown and the purple (forastero) beans becoming tinged with brown. The action resembles the browning of a freshly-cut apple, and has been shown to be due to oxygen (activated by an oxidase, a ferment encouraging combination with oxygen) acting on the astringent colourless substance, which, like the photographic developer, pyrogallic acid, becomes brown on oxidation. 

 (3) _Aroma. _ A notable change is that substances are created within the bean, which _on roasting_ produce the fine aromatic odour characteristic of cocoa and chocolate, and which Messrs. Bainbridge and Davies have shown is due to a trace (0. 001 per cent. ) of an essential oil over half of which consists of linalool. [3]

 (4) _Stimulating Effect. _ It is commonly stated that during fermentation there is generated theobromine, the alkaloid which gives cacao its stimulating properties, but the estimation of theobromine in fermented and unfermented beans does not support this. 

 (5) _Consistency. _ Fermented beans become crisp on drying. This development may be due to the "tannins" encountering, in their dispersion through the bean, proteins, which are thus converted into bodies which are brittle solids on drying (compare tanning of hides). The "hide" of the bean may be similarly "tanned"--the shell certainly becomes leathery (unless washed)--but a far more probable explanation, in both cases, is that the gummy bodies in bean and shell set hard on drying. 

 [3] _Journal of the Chemical Society_, 1912. 

We see, then, that although fermentation was probably originallyfollowed as the best method of getting rid of the pulp, it has othereffects which are entirely good. It enables the planter to produce adrier bean, and one which has, when roasted, a finer flavour, colour, and aroma, than the unfermented. Fermentation is generally considered toproduce so many desirable results that M. Perrot's suggestion[4] ofremoving the pulp by treatment with alkali, and thus avoidingfermentation, has not been enthusiastically received. 

 [4] _Comptes Rendus_, 1913. 

Beans which have been dried direct and those which have been fermentedmay be distinguished as follows:

CACAO BEANS

 DRIED DIRECT. FERMENTED AND DRIED. 

_Shape of bean_ Flat Plumper_Shell_ Soft and close fitting Crisp and more or less free. _Interior: colour_ Slate-blue or mud-brown Bright browns and purples " _consistence_ Leather to cheese Crisp " _appearance_ Solid Open-grained " _taste_ More or less bitter Less astringent or astringent

Whilst several effects of fermentation have not been satisfactorilyaccounted for, I think all are agreed that to obtain one of the chiefeffects of fermentation, namely the brown colour, oxidation isnecessary. All recognise that for this oxidation the presence of threesubstances is essential:

 (1) The tannin to be oxidised. 

 (2) Oxygen. 

 (3) An enzyme which encourages the oxidation. 

All these occur in the cacao bean as it comes from the pod, but whyoxidation occurs so much better in a fermented bean than in a bean whichis simply dried is not very clear. If you cut an apple it goes brownowing to the action of oxygen absorbed from the air, but as long as theapple is uncut and unbruised it remains white. If you take a cacao beanfrom the pod and cut it, the exposed surface goes brown, but if youferment the bean the whole of it gradually goes brown without being cut. My observations lead me to believe that the bean does not becomeoxidised until it is killed, that is, until it is no longer capable ofgermination. It can be killed by raising the temperature, byfermentation or otherwise, or as Dr. Fickendey has shown, by cooling toalmost freezing temperatures. It may be that killing the bean makes itsskin and cell walls more permeable to oxygen, but my theory is that whenthe bean is killed disintegration or weakening of the cell walls, etc. , occurs, and, as a result, the enzyme and tannin, _hitherto separate_, become mixed, and hence able actively to absorb oxygen. The action ofoxygen on the tannin also accounts for the loss of astringency onfermentation, and it may be well to point out that fermentationincreases the internal surface of the bean exposed to air and oxygen. The bean, during fermentation, actually sucks in liquid from thesurrounding pulp and becomes plumper and fuller. On drying, however, theskin, which has been expanded to its utmost, wrinkles up as the interiorcontracts and no longer fits tightly to the bean, and the cotyledonshaving been thrust apart by the liquid, no longer hold together soclosely. This accounts for the open appearance of a fermented bean. Ason drying large interspaces are produced, these allow the air tocirculate more freely and expose a greater surface of the bean to theaction of oxygen. Since the liquids in all living matter presumablycontain some dissolved oxygen, the problem is to account for the factthat the tannin in the unfermented bean remains unoxidised, whilst thatin the fermented bean is easily oxidised. The above affords a partialexplanation, and seems fairly satisfactory when taken with my previoussuggestion, namely, that during fermentation the bean is renderedpervious to water, which, on distributing itself throughout the bean, dissolves the isolated masses of tannin and diffuses it evenly, so thatit encounters and becomes mixed with the enzymes. From this it will beevident that the major part of the oxidation of the tannin occurs duringdrying, and hence the importance of this, both from the point of view ofthe keeping properties of the cacao, and its colour, taste and aroma. 

It will be realised from the above that there is still a vast amount ofwork to be done before the chemist will be in a position to obtain themore desirable aromas and flavours. Having found the necessaryconditions, scientifically trained overseers will be required to producethem, and for this they will need to have under their directionarrangements for fermentation designed on correct principles andallowing some degree of control. Whilst improvements are always possiblein the approach to perfection, it must be admitted that, considering themeans at their disposal, the planters produce a remarkably fine product. 

[Illustration: FOR DRYING SMALL QUANTITIES. A simple tray-barrow, which can be run under the house when rain comeson. ]

_Loss on Fermenting and Drying. _

The fermented cacao is conveyed from the fermentary to the drying traysor floors. The planter often has some rough check-weighing system. Thus, for example, he notes the number of standard baskets of wet cacao putinto the fermentary, and he measures the fermented cacao produced withthe help of a bottomless barrel. By this means he finds that onfermentation the beans lose weight by the draining away of the"sweatings, " according to the amount and juiciness of the pulp roundthem. The beans are still very wet, and on drying lose a high percentageof their moisture by evaporation before the cacao bean of commerce isobtained. 

The average losses may be tabulated thus:

Weight of wet cacao from pod 100Loss on fermentation 20 to 25Loss on drying 40 --------Cacao beans of commerce obtained 35 to 40

[Illustration: SPREADING THE CACAO BEANS ON MATS TO DRY IN THE SUN, CEYLON. ]

The drying of cacao is an art. On the one hand it is necessary to getthe beans quite dry (that is, in a condition in which they hold onlytheir normal amount of water--5 to 7 per cent. ) or they will be liableto go mouldy. On the other hand, the husk or shell of the bean must notbe allowed to become burned or brittle. Brittle shells produce waste inpacking and handling, and broken shells allow grubs and mould to enterthe beans when the cacao is stored. The method of drying varies indifferent countries according to the climate. José says: "In the wetseason when 'Father Sol' chooses to lie low behind the clouds for daysand your cocoa house is full, your curing house full, your treesloaded, then is the time to put on his mettle the energetic andpractical planter. In such tight corners, _amigo_, I have known a friendto set a fire under his cocoa house to keep the cocoa on the topsomewhat warm. Another friend's plan (and he recommended it) was toaddress his patron saint on such occasions. He never addressed thatsaint at other times. "

[Illustration: DRYING TRAYS, GRENADA. The trays slide on rails. The corrugated iron roofs will slide over thewhole to protect from rain. ]

In most producing areas sun-drying is preferred, but in countries wheremuch rain falls, artificial dryers are slowly but surely coming intovogue. These vary in pattern from simple heated rooms, with shelves, tovacuum stoves and revolving drums. The sellers of these machines willagree with me when I say that every progressive planter ought to haveone of these artificial aids to use during those depressing periods whenthe rain continually streams from the sky. On fine days it is difficultto prevent mildew appearing on the cacao, but at such times it isimpossible. However, whenever available, the sun's heat is preferable, for it encourages a slow and even drying, which lasts over a period ofabout three days. As Dr. Paul Preuss says: "II faut éviter unedessiccation trop rapide. Le cacao ne peut être séché en moins de troisjours. "[5] Further, most observers agree with Dr. Sack that the valuablechanges, which occur during fermentation, continue during drying, especially those in which oxygen assists. The full advantage of these islost if the temperature used is high enough to kill the enzymes, or ifthe drying is too rapid, both of which may occur with artificial drying. 

 [5] Dr. Paul Preuss, _Le cacao. Culture et Préparation_. 

Sun-drying is done on cement or brick floors, on coir mats or trays, oron wooden platforms. In order to dry the cacao uniformly it is rakedover and over in the sun. It must be tenderly treated, carefully"watched and caressed, " until the interior becomes quite crisp and incolour a beautiful brown. 

Sometimes the platforms are built on the top of the fermentaries, thecacao being conveyed through a hole in the roof of the fermentary to thedrying platform. 

[Illustration: "HAMEL-SMITH" ROTARY DRYER. (Made by Messrs. David Bridge and Co. , Manchester). 

The receiving cylinders, six in number, are filled approximatelythree-quarters full with the cacao to be dried. These are then placed inposition on the revolving framework, which is enclosed in the casing andslowly revolved. The cylinders are fitted with baffle plates, whichgently turn over the cacao beans at each revolution so that even dryingthroughout is the result. The casing is heated to the requisitetemperature by means of a special stove, the arrangement of which issuch as to allow the air drawn from the outside to circulate around thestove and to pass into the interior of the casing containing the dryingcylinders. The fumes from the fuel do not in any way come in contactwith the material during drying. ]

[Illustration: DRYING PLATFORMS, TRINIDAD, WITH SLIDING ROOFS. ]

In Trinidad the platform always has a sliding roof, which can be pulledover the cacao in the blaze of noon or when a rainstorm comes on. Inother places, sliding platforms are used which can be pushed under coverin wet weather. 

_The Washing of Cacao. _

In Java, Ceylon and Madagascar before the cacao is dried, it is firstwashed to remove all traces of pulp. This removal of pulp enables thebeans to be more rapidly dried, and is considered almost a necessity inCeylon, where sun-drying is difficult. The practice appears at firstsight wholly good and sanitary, but although beans so treated have avery clean and bright appearance, looking not unlike almonds, thepractice cannot be recommended. There is a loss of from 2 to 10 percent. In weight, which is a disadvantage to the planter, whilst from themanufacturer's point of view, washing is objectionable because, according to Dr. Paul Preuss, the aroma suffers. Whilst this may bequestioned, there is no doubt that washing renders the shells morebrittle and friable, and less able to bear carriage and handling; andwhen the shell is broken, the cacao is more liable to attack by grubsand mould. Therein lies the chief danger of washing. 

[Illustration: CACAO DRYING PLATFORMS, SAN THOMÉ. Three tiers of trayson rails. (Reproduced by permission from the Imperial Institute series ofHandbooks to the Commercial Resources of the Tropics). ]

[Illustration: WASHING THE BEANS IN A VAT TO CLEAN OFF THE PULP, CEYLON. ]

_Claying, Colouring, and Polishing Cacao. _

[Illustration: CLAYING CACAO BEANS IN TRINIDAD. ]

Just as in Java and Ceylon, to assist drying, they wash off the pulp, soin Venezuela and often in Trinidad, with the same object, they put earthor clay on the beans. In Venezuela it is a heavy, rough coat, and inTrinidad a film so thin that usually it is not visible. In Venezuela, where fermentation is often only allowed to proceed for one day, the useof fine red earth may possibly be of value. It certainly gives the beansa very pretty appearance; they look as though they have been moistenedand rolled in cocoa powder. But in Trinidad, where the fermentation is alengthy one, the use of clay, though hallowed by custom, is quiteunnecessary. In the report of the Commission of Enquiry (Trinidad, 1915)we read concerning claying that "It is said to prevent the bean frombecoming mouldy in wet weather, to improve its marketable value bygiving it a bright and uniform appearance, and to help to preserve itsaroma. " In the appendix to this report the following recommendationoccurs: "The claying of cacao ought to be avoided as much as possible, and when necessary only sufficient to give a uniform colour ought to beused. " In my opinion manufacturers would do well to discourage entirelythe claying of cacao either in Trinidad or Venezuela, for from theirpoint of view it has nothing to recommend it. One per cent. Of clay issufficient to give a uniform colour, but occasionally considerably morethan this is used. If we are to believe reports, deliberate adulterationis sometimes practised. Thus in _How José formed his Cocoa Estate_ weread: "A cocoa dealer of our day to give a uniform colour to themiscellaneous brands he has purchased from Pedro, Dick, or Sammy willwash the beans in a heap, with a mixture of starch, sour oranges, gumarabic and red ochre. This mixture is always boiled. I can recommend the'Chinos' in this dodge, who are all adepts in all sorts of'adulteration' schemes. They even add some grease to this mixture so asto give the beans that brilliant gloss which you see sometimes. " InTrinidad the usual way of obtaining a gloss is by the curious operationknown as "dancing, " which is performed on the moistened beans after theclay has been sprinkled on them. It is a quaint sight to see a circle ofseven or eight coloured folk slowly treading a heap of beans. Thedancing may proceed for any period up to an hour, and as they tread theysing some weird native chant. Somewhat impressed, I remarked to theplanter that it had all the appearance of an incantation. He repliedthat the process cost 2d. Per cwt. Dancing makes the beans look smooth, shiny, and even, and it separates any beans that may be stuck togetherin clusters. It may make the beans rounder, and it is said to improvetheir keeping properties, but this remains to be proved. On the whole, if it is considered desirable to produce a glossy appearance, it isbetter to use a polishing machine. 

_The Weight of the Cured Cacao Bean. _

[Illustration: SORTING CACAO BEANS IN JAVA. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan& Co. ). ]

Planters and others may be interested to know the comparative sizes ofthe beans from the various producing areas of the world. Some idea ofthese can be gained by considering the relative weights of the beansas purchased in England. 

 Average weight Number of Beans Kind. Of one Bean. To the lb. 

Grenada 1. 0 grammes 450Parâ 1. 0 " 450Bahia 1. 1 " 410Accra 1. 2 " 380Trinidad 1. 2 " 380Cameroons 1. 2 " 380Ceylon 1. 2 " 380Caracas 1. 3 " 350Machala 1. 4 " 330Arriba 1. 5 " 300Carupano 1. 6 " 280

_The Yield of the Cacao Tree. _

The average yield of cacao has in the past generally been over-stated. Whether this is because the planter is an optimist or because he wishesothers to think his efforts are crowned with exceptional success, orbecause he takes a simple pride in his district, is hard to tell. Probably the tendency has been to take the finer estates and put theirresults down as the average. 

Of the thousands of flowers that bloom on one tree during the year, onan average only about twenty develop into mature pods, and each podyields about 1-1/3 ounces of dry cured cacao. Taking the healthy treeswith the neglected, the average yield is from 1-1/2 to 2 pounds ofcommercial cacao per tree. This seems very small, and those who hear itfor the first time often make a rapid mental calculation of the amazingnumber of trees that must be needed to produce the world's supply, atleast 250 million trees. Or again, taking the average yield per acre as400 lbs. , we find that there must be well over a million acres undercacao cultivation. At the Government station at Aburi (Gold Coast) threeplots of cacao gave in 1914 an average yield of over 8 pounds of cacaoper tree, and in 1918 some 468 trees (_Amelonado_) gave as an average7. 8 pounds per tree. This suggests what might be done by thoroughcultivation. It suggests a great opportunity for the planters--that, without planting one more tree, they might quadruple the world'sproduction. 

The work which has been started by the Agricultural Department inTrinidad of recording the yield of individual trees has shown that greatdifferences occur. Further, it has generally been observed that theheavy bearing trees of the first year have continued to be heavybearers, and the poor-yielding trees have remained poor duringsubsequent years. The report rightly concludes that: "The question ofdetecting the poor-bearing trees on an estate and having them replacedby trees raised from selected stock, or budded or grafted trees, ofknown prolific and other good qualities is deserving of the most seriousconsideration by planters. "

_The Kind of Cacao that Manufacturers Like. _[6]

 [6] For further information read _The Qualities in Cacao Desired by Manufacturers_, by N. P. Booth and A. W. Knapp, International Congress of Tropical Agriculture, 1914. 

Planters have suggested to me that if the users and producers of cacaocould be brought together it would be to their mutual advantage. Permitme to conceive a meeting and report an imaginary conversation:

 PLANTER: You know we planters work a little in the dark. We don't know quite what to strive after. Tell me exactly what kind of cacao the manufacturers want?

 MANUFACTURER: Every buyer and manufacturer has his tastes and preferences and----. 

 PLANTER: Don't hedge!

 MANUFACTURER: The cacao of each producing area has its special characters, even as the wine from a country, and part of the good manufacturer's art is the art of blending. 

 PLANTER: What--good with bad?

 MANUFACTURER: No! Good of one type with good of another type. 

 PLANTER: What do you mean exactly by good?

 MANUFACTURER: By good I mean large, ripe, well-cured beans. By indifferent I mean unripe and unfermented. By abominable I mean germinated, mouldy, and grubby beans. Happily, the last class is quite a small one. 

 PLANTER: You don't mean to tell me that only the good cacao sells?

 MANUFACTURER: Unfortunately, no! There are users of inferior beans. Practically all the cacao produced--good and indifferent--is bought by someone. Most manufacturers prefer the fine, healthy, well fermented kinds. 

 PLANTER: Well fermented! They have a strange way of showing their preference. Why, they often pay more for Guayaquil than they do for Grenada cacao. Yet Guayaquil is never properly fermented, whilst that from the Grenada estates is perfectly fermented. 

 MANUFACTURER: Agreed. Just as you would pay more for a badly-trained thoroughbred than for a well-trained mongrel. It's breed they pay for. The Guayaquil breed is peculiar; there is nothing else like it in the world. You might think the tree had been grafted on to a spice tree. It has a fine characteristic aroma, which is so powerful that it masks the presence of a high percentage of unfermented beans. However, if Guayaquil cacao was well-fermented it would (subject to the iron laws of Supply and Demand) fetch a still higher price, and there would not be the loss there is in a wet season when the Guayaquil cacao, being unfermented, goes mouldy. I think in Grenada they plant for high yield, and not for quality, for the bean is small and approaches the inferior Calabacillo breed. Its value is maintained by an amazing evenness and an uniform excellence in curing. The way in which it is prepared for the market does great credit to the planters. 

 PLANTER: They don't clay there, do they?

 MANUFACTURER: No! and yet it is practically impossible to find a mouldy bean in Grenada estates cacao. Evidently claying is not a necessity--in Grenada. 

 PLANTER: Ha! ha! By that I suppose you insinuate that it is not a necessity in Trinidad, where the curing is also excellent. Or in Venezuela? What's the buyer's objection to claying?

 MANUFACTURER: Simply that claying is camouflage. Actually the buyer doesn't mind so long as the clay is not too generously used. He objects to paying for beans and getting clay. However, it's really too bad to colour up with clay the black cacao from diseased pods; it might deceive even experienced brokers. 

 PLANTER: Ha! ha! Then it's a very sinful practice. I don't think that ever gets beyond the local tropical market. I know the merchants judge largely by "the skin, " but I thought the London broker----. 

 MANUFACTURER: You see it's like this. Just as you associate a certain label with a particularly good brand of cigar so the planter's mark on the bag and the external appearance of the beans influence the broker by long association. But just as you cannot truly judge a cigar by the picture on the box, so the broker has to consider what is under the shell of the bean. One or two manufacturers go further, but don't trust merely to "tasting with their eyes"--they only come to a conclusion when they have roasted a sample. 

 PLANTER: But a buyer can get a shrewd idea without roasting, surely? You agree. Well, what exactly does he look for?

 MANUFACTURER: Depends what nationality the bean is--I mean whether it was grown in Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad, or the Gold Coast. In general he likes beans with a good "break, " that is beans which, under the firm pressure of thumb and forefinger, break into small crisp nibs. Closeness or cheesiness are danger signals, warnings of lack of fermentation, --so is a slate-coloured interior. He prefers a pale, even-coloured interior, --cinnamon, chocolate, or café-au-lait colour and----. 

 PLANTER: One moment! I've heard before of planters being told to ferment and cure until the bean is cinnamon colour. Why, man, you couldn't get a pale brown interior with beans of the Forastero or Calabacillo type if you fermented them to rottenness. 

 MANUFACTURER: True! Well, if the breed on your plantation is purple Forastero, and more than half of the cacao in the world is, you must develop as much brown in the beans as possible. They should have the characteristic refreshing odour of raw cacao, together with a faint vinegary odour. The buyers much dislike any foreign smell, any mouldy, hammy, or cheesy odour. 

 PLANTER: And where do the foreign odours come from?

 MANUFACTURER: That's debatable. Some come from bad fermentations, due to dirty fermentaries, abnormal temperatures, or unripe cacao. [7] Some come from smoky or imperfect artificial drying. Some come from mould. Unfermented cacao is liable to go mouldy, so is germinated or over-ripe cacao with broken shells. Some cacao unfortunately gets wet with sea water. There always seems to me something pathetic in the thought of finely-cured cacao being drowned in sea water as it goes out in open boats to the steamer. 

 PLANTER: You see, we haven't piers and jetties everywhere, and often it's a long journey to them. Well, you've told me the buyers note break, colour and aroma. Anything else?

 MANUFACTURER: They like large beans, partly because largeness suggests fineness, and partly because with large beans the percentage of shell is less. Small flat beans are very wasteful and unsatisfactory; they are nearly all shell and very difficult to separate from the shell. 

 PLANTER: When there's a drought we can't help ourselves; we produce quantities of small flat beans. 

 MANUFACTURER: It must be trying to be at the mercy of the weather. However, the weather doesn't prevent the dirt being picked out of the beans. Buyers don't like more than half a per cent. Of rubbish; I mean stones, dried twig-like pieces of pulp, dust, etc. , left in the cacao, neither do they like to see "cobs, " that is, two or more beans stuck together, nor----. 

 PLANTER: How about gloss?

 MANUFACTURER: The beauty of a polished bean attracts, although they know the beauty is less than skin deep. 

 PLANTER: And washing?

 MANUFACTURER: In my opinion washing is bad, leaves the shell too fragile. I believe in Hamburg they used to pay more for washed beans; although very little, I suppose less than five per cent. , of the world's cacao is washed, but in London many buyers prefer "the great unwashed. " However, brokers are conservative, and would probably look on unwashed Ceylon with suspicion. 

 PLANTER: Well, I have been very interested in everything that you have said, and I think every planter should strive to produce the very best he can, but he does not get much encouragement. 

 MANUFACTURER: How is that?

 PLANTER: There is insufficient difference between the price of the best and the common. 

 MANUFACTURER: Unfortunately that is beyond any individual manufacturer's control. The price is controlled by the European and New York markets. I am afraid that as long as there is so large a demand by the public for cheap cocoas so long will there be keen competition amongst buyers for the commoner kinds of beans. 

 PLANTER: The manufacturer should keep some of his own men on the spot to do his buying. They would discriminate carefully, and the differences in price offered would soon educate the planters!

 MANUFACTURER: True, but as each manufacturer requires cacao from many countries and districts, this would be a very costly enterprise. Several manufacturers have had their own buyers in certain places in the Tropics for some years, and it is generally agreed that this has acted as an incentive to the growers to improve the quality. [8] But in the main we have to look to the various Government Agricultural Departments to instruct and encourage the planters in the use of the best methods. 

 [7] Cameroon cacao sometimes has an objectionable odour and flavour, which may be due to its being fermented in an unripe condition, for, as Dr. Fickendey says: "Cameroon cacao has to be harvested unripe to save the pods from brown rot. "

 [8] The Director of Agriculture, in a paper on _The Gold Coast Cocoa Industry_, says: "We are indebted to Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , of Bournville, for a lead in this direction. They have several agents in the colony who purchase on their behalf only the best qualities at an enhanced price, and reject all that falls below the standard of their requirements. "

[Illustration: THE WORLD'S CACAO PRODUCTION. (Mean of 5 years, 1914-1918. Average world production 295, 600 tons perannum. ) Diagram showing relative amounts produced by various countries. The shaded parts show production of British Possessions. ]

CHAPTER IV

CACAO PRODUCTION AND SALE

 When the English Commander, Thomas Candish, coming into the Haven Guatulco, burnt two hundred thousand tun of cacao, it proved no small loss to all New Spain, the provinces Guatimala and Nicaragua not producing so much in a whole year. 

 John Ogilvy's _America_, 1671. 

When one starts to discuss, however briefly, the producing areas, oneought first to take off one's hat to Ecuador, for so long the principalproducer, and then to Venezuela the land of the original cacao, andproducer of the finest criollo type. Having done this, one ought to saywords of praise to Trinidad, Grenada and Ceylon for their scientificmethods of culture and preparation; and, last but not least, the newestand greatest producer, the Gold Coast, should receive honourablemention. It is interesting to note that in 1918 British Possessionsproduced nearly half (44 per cent. ) of the world's supply. 

Whilst the war has not very materially hindered the increase of cacaoproduction in the tropics, the shortage of shipping has prevented theamount exported from maintaining a steady rise. The table below, takenmainly from the "Gordian, " illustrates this:

WORLD PRODUCTION OF CACAO. Total in tons (1 ton = 1000 kilogrammes)

1908 194, 000 1914 277, 0001909 206, 000 1915 298, 0001910 220, 000 1916 297, 0001911 241, 000 1917 343, 0001912 234, 000 1918 273, 0001913 258, 000 1919 431, 000

The following table is compiled chiefly from Messrs. Theo. Vasmer &Co. 's reports in the _Confectioners' Union_. 

CACAO PRODUCTION OF THE CHIEF PRODUCING AREAS OF THE WORLD. (1 ton = 1000 kilogrammes). 

Country. 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Gold Coast[1] 53, 000 77, 300 72, 200 91, 000 66, 300Brazil 40, 800 45, 000 43, 700 55, 600 41, 900Ecuador 47, 200 37, 000 42, 700 47, 200 38, 000San Thomé 31, 400 29, 900 33, 200 31, 900 26, 600Trinidad[1] 28, 400 24, 100 24, 000 31, 800 26, 200San Domingo 20, 700 20, 200 21, 000 23, 700 18, 800Venezuela 16, 900 18, 300 15, 200 13, 100 13, 000Lagos[1] 4, 900 9, 100 9, 000 15, 400 10, 200Grenada[1] 6, 100 6, 500 5, 500 5, 500 6, 700Fernando Po 3, 100 3, 900 3, 800 3, 700 4, 200Ceylon[1] 2, 900 3, 900 3, 500 3, 700 4, 000Jamaica[1] 3, 800 3, 600 3, 400 2, 800 3, 000Surinam 1, 900 1, 700 2, 000 1, 900 2, 500Cameroons 1, 200 2, 400 3, 000 2, 800 1, 300Haiti 2, 100 1, 800 1, 900 1, 500 2, 300French Cols. 1, 800 1, 900 1, 600 2, 200 1, 700Cuba 1, 800 1, 700 1, 500 1, 500 1, 000Java 1, 600 1, 500 1, 500 1, 600 800Samoa 1, 100 900 900 1, 200 800Togo 200 300 400 1, 600 1, 000St. Lucia[1] 700 800 700 600 500Belgian Congo 500 600 800 800 900Dominica[1] 450 550 300 300 300St. Vincent[1] 100 100 75 50 75Other countries 3, 200 3, 000 3, 500 3, 500 3, 500 -------------------------------------------Total 275, 900 296, 100 295, 400 344, 000 275, 600 -------------------------------------------Total BritishEmpire 102, 000 128, 000 120, 000 153, 000 119, 000

 [1] British Possessions. 

[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD, WITH ONLY CACAO-PRODUCING AREASMARKED. ]

_SOUTH AMERICAN CACAO. _

In the map of South America given on p. 89 the principal cacao producingareas are marked. Their production in 1918 was as follows:

CACAO BEANS EXPORTED. 

 Percentage ofCountry. Metric Tons. [2] World's production. 

Brazil 41, 865 15. 4Ecuador 38, 000 14. 0 (Guayaquil alone 34, 973 tons)Venezuela 13, 000 5. 0Surinam 2, 468 0. 9British Guiana 20 0. 01 ------------------------------------------South American Total 95, 353 tons 35. 31 per cent. ------------------------------------------

 [2] These figures, and others quoted later in this chapter, are estimates given by Messrs. Theo. Vasmer & Co. In their reports. 

ECUADOR. 

_Arriba and Machala Cacaos. _--In Ecuador, for many years the chiefproducing area of the world, dwell the cacao kings, men who possess verylarge and wild cacao forests, each containing several million cacaotrees. The method of culture is primitive, and no artificial manures areused, yet for several generations the trees have given good crops andthe soil remains as fertile as ever. The two principal cacaos are knownas _Arriba_ and _Machala_, or classed together as Guayaquil after thecity of that name. Guayaquil, the commercial metropolis of the Republicof Ecuador, is an ancient and picturesque city built almost astride theEquator. Despite the unscientific cultural methods, and the imperfectfermentation, which results in the cacao containing a high percentage ofunfermented beans and not infrequently mouldy beans also, this cacao ismuch appreciated in Europe and America, for the beans are large andpossess a fine strong flavour and characteristic scented aroma. Theamount of Guayaquil cacao exported in 1919 was 33, 209 tons. 

[Illustration: RAKING CACAO BEANS ON THE DRIERS. ]

[Illustration: GATHERING CACAO PODS IN ECUADOR. (La Clementina Plantation, Ecuador. )]

[Illustration: SORTING CACAO FOR SHIPMENT, GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR. ]

An interesting experiment was made in 1912, when a protectiveassociation known as the _Asociacion de Agricultores del Ecuador_ waslegalised. This collects half a golden dollar on every hundred pounds ofcacao, and by purchasing and storing cacao on its own account wheneverprices fall below a reasonable minimum, attempts in the planter'sinterest to regulate the selling price of cacao. Unfortunately, as cacaotends to go mouldy when stored in a damp tropical climate, the_Asociacion_ is not an unmixed blessing to the manufacturer andconsumer. 

BRAZIL. 

_Parâ and Bahia Cacaos. _--Brazil has made marked progress in recentyears, and has now overtaken Ecuador in quantity of produce; the cacao, however, is quite different from, and not as fine as, that fromGuayaquil. The principal cacao comes from the State of Bahia, where theclimate is ideal for its cultivation. Indeed so perfect are the naturalconditions that formerly no care was taken in cacao production, and muchof that gathered was wild and uncured. During the last decade there hasbeen an improvement, and this would, doubtless, be more noteworthy ifthe means of transport were better, for at present the roads are bad andthe railways inadequate; hence most of the cacao is brought down to thecity of Bahia in canoes. Nevertheless, Bahia cacao is better fermentedthan the peculiar cacao of Pará, another important cacao from Brazil, which is appreciated by manufacturers on account of its mild flavour. Bahia exported in 1919 about 51, 000 tons of cacao. 

VENEZUELA. 

_Caracas, Carupano and Maracaibo Cacaos. _--Venezuela has been called"the classic home of cacao, " and had not the chief occupation of itsinhabitants been revolution, it would have retained till now theimportant position it held a hundred years ago. It is in this enchantedcountry (it was at La Guayra in Caracas, as readers of _Westward Ho!_will remember, that Amyas found his long-sought Rose) that the finestcacao in the world is produced: the criollo, the bean with thegolden-brown break. The tree which produces this is as delicate as thecacao is fine, and there is some danger that this superb cacao may dieout--a tragedy which every connoisseur would wish to avert. 

The _Gordian_ estimates that Venezuela sent out from her three principalports in 1919 some 16, 226 tons of cacao. 

_THE WEST INDIES. _

In the map of South America the principal West Indian islands producingcacao are marked. Their production in 1918 was as follows:

 CACAO BEANS EXPORTED. Percentage of Metric Tons. World's production. Trinidad (British) 26, 177 9. 7San Domingo 18, 839 7. 0Grenada (British) 6, 704 2. 5Jamaica (British) 3, 000 1. 1Haiti 2, 272 0. 8St. Lucia (British) 500 0. 2Dominica (British) 300 0. 1St. Vincent (British) 70 0. 02 ----------- ---------------West Indies Total 57, 862 tons 21. 42 per cent. ----------- ---------------Br. West Indies 36, 751 tons 13. 6 per cent. 

TRINIDAD AND GRENADA. [3]

 [3] Cacao production in 1919: Trinidad 27, 185 tons; Grenada 4, 020 tons. 

Cacao was grown in the West Indies in the seventeenth century, and theinhabitants, after the destructive "blast, " which utterly destroyed theplantations in 1727, bravely replanted cacao, which has flourished thereever since. The cacaos of Trinidad and Grenada have long been known fortheir excellence, and it is mainly from Trinidad that the knowledge ofmethods of scientific cultivation and preparation has been spread toplanters all round the equator. The cacao from Trinidad (famous alikefor its cacao and its pitch lake) has always held a high place in themarkets of the world, although a year or two ago the inclusion ofinferior cacao and the practice of claying was abused by a few growersand merchants. With the object of stopping these abuses and of producinga uniform cacao, there was formed a Cacao Planters' Association, whosebusiness it is to grade and bulk, and sell on a co-operative basis, thecacao produced by its members. This experiment has proved successful, and in 1918 the Association handled the cacao from over 100 estates. We may expect to see more of these cacao planters' associations formedin various parts of the world, for they are in line with the trend ofthe times towards large, and ever larger, unions and combinations. Trinidad is also progressive in its system of agricultural education andin its formation of agricultural credit societies. The neighbouringisland of Grenada is mountainous, smaller than the Isle of Wight and (ifthe Irish will forgive me) greener than Erin's Isle. The methods ofcacao cultivation in vogue there might seem natural to the Britishfarmer, but they are considered remarkable by cacao planters, for inGrenada the soil on which the trees grow is forked or tilled. Possiblyfrom this follows the equally remarkable corollary that the cacao treesflourish without a single shade tree. The preparation of the beanreceives as much care as the cultivation of the tree, and the cacaowhich comes from the estates has an unvaried constancy of quality, notinfrequently giving 100 per cent. Of perfectly prepared beans. It islargely due to this that the cacao from this small island occupies suchan important position on the London market. 

[Illustration: MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES. Only cacao-producing areas are marked. ]

[Illustration: WORKERS ON A CACAO PLANTATION. (Messrs. Cadbury's estate in Trinidad. )]

The cacao from San Domingo is known commercially as _Samana_ or_Sanchez_. A fair proportion is of inferior quality, and is littleappreciated on the European markets. The bulk of it goes to America. Theproduction in 1919 was about 23, 000 tons. 

_AFRICAN CACAO. _

In the map of Africa the principal producing areas are marked. Theirproduction in 1918 was as follows:

 CACAO BEANS EXPORTED. Metric Tons. Percentage of World's production. Gold Coast (British) 66, 343 24. 5San Thomé 19, 185 7. 1Lagos (British) 10, 223 3. 8Fernando Po 4, 220 1. 6Cameroons 1, 250 0. 4Togo 1, 000 0. 4Belgian Congo 875 0. 3 ------------ --------------African Total 103, 096 tons 38. 1 per cent. ------------ --------------British Africa 76, 566 tons 28. 3 per cent. 

THE GOLD COAST (_Industria floremus_). 

_Accra Cacao. _

The name recalls stories of a romantic and awful past, in which gold andthe slave trade played their terrible part. Happily these are things ofthe past; so is the "deadly climate. " We are told that it is now noworse than that of other tropical countries. According to Sir HughClifford, until recently Governor of the Gold Coast, the "West AfricanClimatic Bogie" is a myth, and the "monumental reputation forunhealthiness" undeserved. When De Candolle wrote concerning cacao, "Iimagine it would succeed on the Guinea Coast, "[4] as the West Africancoast is sometimes called, he achieved prophecy, but he little dreamedhow wonderful this success would be. The rise and growth of thecacao-growing industry in the Gold Coast is one of the mostextraordinary developments of the last few decades. In thirty years ithas increased its export of cacao from nothing to 40 per cent. Of thetotal of the world's production. 

 [4] De Candolle, _Origin of Cultivated Plants_, quoted by R. Whymper. 

[Illustration: MAP OF AFRICA--WITH ONLY CACAO-PRODUCING AREAS MARKED. ]

[Illustration: FORESHORE AT ACCRA, WITH STACKS OF CACAO READY FORSHIPMENT. Reproduced by permission of the Editor of "West Africa". ]

PRODUCTION OF CACAO ON THE GOLD COAST. 

Year. Quantity. Value. £1891 0 tons (80 lbs. ) 41896 34 tons 2, 2761901 980 tons 42, 8371906 8, 975 tons 336, 2691911 30, 798 tons 1, 613, 4681916 72, 161 tons 3, 847, 720

1917 90, 964 tons 3, 146, 8511918 66, 343 tons 1, 796, 9851919 177, 000 tons 8, 000, 000

The conditions of production in the Gold Coast present a number offeatures entirely novel. We hear from time to time of concessions beinggranted in tropical regions to this or that company of enterprisingEuropean capitalists, who employ a few Europeans and send them to thearea to manage the industry. The inhabitants of the area become themanual wage earners of the company, and too often in the lust forprofits, or as an offering to the god of commercial efficiency, the onceeasy and free life of the native is lost for ever and a form ofwage-slavery takes its place with doubtful effects on the life andhealth of the workers. In defence it is pointed out that yet anotherportion of the earth has been made productive, which, without theinitiative of the European capitalist, must have lain fallow. But inthe Gold Coast the "indolent" native has created a new industry entirelynative owned, and in thirty years the Gold Coast has outstripped all theareas of the world in quantity of produce. Forty years ago the nativeshad never seen a cacao tree, now at least fifty million trees flourishin the colony. This could not have happened without the strenuousefforts of the Department of Agriculture. The Gold Coast now stands headand shoulders above any other producing area for quantity. The problemof the future lies in the improvement of quality, and difficult thoughthis problem be, we cannot doubt, given a fair chance, that thefar-sighted and energetic Agricultural Department will solve it. Indeed, it must in justice be pointed out that already a very marked improvementhas been made, and now fifty to one hundred times as much good fermentedcacao is produced as there was ten years ago. [5] However, if a highstandard is to be maintained, the work of the Department of Agriculturemust be supplemented by the willingness of the cacao buyers to pay ahigher price for the better qualities. 

 [5] "Towards this latter result Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Ltd. , rendered great assistance. This firm sent representatives into the country, who proved to the natives that they were willing to pay an enhanced price for cocoa prepared in a manner suitable for their requirements. A fair amount of cocoa was purchased by them, and demonstrations were made in some places with regard to the proper mode of fermentation. " (The Agricultural and Forest Products of British West Africa. _Imperial Institute Handbook_, by G. C. Dudgeon). 

[Illustration: CARRIERS CONVEYING BAGS OF CACAO TO SURF BOATS, ACCRA. Reproduced by permission of the Editor of "West Africa. "]

The phenomenal growth of this industry is the more remarkable when weconsider the lack of roads and beasts of burden. The usual pack animals, horses and oxen, cannot live on the Gold Coast because of the tsetsefly, which spreads amongst them the sleeping sickness. And so thenative, used as he is to heavy head-loads, naturally adopted this as hisfirst method of transport, and hundreds of the less affluent nativesarrive at the collecting centres with great weights of cacao on theirheads. "Women and children, light-hearted, chattering and cheerful, beartheir 60 lbs. Head-loads with infinite patience. Heavier loads, approaching sometimes two hundredweight, are borne by grave, silentHausa-men, often a distance of thirty or forty miles. "

[Illustration: CROSSING THE RIVER AT NSAWAM, GOLD COAST. ]

[Illustration: DRYING CACAO BEANS AT MRAMRA. Reproduced by permission from the Imperial Institute series of Handbooksto the Commercial Resources of the Tropics. ]

One day, not so many years ago, some more ingenious native in the hillsat the back of the Coast, filled an old palm-oil barrel with cacao androlled it down the ways to Accra. And now to-day it is a familiar sightto see a man trundling a huge barrel of cacao, weighing half a ton, downto the coast. The sound of a motor horn is heard, and he wildly turnsthe barrel aside to avoid a disastrous collision with the new, weirdtransport animal from Europe. Motor lorries have been used with greateffect on the coast for some seven years; they have the advantage overpack animals that they do not succumb to the bite of the dreaded tsetsefly, but nevertheless not a few derelicts lie, or stand on their heads, in the ditches, the victims of over-work or accident. 

[Illustration: SHOOTING CACAO FROM THE ROAD TO THE BEACH, ACCRA. ]

Having brought the cacao to the coast, there yet remains thelighterage to the ocean liner, which lies anchored some two miles fromthe shore, rising and falling to the great rollers from the broadAtlantic. A long boat is used, manned by some twenty swarthy natives, who glory--vocally--in their passage through the dangerous surf whichroars along the sloping beach. The cacao is piled high on wood racks andcovered with tarpaulins and seldom shares the fate of passengers andcrew, who are often drenched in the surf before they swing by a crane inthe primitive mammy chair, high but not dry, on board the hospitableElder Dempster liner. 

[Illustration: ROLLING CACAO, GOLD COAST. ]

SAN THOMÉ (AND PRINCIPE). 

We now turn from the Gold Coast and the success of native ownership toanother part of West Africa, a scene of singular beauty, where thePortuguese planters have triumphed over savage nature. 

Two lovely islands, San Thomé and its little sister isle of Principe, lie right on the Equator in the Gulf of Guinea, about two hundred milesfrom the African mainland. A warm, lazy sea, the sea of the doldrums, sapphire or turquoise, or, in deep shaded pools, a radiant green, joyfully foams itself away against these fairy lands of tossing palm, dense vegetation, rushing cascades, and purple, precipitous peaks. Asoil of volcanic origin is covered with a rich humus of decayingvegetation, and this, with a soft humid atmosphere, makes an ideal homefor cacao. 

The bean, introduced in 1822, was not cultivated with diligence tillfifty years ago. To-day the two islands, which together have not halfthe area of Surrey, grow 32, 000 metric tons of cacao a year, or aboutone-tenth of the world's production. [6] The income of a single planter, once a poor peasant, has amounted to hundreds of thousands sterling. 

 [6] The _Gordian's_ estimate for the amount exported in 1919 is 40, 766 tons. 

[Illustration: ROLLING CACAO, GOLD COAST. Reproduced by permission of the Editor of "West Africa. "]

Dotted over the islands, here nestling on a mountain side, thereoverlooking some blue inlet of the sea, are more than two hundredplantations, or _rocas_, whose buildings look like islands in a greensea of cacao shrubs, above which rise the grey stems of such foresttrees as have been left to afford shade. 

[Illustration: CARRYING CACAO TO THE RAILWAY STATION, NSAWAM, GOLDCOAST. ]

Here, not only have the cultivation, fermentation and drying of cacaobeen brought to the highest state of perfection, but the details oforganisation--planters' homes, hospitals, cottages, drying sheds and theDecauville railways--are often models of their kind. 

Intelligent and courteous, the planters make delightful hosts. At theirhomes, five thousand miles away from Europe, the visitor, who knows whatit means to struggle with steaming, virgin forests, rank encroachingvegetation, deadly fevers, and the physical and mental inertiaengendered by the tropics, will marvel at the courage and energy thathave triumphed over such obstacles. Calculating from various estimates, each labourer in the islands appears to produce about 1, 640 pounds ofcacao yearly, and the average yield per cultivated acre is 480 pounds, or about 30 pounds more than that of Trinidad in 1898. 

[Illustration: WAGON LOADS OF CACAO BEING TAKEN FROM MESSRS. CADBURY'SDEPOT TO THE BEACH, ACCRA. ]

As there is no available labour in San Thomé, the planters get theirworkers from the mainland of Africa. Prior to the year 1908, the laboursystem of the islands was responsible for grave abuses. This has nowbeen changed. Natives from the Portuguese colonies of Angola andMozambique now enter freely into contracts ranging from one to fiveyears, two years being the time generally chosen. At the end of theirterm of work they either re-contract or return to their native land withtheir savings, with which they generally buy a wife. The readiness withwhich the natives volunteer for the work on the islands is proof both ofthe soundness of the system of contract and of the good treatment theyreceive at the hands of the planters. 

[Illustration: THE BUILDINGS OF THE BOA ENTRADA CACAO ESTATE, SANTHOMÉ. ]

Unfortunately, the mortality of the plantation labourers has generallybeen very heavy, one large and well-managed estate recording on anaverage of seven years an annual death rate of 148 per thousand, andmany _rocas_ have still more appalling records. Against this, otherplantations only a few miles away may show a mortality approximating tothat of an average European city. In February, 1918, the workers in SanThomé numbered 39, 605, and the deaths during the previous year, 1917, were 1, 808, thus showing on official figures an annual mortality of 45per thousand. Comparing this with the 26 per thousand of Trinidad, andremembering that most of the San Thomé labourers are in the prime oflife, it will be seen that this death rate represents a heavy loss oflife and justifies the continued demand from the British cocoamanufacturers for the appointment and report of a special medicalcommission. 

The Portuguese Government is prepared to meet this demand, for it hasrecently sent a Commissioner, Dr. Joaquim Gouveia, to San Thomé to makea thorough examination of labour conditions, including work, food, housing, hospitals and medical attendance, and to report fully andconfidentially to the Portuguese Colonial Secretary. 

[Illustration: DRYING CACAO AT AGUA IZE, SAN THOMÉ. The trays are on wheels, which run on rails. ]

If this important step is followed by adequate measures of reform thereis every reason to hope that the result will be a material reduction inthe death rate, as the good health enjoyed on some of the _rocas_ showsSan Thomé to be not more unhealthy than other tropical islands. 

CAMEROONS. 

The Cameroons, which we took from the Germans in 1916, is also on theWest Coast of Africa. It lags far behind the Gold Coast in output, although both commenced to grow cacao about the same time. The Germansspent great sums in the Cameroons in giving the industry a scientificbasis, they adopted the "estate plan, " and possibly the fact that theyemploy contract labour explains why they have not had the samephenomenal success that the natives working for themselves have achievedon the Gold Coast. 

[Illustration: BARREL ROLLING, GOLD COAST. ]

Various countries and districts which are responsible for about 97 percent. Of the world's cacao crop have now been named and brieflycommented upon. Of other producing areas, the islands, Ceylon and Java, are worthy of mention. In both of these (as also in Venezuela, Samoa[7]and Madagascar) is grown the criollo cacao, which produces the plump, sweet beans with the cinnamon "break. " Cacao beans from Ceylon or Javaare easily recognised by their appearance, because, being washed, theyhave beautiful clean shells, but there is a serious objection to washedshells, namely, that they are brittle and as thin as paper, so that manyare broken before they reach the manufacturer. Ceylon is justly famousfor its fine "old red"; along with this a fair quantity of inferiorcacao is produced, which by being called Ceylon (such is the power of agood name), tends to claim a higher price than its quality warrants. 

 [7] Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the pioneers in cacao planting in Samoa, as readers of his _Vailima Letters_ will remember. 

[Illustration: BAGGING CACAO, GOLD COAST. Reproduced by permission of the Editor of "West Africa. "]

CACAO MARKETS. 

_From the Plantation to the European Market. _

It is mentioned above that on the Gold Coast cacao is brought down toAccra as head-loads, or in barrels, or in motor-lorries. These methodsare exceptional; in other countries it is usually put in sacks at theestate. Every estate has its own characteristic mark, which is stampedon the bags, and this is recognised by the buyers in Europe, and gives aclue to the quality of the contents. There is not as yet a uniformweight for a bag of cacao, although they all vary between one and twocwt. , thus the bags from Africa contain 1-1/4 cwts. , whilst those fromGuayaquil contain 1-3/4 cwts. In these bags the cacao is taken to theport on the backs of mules, in horse or ox carts, in canoes down astream, or more rarely, by rail. It is then conveyed by lighters or surfboats to the great ocean liners which lie anchored off the shore. In thehold of the liner it is rocked thousands of miles over the azure seas ofthe tropics to the grey-green seas of the temperate zone. In pre-wardays a million bags used to go to Hamburg, three-quarters of a millionto New York, half a million to Havre, and only a trifling quarter of amillion to London. Now London is the leading cacao market of the world. During the war the supplies were cut off from Hamburg, whilst Liverpool, becoming a chief port for African cacao, in 1916 imported a millionbags. Then New York began to gorge cacao, and in 1917 created a record, importing some two and a half million bags, or about 150, 000 tons. Whilst everything is in so fluid a condition it is unwise to prophesy;it may, however, be said that there are many who think, now that theconsumption of cocoa and chocolate in America has reached such aprodigious figure, that New York may yet oust London and become thecentral dominating market of the world. 

[Illustration: SURF BOATS BY THE SIDE OF THE OCEAN LINER, ACCRA. ]

_Difficulties of Buying. _

Every country produces a different kind of cacao, and the cacao from anytwo plantations in the same country often shows wide variation. It maybe said that there are as many kinds of cacao as there are of apples, cacao showing as marked differences as exhibited by crabs and Blenheims, not to mention James Grieves, Russets, Worcester Pearmains, NewtonWonders, Lord Derbys, Belle de Boskoops, and so forth. Further, whilstthe bulk of the cacao is good and sound, a little of the cacao grown inany district is liable to have suffered from drought or from attacks bymoulds or insect pests. It will be realised from these fragmentaryremarks that the buyer must exercise perpetual vigilance. 

[Illustration: BAGGING CACAO BEANS FOR SHIPMENT, TRINIDAD. ]

[Illustration: TRANSFERRING BAGS OF CACAO BEANS TO LIGHTERS, TRINIDAD. ]

_Cacao Sales. _

Before the Cocoa Prices Orders were published (March, 1918) the mannerof conducting the sale of cacao in London was as follows. Brokers' listsgiving the kinds of cacao for sale, and the number of bags of each, weresent, together with samples, to the buyers some days beforehand, so thatthey were able to decide what they wished to purchase and the price theywere willing to pay. The sales always took place at 11 o'clock onTuesdays in the Commercial Sale Room in Mincing Lane, that narrow streetoff Fenchurch Street, where the air is so highly charged with expertknowledge of the world's produce, that it would illuminate the prosaicsurroundings with brilliant flashes if it could become visible. On themorning of the sale samples of the cacaos are on exhibit at theprincipal brokers. The man in the street brought into the broker'soffice would ask what these strange beans might be. "A new kind ofalmond?" he might ask. And then, on being told they were cacao, he wouldsee nothing to choose between all the various lots and wonder why somuch fuss was made over discriminating amongst the similar anddistinguishing the identical. He might even marvel a little at theexpert knowledge of the buyers; yet, frankly, the pertinent factsconcerning quality, known by the buyer, are fewer and no more difficultto learn than the thousand and one facts a lad must have at his fingerends to pass the London Matriculation; they are valued because they areinaccessible to the multitude; only a few people have the opportunity oflearning them, and their use may make or mar fortunes. The judgment ofquality is, however, only one side of the art of buying. We have to addto these a knowledge of the conditions prevailing in the various marketsof the world, a knowledge of stocks and probable supplies, and giventhis knowledge, an ability to estimate their effect, together with otherconditions, agricultural, political and social, on the price of thecommodity. The room in which the sales are conducted is not a large one, and usually not more than a hundred people, buyers, pressmen, etc. , arepresent. Not a single cacao bean is visible, and it might be an auctionsale of property for all the uninitiated could tell. The cacao is put upin lots. Usually the sales proceed quietly, and it is difficult torealize that many thousands of bags of cacao are changing hands. Thebuyers have perfect trust in the broker's descriptions; they know theinvariable fair-play of the British broker, which is a by-word the worldover. The machinery of the proceedings is lubricated by an easy flow ofhumour. Sometimes a few bags of sea-damaged cacao or of cacao sweepingsare put up, and a good deal of keenness is shown by the individuals whobuy this stuff. It is curious that a whole crowd of busy people willallow their time to be taken up whilst there is a spirited fight betweentwo or three buyers for a single bag. 

Whilst the London Auction Sales are of importance as fixing the pricesfor the various markets, and reflecting to a certain extent the positionof supply and demand, only a fraction of the world's cacao changes handsat the Auction Sales, the greater part of it being bought privately forforward delivery. 

_Prices and Quotations. _

[Illustration: DIAGRAM SHOWING VARIATION IN PRICE OF CACAO BEANS FROM1913 TO 1919. ]

The price of cacao is liable to fluctuations like every other product, thus in 1907 Trinidad cacao rose to one shilling a pound, whilst therehave been periods when it has only fetched sixpence per pound. On April2nd, 1918, the Food Controller fixed the prices of the finestqualities of the different varieties of raw cacao as follows:

British West Africa (Accra) 65s. Per cwt. 

Bahia }Cameroons }San Thomé } 85s. " "Congo }Grenada }

Trinidad }Demerara } 90s. " "Guayaquil }Surinam }

Ceylon }Java } 100s. " "Samoa }

The diagram on p. 113 shows the average market price in the UnitedKingdom of some of the more important cacaos before, during, and afterthe war. The most striking change is the sudden rise when the Governmentcontrol was removed. All cacaos showed a substantial advance varyingfrom 80 to 150 per cent. On pre-war values. Further large advances havetaken place in the early months of 1920. 

_The Call of the Tropics. _

Many a young man, reading in some delightful book of travel, has longedto go to the tropics and see the wonders for himself. There can be nodoubt that a sojourn in equatorial regions is one of the most educativeof experiences. In support of this I cannot do better than quote GrantAllen, who regarded the tropics as the best of all universities. "Butabove all in educational importance I rank the advantage of seeing humannature in its primitive surroundings, far from the squalid and chillyinfluences of the tail-end of the Glacial epoch. " . .. "We must forgetall this formal modern life; we must break away from this cramped, cold, northern world; we must find ourselves face to face at last, in Pacificisles or African forests, with the underlying truths of simple nakednature. "

[Illustration: GROUP OF WORKERS ON CACAO ESTATE. 

Some are standing on the Drying Platform, which is the roof of theFermentary. ]

Many will recall how Charles Kingsley's longing to see the tropics wasultimately satisfied. In his book, in which he describes how he "AtLast" visited the West Indies, we read that he encountered a happyScotchman living a quiet life in the dear little island of Monos. "Ilooked at the natural beauty and repose; at the human vigour andhappiness; and I said to myself, and said it often afterwards in theWest Indies: 'Why do not other people copy this wise Scot? Why shouldnot many a young couple, who have education, refinement, resources inthemselves, but are, happily or unhappily for them, unable to keep abrougham and go to London balls, retreat to some such paradise as this(and there are hundreds like it to be found in the West Indies), leaving behind them false civilisation, and vain desires, and uselessshow; and there live in simplicity and content 'The Gentle Life'?"

_The Planter's Life. _

Few who go to the tropics escape their fascination, and of those thatare young, few return to colder climes. Some become overseers, others, more fortunate, own the estates they manage. It is inadvisable for theinexperienced to start on the enterprise of buying and planting anestate with less capital than two or three thousand pounds; but, onceestablished, a cacao plantation may be looked upon as a permanentinvestment, which will continue to bear and give a good yield as long asit receives proper attention. 

In the recently published _Letters of Anthony Farley_ the writer tellshow Farley encounters in South America an old college friend of his, whoin his early days was on the high road to a brilliant political career. Here he is, a planter. He explains:

 "My mother was Spanish; her brother owned this place. When he died it came to me. "

 "How did your uncle hold it through the various revolutions?"

 "Nothing simpler. He became an American citizen. When trouble threatened he made a bee-line for the United States Consulate. I'm British, of course. Well, just when I had decided upon a political life, I found it necessary to come here to straighten things out. One month lengthened itself into a year. I grew fascinated. Here I felt a sense of immense usefulness. On the mountain side my coffee-trees flourished; down in the valley grew cacao. "

 "I grow mine on undulations. "

 "You needn't, you know, so long as you drain. "

 "Yes, but draining on the flat is the devil. "

 "Anyhow, I always liked animals--you haven't seen my pigs yet--and horses and mules need careful tending. A cable arrived one morning announcing an impending dissolution. I felt like an unwilling bridegroom called to marry an ugly bride. I invited my soul. Here, thought I to myself, are animals and foodstuffs--good, honest food at that. If I go back it is only to fill people's bellies with political east wind. 

 "To come to the point, I decided to grow coffee and cacao. I cabled infinite regrets. The decision once made, I was happy as a sandboy. _J'y suis, j'y reste_, said I to myself, said I. Nor have I ever cast one longing look behind. "[8]

 [8] Quoted from the _New Age_, where the _Letters of Anthony Farley_ first appeared. 

This is fiction, but I think it is true that very few, if any, whobecome planters in the tropics ever return permanently to England. Thehospitality of the planters is proverbial: there must be something goodand free about the planter's life to produce men so genial and generous. There is a picture that I often recall, and never without pleasure. Ayoung planter and I had, with the help of more or less willing mules, climbed over the hills from one valley to the next. The valley we hadleft is noted for its beauty, but to me it had become familiar; theother valley I saw now for the first time. The sides were steep andcovered with trees, and I could only see one dwelling in the valley. Wereached this by a circuitous path through cacao trees. Approaching it aswe did, the bungalow seemed completely cut off from the rest of theworld. We were welcomed by the planter and his wife, and by those of thechildren who were not shy. I have never seen more chubby or jollykiddies, and I know from the sweetness of the children that their mothermust have given them unremitting attention. I wondered indeed if sheever left them for a moment. I knew, too, from the situation of thebungalow in the heart of the hills that visitors were not likely to befrequent. The planter's life is splendid for a man who likes open airand nature, but I had sometimes thought that their wives would not findthe life so good. I was mistaken. When we came away, after riding somedistance, through a gap in the cacao we saw across the valley a group ofhappy children. They saw us, and all of them, even the shy ones, wavedus adieux. 

[Illustration: CARTING CACAO TO RAILWAY STATION, CEYLON. ]

[Illustration: THE CARENAGE, GRENADA. ]

CHAPTER V

THE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE

 The Indians, from whom we borrow it, are not very nice in doing it; they roast the kernels in earthen pots, then free them from their skins, and afterwards crush and grind them between two stones, and so form cakes of it with their hands. 

 _Natural History of Chocolate_, R. Brookes, 1730. 

_Early Methods in the Tropics. _

As the cacao bean is grown in tropical countries, it is there that wemust look for the first attempts at manufacturing from it a drink or afoodstuff. The primitive method of preparation was very simple, consisting in roasting the beans in a pot or on a shovel to developtheir flavour, winnowing in the wind, and then rubbing the brokenshelled beans between stones until quite fine. The curious thing is thaton grinding the cacao bean in the heat of a tropical day we do notproduce a powder but a paste. This is because half the cacao beanconsists of a fat which is liquid at 90° F. , a temperature which isreached in the shade in tropical countries. This paste was then madeinto small rolls and put in a cool place to set. Thus was produced theprimitive unsweetened drinking chocolate. This is the method, whichElizabethans, who ventured into the tangled forests of equatorialAmerica, found in use; and this is the method they brought home toEurope. In the tropics these simple processes are followed to this day, but in Europe they have undergone many elaborations and refinements. 

If the reader will look at the illustration entitled "Women grindingchocolate, " he will see how the brittle roasted bean is reduced to apaste in primitive manufacture. A stone, shaped like a rolling-pin, isbeing pushed to and fro over a concave slab, on which the smashed beanshave already been reduced to a paste of a doughy consistency. 

[Illustration: EARLY FACTORY METHODS. Fig. 1 is a workman roasting the cacao in an iron kettle over a furnace. He has to stir the beans to keep them from burning. Fig. 2 is a personsifting and freeing the roasted kernels (which when broken intofragments are called "_nibs_") from their husks or shell. Fig. 3 shows aworkman pounding the shell-free nibs in an iron mortar. Fig. 4represents a workman grinding the nibs on a hard smooth stone with aniron roller. The grinding is performed over a chafing-dish of burningcharcoal, as it is necessary, for ease of grinding, to keep the paste ina liquid condition. ]

_Early European Manufacture. _

The conversion of these small scale operations into the early factoryprocess is well shown in the plate which I reproduce above from _Artsand Sciences_, published in 1768. 

[Illustration: WOMEN GRINDING CHOCOLATE. From Squier "Nicaragua"]

A certain atmosphere of dreamy intellectuality is associated withcoffee, so that the roasting of it is felt to be a romantic occupation. The same poetic atmosphere surrounded the manufacture of drinkingchocolate in the early days: the writers who revealed the secrets of itspreparation were conscious that they were giving man a new æstheticdelight and the subject is treated lovingly and lingeringly. One, PietroMetastasio, went so far as to write a "cantata" describing itsmanufacture. He describes the grinding as being done by a vigorous man, and truly, to grind by hand is a very laborious operation, which happilyin more recent times has been performed by the use of power-drivenmills. 

Operations on a large scale followed the founding of Fry and Sons atBristol in 1728, and of Lombart, "la plus ancienne chocolaterie deFrance, " in Paris in 1760. In Germany the first chocolate factory waserected at Steinhunde in 1756, under the patronage of Prince Wilhelm, whilst in America the well-known firm of Walter Baker and Co. Began in asmall way in 1765. From the methods adopted in these factories havegradually developed the modern processes which I am about to describe. 

MODERN PRACTICE. 

As the early stages in the manufacture of cocoa and of chocolate areoften identical, the processes which are common to both are firstdescribed, and then some individual consideration is given to each. 

(_a_) _Arrival at the Factory. _

The cacao is largely stored in warehouses, from which it is removed asrequired. It has remarkable keeping properties, and can be kept in agood store for several years without loss of quality. Samples of cacaobeans in glass bottles have been found to be in perfect condition afterthirty years. Some factories have stores in which stand thousands ofbags of cacao drawn from many ports round the equator. There issomething very pleasing about huge stacks of bags of cacao seen againstthe luminous white walls of a well-lighted store. The symmetry of theirconstruction, and the continued repetition of the same form, are neverbetter shown than when the men, climbing up the sides of a stack againstwhich they look small, unbuild the mighty heap, the bags falling on to acontinuous band which carries them jauntily out of the store. 

[Illustration: PART OF A CACAO BEAN WAREHOUSE, SHOWING ENDLESS BANDCONVEYOR. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros'. Works, Bournville). ]

(_b_) _Sorting the Beans. _

As all cacao is liable to contain a little free shell, dried pulp (oftentaken for twigs), threads of sacking and other foreign matter, it isvery carefully sieved and sorted before passing on to the roastingshop. In this process curios are occasionally separated, such as palmkernels, cowrie shells, shea butter nuts, good luck seeds and "crab'seyes. " The essential part of one type of machine (_see illustration_)which accomplishes this sorting is an inclined revolving cylinder ofwire gauze along which the beans pass. The cylinder forms a continuousset of sieves of different sized mesh, one sieve allowing only sand topass, another only very small beans or fragments of beans, and finallyone holding back anything larger than single beans (_e. G. _, "cobs, " thatis, a collection of two or more beans stuck together). 

[Illustration: CACAO BEAN SORTING AND CLEANING MACHINE. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Ltd. , Willesden. ]

Another type of cleaning machine is illustrated by the diagram on theopposite page. 

This machine with its shaking sieves and blast of air makes a greatclatter and fuss. It produces, however, what the manufacturers desire--aclean bean sorted to size. 

[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF CACAO BEAN CLEANING MACHINE. This is a box fitted with shaking sieves down which the cacao beans passin a current of air. Having come over some large and very powerfulmagnets, which take out any nails or fragments of iron, they fall on toa sieve (1/4-inch holes) which the engineer describes as "rapidlyreciprocating and arranged on a slight incline and mounted on springbars. " This allows grit to pass through. The beans then roll down aplane on to a sieve (3/8-inch holes) which separates the broken beans, and finally on to a sieve with oblong holes which allows the beans tofall through whilst retaining the clusters. The beans encounter a strongblast of air which brushes from them any shell or dust clinging tothem. ]

(_c_) _Roasting the Beans. _

As with coffee so with cacao, the characteristic flavour and aroma areonly developed on roasting. Messrs. Bainbridge and Davies (chemists toMessrs. Rowntree) have shown that the aroma of cacao is chiefly due toan amazingly minute quantity (0. 0006 per cent. ) of linalool, acolourless liquid with a powerful fragrant odour, a modification ofwhich occurs in bergamot, coriander and lavender. Everyone notices thearomatic odour which permeates the atmosphere round a chocolatefactory. This odour is a bye-product of the roasting shop; possibly someday an enterprising chemist will prevent its escape or capture it, andsell it in bottles for flavouring confectionery, but for the present itserves only to announce in an appetising way the presence of a cocoa orchocolate works. 

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH GAS HEATED CACAO ROASTER. ]

Roasting is a delicate operation requiring experience and discretion. Even in these days of scientific management it remains as much an art asa science. It is conducted in revolving drums to ensure constantagitation, the drums being heated either over coke fires or by gas. Lessfrequently the heating is effected by a hot blast of air or by havinginside the drum a number of pipes containing super-heated steam. 

[Illustration: ROASTING CACAO BEANS. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros'. Works, Bournville). ]

The diagram and photo show one of the types of roasting machines usedat Bournville. It resembles an ordinary coffee roaster, the beans beingfed in through a hopper and heated by gas in the slowly revolvingcylinder. The beans can be heard lightly tumbling one over the other, and the aroma round the roaster increases in fullness as they get hotterand hotter. The temperature which the beans reach in ordinary roastingis not very high, varying round 135° C. (275° F), and the average periodof roasting is about one hour. The amount of loss of weight on roastingis considerable (some seven or eight per cent. ), and varies with theamount of moisture present in the raw beans. 

There have been attempts to replace the æsthetic judgment of man, as tothe point at which to stop roasting, by scientific machinery. One ratherinteresting machine was so devised that the cacao roasting drum wasfitted with a sort of steelyard, and this, when the loss of weight dueto roasting had reached a certain amount, swung over and rang a bell, indicating dramatically that the roasting was finished. As beans varyamongst other things in the percentage of moisture which they contain, the machine has not replaced the experienced operator. He takes samplesfrom the drum from time to time, and when the aroma has the characterdesired, the beans are rapidly discharged into a trolley with aperforated bottom, which is brought over a cold current of air. Theobject of this refinement is to stop the roasting instantly and preventeven a suspicion of burning. 

After roasting, the shell is brittle and quite free from the cotyledonsor kernel. The kernel has become glossy and friable and chocolate brownin colour, and it crushes readily between the fingers into small angularfragments (the "nibs" of commerce), giving off during the breaking downa rich warm odour of chocolate. 

(_d_) _Removing the Shells. _

It has been stated (see _Fatty Foods_, by Revis and Bolton) that it wasformerly the practice not to remove the shell. This is incorrect, themore usual practice from the earliest times has been to remove theshells, though not so completely as they are removed by the efficientmachinery of to-day. 

[Illustration: CACAO BEAN, SHELL AND GERM. ]

In _A Curious Treatise on the Nature and Quality of Chocolate_, byAntonio Colmenero de Ledesma (1685), we read: "And if you peel thecacao, and take it out of its little shell, the drink thereof will bemore dainty and delicious. " Willoughby, in his _Travels in Spain_, (1664), writes: "They first toast the berries to get off the husk, " andR. Brookes, in the _Natural History of Chocolate_ (1730), says: "TheIndians . .. Roast the kernels in earthen pots, then free them from theirskins, and afterwards crush and grind them between two stones. "

He further definitely recommends that the beans "be roasted enough tohave their skins come off easily, which should be done one by one, laying them apart . .. For these skins being left among the chocolate, will not dissolve in any liquor, nor even in the stomach, and fall tothe bottom of the chocolate-cups as if the kernels had not beencleaned. "

That the "Indian" practice of removing the shells was followed from thecommencement of the industry in England, is shown by the old plate whichwe have reproduced on p. 120 from _Arts and Sciences_. 

The removal of the shell, which in the raw condition is tough andadheres to the kernel, is greatly facilitated by roasting. If we place aroasted bean in the palm of the hand and press it with the thumb, thewhole cracks up into crisp pieces. It is now quite easy to blow away thethin pieces of shell because they offer a greater surface to the air andare lighter than the compact little lumps or "nibs" which are leftbehind. This illustrates the principle of all shelling or huskingmachines. 

(_e_) _Breaking the Bean into Fragments. _

The problem is to break down the bean to just the right size. The piecesmust be sufficiently small to allow the nib and shell readily to partcompany, but it is important to remember that the smaller the pieces ofshell and nib, the less efficient will the winnowing be, and it is usualto break the beans whilst they are still warm to avoid producingparticles of extreme fineness. The breaking down may be accomplished bypassing the beans through a pair of rollers at such a distance apartthat the bean is cracked without being crushed. Or it may be effected inother ways, _e. G. _, by the use of an adjustable serrated cone revolvingin a serrated conical case. In the diagram they are called kibblingcones. 

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH KIBBLING CONES AND GERM SCREENS. ]

(_f_) _Separating the Germs. _

About one per cent. Of the cacao bean fragments consists of "germs. " The"germ" is the radicle of the cacao seed, or that part of the cacao seedwhich on germination forms the root. The germs are small and rod-shaped, and being very hard are generally assumed to be less digestible than thenib. They are separated by being passed through revolving gauze drums, the holes in which are the same size and shape as the germs, so that thegerms pass through whilst the nib is retained. If a freakish carpenterwere to try separating shop-floor sweepings, consisting of a jumble ofchunks of wood (nib), shavings (shell) and nails (germ) by sievingthrough a grid-iron, he would find that not only the nails passedthrough but also some sawdust and fine shavings. So in the above machinethe finer nib and shell pass through with the germ. This germ mixture, known as "smalls" is dealt with in a special machine, whilst the largernib and shell are conveyed to the chief winnowing machine. In thismachine the mixture is first sorted according to size and then the niband shell separated from one another. The mixture is passed down longrevolving cylindrical sieves and encounters a larger and larger mesh asit proceeds, and thus becomes sieved into various sizes. The separationof the shell from the nib is now effected by a powerful current of air, the large nib falling against the current, whilst the shell is carriedwith it and drops into another compartment. It is amusing to stand andwatch the continuous stream of nibs rushing down, like hail in a storm, into the screw conveyor. 

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH WINNOWING MACHINE. ]

This is the process in essence--to follow the various partiallyseparated mixtures of shell and nib through the several furtherseparating machines would be tedious; it is sufficient for the readerto know that after the most elaborate precautions have been taken thenib still contains about one per cent. Of shell, and that the nibobtained is only 78. 5 per cent. Of the weight of raw beans originallytaken. Most of the larger makers of cocoa produce nib containing lessthan two per cent. Of shell, a standard which can only be maintained bycontinuous vigilance. 

[Illustration: CACAO GRINDING. A battery of horizontal grinding mills, by which the cacao nibs areground to paste (Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Bournville. )]

The shell, the only waste material of any importance produced in achocolate factory, goes straight into sacks ready for sale. The purecacao nibs (once an important article of commerce) proceed to theblenders and thence to the grinding mill. 

(_g_) _Blending. _

We have seen that the beans are roasted separately according to theirkind and country so as to develop in each its characteristic flavour. The pure nib is now blended in proportions which are carefully chosen toattain the result desired. 

(_h_) _Grinding the Cacao Nibs to Produce Mass. _

In this process, by the mere act of grinding, the miracle is performedof converting the brittle fragments of the cacao bean into achocolate-coloured fluid. Half of the cacao bean is fat, and thegrinding breaks up the cells and liberates the fat, which at blood heatmelts to an oil. Any of the various machines used in the industries forgrinding might be used, but a special type of mill has been devised forthe purpose. 

In the grinding room of a cocoa factory one becomes almost hypnotised bya hundred of these circular mill-stones that rotate incessantly day andnight. In Messrs. Fry's factory the "giddy motion of the whirling mill"is very much increased by a number of magnificent horizontal drivingwheels, each some 20 feet in diameter, which form, as it were, arevolving ceiling to the room. Your fascinated gaze beholds "two orthree vast circles, that have their revolving satellites like moons, each on its own axis, and each governed by master wheels. Watch them forany length of time and you might find yourself presently going round andround with them until you whirled yourself out of existence, like thegyrating maiden in the fairy tale. "

In this type of grinding machine one mill stone rotates on a fixedstone. The cacao nib falls from a hopper through a hole in the centre ofthe upper stone and, owing to the manner in which grooves are cut in thetwo surfaces in contact, is gradually dragged between the stones. Thegrooves are so cut in the two stones that they point in oppositedirections, and as the one stone revolves on the other, a slicing orshearing action is produced. The friction, due to the slicing andshearing of the nib, keeps the stones hot, and they become sufficientlywarm to melt the fat in the ground nib, so that there oozes from theouter edge of the bottom or fixed stone a more or less viscous liquid orpaste. This finely ground nib is known as "mass. " It is simply liquifiedcacao bean, and solidifies on cooling to a chocolate coloured block. 

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH GRINDING STONES. ]

This "mass" may be used for the production of either cocoa or chocolate. When part of the fat (cacao butter) is _taken away_ the residue may bemade to yield cocoa. When sugar and cacao butter are _added_ it yieldseating chocolate. Thus the two industries are seen to beinter-dependent, the cacao butter which is pressed out of the mass inthe manufacture of cocoa being used up in the production of chocolate. The manufacture of cocoa will first be considered. 

(_i_) _Pressing out the excess of Butter. _

The liquified cacao bean or "mass, " simply mixed with sugar and cooleduntil it becomes a hard cake, has been used by the British Navy for ahundred years or more for the preparation of Jack's cup of cocoa. Itproduces a fine rich drink much appreciated by our hardy seamen, but itis somewhat too fatty to mix evenly with water, and too rich to besuitable for those with delicate digestions. Hence for the ordinarycocoa of commerce it is usual to remove a portion of this fat. 

[Illustration: A CACAO PRESS. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Lake, Orr & Co. , Ltd. ]

If "mass" be put into a cloth and pressed, a golden oil (melted cacaobutter) oozes through the cloth. In practice this extraction of thebutter is done in various types of presses. In one of the mostfrequently used types, the mass is poured into circular steel pots, thetop and bottom of which are loose perforated plates lined with feltpads. A number of such pots are placed one above another, and thenrammed together by a powerful hydraulic ram. They look like the parts ofa slowly collapsing telescope. The "mass" is only gently pressed atfirst, but as the butter flows away and the material in the pot becomesstiffer, it is subjected to a gradually increasing pressure. The ram, being under pressure supplied by pumps, pushes up with enormous force. The steel pots have to be sufficiently strong to bear a great strain, asthe ram often exerts a pressure of 6, 000 pounds per square inch. Whenthe required amount of butter has been pressed out, the pot is found tocontain not a paste, but a hard dry cake of compressed cocoa. Theliquified cacao bean put into the pots contains 54 to 55 per cent. Ofbutter, whilst the cocoa press-cake taken out usually contains only 25to 30 per cent. The expressed butter flows away and is filtered andsolidified (see page 158). All that it is necessary to do to obtaincocoa from the press cake is to powder it. 

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH CACAO PRESS-POT AND RAM-PLATE. ]

(_j_) _Breaking Down the Press Cake to Cocoa Powder. _

The slabs of press-cake are so hard and tough that if one were banged ona man's head it would probably stun him. They are broken down in acrushing mill, the inside of which is as full of terrible teeth as agiant's mouth, until the fragments are small enough to grind on steelrollers. 

(_k_) _Sieving. _

As fineness is a very important quality of cocoa, the powder so obtainedis very carefully sieved. This is effected by shaking the powder into aninclined rotating drum which is covered with silk gauze. In the cocoawhich passes through this fine silk sieve, the average length of theindividual particles is about 0. 001 inch, whilst in first-classproductions the size of the larger particles in the cocoa does notaverage more than 0. 002 inch. Indeed, the cocoa powder is so fine thatin spite of all precautions a certain amount always floats about in theair of sieving rooms, and covers everything with a brown film. 

(_l_) _Packing. _

The cocoa powder is taken to the packing rooms. Here the tediousweighing by hand has been replaced by ingenious machines, which deliverwith remarkable accuracy a definite weight of cocoa into the paper bagwhich lines the tin. The tins are then labelled and packed in casesready for the grocer. 

CHAPTER VI

THE MANUFACTURE OF CHOCOLATE

 Since the great improvements of the steam engine, it is astonishing to what a variety of manufactures this useful machine has been applied: yet it does not a little excite our surprise that one is used for the trifling object of grinding chocolate. 

 It is, however, a fact, or at least, we are credibly informed, that Mr. Fry, of Bristol, has in his new manufactory one of these engines for the sole purpose of manufacturing chocolate and cocoa. 

 _Berrow's Worcester Journal, _ June 7th, 1798. 

What I am about to write under this heading will only be of a generalcharacter. Those who require a more detailed exposition are referred tothe standard works given at the end of the chapter. In these, full andaccurate information will be found. The information published in modernEncyclopædias, etc. , concerning the manufacture of chocolate is notalways as reliable as one might expect. Thus it states in Jack'sexcellent _Reference Book_ (1914) that "Chocolate is made by theaddition of water and sugar. " The use of water in the manufacture ofchocolate is contrary to all usual practice, so much so that greatinterest was aroused in the trade some years ago by the statement thatwater was being used by a firm in Germany. 

SPECIMEN OUTLINE RECIPE. 

Ingredients required for _plain eating-chocolate_. 

Cacao nib or mass 33 parts. Cacao butter 13 "Sugar 53-3/4 "Flavouring 1/4 " ------------- 100 parts

Since eating-chocolate is produced by mixing sugar and cacao nib, withor without flavouring materials, and reducing to a fine homogeneousmass, the principles underlying its manufacture are obviously simple, yet when we come to consider the production of a modern high-classchocolate we find the processes involved are somewhat elaborate. 

(_a_) _Preparing the Nib or "Mass. "_

The nib is obtained in exactly the same way as in the manufacture ofcocoa, the beans being cleaned, roasted and shelled. The roasting, however, is generally somewhat lighter for chocolate than for cocoa. Thenibs produced may be used as they are, or they may be first ground to"mass" by means of mill-stones as described above. 

(_b_) _Mixing in the Sugar. _

Some makers use clear crystalline granulated sugar, others disintegrateloaf sugar to a beautiful snow-white flour. The nib, coarse or finelyground, is mixed with the sugar in a kind of edge-runner orgrinding-mixer, called a _mélangeur_. As is seen in the photo, the_mélangeur_ consists of two heavy mill-stones which are supported on agranite floor. This floor revolves and causes the stationary mill-stonesto rotate on their axes, so that although they run rapidly, like a manon a "joy wheel, " they make no headway. The material is prevented fromaccumulating at the sides by curved scrapers, which gracefully deflectthe stream of material to the part of the revolving floor which runsunder the mill-stones. Thus the sugar and nib are mixed and crushed. Asthe mixture usually becomes like dough in consistency, it can be neatlyremoved from the _mélangeur_ with a shovel. The operator rests a shovellightly on the revolving floor, and the material mounts into a heap uponit. 

[Illustration: CHOCOLATE MELANGEUR. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Lake. Orr & Coy. Ltd. ]

[Illustration: PLAN OF CHOCOLATE MELANGEUR. ]

[Illustration: CHOCOLATE REFINING MACHINE. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Willesden. ]

(_c_) _Grinding the Mixture. _

The mixture is now passed through a mill, which has been described aslooking like a multiple mangle. The object of this is to break down thesugar and cacao to smaller particles. The rolls may be made either ofgranite (more strictly speaking, of quartz diorite) or of polishedchilled cast iron. Chilled cast iron rolls have the advantage that theycan be kept cool by having water flowing through them. A skilledoperator is required to set the rolls in order that they may give alarge and satisfactory output. The cylinders in contact run at differentspeeds, and, as will be seen in the diagram, the chocolate always clingsto the roll which is revolving with the greater velocity, and isdelivered from the rolls either as a curtain of chocolate or as a sprayof chocolate powder. It is very striking to see the softchocolate-coloured dough become, after merely passing between the rolls, a dry powder--the explanation is that the sugar having been more finelycrushed now requires a greater quantity of cacao butter to lubricate itbefore the mixture can again become plastic. The chocolate in itsvarious stages of manufacture, should be kept warm or it will solidifyand much time and heat (and possibly temper) will be absorbed inremelting it; for this and other reasons most chocolate factories have anumber of hot rooms, in which the chocolate is stored whilst waiting topass on to the next operation. The dry powder coming from the rolls iseither taken to a hot room, or at once mixed in a warm _mélangeur_, where curiously enough the whole becomes once again of the consistencyof dough. The grinding between the rolls and the mixing in the_mélangeur_ are repeated any number of times until the chocolate is ofthe desired fineness. Whilst there are a few people who like the clean, hard feel of sugar crystals between the teeth, the present-day taste isall for very smooth and highly refined chocolate; hence the grindingoperation is one of the most important in the factory, and is checked atthe works at Bournville by measuring with a microscope the size of theparticles. The cost of fine grinding is considerable, for whilst thefirst breaking down of the cacao nibs and sugar crystals iscomparatively easy, it is found that as the particles of chocolate getfiner the cost of further reduction increases by leaps and bounds. Thechocolate may now proceed direct to the moulding rooms or it may firstbe conched. 

[Illustration: GRINDING CACAO NIB AND SUGAR. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Bournville). ]

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH CHOCOLATE GRINDING ROLLS. ]

(_d_) _Conching. _

We now come to an extraordinary process which is said to have beenoriginally introduced to satisfy a fastidious taste that demanded achocolate which readily melted in the mouth and yet had not the cloyingeffect which is produced by excess of cacao butter. In this process thechocolate is put in a vessel shaped something like a shell (hence calleda _conche_), and a heavy roller is pushed to and fro in the chocolate. Although the conche is considered to have revolutionized the chocolateindustry, it will remain to the uninitiated a curious sight to see aroom full of machines engaged in pummelling chocolate day and night. There is no general agreement as to exactly how the conche produces itseffects--from the scientific point of view the changes are complex andelusive, and too technical to explain here--but it is well known that ifthis process is continued for periods varying according to the resultdesired from a few hours to a week, characteristic changes occur whichmake the chocolate a more mellow and finished confection, having more orless the velvet feel of _chocolat fondant_. 

(_e_) _Flavouring. _

Art is shown not only in the choice of the cacao beans but also in theselection of spices and essences, for, whilst the fundamental flavour ofa chocolate is determined by the blend of beans and the method ofmanufacture, the piquancy and special character are often obtained bythe addition of minute quantities of flavourings. The point in themanufacture at which the flavour is added is as late as possible so asto avoid the possible loss of aroma in handling. The flavours usedinclude cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, lemon, mace, andlast but most popular of all, the vanilla pod or vanillin. Some makersuse the choice spices themselves, others prefer their essential oils. Many other nutty, fragrant and aromatic substances have been used; ofthese we may mention almonds, coffee, musk, ambergris, gum benzoin andbalsam of Peru. The English like delicately flavoured confections, whilst the Spanish follow the old custom of heavily spicing thechocolate. In ancient recipes we read of the use of white and redpeppers, and the addition of hot spices was defended and evenrecommended on purely philosophical grounds. It was given, in thestrange jargon of the Peripatetics, as a dictum that chocolate is bynature cold and dry and therefore ought to be mixed with things whichare hot. 

[Illustration: "CONCHE" MACHINES. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Willesden. ]

[Illustration: SECTION THROUGH "CONCHE" MACHINE. ]

[Illustration: MACHINES FOR MIXING OR "CONCHING" CHOCOLATE. ]

(_f_) _Moulding. _

Small quantities of cacao butter will have been added to the chocolateat various stages, and hence the finished product is quite plastic. Itis now brought from the hot room (or the _mélangeur_ or the conche) tothe moulding rooms. Before moulding, the chocolate is passed through amachine, known as a compressor, which removes air-bubbles. This is anecessary process, as people would not care to purchase chocolate fullof holes. As in the previous operations, every effort has been made toproduce a chocolate of smooth texture and fine flavour, so in themoulding rooms skill is exercised in converting the plastic mass intohard bars and cakes, which snap when broken and which have a pleasantappearance. Well-moulded chocolate has a good gloss, a rich colour and acorrect shape. 

[Illustration: CHOCOLATE SHAKING TABLE. ]

The most important factor in obtaining a good appearance is thetemperature, and chocolate is frequently passed through a machine(called a tempering machine) merely to give it the desired temperature. A suitable temperature for moulding, according to Zipperer, varies from28° C. On a hot summer's day to 32° C. On a winter's day. As the meltingpoint of cacao butter is about 32° C, it will be realized that thebutter is super-cooled and is ready to crystallize on the slightestprovocation. Each mould has to contain the same quantity of chocolate. Weighing by hand has been abandoned in favour of a machine whichautomatically deposits a definite weight, such as a quarter or half apound, of the chocolate paste on each mould. The chocolate stands uplike a lump of dough and has to be persuaded to lie down and fill themould. This can be most effectively accomplished by banging the mould upand down on a table. In the factory the method used is to place themoulds on rocking tables which rise gradually and fall with a bump. Thediagram will make clear how these vibrating tables are worked by meansof ratchet wheels. Rocking tables are made which are silent in action, but the moulds jerkily dancing about on the table make a very livelyclatter, such a noise as might be produced by a regiment of mad cavalrycrossing a courtyard. During the shaking-up the chocolate fills everycrevice of the mould, and any bubbles, which if left in would spoil theappearance of the chocolate, rise to the top. The chocolate then passeson to an endless band which conducts the mould through a chamber inwhich cold air is moving. As the chocolate cools, it solidifies andcontracts so that it comes out of the mould clean and bright. In thisway are produced the familiar sticks and cakes of chocolate. A similarmethod is used in producing "Croquettes" and the small tablets known as"Neapolitans. " Other forms require more elaborate moulds; thus thechocolate eggs, which fill the confectioners' windows just beforeEaster, are generally hollow, unless they are very small, and are madein two halves by pressing chocolate in egg-shaped moulds and thenuniting the two halves. Chocolate cremes, caramels, almonds and, infact, fancy "chocolates" generally, are produced in quite a differentmanner. For these _chocolats de fantaisie_ a rather liquid chocolate isrequired known as covering chocolate. 

SPECIMEN OUTLINE RECIPE. 

Ingredients required for _chocolate for covering cremes_, etc. :

Cacao nib or mass 30 partsCacao butter 20 "Sugar 49-3/4 "Flavouring 1/4 " ------------- 100 parts

It is prepared in exactly the same way as ordinary eating chocolate, save that more butter is added to make it flow readily, so that in themelted condition it has about the same consistency as cream. Theoperations so far described are conducted by men, but the covering ofcremes and the packing of the finished chocolates into boxes areperformed by girls. Covering is light work requiring a delicate touch, and if, as is usual, it is done in bright airy rooms, is a pleasantoccupation. 

[Illustration: GIRLS COVERING, OR DIPPING, CREMES, ETC. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Bournville. )]

The girl sits with a small bowl of warm liquid chocolate in front ofher, and on one side the "centres" (cremes, caramels, ginger, nuts, etc. ) ready for covering with chocolate. The chocolate must be at justthe right temperature, which is 88 °F. , or 31° C. She takes one of the"centres, " say a vanilla creme, on her fork and dips it beneath thechocolate. When she draws it out, the white creme is completely coveredin brown chocolate and, without touching it with her finger, she deftlyplaces it on a piece of smooth paper. A little twirl of the fork ordrawing a prong across the chocolate will give the characteristicmarking on the top of the chocolate creme. The chocolate rapidly sets toa crisp film enveloping the soft creme. There are in use in manychocolate factories some very ingenious covering machines, invented in1903, which, as they clothe cremes in a robe of chocolate, are known as"enrobers"; it is doubtful, however, if the chocolates so produced haveeven quite so good an appearance as when the covering is done by hand. 

[Illustration: THE ENROBER. A machine for covering cremes, etc. , with chocolate. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Savy Jeanjean & Co. , Paris. ]

It would be agreeable at this point to describe the making of cremes(which, by the way, contrary to the opinion of most writers, contain nocream or butter), and other products of the confectioner's art, but itwould take us beyond the scope of the present book. We will only remindour readers of the great variety of comestibles and confections whichare covered in chocolate--pistachio nut, roasted almonds, pralines, biscuits, walnuts, nougat, montelimar, fruits, fruit cremes, jellies, Turkish delight, marshmallows, caramels, pine-apple, noisette, and otherdelicacies. 

[Illustration: A CONFECTIONERY ROOM AT MESSRS. CADBURY'S WORKS ATBOURNVILLE. Cutting almond paste by hand moulds. ]

_Milk Chocolate. _

We owe the introduction of this excellent food and confection to theresearches of M. D. Peter of Vevey, in Switzerland, who produced milkchocolate as early as 1876. Many of our older readers will remembertheir delight when in the eighteen nineties they first tasted Peter'smilk chocolate. Later the then little firm of Cailler, realising theimportance of having the factory on the very spot where rich milk wasproduced in abundance, established a works near Gruyères. This grewrapidly and soon became the largest factory in Switzerland. The soundprinciple of having your factory in the heart of a milk producing areawas adopted by Cadbury's, who built milk condensing factories at theancient village of Frampton-on-Severn, in Gloucestershire, and atKnighton, near Newport, Salop. Before the war these two factoriestogether condensed from two to three million gallons of milk a year. Whilst the amount of milk used in England for making milk chocolateappears very great when expressed in gallons, it is seen to be verysmall (being only about one-half of one per cent. ) when expressed as afraction of the total milk production. Milk chocolate is not made frommilk produced in the winter, when milk is scarce, but from milk producedin the spring and summer when there is milk in excess of the usualhousehold requirements, and when it is rich and creamy. The importanceof not interfering with the normal milk supply to local customers isappreciated by the chocolate makers, who take steps to prevent this. Itwill interest public analysts and others to know that Cadbury's have hadno difficulty in making it a stipulation in their contracts with thevendors that the milk supplied to them shall contain at least 3. 5 percent. Of butter fat, a 17 per cent. Increase on the minimum fixed bythe Government. 

[Illustration: FACTORY AT FRAMPTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AT WHICH MILK ISEVAPORATED FOR MILK CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURE. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Ltd. ). ]

SPECIMEN OUTLINE RECIPE. 

Ingredients required for _milk chocolate_:

Cacao nib or mass (from 10 to 20 per cent. ), say 10Cacao Butter 20Sugar 44-3/4Milk solids (from 15 to 25 per cent. ), say 25=(200 parts of milk. )Flavouring 1/4 -------- 100

Milk chocolate consists of an intimate mixture of cacao nib, sugar andmilk, condensed by evaporation. The manner in which the milk is mixedwith the cacao nib is a matter of taste, and the art of combining milkwith chocolate, so as to retain the full flavour of each, has engagedthe attention of many experts. At present there is no general method ofmanufacture--each maker has his own secret processes, which generallyinclude the use of grinding mills, _mélangeurs_, conches, mouldingmachines, etc. , as with plain chocolate. We cannot do better than referthose who wish to know more of this, or other branch of the chocolateindustry, to the following English, French and German standard works onChocolate Manufacture:

 _Cocoa and Chocolate, Their Chemistry and Manufacture_, by R. Whymper (Churchill). 

 _Fabrication du Chocolat_, by Fritsch (Scientifique et Industrielle). 

 _The Manufacture of Chocolate_, by Dr. Paul Zipperer (Spon). 

CHAPTER VII

BY-PRODUCTS OF THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY

Of Cacao Butter. --

 It is the best and most natural _Pomatum_ for Ladies to _clear_ and _plump_ the Skin when it is _dry, rough_, or _shrivel'd_, without making it appear either _fat_ or _shining_. The _Spanish Women_ at _Mexico_ use it very much, and it is highly esteem'd by them. 

 _The Natural History of Chocolate_, R. Brookes, 1730. 

Of Cacao Shell. --

 In Russia and Belgium many families take Caravello at breakfast. This is nothing but cocoa husk, washed and then boiled in milk. 

 _Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacture_, A. Jacoutot. 

_Cacao Butter. _

In that very able compilation, _Allen's Organic Analysis_, Mr. LeonardArchbutt states (Vol. II, p. 176) that cacao butter "is obtained inlarge quantities as a by-product in the manufacture of chocolate. " Thisis repeated in the excellent book on _Oils_, by C. A. Mitchell (CommonCommodities of Commerce series). These statements are, of course, incorrect. We have seen that cacao butter is obtained as a by-product inthe manufacture of cocoa, and is _consumed_ in large quantities in themanufacture of chocolate. When, during the war, the use of sugar forchocolate-making was restricted and little chocolate was produced, thecacao butter formerly used in this industry was freed for otherpurposes. Thus there was plenty of cacao butter available at a time whenother fats were scarce. Cacao butter has a pleasant, bland tasteresembling cocoa. The cocoa flavour is very persistent, as manyexperimenters found to their regret in their efforts to produce atasteless cacao butter which could be used as margarine or for generalpurposes in cooking. The scarcity of edible fats during the war forcedthe confectioners to try cacao butter, which in normal times is tooexpensive for them to use, and as a result a very large amount wasemployed in making biscuits and confectionery. 

Cacao butter runs hot from the presses as an amber-coloured oil, andafter nitration, sets to a pale golden yellow wax-like fat. The butter, which the pharmacist sells, is sometimes white and odourless, havingbeen bleached and deodorized. The butter as produced is always paleyellow in colour, with a semi-crystalline or granular fracture and anagreeable taste and odour resembling cocoa or chocolate. 

Cacao butter has such remarkable keeping properties (which would appearto depend on the aromatic substances which it contains), that a myth hasarisen that it will keep for ever. The fable finds many believers evenin scientific circles; thus W. H. Johnson, in the _Imperial InstituteHandbook_ on _Cocoa_, states that: "When pure, it has the peculiarproperty of not becoming rancid, however long it may be kept. " Whilstthis overstates the case, we find that under suitable conditions cacaobutter will remain fresh and good for several years. Cacao butter hasrather a low melting point (90° F. ), so that whilst it is a hard, almostbrittle, solid at ordinary temperatures, it melts readily when incontact with the human body (blood heat 98° F). This property, togetherwith its remarkable stability, makes it useful for ointments, pomades, suppositories, pessaries and other pharmaceutical preparations; it alsoexplains why actors have found it convenient for the removal of greasepaint. The recognition of the value of cacao butter for cosmeticpurposes dates from very early days; thus in Colmenero de Ledesma's_Curious Treatise on the Nature and Quality of Chocolate_ (printed atthe Green Dragon, 1685), we read: "That they draw from the cacao a greatquantity of butter, which they use to make their faces shine, which Ihave seen practised in the Indies by the Spanish women born there. "This, evidently, was one way of shining in society. 

Cacao butter has been put to many other uses, thus it has been employedin the preparation of perfumes, but the great bulk of the cacao butterproduced is used up by the chocolate maker. For making chocolate it isideal, and the demand for it for this purpose is so great thatsubstitutes have been found and offered for sale. Until recently thesefats, coconut stearine and others, could be ignored by the reputablechocolate makers as the confection produced by their use was inferior totrue chocolate both in taste and in keeping properties. In recent timesthe oils and fats of tropical nuts and fruits have been thoroughlyinvestigated in the eager search for new fats, and new substitutes, suchas illipé butter, have been introduced, the properties of which closelyresemble those of cacao butter. 

For the information of chemists we may state that the analytical figuresfor genuine cacao butter, as obtained in the cocoa factory, are asfollow:

ANALYTICAL FIGURES FOR CACAO BUTTER. 

Specific Gravity (at 99° C. To water at 15. 5° C. ) . 858 to . 865Melting Point 32°C. To 34°C. Titer (fatty acids) 49°C. To 50°C. Iodine Absorbed 34% to 38%Refraction (Butyro-Refractometer) at 40°C. 45. 6° to 46. 5°Saponification Value 192 to 198Valenta 94°C. To 96°C. Reichert Meissel Value 1. 0Polenske Value 0. 5Kirschner " 0. 5Shrewsbury and Knapp Value 14 to 15Unsaponifiable matter 0. 3% to 0. 8%Mineral matter 0. 02% to 0. 05%Acidity (as oleic acid) 0. 6% to 2. 0%

Although the trade in cacao butter is considerable, there were, beforethe war, only two countries that could really be considered as exportersof cacao butter; in other words, there were only two countries, namely, Holland and Germany, pressing out more cacao butter in the production ofcocoa than they absorbed in making chocolate:

EXPORT OF CACAO BUTTER. 

 Tons (of 1000 kilogrammes) 1911 1912 1913Holland 4, 657 5, 472 7, 160Germany 3, 611 3, 581 1, 960 ----- ----- ----- 8, 268 9, 053 9, 120 ----- ----- -----

During the war America appeared for the first time in her history as anexporter of cacao butter. Hitherto she was one of the principalimporters, as will be seen in the following table:

IMPORTS OF CACAO BUTTER. 

 Tons (of 1000 kilogrammes) 1912 1913United States 1, 842 1, 634Switzerland 1, 821 1, 634Belgium 1, 127 1, 197Austria-Hungary 1, 062 1, 190Russia 955 1, 197England 495 934

The next table shows the imports (expressed in English tons) into theUnited Kingdom in more recent years:

IMPORTS OF CACAO BUTTER. 

Year 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917Tons 477 912 1512 599 962 675

The wholesale price of cacao butter has varied in the last six yearsfrom 1/3 per pound to 2/11 per pound, and was fixed in 1918 by the FoodController at 1/6 per pound (retail price 2/- per pound). The controlwas removed in 1919, and immediately the wholesale price rose to 2/8 perpound. 

_Cacao Shell. _

Although I have described cacao butter as a by-product, the only trueby-product of the combined cocoa and chocolate industry is cacao shell. I explained in the previous chapter how it is separated from the roastedbean. As they come from the husking or winnowing machine, the largerfragments of shell resemble the shell of monkey-nuts (ground nuts or peanuts), except that the cacao shells are thinner, more brittle and of aricher brown colour. The shell has a pleasant odour in which a littletrue cocoa aroma can be detected. The small pieces of shell look likebran, and, if the shell be powdered, the product is wonderfully likecocoa in appearance, though not in taste or smell. As the raw cacao beancontains on the average about twelve and a half per cent. Of shell, itis evident that the world production must be considerable (about 36, 000tons a year), and since it is not legitimately employed in cocoa, thebrains of inventors have been busy trying to find a use for it. In someindustries the by-product has proved on investigation to be of greatervalue than the principal product--a good instance of this is glycerineas a by-product in soap manufacture--but no use for the husk or shell ofcacao, which gives it any considerable commercial value, has yet beendiscovered. There are signs, however, that its possible uses are beingconsidered and appreciated. 

For years small quantities of cacao shell, under the name of"miserables, " have been used in Ireland and other countries forproducing a dilute infusion for drinking. Although this "cocoa tea" isnot unpleasant, and has mild stimulating properties, it has never beenpopular, and even during the war, when it was widely advertised and soldin England under fancy names at fancy prices, it never had a large orenthusiastic body of consumers. 

In normal times the cocoa manufacturer has no difficulty in disposing ofhis shell to cattle-food makers and others, but during 1915 when thetrain service was so defective, and transport by any other means almostimpossible, the manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate were unable to getthe shell away from their factories, and had large accumulations of itfilling up valuable store space. In these circumstances they attemptedto find a use near at hand. It was tried with moderate success as a fueland a considerable quantity was burned in a special type of gas-producerintended for wood. 

Cacao shell has a high nitrogenous content, and if burned yields about67 lbs. Of potassium carbonate per ton. In the Annual Report of theExperimental Farms in Canada, (1898, p. 151 and 1899, p. 851, ) accountsare given of the use of cacao shell as a manure. The results given areencouraging, and experiments were made at Bournville. At first thesewere only moderately successful, because the shell is extremely stableand decomposes in the ground very slowly indeed. Then the head gardenertried hastening the decomposition by placing the shell in a heap, soaking with water and turning several times before use. In this way theshell was converted into a decomposing mass before being applied to theground, and gave excellent results both as a manure and as a lightenerof heavy soils. 

On the Continent the small amount of cacao butter which the shellcontains is extracted from it by volatile solvents. The "shell butter"so obtained is very inferior to ordinary cacao butter, and as usuallyput on the market, has an unpleasant taste, and an odour which remindsone faintly of an old tobacco-pipe. In this unrefined condition it isobviously unsuitable for edible purposes. 

Shell contains about one per cent. Of _theobromine_ (dimethylxanthine). This is a very valuable chemical substance (see remarks in chapter onFood Value of Cocoa and Chocolate), and the extraction of theobrominefrom shell is already practised on a large scale, and promises to be aprofitable industry. Ordinary commercial samples of shell contain from1. 2 to 1. 4 per cent. Of theobromine. Those interested should study thevery ingenious process of Messrs. Grousseau and Vicongne (Patent No. 120, 178). Many other uses of cacao shell have been made and suggested;thus it has been used for the production of a good coffee substitute, and also, during the shortage of sawdust, as a packing material, but itsmost important use at the present time is as cattle food, and its mostimportant abuse as an adulterant of cocoa. 

The value of cacao shell as cattle food has been known for a long time, and is indicated in the following analysis by Smetham (in the Journal ofthe Lancashire Agricultural Society, 1914). 

ANALYSIS OF CACAO SHELL. 

Water 9. 30Fat 3. 83Mineral Matter 8. 20Albuminoids 18. 81Fibre 13. 85Digestible Carbohydrates 46. 01 ------ 100. 00 ------

From these figures Smetham calculates the food units as 102, so that itis evident that cacao shell occupies a good position when compared withother fodders:

FOOD UNITS. 

Linseed cake 133Oatmeal 117Bran 109English wheat 106_Cacao shells_ 102Maize (new crop) 99Meadow hay 68Rice husks 43Wheat straw 41Mangels 12

These analytical results have been supported by practical feedingexperiments in America and Germany (see full account in Zipperer's book, _The Manufacture of Chocolate_). Prof. Faelli, in Turin, obtained, bygiving cacao shell to cows, an increase in both the quantity and qualityof the milk. More recent experience seems to indicate that it is unwiseto put a very high percentage of cacao shell in a cattle food; in smallquantities in compound feeding cakes, etc. , as an appetiser it has beenused for years with good results. (Further particulars will be found in_Cacao Shells as Fodder_, by A. W. Knapp, _Tropical Life_, 1916, p. 154, and in _The Separation and Uses of Cacao Shell_, Society of ChemicalIndustry's Journal, 1918, 240). The price of shell has shown greatvariation. The following figures are for the grade of shell which isalmost entirely free from cocoa:

CACAO SHELL. 

AVERAGE PRICE PER TON. 

Year 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919Price 65/- 70/- 70/- 70/- 90/- 128/- 284/- 161/-

PRICE PER FOOD UNIT. 

 _July_, 1915. _Jan. _, 1919. _s. _ _d. _ _s. _ _d. _English Oats 3 1-1/2 3 8Cotton Seed Cake 2 5 3 11Linseed Cake 1 7 3 5Brewers Grains (dried) 1 6-1/2 3 8-1/2Decorticated Cotton Cake 1 6 3 3-1/2Cacao Shell 8-1/4 1 4-1/2

The above table speaks for itself; the figures are from the Journal ofthe Board of Agriculture; I have added cacao shell for comparison. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE

 Before the Spaniards made themselves Masters of Mexico, no other drink was esteem'd but that of cocoa; none caring for wine, notwithstanding the soil produces vines everywhere in great abundance of itself. 

 John Ogilvy's _America_, 1671. 

The early writers on chocolate generally became lyrical when they wroteof its value as a food. Thus in the _Natural History of Chocolate_, byR. Brookes (1730), we read that an ounce of chocolate contains as muchnourishment as a pound of beef, that a woman and a child, and even acouncillor, lived on chocolate alone for a long period, and further:"Before chocolate was known in Europe, good old wine was called the milkof old men; but this title is now applied with greater reason tochocolate, since its use has become so common, that it has beenperceived that chocolate is, with respect to them, what milk is toinfants. "

A more temperate tone is shown in the following, from _A CuriousTreatise of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate_, by Antonio Colmenerode Ledesma, a Spaniard, Physician and Chyrurgion of the city of Ecija, in Andaluzia (printed at the Green Dragon, 1685):

 So great is the number of those persons, who at present do drink of Chocolate, that not only in the West Indies, whence this drink has its original and beginning, but also in Spain, Italy, Flanders, &c. , it is very much used, and especially in the Court of the King of Spain; where the great ladies drink it in a morning before they rise out of their beds, and lately much used in England, as Diet and Phisick with the Gentry. Yet there are several persons that stand in doubt both of the hurt and of the benefit, which proceeds from the use thereof; some saying, that it obstructs and causes opilations, others and those the most part, that it fattens, several assure us that it fortifies the stomach: some again that it heats and inflames the body. But very many steadfastly affirm, that tho' they shou'd drink it at all hours, and that even in the Dog-days, they find themselves very well after it. 

So much for the old valuations; let us now attempt by modern methods toestimate the food value of cacao and its preparations. 

_Food Value of Cacao Beans. _

In estimating the worth of a food, it is usual to compare the fuelvalues. This peculiar method is adopted because the most importantrequirement in nutrition is that of giving energy for the work of thebody, and a food may be thought of as being burnt up (oxidised) in thehuman machine in the production of heat and energy. The various foodconstituents serve in varying degrees as fuel to produce energy, andhence to judge of the food value it is necessary to know the chemicalcomposition. Below we give the average composition of cacao beans andthe fuel value calculated from these figures:

AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND FUEL VALUE OF FRESHLY ROASTED CACAO BEANS(NIBS). 

 _Composition. _ _Energy-giving power_ _Calories per lb. _

Cacao Butter 54. 0 = 2, 282Protein (total nitrogen 2. 3%) 11. 9 = 221Cacao Starch 6. 7 } = 472Other Digestible Carbohydrates, etc. 18. 7 }Stimulants { Theobromine 1. 0 { Caffein 0. 4Mineral Matter 3. 2Crude Fibre 2. 6Moisture 1. 5 ------ ----- 100. 0 2, 975 ------ -----

[Illustration: COCOA AND CHOCOLATE DESPATCH DECK AT BOURNVILLE. ]

It will be seen from the above analysis that the cacao bean is rich infats, carbohydrates and protein, and that it contains small quantitiesof the two stimulants, theobromine and caffein. In the whole range ofanimal and vegetable foodstuffs there are only one or two which exceedit in energy-giving power. If expressed in quite another way, namely, as"food units, " the value of the cacao bean stands equally high, as isshown by the following figures taken from Smetham's result published inthe Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1914:

"FOOD UNITS. "

Turnips 8Carrots 12Potatoes 26Rice 102Corn Flour 104Wheat 106Peas 113Oatmeal 117Coconut 159Cacao Bean 183

These figures indicate the high food value of the raw material; we willnow proceed to consider the various products which are obtained fromit. 

_Food Value of Cocoa. _

AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND FUEL VALUE OF UNTREATED COCOA. 

 _Composition. _ _Energy-giving power_ _Calories per lb. _

Cacao Butter 28. 0 = 1, 183Protein 18. 3 = 340Cacao Starch 10. 2 } = 718Other Digestible Carbohydrates, etc. 28. 4 }Stimulants {Theobromine 1. 5 {Caffein 0. 6Mineral Matter 5. 0Crude Fibre 4. 0Moisture 4. 0 ----- ----- 100. 0 2, 241 ----- -----

("Soluble" Cocoa, _i. E. _, cocoa which has been treated with alkalinesalts, is almost identical in composition, save that the mineral matteris about 7. 5 per cent. ). 

As cocoa consists of the cacao bean with some of the butter extracted--aprocess which increases the percentage of the nitrogenous andcarbohydrate constituents--it will be evident that the food value ofcocoa powder is high, and that it is a concentrated foodstuff. In thisrespect it differs from tea and coffee, which have practically no foodvalue; each of them, however, have special qualities of their own. Someof the claims made for these beverages are a little remarkable. TheEmbassy of the United Provinces in their address to the Emperor of China(Leyden, 1655), in mentioning the good properties of tea, wrote: "Moreespecially it disintoxicates those that are fuddl'd, giving them newforces, and enabling them to go to it again. " The Embassy do not statewhether they speak from personal experience, but their admiration fortea is undoubted. Tea, coffee, and cocoa are amongst our blessings, eachhas its devotees, each has its peculiar delight: tea makes forcheerfulness, coffee makes for wit and wakefulness, and cocoa relievesthe fatigued, and gives a comfortable feeling of satisfaction andstability. Of these three drinks cocoa alone can be considered as afood, and just as there are people whose digestion is deranged by tea, and some who sleep not a wink after drinking coffee, so there are somewho find cocoa too feeding, especially in the summer-time. Thesesufferers from biliousness will think it curious that cocoa ishabitually drunk in many hot climates, thus, in Spanish-speakingcountries, it is the custom for the priest, after saying mass, to take acup of chocolate. The pure cocoa powder is, as we saw above, a very richfoodstuff, but it must always be remembered that in a pint of cocoa onlya small quantity, about half an ounce, is usually taken. In thisconnection the following comparison between tea, coffee and cocoa is notwithout interest. It is taken from the _Farmer's Bulletin_ 249, anofficial publication of the United States Department of Agriculture:

COMPARISON OF ENERGY-GIVING POWER OF A PINT OF TEA, COFFEE AND COCOA. 

 Fuel value Kind of Beverage Water Protein Fat Carbohydrates per lb. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- % % % % Calories_Tea_ (0. 5 oz. To 1 pt. Water) 99. 5 0. 2 0 0. 6 15_Coffee_ (1 oz. To 1 pt. Water) 98. 9 0. 2 0 0. 7 16_Cocoa_ (0. 5 oz. To 1 pt. Water) 97. 1 0. 6 0. 9 1. 1 65

These figures place cocoa, as a food, head and shoulders above tea andcoffee. The figures are for the beverages made without the addition ofmilk and sugar, both of which are almost invariably present. A pint ofcocoa made with one-third milk, half an ounce of cocoa, and one ounce ofsugar would have a fuel value of 320 calories, and is thereforeequivalent in energy-giving power to a quarter of a pound of beef orfour eggs. 

Cocoa is stimulating, but its action is not so marked as that of tea orcoffee, and hence it is more suitable for young children. Dr. Hutchison, an authority on dietetics, writes: "Tea and coffee are also harmful tothe susceptible nervous system of the child, but cocoa, made with plentyof milk, may be allowed, though it should be regarded, like milk, as afood rather than a beverage properly so called. "

_How to Make a Cup of Cocoa. _

Tea, coffee and cocoa are all so easy to make that it is remarkableanyone should fail to prepare them perfectly. Whilst in France everyonecan prepare coffee to perfection, and many fail in making a cup of tea, in England all are adepts in the art of tea-making, and many do notdistinguish themselves in the preparation of coffee. Cocoa in eithercountry is not always the delightful beverage it should be. Thedirections below, if carefully followed, will be found to give thecharacter of cocoa its full expression. The principal conditions toobserve are to avoid iron saucepans, to use boiling water or milk, tofroth the cocoa before serving, and to serve steaming hot in thick cups. 

[Illustration]

The amount of cocoa required for two large breakfast cups, that is onepint, is as much as will go, when piled up, in a dessert spoon. Takethen a heaped dessert-spoonful of pure cocoa and mix dry with one and ahalf times its bulk of fine sugar. Set this on one side whilst theboiling liquid is prepared. Mix one breakfast cup of water with onebreakfast cup of milk, and raise to the boil in an enamelled saucepan. Whilst this is proceeding, warm the jug which is to hold the cocoa, andtransfer the dry sugar-cocoa mixture to it. Now pour in the boilingmilk and water. Transfer back to saucepan and _boil_ for one minute. Whisk vigorously for a quarter of a minute. Serve without delay. 

_Digestibility of Cocoa. _

We have noted above the high percentage of nutrients which cocoacontains, and the research conducted by J. Forster[1] shows that thesenutrients are easily assimilated. Forster found that the fatty andmineral constituents of cocoa are both _completely_ digested, and thenitrogenous constituents are digested in the same proportion as infinest bread, and more completely than in bread of average quality. Onevery striking fact was revealed by his researches, namely, that theconsumption of cocoa increases the digestive power for other foods whichare taken at the same time, and that this increase is particularlyevident with milk. Dr. R. O. Neumann[2] (who fed himself with cocoapreparations for over twelve weeks), whilst not agreeing with thisconclusion, states that: "The consumption of cocoa from the point ofview of health leaves nothing to be desired. The taking of large orsmall quantities of cocoa, either rich or poor in fat, with or withoutother food, gave rise to no digestive troubles during the 86 days whichformed the duration of the experiments. " He considers that cocoascontaining a high percentage of cacao butter are preferable to thosewhich contain low percentages, and that a 30 per cent. Butter contentmeets all requirements. It is worthy of note that 28 to 30 per cent. Isthe quantity of butter found in ordinary high-class cocoas. 

 [1] _Hygienische Rundschau_, 1900, p. 305. 

 [2] _Die Bewertung des Kakaos als Nahrungs- und Genussmittel_, 1906. 

As experts are liable to disagree, and it is almost possible to proveanything by a judicious selection from their writings, it may be well togive an extract from some modern text book as more nearly expressing thestandard opinion of the times. In _Second Stage Hygiene_, by Mr. Ikinand Dr. Lyster, a text book written for the Board of Education Syllabus, we read, p. 96: ". .. In the better cocoas the greater part of the fat isremoved by heat and pressure. In this form cocoa may be looked upon asalmost an ideal food, as it contains proteids, fats, and carbohydratesin roughly the right proportions. Prepared with milk and sugar it formsa highly nutritious and valuable stimulating beverage. "

_Stimulating Property of Cocoa. _

The mild stimulating property which cocoa possesses is due to thepresence of the two substances, theobromine and caffein. The presence oftheobromine is peculiar to cocoa, but caffein is a stimulating principlewhich also occurs in tea and coffee. Whilst in the quantities in whichthey are present in cocoa (about 1. 5 per cent. Of theobromine and 0. 6per cent. Of caffein) they act only as agreeable stimulants, in the purecondition, as white crystalline powders, they are powerful curativeagents. Caffein is well known as a specific for nervous headaches, andas a heart stimulant and diuretic. Theobromine is similar in action, buthas the advantage for certain cases, that it has much less effect on thecentral nervous system, and for this reason it is a very valuablemedicine for sufferers from heart dropsy, and as a tonic for senileheart. That its medicinal properties are appreciated is shown by itsprice: during 1918 the retail price was about 8 shillings an ounce, fromwhich we can calculate that every pound of cocoa contained nearly twoshillingsworth of theobromine. 

_"Soluble" Cocoa. _

Whilst Forster states that treated cocoa is the most digestible, expertsare not in agreement as to which is the more valuable foodstuff, thepure untouched cocoa, or that which is treated during its manufacturewith alkaline salts. The cocoa so treated is generally described as"soluble, " although its only claim to this name is that the mineralsalts in the cocoa are rendered more soluble by the treatment. It isalso sometimes incorrectly described as containing alkali, but actuallyno alkali is present in the cocoa either in a free state or ascarbonate; the potassium exists "in the form of phosphates orcombinations of organic acids, that is to say, in the ideal form inwhich these bodies occur in foods of animal and vegetable origin"(Fritsch, _Fabrication du Chocolat_, p. 216). 

[Illustration: BOXING CHOCOLATES. ]

_Food Value of Chocolate. _

 I ate a little chocolate from my supply, well knowing the miraculous sustaining powers of the simple little block (from _Mr. Isaacs_, by F. Marion Crawford). 

Whilst the food value of cocoa powder is very high the drink preparedfrom it can only be regarded as an accessory food, because it is usualto take the powder in small quantities--just as with beef-tea it isusual to take only a small portion of an ox in a tea-cup--but chocolateis often eaten in considerable quantities at a time, and must thereforebe regarded as an important foodstuff, and not considered, as itfrequently is considered, simply as a luxury. 

The eating of cacao mixed with sugar dates from very early days, but itis only in recent times that it has become the principal sweetmeat. Whatwould a "sweetshop" be to-day without chocolate, that summit of theconfectioner's art, when the rich brown of chocolate is the predominantnote in every confectioner's window? What would the lovers in England dowithout chocolates, which enable them to indulge their delight in givingthat which is sure to be well received?

As a luxury it is universally appreciated, and because of thisappreciation its value as a food is sometimes overlooked. 

During the war chocolate was valued as a compact foodstuff, which iseasily preserved. Dr. Gastineau Earle, lecturing for the Institute ofHygiene in 1915 on "Food Factor in War, " said: "Chocolate is a mostvaluable concentrated food, especially when other foods are notavailable; it is the chief constituent of the emergency ration. " Itsimportance as a concentrated foodstuff was appreciated in the UnitedStates, for every "comfort kit" made up for the American soldiersfighting in the war contained a cake of sweet chocolate. 

There are a number of records of people whose lives have been preservedby means of chocolate. One of the most recent was the case of CommanderStewart, who was torpedoed in H. M. S. "Cornwallis" in the Mediterraneanin 1917. He happened to have in his cabin one of the boxes of chocolatepresented to the Army and Navy in 1915 by the colonies of Trinidad, Grenada, and St. Lucia, who gave the cacao and paid Englishmanufacturers to make it into chocolate. He had been treasuring the boxas a souvenir, but being the only article of food available, he filledhis pockets with the chocolate, which sustained him through many tryinghours. [3]

 [3] See _West India Committee Journal_, p. 55, 1917. 

We have already seen the high food value of the cacao bean: what of thesugar which chocolate contains? Sugar is consumed in large quantities inEngland, the consumption per head amounting to 80-90 lbs. Per year. Itis well known as a giver of heat and energy, and Sir Ernest Shackletonreports that it proved a great life preserver and sustainer in Arcticregions. Our practical acquaintance with sugar commences at birth--milkcontaining about 5 per cent. Of milk sugar--and when one considers theamazing activity of young children one understands their continuousdemand for sugar. Dr. Hutchison, in his well-known _Food and thePrinciples of Dietetics_, says: "The craving for sweets which childrenshow is, no doubt, the natural expression of a physiological need, butthey should be taken with, and not between, meals. Chocolate is one ofthe most wholesome and nutritious forms of such sweets. "

Both the constituents of chocolate being nourishing, it follows thatchocolate itself has a high food value. This is proved by the figuresgiven below. 

As with cocoa, we have first to know the composition before we cancalculate the food value. The relative proportions of nib, butter andsugar, vary considerably in ordinary chocolate, so that it is difficultto give an average composition: there are sticks of eating chocolatewhich contain as little as 24 per cent. Of cacao butter, whilstchocolate used for covering contains about 36 per cent. Of butter. 

As modern high-class eating chocolate contains about 31 per cent. Ofbutter, we will take this for purposes of calculation:

AVERAGE COMPOSITION AND FUEL VALUE OF ENGLISH EATING CHOCOLATE. 

 _Composition_ _Energy-giving power_

 _Calories per lb. _Cacao Butter 31. 4 = 1, 327Protein (total nitrogen 0. 78%) 4. 1 = 76Cacao Starch 2. 3 } = 162Other Digestible Carbohydrates, etc. 6. 4 }Stimulants { Theobromine 0. 3 { Caffein 0. 1Mineral Matter 1. 2Crude Fibre 0. 9Moisture 1. 0Sugar 52. 3 = 973 ----- ----- 100. 0 2, 538

In Snyder's _Human Foods_ (1916) the official analyses of 163 commonfoods are given. They include practically everything that human beingseat, and only three are greater than chocolate in energy-giving power. 

The result (2, 538 calories per lb. ) which we obtain by calculation islower than the figure (2, 768 calories per lb. ) for chocolate given bySherman in his book on _Food and Nutrition_ (1918). Probably his figureis for unsweetened chocolate. The table below shows the energy-givingvalue of cocoa and chocolate compared with well-known foodstuffs. Thefigures (save for "eating" chocolate) are taken from Sherman's book, andare calculated from the analyses given in Bulletin 28 of the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture:

FUEL VALUE OF FOODSTUFFS. 

_Foodstuff as _Calories Purchased. _ per lb. _Cabbage 121Cod Fish 209Apples 214Potatoes 302Milk 314Eggs 594Beef Steak 960Bread (average white) 1, 180Oatmeal 1, 811Sugar 1, 815Cocoa 2, 258Eating Chocolate 2, 538

[Illustration: PACKING CHOCOLATES AT BOURNVILLE. ]

_Food Value of Milk Chocolate. _

The value of milk as a food is so generally recognised as to need nocommendation here. When milk is evaporated to a dry solid, about 87. 5per cent. Of water is driven off, so that the dry milk left has abouteight times the food value of the original milk. Milk chocolate of goodquality contains from 15 to 25 per cent. Of milk solids. Milk chocolatevaries greatly in composition, but for the purpose of calculating thefood value, we may assume that about a quarter of a high-class milkchocolate consists of solid milk, and this is combined with about 40 percent. Of cane sugar and 35 per cent. Of cacao butter and cacao mass. 

ANALYSIS AND FUEL VALUE OF MILK CHOCOLATE. 

 _Energy-giving power. _ _Calories per lb. _

Milk Fat and Cacao Butter 35. 0 = 1, 480Milk and Cocoa Proteins 8. 0 = 149Cacao Starch and Digestible Carbohydrates 3. 0 = 56Stimulants (Theobromine and Caffein) 0. 2Mineral Matter 2. 0Crude Fibre 0. 3Moisture 1. 5Milk Sugar and Cane Sugar 50. 0 = 930 ----- ----- 100. 0 = 2, 615 ----- -----

It will be noted that the food value of milk chocolate is even greaterthan that of plain chocolate. It is highly probable that milk chocolateis the most nutritious of all sweetmeats. It is not generally recognisedthat when we purchase one pound of high-class milk chocolate we obtainthree-quarters of a pound of chocolate and two pounds of milk!

CHAPTER IX

ADULTERATION AND THE NEED FOR DEFINITIONS

 Those that mix maize in the Chocolate do very ill, for they beget bilious and melancholy humours. 

 _A Curious Treatise on the Nature and Quality of Chocolate_, Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, 1685. 

COCOA. 

Cocoa might conveniently be defined as consisting exclusively ofshelled, roasted, finely-ground cacao beans, partially de-fatted, withor without a minute quantity of flavouring material. 

The gross adulteration of cocoa is now a thing of the past, and most ofthe cocoa sold conforms with this definition. Statements, however, getcopied from book to book, and hence we continue to read that cocoausually contains arrowroot or other starch. In the old days this wasfrequently so, but now, owing to many legal actions by Public HealthAuthorities, this abuse has been stamped out. Nowadays if a PublicAnalyst finds flour or arrowroot in a sample bought as cocoa, hedescribes it as adulterated, and the seller is prosecuted and fined. Hence, save for the presence of cacao shell, the cocoa of the presentday is a pure article consisting simply of roasted, finely-ground cacaobeans partially de-fatted. The principal factors affecting the qualityof the finished cocoa are the difference in the kind of cacao bean used, the amount of cacao butter extracted, the care in preparation, and theamount of cacao shell left in. 

The presence of more than a small percentage of shell in cocoa is adisadvantage both on the ground of taste and of food value. This hasbeen recognised from the earliest times (see quotations on p. 128). Inthe Cocoa Powder Order of 1918, the amount of shell which a cocoa powdermight contain was defined--_grade A_ not to contain more than two percent. Of shell, and _grade B_ not more than five per cent. Of shell. Themanufacturers of high-class cocoa welcomed these standards, butunfortunately the known analytical methods are not delicate enough toestimate accurately such small quantities, so that any external check isdifficult, and the purchaser has to trust to the honesty of themanufacturer. Hence it is wise to purchase cocoa only from makers ofgood repute. 

CHOCOLATE. 

We have so far no legal definition of chocolate in England. As Mr. N. P. Booth pointed out at the Seventh International Congress of AppliedChemistry: "At the present time a mixture of cocoa with sugar and starchcannot be sold as pure cocoa, but only as 'chocolate powder, ' and with adefinite declaration that the article is a mixture of cocoa and otheringredients. Prosecutions are constantly occurring where mixtures offoreign starch and sugar with cocoa have been sold as 'cocoa, ' and itseems, therefore, a proper step to take to require that a similardeclaration shall be made in the case of 'chocolate' which containsother constituents than the products of cocoa nib and sugar. " We cannotdo better than quote in full the definitions suggested in Mr. Booth'spaper. 

The author refers to the absence of any legal standard for chocolate inEngland, although in some of the European countries standards are inforce, and points out, as a result of this, that articles of which thesale would be prohibited in some other countries, are permitted to comewithout restriction on to the English market. 

[Illustration: WHARF AT FACTORY AT KNIGHTON, AT WHICH MILK IS EVAPORATEDFOR MILK CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURE. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros. , Ltd. )]

He suggests that the following definitions for chocolate goods arereasonable, and could be conformed to by makers of the genuine article. These standards are not more stringent than those already enforced insome of the Colonies and European countries:

 (1) Unsweetened chocolate or _cacao mass_ must be prepared exclusively from roasted, shelled, finely-ground cacao beans, with or without the addition of a small quantity of flavouring matter, and should not contain less than 45 per cent. Of cacao butter. 

 (2) Sweetened chocolate or _chocolate_. --A preparation consisting exclusively of the products of roasted, shelled, finely-ground cacao beans, and not more than 65 per cent. Of sugar, with or without a small quantity of harmless flavouring matter. 

 (3) _Granulated_, or _Ground Chocolate for Drinking_ purposes. --The same definition as for sweetened chocolate should apply here, except that the proportion of sugar may be raised to not more than 75 per cent. 

 (4) _Chocolate-covered Goods. _--Various forms of confectionery covered with chocolate, the composition of the latter agreeing with the definition of sweetened chocolate. 

 (5) _Milk Chocolate. _--A preparation composed exclusively of roasted, shelled cacao beans, sugar, and not less than 15 per cent. Of the dry solids of full-cream milk, with or without a small quantity of harmless flavouring matter. 

Mr. Booth further states that starch other than that naturally presentin the cacao bean, and cacao shell in powder form, should be absolutelyexcluded from any article which is to be sold under the name of"chocolate. "

CHAPTER X

THE CONSUMPTION OF CACAO

 The Kernels that come to us from the Coast of _Caraqua_, are more oily, and less bitter, than those that come from the _French_ Islands, and in _France_ and _Spain_ they prefer them to these latter. But in _Germany_ and in the _North_ (_Fides sit penes autorem_) they have a quite opposite Taste. Several People mix that of _Caraqua_ with that of the Islands, half in half, and pretend by this Mixture to make the Chocolate better. I believe in the bottom, the difference of Chocolates is not considerable, since they are only obliged to increase or diminish the Proportion of Sugar, according as the Bitterness of the Kernels require it. 

 _The Natural History of Chocolate_, R. Brookes, 1730. 

The war has caused such a disturbance that the statistics for the yearsof the war are difficult to obtain. For many years the Germanpublication, the _Gordian_, was the most reliable source of cacaostatistics, and so far we have nothing in England sufficientlycomprehensive to replace it, although useful figures can be obtainedfrom the Board of Trade returns of imports into Great Britain, from Mr. Theo. Vasmer's reports which appear from time to time in _TheConfectioners' Union_ and elsewhere, from Mr. Hamel Smith's collatedmaterial in _Tropical Life_, and from the reports of important brokerslike Messrs. Woodhouse. In 1919 the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_gave a very complete _résumé_ of cacao production as far as the BritishEmpire is concerned. 

_Great Britain. _

Since 1830 the consumption of cacao in the British Isles has shown agreat and continuous increase, and there is every reason to believe thatthe consumption will easily keep pace with the rapidly growingproduction. One effect of the war has been to increase the consumptionof cocoa and chocolate. Many thousands of men who took no interest in"sweets" learned from the use of their emergency ration that chocolatewas a very convenient and concentrated foodstuff. 

CACAO BEANS CLEARED FOR HOME CONSUMPTION. 

Year. English Tons. 1830 4501840 9001850 1, 4001860 1, 4501870 3, 1001880 4, 7001890 9, 0001900 16, 9001910 24, 550

CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO UNITED KINGDOM. 

 _Total _Retained in _HomeYear. Imported_ the country_ Consumption_ tons. Tons. Tons. 1912 33, 600 27, 450 24, 600 1913 35, 000 28, 200 23, 200 1914 41, 750 29, 600 24, 900 1915 81, 800 54, 400 40, 300 1916 88, 800 64, 750 29, 300 1917 57, 900 53, 100 41, 300

The above figures are compiled from the _Bulletin of the ImperialInstitute_ (No. 1, 1919). The total imports for 1918 were 42, 390 tons. This sudden and marked drop in the amount imported was due to shortageof shipping. There were, however, large quantities of cacao in stock, and the amount consumed showed a marked advance on previous years, being61, 252 tons. 

The Board of Trade Returns for 1919 are as follow:

CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO UNITED KINGDOM. 

_From_British West Africa 72, 886 tonsBritish West Indies 13, 219 tonsEcuador 9, 153 tonsBrazil 3, 665 tonsCeylon 903 tonsOther Countries 13, 820 tons ------------ Total 113, 646 tons ------------Home Consumption 64, 613 tons

It will be noted that the import of British cacao is over 75 per cent. Of the total. 

Before the war about half the cacao imported into the United Kingdom wasgrown in British possessions. During the war more and more British cacaowas imported, and now that a preferential duty of seven shillings perhundredweight has been given to British Colonial growths we shallprobably see a still higher percentage of British cacao consumed in theUnited Kingdom. 

VALUE OF CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM (TO NEAREST£1, 000). 

 Total value of Cacao From British Possessions. Year. Beans Imported. _Value. _ _Per cent. _1913 £2, 199, 000 £1, 158, 000 52. 71914 £2, 439, 000 £1, 204, 000 49. 41915 £5, 747, 000 £3, 546, 000 61. 71916 £6, 498, 000 £4, 417, 000 68. 01917 £3, 498, 000 £3, 010, 000 86. 01918 £3, 040, 000 £2, 549, 000 83. 81919 £9, 207, 000 £6, 639, 000 72. 1

That the consumption of cacao is expected to grow greater yet in theimmediate future is reflected in the prices of raw cacao, which, as soonas they were no longer fixed by the Government, rose rapidly, thus Accracacao rose from 65s. Per hundredweight to over 90s. Per hundredweight ina few weeks, and now (January, 1920) stands at 104s. (See diagram p. 113). 

_World Consumption. _

The world's consumption of cacao is steadily rising. Before the war theUnited States, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, France, and Switzerlandwere the principal consumers. Whilst we have increased our consumption, so that Great Britain now occupies second place, the United States hasoutstripped all the other countries, having doubled its consumption in afew years, and is now taking almost as much as all the rest of the worldput together. It is thought that since America has "gone dry" thisremarkably large consumption is likely to be maintained. 

WORLD'S CONSUMPTION OF CACAO BEANS. (to the nearest thousand tons)1 ton = 1000 kilograms. 

 _Pre-war_ _War Period_ _Post-war_

 Average of 1913. 1914, 5, 6, & 7. 1918. 1919. Country. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. 

U. S. A. 68, 000 103, 000 145, 000 145, 000Germany 51, 000 28, 000 ? 13, 000Holland 30, 000 25, 000 2, 000 39, 000Great Britain 28, 000 41, 000 62, 000 66, 000France 28, 000 35, 000 39, 000 46, 000Switzerland 10, 000 14, 000 18, 000 21, 000Austria 7, 000 2, 000 ? 2, 000Belgium 6, 000 1, 000 1, 000 8, 000Spain 6, 000 7, 000 6, 000 8, 000Russia 5, 000 4, 000 ? ?Canada 3, 000 4, 000 9, 000 ?Italy 2, 000 5, 000 6, 000 6, 000Denmark 2, 000 2, 000 2, 000 ?Sweden 1, 000 2, 000 2, 000 ?Norway 1, 000 2, 000 2, 000 ?Other countries (estimated) 5, 000 8, 000 11, 000 26, 000 --------------------------------------------Total 252, 000 283, 000 305, 000 380, 000

The above figures are compiled chiefly from Mr. Theo. Vasmer's reports. The _Gordian_ estimates that the world's consumption in 1918 was314, 882 tons. In several of our larger colonies and in at least oneEuropean country there is obviously ample room for increase in theconsumption. When one considers the great population of Russia, four tofive thousand tons per annum is a very small amount to consume. It ispleasant to think of cocoa being drunk in the icebound North ofRussia--it brings to mind so picturesque a contrast: cacao, grownamongst the richly-coloured flora of the tropics, consumed in a landthat is white with cold. When Russia has reached a more stable conditionwe shall doubtless see a rapid expansion in the cacao consumption. 

[Illustration: CACAO PODS, LEAVES AND FLOWERS. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Fry & Sons, Ltd. , Bristol. ]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS ON COCOA AND CHOCOLATE ARRANGED IN ORDER OF DATE OF PUBLICATION. 

1600-1700

RAUCH, Joan. Franc. 

DISPUTATIO MEDICO DIOETETICA DE AËRE ET ESCULENTIS, DENECNON POTU. Vienna 1624

[Condemns cocoa as a violent inflamer of the passions. ]

COLMENERO, Antonio de Ledesma. 

[Treatise on Chocolate in Spanish entitled:]CURIOSO TRATADO DE LA NATURALEZA Y CALIDAD DEL CHOCOLATE, DIVIDIDO EN QUATRO PUNTOS. Madrid 1631

Translated into English by Don Diego de Vades-forte 1640Translated into French by René Moreau 1643Translated into Latin by J. G. Volckamer 1644Translated into English by J. Wadsworth 1652Translated into Italian by A. Vitrioli 1667Moreau's translation edited by Sylvestre Dufour 1671 and 1685and translated into English by J. Chamberlaine 1685

[for titles, etc. , see under translators]

DE VADES-FORTE, Don Diego. [The magnificent pseudonym of J. Wadsworth. ](Translated by. )

A CURIOUS TREATISE OF THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF CHOCOLATEby Antonio de Ledesma Colmenero. London 1640

MOREAU, René. (Translated by. )

DU CHOCOLAT DISCOURS CURIEUXby Antonio de Ledesma Colmenero. Pp. 59. Paris 1643

[VOLCKAMER, J. G. Translated by. ]

CHOCOLATA INDA, OPUSCULUM DE QUALITATE ET NATURA CHOCOLATAEby Antonio de Ledesma Colmenero. Pp. 73. Norimbergae 1644

(In same volume with this is "Opobalsamum Orientalae" and"Pisonis Observationes Medicae. " Total pp. 224. )

WADSWORTH, J. (Translated by. )

CHOCOLATE: OR AN INDIAN DRINKE ETC. By Antonio Ledesma Colmenero. London 1652

STUBBE(S), Henry. 

THE INDIAN NECTAR OR A DISCOURSE CONCERNING CHOCOLATA. Pp. 184. London 1662

BRANCATIUS, Franciscus Maria. 

DE CHOCALATIS POTU DIATRIBE. Pp. 36. Rome 1664

PAULLI, Simon. 

COMMENTARIUS DE ABUSU TABACI THEE. Argentorati (see 1746) 1665

VITRIOLI, A. (Translated by. )

DELLA CIOCCOLATA DISCORSO. [From Moreau's translation of Colmenero's book. ] Rome 1667

SEBASTUS MELISSENUS, F. Nicephorus. 

DE CHOCOLATIS POTIONE RESOLUTIO MORALIS. Pp. 36. Naples 1671

SYLVESTRE DUFOUR, P. [Edited by. ]

DE L'USAGE DU CAPHÉ, DU THÉ, ET DU CHOCOLAT. Pp. 188. Lyon 1671

[The part on chocolate, pp. 59, is a revision of Moreau'stranslation of Colmenero's book, plus B. Marradon's dialogueon chocolate. ]

Translated into English by J. Chamberlaine (which see). 1685

HUGHES, William. 

THE AMERICAN PHYSITIAN . .. WHEREUNTO IS ADDED A DISCOURSE ONTHE CACAO-NUT-TREE, AND THE USE OF ITS FRUIT, WITH ALL THEWAYS OF MAKING CHOCOLATE. London 1672

AUTHOR NOT GIVEN. 

DESCRIPTION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE COCOA TREE. Phil. Trans. Abr. II. Pp. 59. 1673

BONTEKOE, Willem. 

Sundry short treatises in Dutch on Cocoa and Chocolate. About 1679

AUTHOR NOT GIVEN. 

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, TOBACCO ANDALSO THE WAY OF MAKING MUM. Pp. 39. Printed for Christopher Wilkinson. London 1682

[Condemns chocolate on account of its containing "such acorrosive salt" as sugar. Mum is a peculiar kind of beermade from wheat malt. ]

MUNDY, Henry. 

OPERA OMNIA MEDICO-PHYSICA DE AËRE VITALI, ESCULENTIS ETPOTULENTIS CUM APPENDICE DE PARERGIS IN VICTU ET CHOCOLATU, THEA, CAFFEA, TOBACCO. Oxford 1680. Leyden 1685

SYLVESTRE DUFOUR, P. 

TRAITEZ NOUVEAUX ET CURIEUX DU CAFÉ, DU THÉ ET DU CHOCOLAT. 

[The treatise on chocolate is compiled from the Spanish ofColmenero and B. Marradon. ] pp. 403. à la Haye 1685(With additions by St. Disdier) pp. 404. à la Haye 1693Published by Deville. Pp. 404. Lyon 1688

The above in Latin (by J. Spon), "TRACTATUS NOVI DE POTU CAPHE, DE CHIENSIUM, THE, ET DECHOCOLATA. " pp. 202. Paris 1685

A further Latin translation of the above, "NOVI TRACTATUS DE POTU CAPHE, DE CHIENSIUM, THE, ET DECHOCOLATA. " pp. 188. Geneva 1699

CHAMBERLAINE, J. (Translated by. )

THE MANNER OF MAKING COFFEE, TEA AND CHOCOLATE. Pp. 116. London 1685

[A translation of Sylvestre Dufour's compilation, the parton Chocolate entitled "A Curious Treatise of the Nature andQuality of Chocolate, " being a translation of Colmenero's book. ]

BLEGNY, Nicholas de. 

LE BON USAGE DE THÉ, DU CAFFÉ, ET DU CHOCOLAT POUR LAPRESERVATION ET POUR LA GUERISON DES MALADES. Pp. 358. Paris 1687pp. 358. Lyon 1687

MAPPUS, Marcus. 

DISSERTATIONES MEDICAE TRES DE RECEPTIS HODIE ETIAM INEUROPA, POTUS CALIDI GENERIBUS THÉE, CAFÉ, CHOCOLATA. Pp. 66. Argentorati 1695

1701-1800

DUNCAN, Dr. 

WHOLESOME ADVICE AGAINST THE ABUSE OF HOT LIQUORS, PARTICULARLY OF COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, ETC. Pp. 280. London 1706

AUTHOR NOT GIVEN [by De Chélus. ]

HISTOIRE NATURELLE DU CACAO ET DU SUCRE. Pp. 227. Paris 1719pp. 228. Amsterdam 1720pp. 404. Amsterdam 1720pp. 95. London 1724

BROOKES, R. [the above by De Chélus. ] (Translated by. )

NATURAL HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE. Pp. 95. Printed for J. Roberts, London 1724pp. 95. Printed for Browne, London 1725pp. 95. Printed for J. Roberts, London 1730

ACT OF PARLIAMENT, George II, 1723. 

Relating to"LAYING INLAND DUTIES ON COFFEE, TEA AND CHOCOLATE. " London 1724

BRUCKMAN, F. E. 

RELATIO DE CACAO. Brunswick 1738

BARON, H. T. 

AN SENIBUS CHOCOLATAE PUTUS? Paris 1739

PAULI, S. [PAULLI. ]

A TREATISE ON TOBACCO, TEA, COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE. Translated by Dr. James. Pp. 171. London (see 1665) 1746

N. N. [pseudonym of D. CONGINA. ]

MEMORIE STORICHE SOPRA L'USO DELLA CIOCCOLATA IN TEMPO DIDIGIUNO ETC. Historical memoir on the use of chocolate upon fast days. Pp. 196. Venice 1748

STAYLEY, G. 

THE CHOCOLATE MAKERS OR MIMICKRY EXPOSED. An Interlude. Dublin. 1759

AUTHOR NOT GIVEN. 

OBSERVATIONS SUR LE CACAO ET SUR LE CHOCOLAT. Pp. 144. Paris 1772

SMITH, Hugh. 

AN ESSAY ON FOREIGN TEAS, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON MINERALWATERS, COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, ETC. London 1794

1801-1900

PARMENTIER

ON THE COMPOSITION AND USE OF CHOCOLATE. Nicholson's Journal. London 1803

GALLAIS, A. 

MONOGRAPHIE DU CACAO. Pp. 216. Paris 1827

MITSCHERLICH, A. 

DER KAKAO UND DIE SCHOKOLADE. Berlin 1859

GOSSELIN, A. 

MANUEL DES CHOCOLATIERS. Pp. 53. Paris 1860

MANGIN, A. 

LE CACAO ET LA CHOCOLAT. Paris 1862

HEWETT, C. (of Messrs. Dunn and Hewett. )

CHOCOLATE AND COCOA, GROWTH AND PREPARATION. Pp. 88. London 1862

COMPAGNIE COLONIALE. 

CHOCOLATE: ITS CHARACTER AND HISTORY. Pp. 37. Paris 1868

HOLM, J. 

COCOA AND ITS MANUFACTURE. Rivers, London. 

SINCLAIR, W. J. 

BEVERAGES, TEA, COCOA, ETC. (Health Lectures, Vol. 4). Manchester 1881

SALDAU, E. 

DIE CHOCOLADE-FABRIKATION. Pp. 232. Vienna (see 1907) 1881

MORRIS, D. 

CACAO: HOW TO GROW IT. Pp. 45. Jamaica (see 1887) 1882

TRINIDAD Agricultural Association. 

CURING OF COCOA DISCUSSED. Pp. 6. 1885

BARTELINK, E. J. 

HANDLEIDING VOOR KAKAO-PLANTERS. Pp. 68. Amsterdam 1885

English Translation, "THE CACAO PLANTERS' MANUAL. " pp. 57. London 1885

BAKER, W. , & Co. 

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. Pp. 152. Dorchester, Mass. , U. S. A. (see 1891 and 1899) 1886

MORRIS, D. 

CACAO: HOW TO GROW IT. Pp. 42. Jamaica (see 1882) 1886

ZIPPERER, P. 

DIE CHOCOLADE FABRIKATION. Pp. 181. Berlin (see 1902 and 1913) 1889

BANNISTER, R. 

CANTOR LECTURES ON SUGAR, COFFEE, TEA AND COCOA. Pp. 77. London 1890

BAKER, W. , & Co. 

THE CHOCOLATE PLANT AND ITS PRODUCTS. Pp. 40. Dorchester, Mass. , U. S. A. (see 1886 and 1899) 1891

HART, J. H. 

CACAO. Pp. 77. Port of Spain, Trinidad (see 1900 and 1911) 1892

HATTON, J. 

COCOA. Pp. 22. London 1892

HISTORICUS. 

COCOA: ALL ABOUT IT. Pp. 114. London (see 1896) 1892

GORDIAN, A. 

DIE DEUTSCHE SCHOKOLADEN UND ZUCKERWAREN INDUSTRIE. Hartleben's Verlag. Hamburg 1895

ROQUE, L. De Belfort de la. 

GUIDE PRATIQUE DE LA FABRICATION DU CHOCOLAT. Paris 1895

HISTORICUS. 

COCOA: ALL ABOUT IT. Pp. 99. London (see 1892) 1896

VILLON. 

MANUEL DU CONFISEUR ET DU CHOCOLAT. Paris 1896

GOLDOS, L. 

MANNUAL DE FABRICACIÓN INDUSTRIAL DE CHOCOLATE. Pp. 261. Madrid 1897

OLIVIERI, F. E. 

CACAO PLANTING AND ITS CULTIVATION. Pp. 34. Port of Spain, Trinidad (see 1903) 1897

EPPS, James. 

THE CACAO PLANT. Pp. 11. (Transactions Croydon Microscopical and Natural History Club) 1898

BAKER, W. , & Co. 

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. Pp. 71. Dorchester, Mass. , U. S. A. (see 1886 and 1891) 1899

HART, J. H. 

CACAO. Pp. 117. Port of Spain, Trinidad (see 1892 and 1911) 1900

JUMELLE, H. 

LE CACOYER: SA CULTURE ET SON EXPLOITATION. Pp. 211. Paris 1900

MENIER. 

HISTORIQUE DES ÉTABLISSEMENTS MENIER. (Printed for Exposition Universelle. ) pp. 44. Paris 1900

MODERN WORKS, 1901-1920. 

(_a_) _Cacao Cultivation. _

SMITH, H. Hamel. 

SOME NOTES ON COCOA PLANTING IN THE WEST INDIES. Pp. 70 1901

WILDEMAN, E. De. 

LES PLANTES TROPICALES DE GRANDE CULTURE--CAFE, CACAO, ETC. Pp. 304. Bruxelles 1902

PREUSS, Paul. 

EXPEDITION NACH CENTRAL UND SÜD-AMERIKA. Berlin. 

French translation of part of the above, "LE CACAO, CULTURE ET PREPARATION"(from Bulletin Société d'Etudes Coloniales). Pp. 249. 1902

EITLING, C. 

DER KAKAO, SEINE KULTUR UND BEREITUNG. Pp. 39. 1903

OLIVIERI, F. E. 

TREATISE ON CACAO. Pp. 101. Trinidad (see 1897) 1903

KINDT, L. 

DIE KULTUR DES KAKAOBAUMES UND SEINE SCHÄDLINGE. Pp. 157. Hamburg 1904

STEUART, M. E. 

EVERYDAY LIFE ON A CEYLON COCOA ESTATE. Pp. 256. London 1905

CHALOT, C. And LUC, M. 

LE CACOYER AU CONGO FRANCAIS. Pp. 58 1906

FAUCHERE, A. 

CULTURE PRATIQUE DU CACAOYER ET PREPARATION DU CACAO. Pp. 175. Paris 1906

PRUD'HOMME, E. 

LE COCOTIER. CULTURE, INDUSTRIE ET COMMERCE. Pp. 491. 1906

DE MENDONCA, Monteiro. 

BOA ENTRADA PLANTATIONS, SAN THOMÉ. Pp. 63. London 1907

MOUNTMORRES, Viscount. 

MAIZE, COCOA, RUBBER. Pp. 44. Liverpool 1907

SALDAU, E. 

DIE SCHOKOLADEN FABRIKATION. Vienna (see 1881) 1907

WRIGHT, H. 

THEOBROMA CACAO OR COCOA. Pp. 249. Colombo 1907

RAFAELI, V. , and MAXIMILIANO, E. 

HOW JOSÉ FORMED HIS CACAO ESTATE. Pp. 18. Trinidad 1907

TORAILLE, C. F. 

STOLEN FROM THE FIELDS. A TREATISE ON CACAO AND ITSCULTIVATION. Trinidad 1907

HUGGINS, J. D. 

HINTS TO THOSE ENGAGING IN THE CULTIVATION OF COCOA. Pp. 24. Port of Spain, Trinidad 1908

SMITH, H. Hamel. 

THE FUTURE OF CACAO PLANTING. Pp. 95. London 1908

ATBE. 

EL CULTIVO LAS DISERSAS INDUSTRIAS DES COCO. Pp. 42. Quito 1909

HART, J. H. 

CACAO. Pp. 307. Duckworth, London (see 1892 and 1900) 1911

SMITH, H. Hamel. 

NOTES ON SOIL AND PLANT SANITATION ON CACAO AND RUBBERESTATES. Pp. 603. Bale, London 1911

CARVATHO, d'Almeida. 

A ILHA DE S. THOME E A AGRICULTURA PROGRESSIVA. (Includes Culturas de Cacoeiro. ) pp. 228. Lisbon 1912

JOHNSON, W. H. 

COCOA: ITS CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION. Pp. 186. (Imperial Institute. ) London 1912

AUTHOR NOT GIVEN. 

CACAO CULTURE IN THE WEST INDIES. Pp. 75. Havana. (Published by German Alkali Works, Cuba. ) 1912

HENRY, Yves. 

LE CACAO. Pp. 103. Paris 1913

SMITH, H. Hamel. 

THE FERMENTATION OF CACAO. Pp. 318. Bale, London 1913

MALINS-SMITH, W. M. 

PRACTICAL CACAO PLANTING IN GRENADA. (_West India Committee Circular_, April to December. ) 1913

HALL, C. J. J. Van. 

COCOA. Pp. 512. Macmillan, London 1914

KNAPP, A. W. 

THE PRACTICE OF CACAO FERMENTATION. Pp. 24. Bale, London 1914

(_b_) _Chocolate Manufacture. _

BESSELICH, N. 

DIE SCHOKOLADE. Pp. 74. Trier. 

ZIPPERER, P. 

MANUFACTURE OF CHOCOLATE. Pp. 277. Berlin, London and New York (see 1889 and 1913) 1902

DUVAL, E. 

CONFISERIE MODERNE. 1908

BOOTH, N. P. , CRIBB, C. H. , and ELLIS-RICHARDS, P. A. 

THE COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS OF CHOCOLATE. Reprinted from the _Analyst_. Pp. 15. London 1909

FRITSCH, F. 

FABRICATION DU CHOCOLAT. Pp. 349. Paris 1910

FRANCOIS, L. 

LES ALIMENTS SUCRES INDUSTRIELS(Chocolats, Bonbons, etc. ) pp. 143. Paris 1912

WHYMPER, R. 

COCOA AND CHOCOLATE: THEIR CHEMISTRY AND MANUFACTURE. Pp. 327. Churchill, London 1912

ZIPPERER, P. 

DIE SCHOKOLADEN-FABRIKATION. Pp. 349. Berlin (see also 1889 and 1902) 1913

JACOUTOT, Auguste. 

CHOCOLATE AND CONFECTIONERY MANUFACTURE. Pp. Xv, 211. J. Baker & Sons. London

(_c_) _General. _

WINTON, A. L. , SILVERMAN, M. , and BAILEY, E. M. 

[ANALYSES OF CACAO AND COCOA. ]Report Connecticut Agri. Expt. Station, U. S. A. Pp. 40. 1902

HEAD, Brandon. 

THE FOOD OF THE GODS. Pp. 109. London 1903

STOLLWERCK, W. 

DER KAKAO UND DIE SCHOKOLADEN INDUSTRIE. Pp. 102. Jena 1907

U. S. CONSULAR REPORT NO. 50(Dept. Of Commerce and Labour. )

COCOA PRODUCTION AND TRADE. Pp. 51. Washington 1912

CASTILLO, Ledon. 

EL CHOCOLATE. Pp. Vi, 30. Mexico 1917

BULLETIN IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 

COCOA PRODUCTION IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Pp. 40-95. London 1919

KNAPP, A. W. , and McLELLAN, B. G. 

THE ESTIMATION OF CACAO SHELL(reprint from _Analyst_). Pp. 21. London 1919

 * * * * *

The bibliography above is made as complete as possible as far as boundbooks in English are concerned. It also gives the more importantcontinental publications. Should any errors or omissions have been madehere or elsewhere, the author will be grateful if readers will pointthem out. 

PERIODICALS. 

Only one or two of the important papers in current literature arementioned. Much valuable material is to be found in the following:

CACAO PRODUCTION

The papers published by the various departments of agriculture(especially those of Trinidad, Grenada, Philippines, Java, Ceylon, GoldCoast, Kew, etc. ), the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, _The WestIndia Committee Circular_, _Tropical Life_, _West Africa_, _DerTropenpflanzer_, etc. 

STATISTICS

_The Gordian_, _Tea and Coffee Trade Journal_. 

MANUFACTURE

_The Confectioners' Union_. 

CHEMISTRY

_The Analyst_, the _Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry_, andthe _Journal of the Chemical Society_. 

INDEX

_Asterisks denote illustrations. _

ACCRA, 74, 91, 114, 185 (_see also_ Gold Coast)Acids produced by fermentation, 57Adulterants, 163Adulteration, cocoa, 179 chocolate, 180Agostini cacao picker, 46, *46Agricultural colleges, 42 education, 90Alcohol produced by fermentation, 52, 57Alkaline treating of cocoa, 173Allen, Grant, 114Altitude, cacao cultivation, 18Alligator cacao, 24Analytical composition--cacao bean, 166 cacao butter, 159 cacao shell, 163 chocolate, 176 cocoa, 168 milk chocolate, 178ARRIBA, 74, 84 (_see also_ Guayaquil)Aztec, 5, 7, 8

Bacteria--fermentation, 57Bagging cacao beans, *107, *110BAHIA, 74, 87, 114Bainbridge and Davies, 125Baker & Co. , Walter, 121Beans, 3, 167, *129 breaking machine, 130 breaking of, into fragments, 130 changes--fermentation, 57 characteristics of, 75 size and weight of, 74 use as money, 8Bibliography, 191Blending, 133Booth, N. P. , 75, 180Botanical description, 25Bournville, 128, 144, 162Boxing chocolates, *173BRAZIL, 38, 82, 84, 87, 185Breaking cacao pods, 50, *51Brill, H. C. , 59BRITISH GUIANA, 84BRITISH WEST AFRICA, 185 (_see also_ Gold Coast)Buying cacao, 109By-products, 157, 161

Cacao beans, (_see_ beans)Cacao butter, 135, 157, 159, 166, 168, 171, 176, 178 keeping properties, 158 melting point, 149, 158 pressing out of, 135Cacao, cultivation, 17, 38, 116 definition, 2 explanation name, 1 introduction into Europe, 10 keeping properties, 122 manufacturers' requirements, 75 picker, 46, *46 preparations, popularity of, 15 shell, (_see_ shell)_Cacauatl_, 1Cadbury Bros. , 15, 154Cadbury, Richard, 16Caffein, 166, 168, 172, 176, 178Cailler & Co. , 154_Calabacillo_, 23, *27, 76CAMEROON'S, 74, 82, 91, 105, 114CARACAS, 74, 87Carmody, Professor, 38, 41CARUPANO, 74, 87Catch crop, 36CEYLON, 18, 42, 52, 68, 70, 74, 81, 82, 106, 114, 185Chittenden, Dr. , 52Claying, 70, *71, 76, 88Clearing the land, *29, 30Clifford, Sir Hugh, 91Climate, cacao cultivation, 17_Criollo_, *27, 34, 52, 59, 87, 107Chocolate, 176, 180Chocolate, ancient usage, 10 covering recipe, 150 covering, suggested legal definition, 182 definition, 3 derivation of word, 8 fascination of, 8 houses and clubs, 12 powder, 180 recipe, 140 suggested legal definitions, 181 sustaining value, 174_Chocolatl_, 7, 8Chupons, (_see_ suckers)Cocoa, 168, 169 definition, 2 digestibility of, 171 how to make, 170 origin of word, 3 powder, introduction of, 15Coconuts, distinction between and cacao, 3Colouring beans, 72Colour, cacao bean, 25, 77 cacao butter, 158 cacao flowers, 22 cacao leaves, 22 cacao pods, 24, 48 changes during fermentation, 57, 59, 61Columbus, 7Composition, (_see_ analyses)Compressor, chocolate, 148Conching, 145Conche machine, *147, *148CONGO, 82, 91, 114Consumption, 15, 184 British Isles, 184 World, 186Contract labour, Cameroons, 106 San Thomé, 103Cortes, 7Covering cremes, *151CUBA, 82

Dancing, cacao beans, 72De Candolle, 94Decauville railways, 52DEMERARA, 114Diseases, cacao tree, 43DOMINICA, 82, 88Drying, 62, *63, 64, *64, *65, *68, *69, *85, *98, *105Dryers, artificial, 66, *67Duty, 13, 185Duty, cacao beans, 14, 185 cacao butter, 14 cacao shell, 14

Earle, Dr. Gastineau, 174ECUADOR, 52, 81, 82, 84, 185Enrobing machine, 152, *152Enzymes, 59, 61, 66Exports, cacao butter, 160 beans, 84Extracting beans from pod, 50

Faber, Dr. Von, 22Faelli, Professor, 164Fat (_see_ cacao butter)Fermentation, 52, 56 changes during, 55 control of, 63 good effects of, 60 loss of weight, during, 64 period of, 52 temperature of, 53, 55, 59, 61Fermenting boxes, *54, *58FERNANDO PO, 82, 91Fickendey, Dr. , 55, 59, 61Flavouring chocolate, 146Flowers, *21, 22, 74Flowers, percentage fruiting, 74Food value, cacao bean, 166 chocolate, 173, 176 cocoa, 168 milk chocolate, 178 old opinions, 165_Forastero_, *27, 34, 53, 59, 77Forster, J. , 171, 172Freeman, W. G. , 34FRENCH COLONIES, 82Fritsch, J. , 173Fruit, cacao, 21Fry, J. S. , & Sons, 14, 15, 122, 134Fry, Joseph, 3, 13Fungi, 44

Gage, Thomas, 8, 10Gathering, 45, *47, *49, *85Geographical distribution, 18Germ, cacao, 59, *129, 131 screens, *131 separation of, 131Germination, prevention of, 61GOLD COAST, 18, 42, 74, 81, 82, 91, 94, 107 (_see also_ Accra) nativeindustry, 94Gordon, W. J. , 10Gouveia, Dr. , 105Grafting and budding, 34, 75GRENADA, 30, 38, 74, 76, 81, 82, 88, 90, 114Grinding, 120, 134, *143 mill, cocoa, *133, 134, *135 machine, chocolate, 140, *142, *145Grousseau & Viconge, 163GUAYAQUIL, 32, 76, 84, 109, 114 (_see also_ Arriba and Machala)

HAITI, 82, 88Hart, J. H. , 34Height, cacao tree, 20, 36Historicus, 16History, cocoa and chocolate, 1Home of cacao, 5Husk, (_see_ shell)Hutchison, Dr. , 170, 175

Illipe butter, 159_Immortel, Bois_, 37Imports, cacao butter, 160 cacao bean, 185Incas, 8Insect Pests, 44

JAMAICA, 82, 88JAVA, 18, 37, 42, 54, 68, 70, 82, 106, 114

Knapp, A. W. , 75, 164

LAGOS, 82, 91Leaves, cacao, 22, *187Linnaeus, 1Linalool, 60, 125Loew, Dr. O. , 55

MACHALA, 74, 84 (_see also_ Guayaquil)MADAGASCAR, 68, 106Manufacture, chocolate, 140 cocoa, 134 early methods of, *9, 119, *120, *121, 129 loss on, 14 milk chocolate, *155, *181Manufacturers' requirements, 75Manure, 32 cacao shell as, 162Map, Africa, *92 South America, *89 World, *83MARACAIBO, 87Markets, cacao, 107Mass, 134, 136Mélangeur, 140, *141, 144MEXICO, 1, 7, 18Milk chocolate, 154, 178, 182 suggested legal definition, 182 recipe, 155Montezuma, 7Mosses, cacao tree, 22Moulding chocolate, 146Mountmorres, Viscount, 40Mulching, 32

Neumann, Dr. R. O. , 171Nib, 15, 120, 128, *129, 130, 134Nib, percentage shell, 133 yield of, 15Nicholls, Dr. L. , 55Nursery, cacao, *33

Odour, cocoa, 77, 146, 161 fermentation, 60Orellano, 6

Packing chocolates, *177 cocoa, 138PARA, 74, 87Perrot, Professor, 60PERU, 8Pests (_see_ diseases)Peter, M. D. , 154Picker, cacao, 46, *46PHILIPPINES, 42Plantation, cacao, 27, *104Planting, 32, *34, 37Pod, *2, 5, 23, *23, *25, *28, *187 picking of, 46 yield of cacao, 74Polishing beans, 72, 78Pollination, cacao flowers, 22Press cake, 138 cocoa, *136, *137Pressing cocoa, 136Preuss, Dr. Paul, 66, 70Preyer, Dr. Axel, 55Price, cacao, 86, 96, 112, *113, 185 cacao butter, 160 cacao shell, 164 chocolate, 13 theobromine, 172PRINCIPE, 100Production of cacao, Africa, 91 British Possessions, 81, 82, 183 British West Africa, 91 British West Indies, 88 Gold Coast, 94 increasing of, 75 San Thomé and Principe, 100 shell, 161 South America, 84 West Indies, 88 World, *80, 81, 82Pruning, 40Pulp, cacao, *24, 25, 52, 55, 60

Rainfall, cacao cultivation, 18Raleigh, Sir Walter, 6Refining machine, *142Research Association, _vi_Revis and Bolton, 128Richelieu, Cardinal, 11Roaster, *126, 128Roasting, 119, 125 loss on, 127Rocking tables, 149, *149Root system, *31

Sack, Dr. , 55, 66Sales of cacao, 111SAMANA, 91SAMOA, 82, 106, 114SANCHEZ, 91SAN DOMINGO, 82, 88, 91_Sangre-tora_, 24SAN THOME, 38, 52, 54, 82, 91, 100, 114Schulte im Hofe, Dr. A. , 55Seed, selection of, 32Shade, 36, *37, *38, *39, 90, 102Shaking table, chocolate, 149, *149Shell, cacao, *129, 161, 163 butter, 162 coffee substitute, 163 as feeding stuff, 162, 163 in finished cocoa, 180 food units, 163 fuel, 162 manure, 162 removal of, 120, 128 separating machine, 132, *132 tea from, 161Sherman, H. C. , 176Sieving cocoa, 138Size, bean, 78 cocoa particles, 138 sugar particles, 144Smalls, 132Smetham, A. , 163, 167Smith, H. Hamel, 55Snyder, Harry, 176Soil, 30Soluble cocoa, 168, 172Sorting beans, *73, *86, 123Sorting-cleaning machine, 124, *124, *125Stimulating properties, 60, 172ST. LUCIA, 82, 88Storing cacao, 122, *123ST. VINCENT, 82, 88Suckers, 40, *41Surf boats, *108SURINAM, 30, 52, 82, 84, 114Sweat boxes, 53, *53Sweatings, 57, 63

Tannin, 59Tap root, *31, 32Taste, fermentation, 59Temperature, cacao cultivation, 18 covering chocolate, 151 fermentation, 53, 55, 59, 61 germination, 61 chocolate moulding, 149 bean roasting, 128Tempering machine, 149_Theobroma cacao_, 1, 26Theobromine, in bean, 166 chocolate, 176 cocoa, 168, 172 fermentation, 60 milk chocolate, 178 shell, 162TOGO, 82, 91Transport of cacao, *56, *93, *95, 96, *97, *99, *100, *101, *102, *103, *106, 107, *108, *110Tree, cacao, 19, *19, *20 growth, 40 yield of, 74TRINIDAD, 18, 30, 34, 37, 41, 42, 52, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 81, 82, 88, 103, 114

Van Houten, C. J. , 15Varieties of cacao, 26Vasmer, Theo. , 183, 186VENEZUELA, 18, 70, 76, 81, 82, 84, 106

Washing cacao beans, 68, *70, 78, 107Watt, Sir George, 50Weight, bag of cacao, 109 loss on drying, 64 loss on fermentation, 64 loss on roasting, 128WEST INDIES, 88WEST INDIES, BRITISH, 88, 185Wind-screen trees, 30Winnowing machine (_see_ shell separating machine)Whisk, chocolate, *6, *170

Yeasts, fermenting, 57Yield, cacao pod, 74 cacao tree, 74 per acre, 74, 103

Zipperer, P. , 149, 164

THE WESTMINSTER PRESSHARROW ROAD LONDON