Part 3

“A cocoa plantation is set in quite the same manner as an apple-orchard, except that the young stalks may be transplanted from the nursery after two months’ growth. No preparation of the soil is deemed necessary, and no manures are applied. The young trees are planted about fifteen feet equidistant, which will accommodate two hundred trees to the acre. Between rows, and at like spaces, are planted rows of the Bucare, a tree of rapid growth, that serves to shade the soil as well as to shield the young trees from the torrid sun. Small permanent trenches must be maintained from tree to tree throughout the entire length of the rows, so that, at least once in the week, the stream, descending from the mountains, may be turned into these little channels and bear needful moisture to trees and soil. At the age of five years the plantation begins to bear fruit, and annually yields two crops, that ripening in June being termed the crop of San Juan, and that maturing at Christmas being known as the crop of La Navidad. The average age to which the trees attain, under proper care, may be estimated at forty years, during which period it will give fair to full crops of fruit; but of course it must be understood that, as in our fruit orchards, a new tree must be set from time to time to replace one that may be decayed or blighted. After careful inquiry it may be safely stated that the average crop of the cocoa plantation at ten years of age, and under a proper state of cultivation, will amount to five hundred or six hundred pounds per acre.”

The method of preparing the fruit for shipment is thus described in the “Encyclopædia Britannica”:--

“In gathering, the workman is careful to cut down only fully ripened pods, which he adroitly accomplishes with a long pole armed with two prongs, or a knife at its extremity. The pods are left in a heap on the ground for about twenty-four hours; they are then cut open and the seeds are taken out and carried in baskets to the place where they undergo the operation of sweating or curing. There the acid juice which accompanies the seeds is first drained off, after which they are placed in a sweating-box, in which they are enclosed and allowed to ferment for some time, great care being taken to keep the temperature from rising too high. The fermenting process is, in some cases, affected by throwing the seeds into holes or trenches in the ground, and covering them with earth or clay. The seeds in this process, which is called “claying,” are occasionally stirred to keep the fermentation from proceeding too violently. The sweating is a process which requires the very greatest attention and experience, as on it, to a great extent, depends the flavor of the seeds and their fitness for preservation. The operation varies according to the state of the weather, but a period of about two days yields the best results. Thereafter the seeds are exposed to the sun for drying, and those of a fine quality should then assume a warm, reddish tint, which characterizes beans of a superior quality.”

Cocoa-beans are derived chiefly from the following sources, here arranged alphabetically. A recent author has classified them under two heads, unfermented and fermented; but this classification is very misleading, since it happens that from a few of the places mentioned variable proportions of both sorts are brought to market. Ariba (Ecuador), Bahia (Brazil), Caracas (Venezuela), Cayenne (French Guiana), Ceylon, Guatemala, Haiti, or Port au Prince, Java, Machala, or ordinary Guayaquil (Ecuador), Maracaiba (Colombia), Mararion (Brazil), St. Domingo, Surinam (Dutch Guiana), Trinidad (W. I.), from Africa, the Seychelles, Martinique, and Bourbon, variable amounts are beginning to appear as regular products. It is generally understood that some of the best sorts of South American cocoa are consumed at home and do not find their way, in definite quantities, or as a stated supply, to any foreign ports. Among these are Soconusco and Esmeraldas. At the last French exposition these and other very fine sorts from Venezuela and Ecuador were exhibited. New fields are being opened up in many directions to meet the increasing demand for the product.

III.

THE SEEDS OF THE CHOCOLATE-PLANT AS THEY APPEAR IN COMMERCE. THEIR MICROSCOPIC AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERS.

The seeds of the chocolate-plant are brought into the market in their crude state, as almond-shaped “beans,” which differ in color and somewhat in texture. It is not uncommon to find the external surface of the bean more or less covered with a thin irregular layer of attached earth, but this is generally pretty well cleared off during the transportation.

Upon the color of shell and kernel, the relative brittleness, the flavor, and the odor, depends the market value of the seeds.

The dried seeds have a papery, brittle shell, which is very smooth on the inside, but on the outside exhibits, under the microscope, a few short hairs and round excrescences. But these are mostly lost by the rough handling and by the attrition of the seeds with one another during transportation. The kernel consists of two large cotyledons or seed-leaves, reddish-gray or reddish-brown, with a shining, oily surface; the whole crushing rather easily into a loose mass of fragments. The kernel, when dry, has a minute, tough, almost stony radicle which separates easily from the cotyledons. Microscopic examination shows that the cells of the seed-leaves contain albumen, oily matters,--sometimes in a crystalline condition,--crystals of an entirely different shape, starch, coloring substances in special receptacles known as pigment-cells, and ducts with spiral markings. The starch grains do not have any very characteristic form or markings: they are generally spherical and simple. The only peculiarity worth mentioning, is the relative slowness with which they are acted on by hot water and by iodine. The coloring substances are mainly of a carmine or violet color, and are distinguished by the change of shade when an alkali is added, becoming thereby darker.

These are the only structural elements which a pure powder or paste of chocolate should show under the microscope. Any other substances must be recognized as accidental or intentional additions.

All seeds of whatever kind contain, as a part of their substance, the matter of which cell-walls are made; namely, cellulose. The percentage differs in different seeds, in those of the chocolate-plant being about three in the hundred. Cellulose has the same chemical composition as starch; but its physical properties are not the same as those of starch, among which may be mentioned its entire insolubility in boiling water.

Starch forms, on an average, eight to ten per cent of chocolate-seeds. It consists of minute spherical grains, not distinguishable from that found in many other kinds of seeds. Traces of gum and of other allied bodies are also present in the seeds.

Albuminoids, or substances resembling, in a general way, the albumin of egg, occur in chocolate-seeds as they do in other seeds, and in a somewhat higher amount than in certain other cases in which the seeds are used as food. The percentage ranges from about fifteen to twenty, depending on the variety. These albuminoids are compounds of nitrogen, and are extremely nutritious. In the seeds they occur in a readily assimilable form, fit for digestion. Their peculiar relations as flesh-formers are referred to in the section treating of the physiology of chocolate-seeds.

Cacao-red occurs as a coloring matter in small amount. It is rendered dark by alkalies.

Theobromine, the active principle of the cocoa-bean, constitutes less than one per cent of the weight of the seeds, but it varies greatly in amount in different seeds, ranging from ³⁰⁄₁₀₀ of one per cent in some, to a trifle over one per cent in others.

The ash left on completely burning cocoa-beans is not far from four per cent. Its composition is substantially that of the ash of seeds of other plants.

Cocoa-butter, or oil, constitutes not far from fifty per cent of good cocoa-beans. The oil is remarkable for its freedom from rancidity and its very bland character. Its uses are innumerable.

The following averages of many analyses by a leading recent authority may be of interest:--

UNROASTED.

Moisture 7.11 Oil 51.78 Theobromine .35 Starch 5.78 Cellulose 3.1 Other carbohydrates, glucosides, etc. 10.05 Protein matters 15.61 Ash 3.60

ROASTED.

Moisture 6.51 Oil 49.24 Theobromine .43 Starch 10.43 Cellulose 3.1 Other carbohydrates, glucosides, etc. 7.78 Protein matters 18.33 Ash 3.92

IV.

MANUFACTURE OF CHOCOLATE AND BREAKFAST COCOA.

We have already called attention to the simple process by which the natives of Central America prepared a nutritious beverage from the seeds of the chocolate-plant. The essential features of this process, modified and greatly improved by modern science, are worthy of consideration at this time.

The selected cocoa-beans are first cleaned from the dust and attached particles which have come from various sources during the fermentation of the seeds. The machines for cleaning the beans are very ingenious and effective, removing from the seed-coat every trace of foreign matter.

The cleaned seeds are next roasted in the most careful manner, every precaution being taken to secure a uniform effect through the whole mass. During the roasting the seeds change color somewhat and become more or less modified in taste. In under-roasted seeds the flavor is not fully developed, while in over-roasted seeds the pleasant taste is likely to become greatly impaired, or it may even be wholly replaced by a bitter and harsh flavor. These relations of color and taste to the roasting of the seeds make this portion of the manufacture one of the most delicate processes from beginning to end.

By the roasting the shell becomes more readily detachable, and its complete removal is the next step. The crushing of the seeds into small fragments is easily accomplished; and this is followed by a thorough winnowing, by which the lighter shells are carried away by themselves, leaving the clean fragments of the roasted seeds ready for further manipulation.