The Osceola times., 1882-02-18
TIE COCOA PLANT.
whore II IL Raised and what Il Looks
Like.
Brooklyn Eagle.

Brooklyn Eagle.
II was once a common but very mis-
taken notion that chocolate and cocoa
were manufactured from cocoanuts, and
probably very many believe that TO day.
The cocoanut tree, as most people know,
is a species of that large family known
as the palm, and its long, straight stem
and feathery branches distinguish il
from every other tree. 1t has been
christined the Pride Of the Indies, and
the description is very applicable; for
the tree, beside being useful for its nuts,
and their milk, forms an excellent shade
in those localities where other trees do
not seem TO flourish. But the cocoa, or
properly cacao tree, has no relation to
the palm, and when full grown it barely
escapes being termed bush. The cul-
tiyation OF the cocoa in the West Indies
and South America has, of late years,
been very large and profitable, and many
of the sugar planters are going into the
business of raising it. The largest cult.
ystor in the world is NJ. Menier, a
Frenchman: whose estates are very nu-
merous, the largest one being on the
lsthmus of Panama, eight miles from the
southwest coast Of Nicaragua, and sixty
miles from the Pacific coast. The same
gentleman has also 5000 acres of land in
South America called San Emelio, where
an immense number of trees is under
cultivation. Each tree yields an aver.
age of ten pounds of cocoa. The tree
begins TO bear after the fifth year. The
appearance of the trdit on the tree be-
fore it is ripe reminds one of a cucumber
When ripe it is Of a bright yellow color
When the cocoa beans are taken from
their covering they ere placed en- the
ground TO dry, and the damp heat of the
earth removes the bitter principle from
them, and also imparts TO them the red
-fish color which they present. Cocoa Of
an inferior quality is seldom covered
with red earth. In the preparation of
cocoa for the market it is usually neces-
sary to mix with it one-third of crystll-
lied Martinique sugar, and about two
thirds of the French crystalized The
Martinique sugar is richer than that
made from beet root, and necessarily
facilitates the making Of the paste. 1t is
curious to note the variations in the
duties on sugar and cocoa, which had
great influence on the consumption OF
chocolate in 1860. At thai date the price
OF sugar was quite low, and so there was
an increased demand for chocolate. Oue
French firm imports over l0O0000J
pounds OF cocoa per annum. The bags
of cocoa that come TO this country from
South America and some of the East and
West India islands, usually contain small
chips Of wood, stones, and other foreign
substances, amounting in weight alto
gether to about five pounds. In most Of
the factories a f5w years ago the sifling
process was carried on by hand but now
it is done 10y machinery The cocoas are
first placed into two cylindrical busters,
one nine feet and the other fourteen feet
long. These are covered by iron plates
Theoretically sealed. At the extremity
of each there is hopper into which the
rough cocoa is emp,ied by means of a
chain with cups. On the inside is a
cylinder-iike sieve, to do the first clean
ing. Tie rotary movement sends the
beans into a demi-sphericsl funnel, after
which they pa into secoud rotary
cylinder, which allows grains that ate
either too large or too small.to be reject
ed. The cocoa comes ont of these siiters
thoroughly cleaned. Ii is then q stTib-
uted to the workers, who sought ii care
fully in order to remove such foreign
PARTICLES as may have escaped the action
of the machine. The cocoa Is then taken
to the roasting rooms Each roaster con
sists Of thin iron cylinder, into which
fifty pounds Of cocoa ara placed over
coke furnace. The cylinders are made to
revolvo about twenty minutes. the time
usually taken to do the roasting. The
cocoa is next placed on the floor, whence
it is taken while still hot and placed in
a nlbbing machine. BY nibbing the
newly roasted cocoa before it is cold, a
large grain is obtained. 1t is now put
into a cleansing machine, and after being
thus purified, it is taken TO the grinding
rooms The cocoa is brought t) the top
story cf the building in machinery, and
emptied into hpppors, from which it de-
scends again by means of metallic tubes
between two grindstones, both inc1sed
polish metal. The lower Prindstone has
a circular cup, which receives the cocoa
in the shane of paste, and tbs paste j,
removed in basins to a similar but finer
1t is now ready to be made
into chocolate