Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1885-06-18
COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE.
The Plantations Along the Venezuelan
Coast The Chocolate Industry.


Coast The Chocolate Industry.
lAspinwaIl Cor. Inter Ocean,
The country along the Spanish main,
from Trinidad to the isthmuS, is mix
ture of Florida and Switzerland, where
one can hnd within the radius of a
single days journey any climate or
scene TO suit his taste, from a tropical
jungle, swarming with tigers and ALI
gators TO mountain ofS2tS cg5Tned with
eternal snow DOTn in the southwes-
tern part OF Venezuela and east
ern colombia the Andes noun
tains and twin range, the Cor
cilleras, forming double spinal column
for the continent, split and scatter, and
finally jump into the sea. Between
these GJlctaiRS. slong the coast, are
narrow valleys OF tie mGss luxurious
tropical yeTdure and the rirhcst soil,
which yield three haryeStS annually and
are densely populated Coffee, sugar
and chocolate are the staples of the
lower region, called ''terre calente' (hOt
earth; corn, beans and other temper
ate zone products are raised on the
mountain side. aud higher up, on the
plains, 1000 and 5000 feet above the
sea, are thousands of goats and cattle.
The coffee plantations extend from
the coast far up into the mountains.
and are very prolific The people here
claim to raise the best coffee in the
world, and it is a singular fact, as
serted by the exporters, that only the
poorest grade goes to the mite | states,
while all of the better quality IS sent to
france and German. Just why this
is so w one explains. further than re-
peating the reTark so often made that
the Americans 'io not like good coffee.
The cocoa plnnt is an odd sort Of af-
fair IL has great wax-like leaves, AMI
resembles small magnolia tree. Upon
its trunk and larger limbs there appears
semi-annually large number of wart-
like protuberances, about as large as
the smallest pineapple. They are ugly
looking parasites, but, like many other
ugly things have value and usefulness.
At first they are green, but when they
get red the natives pick them off, crush
them in a rude machine, and take from
each handful Of see about the size
and shape of lima bean. This is the
cocoa.
When the beans are thoroughly dried
IN the sun they are shipped to the mar
ket in gunny sacks, where the chocolate
manufacturer gets hold of them. He
grinds them into fine powder Of gray
color, that looks like graham -four,
mixes it with the pure Juice of the sugar
cane, called ''papillon, and tiayors the
mixture with the juice of the vanilla
bean. After being boiled for a certain
length Of time this is poured into molds
and allowed TO harden, when il tecomes
the chocolate of commerce.
The aracas chocolate, as all the pro.
duct of enezuela is termed, is con.
sidered the lest in the world. II costs
IS cents a pound at the factories there,
but can be purchase tor - or 80 cents
a POM in New ork he best cocoa
beans are cents pound here, but the
Yankee manufacturer has way of in
ereasing their weight and reducing their
va ue 10y adulterat0on. tipe -clay is
cheap and heavy, and it is supposed to
be harmless. IL weighs about five times
as much as cocoa, and, as the profit in
lager beer is in the foam, so is the profit
in chocolate in the pipe clay, or what
ever substance il may be mixed with.