Cocoa : AU About It. By " Eistorieus." (Sampson Low
and Co.)—A pretty little gilt-edged book that would look nice on a drawing-room table, "all about cocoa," a substance largely con- sumed, yet of which few people know aught, much less all. There is a Spanish proverb (of South American origin) to the effect that it is better to have a cocoa-plantation than a gold-mine ; and seeing that in tropical America and the West Indies a plantation produces two crops a year without any great labour or chance of "killing frosts," the proverb unquestionably expresses a truth. The difference between gold-mining and cocoa-growing is the difference between a hazardous speculation and a sound invest- ment. Nothing can be more beautiful than a grove of cocoa-trees in full bearing, and their cultivation, the gathering of the fruit, and its preparation for market, are a pleasant and interest- ing occupation. We are surprised that " Historicus " does not include Venezuela in his list of cocoa-producing countries. That country grows some of the best cocoa in the world. It is tree goilte in France, and the Spaniards make from it that exquisite chocolate the secret of which they alone possess. When the " nibs " come to Europe, they are merely raw material, and their conversion into chocolate, sweetstuff, and what not, is a large industry both on the Continent and in England. " Historicus" gives us an interesting description of the various processes through which the raw material passes before it is fit for use as a beverage, a food, and a "goody." In one of its several transformations, the substance becomes cocoa-butter, which is, perhaps, the reason why he so continually "butters up" a certain firm of manufacturers who, however enterprising and ingenious, are not, after all, the only cocoa-manufacturers in the world.
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