Page:The food of the Gods - A Popular Account of Cocoa.djvu/196

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At the present day, when the beans are plentiful on the cacao estates, but no machines for manufacture exist, the planters prepare a palatable drink by roasting the beans on a moving shovel or pan over the open fire, husking them by the time-honoured plan of tossing in the breeze, and grinding out on a flat stone in much the same manner as did the old Spaniards. The writer has even seen a little tobacco-press ingeniously adapted for the purpose of extracting the butter, the invention of Mr. J. H. Hart, of the Trinidad Botanical Gardens, a gentleman who has done much in the direction of investigating the best cacao for seed, and the most favourable methods of cultivation.