Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

86 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY adoption of methods similar to those used in San Thomé. Shipping Cacao. Preferably cacao should not be stored in the tropics but shipped as rapidly as possible. In a moist hot climate it is liable to become mouldy, especially if imperfectly fermented, and also to be attacked by such cosmopolitan pests of stored food-stuffs as the Mediterranean Flour Moth (Ephestia kühniella) and certain tiny beetles (Araeocerus fasci-culatus, etc.).1 As affecting the quality of the cacao, the method of conveying it from the port to the ocean liner is more important than the transporting to the shore, because there is greater risk of getting the cacao wet. Good harbours in the tropics are few, and the cacao generally has to be taken out in lighters to the ocean liner which stands off from the shore. The Gold Coast has no deep sea harbour but there is a costly scheme in hånd for building one at Takoradi. This harbour will be of special advantage to the Gold Coast because of the heavy surf which beats upon the shore, and because everything, including cacao, is taken out to the Elder Dempster steamships in surf boats. It is regrettable that carefully dried cacao should run the risk of being spoiled by the surf which at times rushes over the boats. The leading shipping ports of the world for cacao are Accra and Secondee, both on the Gold Coast. The recent and rising importance of Secondee, which now ships 40 per cent of the Gold Coast cacao, is largely due to the increased output of Ashanti, which is now responsible for one-third of the total production of 1 For füll parti culars, see a paper on " Insect Pests in the Cacao Store,” by A. W. Knapp, in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, p. 189 (1921).