244 



THE AGRIOtTLTTmAL NEWS, 



AUGUST 9, 1919 



IS CRIOLLO CACAO DISAPPEARING? 



In au iirticK- by .Mr. .\. W. Koapp, entitled 'Science in 

 Cacao Production', wliich was partly reproduced in the As;r! 

 ctdtifi! Xr<i>f (No. 414, p. 141j, the writer comments upon 

 the difference in market prices of c.icao, owing to the varying 

 quality of the bfan.s from different countries. He stites 

 that ii is owing to thi.'< fact the British Food Controller 

 ■fixed the price of West African cacao at 65.<. a cwt., Grenada 

 at 85s. a cwt., and Ceylon at lOOj. a cwt. It is further 

 Stated that 'the quality of any cacao is the result of the 

 botanic variety or "breed" plus the treatment it receives in 

 preparation for the market Now Grenada and Ceylon 

 cftcaos are obviously different in "breed," so that Grenada 

 cinnothopeby ftrraentation, however scientific, to get the 

 I'eylon bean. The line of improvoment, perhaps for Gren- 

 ada, is to try the planting and rearing of the more delicate 

 (Jrvlon type of cacao.' 



There is evidently a doubt in the writer's mind when he 

 makes the guarded suggestion to Grenada planters to grow 

 a delicate variety of cacao ; and very many planters in the 

 West Indies will share that doubt with him. 



It is not the object of this article to discuss cacao grow- 

 ing in Grenada though the maintenance and development 

 of the industry there, combined with comparative freedom of 

 disease, have been remarkable — a state of things presumably 

 due to the growing of varieties of cacao suited to the climatic 

 cobditions. It is rather our object to point out the need of 

 collating information on what has happened in variou.s 

 countries during the initial effort.s to cultivate and establish 

 cacao plantations. Such a record, if made, would be of the 

 greatest value to those who have from time to time to dis- 

 cuss the cacao situation. It would also serve to assist 

 planters in any efforts that may be made in the future to 

 grow cacao in new localities. 



In the early days of cacao growing in the West Indies, 

 during whicli the delicate Criollo cacao was the variety used, 

 it is recorded by historians that in Trinidad, Jamaica and 

 Martinique, the trees were destroyed by a 'blast'. This 

 'blast' is held by some to mean the effects oi a hurricane ; 

 by others, to be due to the same fungus disease which to-day 

 exacts sucli a heavy toll amongst criollo trees. Probably 

 the latter view is correct. It i.s unlikely that cacao culti- 

 vation was destroyed by a hurricane in Trinidad, or that 

 ■wholesale destruction from this cause occurred in either 

 Martinique or.lamaica. 



When cacao cultivatirin was again taken up in those 

 countries, the varieties imported and grown were the hardier 

 Forastero kinds. It is apparent to all who have studied 

 the growing of cacao, that this replacement of the high grade 

 Criollo by the lower grade Fora.itero is a natural process in 

 nearly all cacao-growing countries. Whenever cacao is 

 taken up by planters, it is generally the desire to plant 

 the best tyfe, that is, the Criollo variety, which though 

 delicate in ron.stitution and very prone to disease, commands 

 a high price on the market, liut no sooner is a field of 

 this variety established in the smaller West Indian islands 

 than it begins to die away, owing to its delicate character, 

 and its liability to canker and other disease. 'J'his lead.s 

 to its replacement by the hardy Korastero varieties. In 

 gaining this experience, the planter has lost greatly in 

 time and in pocket. 



Twenty-five to thirty years ago, when a good deal of 

 attention was being paid to cacao growing in Dominica, 

 the same mistake was made, and thousands of pods of 

 Criollo cacao were imported for raising plants. It may be 

 iaid that very few of the.oe are alive to day, and those 



which survive are located in very favourable aituationa 

 The same efforts have been made and the same experience 

 ha.s been reported from other countries. According to 

 van Hall, even in the ba'in of the Orinoco, probably the 

 home of Criollo cacao, planters are now growing the best 

 kinds of Forastero in place of the Criollo variety. 



All this means that the production of high grade 

 cacao is falling off, while that of inferior cacaos is growing. 

 It is somewhat surprising to find that on rich and well 

 favoured lands near the E'(Uitor, the planter is now doing 

 what the peasant proprietor has long done in islands like 

 Grenada and Dominica, i.e., injisting on growing the 

 varieties which are hardy, long-lived, and free bearers. 

 For this action the peasant has been vigorously rated in 

 the past ; but the results of his work are sound, and it is 

 probably owing to this early appreciation of the difficulties 

 connected with cacao cultivation in the small islands of the 

 West Indies, that the cacao situation is so strong in Grenada 

 to-day. 



It is evident from actual experience, that countries 

 lying within 10° or 12' north or south of the Equat' r, are 

 better suited for Criollo cacao than those lyiag outside those 

 limits, but within the tro])ics. The success of cacao cultiva- 

 tion in islands like Dominica, St. Lucia and Grenada ia 

 clearly conditional on ihe hardy and long-lived varieties 

 being grown. That being so, all advice to grow delicate 

 varieties in these islands is in direit opposition to local 

 experience, which ha.s in many cases been gained at great cost 

 and effort. 



If the present trend to substitute Forastero varieties 

 for t'riollo continues in countries which formerly were noted 

 for the excellence of their Criollo cacao, the time will arrive 

 ■when the latter will disappear from the world's markets. 

 According to van Hall, even in those districts in countries 

 near the Equator which were once famous for high grade 

 cacao, the produce shows steady deterioration during recent 

 years, owing to interplauting with Forastero varieties. It 

 would be interesting to know if there is any parallel case of 

 an extremely fine product gradually ceasing to be cultivated, 

 owing to disinclination of the growers, even in favoured 

 eituations, to take the necessary [)aius to proditce it. The 

 manufacturers certainly want the product : but will they pay 

 a price which will recoup the grower the high cost oi pro- 

 ducing the article, in order to keep the variety under culti- 

 vation, and the produce available for commerce ' 



It would appear that the Criollo variety, in spite of all ita 

 constitutional detects, could continue to be euccessfully culti- 

 vated in favourable situations by adoj.ting intensive methods 

 of cultivation, which would include periodical spraying of the 

 plantations to keep down fungus diseases, to which this cacao 

 is particularly susceptible. IJut the cost of such procedure 

 would be considerably in excess of that now incurred on 

 plantations, and it would follow that planters forwarding that 

 product to market would require a much higher price over 

 and above the ruling prices which the best Forastero kinds 

 fetch today. 



The great requirement of the present is an exact record 

 of what has ha[)penod an! is hafpening in cacao-growing 

 countries in respect to this impoitant matter. Such information 

 would be of the greatest value to all interested in the 

 production of cacao. The one outstanding fact in regard, to 

 Criollo cacao, a highly prized product, is that all attempts to 

 grow it commercially have, in the long run, owing to various 

 reasons ended or are ending in the defeat of the planter, who 

 has in the past and is at present being compelled by a variety 

 of circumstances to depend more and more upon tl e hardier 

 varieties. 



