222 



^IHE TROPICAL AGBICULTiraiST. [September t, 1884 



When this is effected then the young cocoa-plants are 

 committed to the ground in straight lines, about 12 to 

 30 feet asunder; the difference in the intervals depends 

 on the nature of the ground, the climate, and the nature 

 of the plant under culture. 



As the coral trees do not yield immediately sufficient 

 shade, coffee, bananas and maniok are placed between the 

 cocoa-plants; they then grow up together till the coral 

 trees have grown sufficiently to give the necessary shade ; 

 then the bananas and manioks are removed, while the 

 coffee plants are left standing. 



In the second year the cocoa-tree begins to blossom, 

 but these blossoms must be nipped off; in the third year 

 they require more air, so the coffee shrubs are also removed. 

 One of the most important things in the culture is the 

 due pruning of the cocoa-trees, to get as straight and 

 clean a stem as possible, bearing a well-shaped tuft. Then 

 care must be taken to remove all weeds. 'Che weeding 

 must not be done with a hoe, but with a sort of shovel 

 or spade. 



Sometimes the tree is attacked by a malady, which is 

 called mancha; this first attacks the roots, and then it 

 rapidly causes death; the disease spreads so rapidly in a 

 plantation, that thousands of trees are frequently destroyed 

 in one night. 



Besides this disease, the tree is also infested by various 

 insects. Even the seeds laid out in the nurseries are often 

 destroyed by rats and other vermin. The young plants 

 often suffer from a kind of insect called Koti-Kotis, which 

 proceed from a caterpillar. In fig. 4 this caterpillar, the 

 pupa and the kind of beetle that proceeds from it, are 

 represented, while fig. Sand 5 show another kind of insects, 

 greatly magnified, that infest this plant. These, as well 

 as a kind of ant, bore holes in the bark, nestle them- 

 selves under the bark and gnaw into it, while the ants 

 devour the leaves. The caterpillar, represented in fig. 4 

 penetrates also into the fruit, and devours the beans. 

 Hence it often happens that before maturity they turn 

 black and rot. Mr. Van Gorkom in his Uost Tndische Cult- 

 ures" vol. II., p. 47S, says what follows on this subject:— 

 "From the latest Government reports, it appears that 

 the culture in the Moluccas has suffered much from 

 a disease which we observed frequently also in West Java. 

 The fruit turn black before maturity and rot. All kinds 

 of remedies have been tried, but without any observable 

 favourable result. Some pretend that the disease abates 

 if the bark of the trees is thoroughly notched. Experi- 

 enced planters are of opinion that the disease mostly mani- 

 fests itself when a long drought is succeeded by much wet 

 weather." 



And on page 479 he says:— "In general climates the cocoa 

 may be treated in the same way as coffee; it is in the 

 very same relation with regard to shade anil wind, but it 

 requires two or three times more growing space. In America, 

 too, this culture has to struggle with various diseases and 

 plagues, which are also probably the consequences of a 

 want of proper care. If a systematic clearing and prun- 

 ing and proper draining etc. were more attended to, there 

 would probably lie less cause of complaint." 



Besides these things one of the greatest plagues of the 

 culture is the wind. Whole plantations are often destroyed 

 by a single storm. 



The harvest generally takes place, as we have already 

 said, about June and December. For this reason we speak 

 of the Midsummer Crop and the Christmas Crop. These 

 periods apply chiefly to those parts that are situated m 

 higher or lower latitudes than the Tropics. Within the 

 Tropics the fruit ripen all the year round, therefore the 

 trees are watched every fortnight, ill order to gather the 

 ripe fruit and at the' same time to prune where it is 

 necessary. To reach perfect maturity, the fruit requires 

 five months; but sine- the tree flourishes all the year round, 

 this explains the possibility of a fortnightly crop. 



At the age of three or four years the young trees begin 

 already to bear fruit, though smalland few. Not till their 

 eighth or tenth year do tiny become very productive, and 

 so they remain for 15 to 35 or 40 years. 



The harvesting itself requires much care. Men, women 

 and children are employed in it. The fruit to be plucked 

 are culled with ear.-,;., ,, inly those that are perfectly ripe. 

 Unripe or over-ripe fruit give a much inf erior yield. The 



* We regret we cannot reproduce these figures.— Ei>, 



best way to ascertain whether the fruit is ripe, is to 

 observe the sound it yields on tapping; the ripe fruit then 

 sound hollow, as the seeds or beans have then detached 

 themselves from the pod. The ripe fruit can also te 

 distinguished from the unripe by their colour. 



The low-hanging fruit are wrenched off, those hanging 

 higher are cut off with a kind of pruning hook, as represented 

 in fig. 3 and 6. Care must be taken not to damage the 

 branches. Women and children pick up the fruit thus 

 gathered and carry them to the store-room or work-shops, 

 where they undergo the necessary treatment. 



Regarding the produce of tho culture writers differ 

 considerably. We, for our part, ascribe this chiefly to their 

 taking account of trees in different localities. 



We will confine ourselves to the two following statements, 

 the first of which is taken from the work mentioned above 

 of Mr. Van Gorkom, p. 479, while the other, is from the 

 admirable work of Charles G. Warnford Lock, entitled 

 Spon's Encyclopaedia of lite Industrial Arts, Manufacturer.-:, 

 and Ran- Commercial Products, vol. 1., p. 680. Van Gorkom 

 says: — "AVhat thereliable produce per tree can be, is difficult 

 to say with any certainty; one year differs considerably 

 from another, and also several individuals in one and the 

 same plantation are far from being of equal value. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Van Eijbergen of the East India 0. S. who 

 has described the cocoa culture, it occurs that single trees 

 produce 300 a 400 fruit; on an average, however, one 

 must not reckon on more than a score of fruit per an- 

 num. About thirty full-grown fruit would yield one kilo 

 of dry beans. The drying of the fresh kernels or beans 

 causes a loss iu weight of 40 or 50 per cent. 



The other authority mentioned above, whom we have 

 consulted, says as follows: — "Only in very particular cases 

 is it allowable to plant more than 900 trees on one acre 

 of land. The average annual produce is estimated at 4 or 

 6 lb. from each ripe plant, though there are also instances 

 mentioned of a produce of 11 lb. from one tree in one 

 season, and even of 15 to 18 and 20 lb. from sundry single 

 trees." 



On compai ing these two statements carefully, we shall 

 see that they do not diverge considerably. For according 

 to Van Gorkom, one tree would yield on an average 1 

 kilo of dry beans, and according to Warnford Lock 2 or 

 3 kilos of fresh beans, which according to Van Eijbergen 

 lose 40 or 50 per cent of their weight in drying, so that 

 the latter authority agrees, as to produce, pretty well with 

 Van Gorkom. 



Iu the English work mentioned, the portion that treats . 

 of the produce ends with the following observation: — "The 

 culture of cocoa is considered profitable for great capitalists, 

 because it requires less outlay and labour, and yields more 

 than perhaps any other tropical culture, but the dangers 

 of storms and the ravages of insects do render it some- 

 what risky. 



As regards the costs of the culture, the general rule 

 holds that, on an average, 15 a 20 labourers are required 

 for every 30,000 or 40,000 trees, making a yearly outlay 

 of 2,400 a 3.000 guilders, so on an average one hundred 

 guilders per 1,000 trees. 



In the first part of our article we mentioned the 

 fermentationprocess, to which the beans are subjected after 

 gathering. We deem it necessary to return to the subject 

 more in detail. 



In Surinam, and elsewhere iu America, the fruit is broken 

 open immediately after gathering; then there flows from 

 it a juice that is carefully caught up iu bottles, to be 

 used afterwards as a refreshing beverage. It is a little 

 acrid but not unpleasant. If diluted with water and allowed 

 to stand some time, a fermentation takes place in the 

 fluid, which converts it into a fragrant vii egar. To the 

 natives of West India this juice as well as the vinegar is 

 a delicacy. The fruits which grow in the tropics of the 

 old world possess no such juice, or at any rate so little 

 that it is not considered worth while to collect it. The 

 fruit is there simply cut open with a wooden knife, we 

 should almost say with a folding stick, or else it is care- 

 fnllv broken with a hammer. 



iii either case the great object is the beans, which are 

 then subjected to one of the treatments mentioned above, 

 in order to effect the fermentation process _ upon the 

 beans; yet this process must net be continued too 

 far, for then there is the risk of the beans turning 



