88 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



THE WEST INDIES. 



In the map of South America the principal West 

 Indian islands producing cacao are marked. Their 

 production in 191 8 was as follows : 



Cacao Beans Exported. Percentage of 



Metric Tons. World's production. 



Trinidad (British) 26,177 9*7 



San Domingo 1 8,839 7' 



Grenada (British) 6,704 2*5 



Jamaica (British) 3, 000 n 



Haiti 2,272 o*8 



St. Lucia (British) 500 o'2 



Dominica (British) 300 o - i 



St. Vincent (British) .... 70 o - 02 



West Indies Total .... 57,862 tons 21-42 per cent. 



Br. West Indies 36,751 tons 13*6 per cent. 



Trinidad and Grenada.* 



Cacao was grown in the West Indies in the seven- 

 teenth century, and the inhabitants, after the destruct- 

 ive ' blast," which utterly destroyed the plantations 

 in 1727, bravely replanted cacao, which has flourished 

 there ever since. The cacaos of Trinidad and Grenada 

 have long been known for their excellence, and it is 

 mainly from Trinidad that the knowledge of methods 

 of scientific cultivation and preparation has been 

 spread to planters all round the equator. The cacao 

 from Trinidad (famous alike for its cacao and its pitch 

 lake) has always held a high place in the markets of the 

 world, although a year or two ago the inclusion of in- 

 ferior cacao and the practice of claying was abused 

 by a few growers and merchants. With the object of 

 stopping these abuses and of producing a uniform 

 cacao, there was formed a Cacao Planters' Associ- 

 ation, whose business it is to grade and bulk, and sell 

 on a co-operative basis, the cacao produced by its 

 members. This experiment has proved successful, and 



* Cacao production in 1919: Trinidad 27,185 tons; Grenada 



4,020 tons. 



