CACAO CULTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 11 



those in which the Forastero or Calabacillo blood predominates are red- 

 dish, or, in the case of Forastero, almost violet in color. For flavor, free- 

 dom from bitterness, facility in curing, and high commercial value, the 

 Criollo is everywhere conceded to be facile princeps. 



On the other hand, in point of yield, vigor, freedom from disease, and 

 compatibility to environment it is not to be compared with the others. 

 Nevertheless, where such perfect conditions exist as are found in parts of 

 Mindanao, I do not hesitate to urge the planting of Criollo. Elsewhere, 

 or wherever the plantation is tentative or the conditions not very well 

 known to the planter, the Forastero is to be recommended. The former 

 is commercially known as "Caracas" and "old red Ceylon'' and may be 

 obtained from Ceylon dealers; and the latter, the Forastero, or forms of 

 it which have originated in the island, can be procured from Java. 



It seems not unlikely that the true Forastero may have been brought to 

 these Islands from Acapulco, Mexico, two hundred and thirty-two years 

 ago, 1 as it was at that time the dominant kind grown in southeastern 

 Mexico, and, if so, the place where the pure type would most likely be 

 found in these Islands would be in the Camarine?, Southern Luzon. 

 Aside from the seed characters already given, Forastero is recognized by 

 its larger, thicker, more abundant, and rather more abruptly pointed 

 fruit than Criollo, and its coarse leaves which are from 22 to 50 cm. long 

 by 7 to 13 cm. wide, dimensions nearly double those reached by the Criollo 

 or Calabacillo varieties. 



PLANTING. 



Planting may be done "at stake" or from the nursery. For the un- 

 skilled or inexperienced planter, who has means at hand to defray the 

 greater cost, planting "at stake" is perhaps to be recommended. This is 

 no more than the dropping and lightly covering, during the rainy season, 

 of three or four seeds at the stake where the plant is to stand, protecting 

 the spot with a bit of banana leaf, left till the seeds have sprouted, and 

 subsequently pulling out all but the one strongest and thriftiest plant. 



The contingencies to be met by this system are many. The enemies of 

 the cacao seed are legion. Drought, birds, worms, ants, beetles, mice, and 

 rats will all contribute their quota to prevent a good "stand" and entail 

 the necessitly of repeated plantings. Success by planting "at stake" is so 

 doubtful that it is rarely followed by experienced planters. 



The consequent alternative lies in rearing seedlings in seed beds that 

 are under immediate control, and, when the plants are of sufficient size, 

 in transplanting them to their proper sites in the orchard. In view of the 



According to "Historiade Filipinas," by P. Fr. Gaspar de S. Augustin, cacao 

 plants were first brought here in the year 1670 by a pilot named Pedro Brabo, of 

 Laguna Province, who gave them to a priest of the Camarines named Bartoleme 

 Brabo. 



