CH. IV] COFFEE, CACAO OR CHOCOLATE, KOLA, ETC. 73 



seeds command a lower price. Treatment of the disease was at 

 first almost entirely by excision of the diseased parts, but of late 

 spraying has come in, the fruits, which are extremely liable to 

 attack, being sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or other com- 

 pound. This is about the first case of spraying, now so very 

 much in use in colder countries, being employed on a large 

 scale in the tropics. 



Another direction in which science is coming in, in Ceylon 

 at any rate, is in the use of green manures, various leguminous 

 plants being planted between the rows of cacao, and sub- 

 sequently ploughed or dug in. In this way the nitrogen 

 available for the cacao may be much increased at small cost. 



With the great extension of cacao cultivation, which is now 

 taken up in nearly all tropical countries, there will presently 

 l>e a fairly severe competition, and prices will probably be very 

 low. Improvement must therefore be sought for by those 

 countries which would keep ahead in this matter. Some of 

 the directions in which this improvement may be looked for 

 are in the selection of better varieties for cultivation, e.g. even 

 in the simple substitution of Criollo for Forastero, or the 

 selection of seed from trees that regularly bear large numbers 

 of good pods (for there are well-marked differences in this 

 respect). Another moderately easy thing to manage, and one 

 which repays itself, is the careful grading of the seeds sent to 

 market. If Criollo (pale pink or brown) and Forastero (purple) 

 seeds are sent into the market mixed, the price paid for them 

 will of course be the lower price, that of the Forastero, whereas 

 if they be separated, the Criollo seeds will fetch a much higher 

 price. Though at first the two kinds of seeds look alike, it will 

 soon be found possible to distinguish them, and coolies can be 

 trained to separate the two kinds, of seeds with a fair amount 

 of certainty. Prevention of disease, by spraying and in other 

 ways, is another thing that requires careful attention, cacao being 

 very liable to various diseases. Still another direction in which 

 something may be hoped for is in the application of green 

 manuring, which may give as good results as bulk manuring, 

 at much less cost. 



In most cacao-growing countries, the laborious operations 



