74 AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS [PT. II 



of opening the pods, fermenting and washing the seeds, and 

 drying them, are all performed by simple hand labour, but 

 lately machinery has been introduced for the purpose by an 

 American firm, and it would seem probable that a great saving 

 may be introduced in this way, more especially on the com- 

 paratively flat lands upon which cacao is grown in many coun- 

 tries. It is quite possible that it is in this direction that we 

 must look for the chief improvements in cacao culture of the 

 next decade. 



Kola or Cola. Another very important cultivation, more 

 perhaps from the point of view of its local uses than from that 

 of export, though the latter is large, is that of the Kola nut, 

 which is the chief cultivation in West Africa from Loango on 

 the south to southern Senegambia on the north. The con- 

 sumption of these nuts is one of the great features of West 

 African life, they being used both as a food and as a stimulant. 

 They are sent in token of reconciliation, are used like olives 

 before a meal, are said to make bad water drinkable, are a cure 

 for alcoholism, a stimulus to cheerfulness ; in fact they take the 

 place of tobacco and other things in other countries. 



The Kola tree (Cola acuminata, and perhaps other species) 

 has been introduced into other countries in the tropics, e.g. into 

 Ceylon, but has not proved sufficiently profitable to form the 

 basis of any important industry, and the export is as yet prac- 

 tically entirely from West Africa. The tree is closely related 

 to the cacao, and grows about 25 to 45 feet high, with panicles 

 of flowers which give rise to strings of fruits, each fruit having 

 two to six rays, each ray a pod containing a few seeds, for which 

 the tree is cultivated. The essential principle in these is 

 caffein, and they contain about 2J/ f ^, or a gd deal more 

 than coffee does. The nut containing also a full third of its 

 weight of starch, besides other matters, forms a good food stuff, 

 as does cacao, and were it not for its unpleasant flavour would 

 probably compete very closely with the latter ; so far, however, 

 it has only come into use when mixed with cacao, and in 

 certain drinks. 



The tree is rarely planted in plantations, but is cleared in 



