20 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



somewhat taller, being, when full grown, about twenty 

 feet high. It begins to bear in its fourth or fifth year 

 Smooth in its early youth, as it gets older it becomes 

 covered with little bosses (cushions) from which many 

 flowers spring. I saw one fellow, very tall and gnarled, 

 and with many pods on it ; turning to the planter I 

 enquired " How old is that tree ? " He replied, almost 



CACAO TREE, SHOWING PODS GROWING 

 FROM TRUNK. 



reverentially : " It's a good deal older than I am ; 

 must be at least fifty years old." " It's one of the tallest 

 cacao trees I've seen. I wonder - ." The planter 

 perceived my thought, and said : "I'll have it meas- 

 ured for you." It was forty feet high. That was a tall 

 one ; usually they are not more than half that height. 

 The bark is reddish-grey, and may be partly hidden 

 by brown, grey and green patches of lichen. The bark 

 is both beautiful and quaint, but in the main the tree 



