86 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



are large and possess a fine strong flavour and char- 

 acteristic scented aroma. The amount of Guayaquil 

 cacao exported in 1919 was 33,209 tons. 



An interesting experiment was made in 1912, when 

 a protective association known as the Asociacion de 

 Agricultores del Ecuador was legalised. This collects 

 half a golden dollar on every hundred pounds of cacao, 



SORTING CACAO FOR SHIPMENT, GUAYAQUIL, 

 ECUADOR. 



and by purchasing and storing cacao on its own account 

 whenever prices fall below a reasonable minimum, 

 attempts in the planter's interest to regulate the selling 

 price of cacao. Unfortunately, as cacao tends to go 

 mouldy when stored in a damp tropical climate, the 

 Asociacion is not an unmixed blessing to the manu- 

 facturer and consumer. 



