1 



238 PLANTS AND MAN 



exported, the countries supplying the world's tea markets being 

 British India and Ceylon, the Dutch East Indies, and Japan. 

 The tea crop of the world is much less, by weight, than that of 

 coffee, but nevertheless far larger quantities of beverage tea are 

 consumed than of beverage coffee, since one pound of tea will 

 make almost three hundred cupfuls of drink, whereas a pound 

 of coffee will furnish about forty cups. The Orient is the great 

 tea consuming part of the world, followed by England and her 

 possessions. The United States uses less than one pound of tea 

 per person each year, while Great Britain's yearly per capita 

 consumption is between eight and nine pounds. 



Cocoa and chocolate are prepared from the seeds of the 

 cacao or cocoa tree, a member of the Cacao Family which in- 

 cludes a large number of tropical or subtropical trees and shrubs. 

 The cacao tree is small and sensitive to drying winds and intense 

 sunlight, hence is of necessity grown in protected localities, often 

 in the shade of larger trees. It is a native South American tree, 

 and the beverage was unknown outside of this region until the f 

 visits of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century resulted in its 

 being introduced to Europe. However, cocoa constituted the 

 principal beverage of Aztecs and other South American races ^ 

 long before this. Today, due to the great demands for the product 

 of the cacao tree, its cultivation has spread to other tropical parts 

 of the earth. In fact, the Gold Coast region of Africa leads in 

 cocoa production, furnishing almost one half of the world's sup- 

 ply, being followed by Brazil and other South American and 

 African sources, the two continents producing approximately 

 99% of the world cocoa crop. 



Cocoa trees are grown from seed, often in nurseries, and the 

 seedlings transplanted to a spacing of four or five feet. They begin A 

 to bear in three to five years, and continue to yield for fifty years 

 or more. Rather small flowers, borne directly on the trunk and 

 large branches, give rise to the fruit (fig. 169) which is a cucumber 

 shaped pod about six to twelve inches long, containing thirty to 

 fifty flattened seeds in a sticky pulp. The fruit, which ripens in 

 about four months, is harvested two or more times per year. After 

 the pods are cut open, the ivory to violet colored seeds are scooped 



