THE CACAO BEAN. : 81 



In Venezuela, in some parts of West Africa, and in 

 other cacao-bearing regions where Spaniards have been 

 dominant, there is a practice of " claying " the beans by 

 dusting over them a fine red earth during the drying pro- 

 cess. The bean is said to be protected thereby from mil- 

 dew, and the aroma is supposed to be preserved. Often, 

 however, this practice degenerates into a mere " weight- 

 ing " of the cacao. Many brokers and manufacturers 

 do not favour " claying/' but others do. 



The beans are exported to Europe in bags. The 

 process of their manufacture into cocoa or chocolate in 

 this and other countries the author has described else- 

 where.* 



The cost of planting and producing cacao varies, of 

 course, like its yield, according to the country, and also 

 according to the labour obtainable. 



In Trinidad, for example, land may be obtained for 

 about 1 per acre, and labour costs from 50 to 100 cents 

 per day, while estates are usually planted on the contract 

 system i.e., the land is cleared at the owner's expense 

 (25s. to 2 per acre), and handed over to a contractor, 

 who drains and plants for his own profit. When he hands 

 it back, the proprietor pays Is. 3d. per bearing tree, 

 and about half-price for non-bearing ones. 



In Samoa the Vice-Consul estimates about 2,800 to 

 start a plantation, and 30 to 40 as the cost per acre 

 from the clearing to the first crop. 



The Governor of Fernando Po says that capital in- 

 vested yields interest in five to six year-, and in seven 

 or eight years the whole should be reimbursed. 



A native farmer, writing in the Gold Coast Leader in 



* " Romance of Modern Commerce " (Seeley & Co., London). 



6 



