CACAO 169 



Production. Some cacao is now raised in all tropical 

 countries. The foremost country in the amount produced 

 is Ecuador, but Venezuela is foremost in quality. The 

 Philippines and Ceylon have been the chief sources of 

 cacao in the Old World. The mountainous little island 

 of Maripipi produced in Spanish times the finest cacao in 

 the world, so fine that it sold for a peso a liter, or almost 

 twice the best market price of Venezuela cacao. 



Uses. The chief use of cacao is in making drinks, cocoa 

 or caeao, and chocolate; but a great deal is also used in 

 candy and pastry, and as a solid food. Mountaineers 

 and explorers carry sweet chocolate, because they believe 

 that it is the most convenient and valuable of all foods, in 

 proportion to its weight and bulk. 



Description. Cacao is a small tree, usually reaching a 

 height of about 7 meters and a diameter of about 10 cm. 

 The flowers are clustered on dwarfed branches, on the 

 trunk and leafless limbs. As a rule, only about one 

 tenth of the flowers produce fruit. The average number 

 of fruit on a tree is twenty or thirty, though some trees 

 produce many more. 



Describe a leaf of cacao. How does it differ from that of coffee? 

 Describe the flower, and illustrate all parts. 



The fruit is 10 to 15 cm long, and half as thick, with 

 ten lengthwise furrows. In the Philippines it is usually 

 red before it is ripe, and afterwards becomes brown. It 

 usually contains as many as forty reddish or brownish 

 seeds, each of which is composed almost entirely of the 

 two fleshy cotyledons. 



