HISTORICAL 7 



seeds of a new variety, the Forastero, which was soon 

 cultivated to a large extent. In Jamaica, however, 

 cocoa culture remained abandoned until the latter half 

 of the nineteenth century. In 1882 the plant was only 

 grown in isolated instances, but since that time the 

 cultivation has again made great progress. In Haiti 

 the many revolutions made regular development of the 

 cocoa culture impossible. The production continued 

 with ups and downs, until at the end of the nineteenth 

 century steadier progress began to be made. 



The cocoa industry of Cuba is of quite recent date, 

 for though much cocoa was consumed in the island, it 

 was not till the beginning of the nineteenth century 

 that the first seeds were imported from Venezuela. In 

 1847 about 44,000 kilograms were produced, but this 

 was only enough to satisfy the local demand. Since 

 that time the annual export of cocoa has increased 

 with more or less regularity, and now amounts to about 

 2 million kilograms, though the yield varies considerably 

 in the different years. 



The first cocoa plants were imported into Surinam 

 (Dutch Guiana 1 ) in 1684 by Chevalier de Chatillon 

 from the basin of the Orinoco, arid in 1725 the first cocoa 

 was exported about 180,000 kilograms. Gradually the 

 importance of this crop grew, but at the beginning of 

 the nineteenth century there was a decline, and the 

 cultivation was almost abandoned until about the 

 middle of the century. 



Brazil, which in 1909 actually exported even more 

 than Ecuador, is one of the youngest cocoa-growing 

 countries. It is true that the cocoa tree grows wild in 

 the basin of the Amazon and that it has been cultivated 

 in the State of Para since the middle of the eighteenth 

 century ; but that this culture was of no importance is I 

 clear from the fact that only 7000 trees had been planted 

 in Para up to 1749. In the case of the State of Bahia,J 

 which is now of far greater importance than Para, the 



1 The Netherlands colony which in England is called "Dutch Guiana" 

 is throughout this book given its Dutch name, "Surinam." 



