CHAPTER V 



VARIETIES OF COCOA 



IT has been seen that the cocoa trees of the whole 

 cocoa-growing world show little variation as regards 

 their habits and the characteristics of the vegetative 

 parts (stem, branches, leaves) and blossoms. In these 

 parts we find, indeed, only slight differences between 

 the various types of cocoa. In the fruits and seeds, how- 

 ever, great variations are at once evident. As soon as 

 we compare the types grown in different countries, im- 

 portant distinctions are discovered. Along the coast of 

 Western Venezuela, for instance, we find a variety with 

 a very warty and irregular fruit-wall, which is soft and 

 easy to cut ; the beans are round and plump, white in 

 colour, and only slightly bitter in taste ; and the result- 

 ing product is very fine. In Madagascar, Nicaragua, 

 and a few other countries, we find very similar varieties. 

 These are all Criollo varieties (Fig. 21). Quite another 

 type, again, is grown in San Thome*. The fruit-wall is 

 hard and smooth in surface ; the beans are flat, deep 

 violet in colour, and very bitter in taste ; and the result- 

 ing product is only of medium quality. In Surinam, 

 Ecuador, Brazil, Eastern Venezuela (the Orinoco district), 

 and many other countries, we find similar varieties, 

 which are all called Forastero. There is still another 

 group of varieties which possesses characteristics both 

 of the Criollo (for instance, large white beans), and 

 of the Forastero (for instance, a smooth or a very 

 hard fruit -wall). These intermediate forms, which 



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