COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 301 



often serious at Balao, Bahia de Caraques, and especially 

 at Machala, where in 1909 a great part of the crop was 

 lost. 



A rather sudden decline of temperature brings on 

 what is called " helada " of the pods, which causes an 

 abnormal growth of pods and beans. 



In Ecuador the picking of the fruit requires more 

 skill than in other countries, because of the height to 

 which the trees attain in consequence of close planting 

 and vigorous growth. Accordingly, trained pickers are 

 used, especially for picking the fruits which hang very 

 high. These labourers are called " tumbadores," and 

 use long, thin, light bamboo sticks, to which a knife 



Podadera Podon Costilla Batea 



FIG. 101. Implements used in gathering cocoa in Ecuador. 



"Podadera," cocoa-hook; "podon," used for breaking the pods ; "costilla," made of bone, 

 used for removing the seeds from the fruits ; " batea," for gathering the seeds. 



is attached. The knife ("podadera") has the shape 

 indicated in Figs. 63, 101. The " podadera " is attached 

 to a stick ("palanca") about 2 metres long. Besides 

 this "palanca," the " tumbador " carries a number of 

 smaller sticks ("embonos"), which are attached to the 

 " palanca " when necessary in order to make it longer. 



Preuss describes the work of the "tumbador" as 

 follows : " By means of the knife attached to the end 

 of the stick, with one push from below he severs the 

 fruits from the stem or branches. Sometimes all the 

 1 embonos ' are not sufficient for the height of the trees. 

 In such cases the ' tumbador ' throws the stick upwards 

 with a quick jerk, and generally he does this so accurately 

 that the knife cuts the fruit-stalk, the fruit drops, and 

 the stick falls back vertically. This work demands 



