COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 329 



this town, the neat houses, some of which are indeed 

 luxurious buildings, the well-managed gardens, the 

 macadamised streets, everything shows the thriving 

 condition of its inhabitants, and also in the interior of 

 the island the good roads as well as the well-managed 

 railway give an impression of wealth. This is almost 

 all the result of the successful cocoa culture : cocoa 

 being by far the most important of the export products. 

 As regards the climate, the description which Olivieri 

 gives may be quoted here : 



The year only comprises two seasons, the dry and the wet or 

 rainy season. The dry season commences with the month of 

 January and ends in May; while the rainy season extends from 

 June to the middle of December. The driest months are February, 

 March, and April, and the wettest days are generally experienced 

 during the months of July and August, with an interruption of 

 very fine days from September to the end of October, known as 

 the Michaelmas summer. The change from the dry to the wet 

 season is generally characterised by a calm and close atmosphere, 

 with occasional showers of rain from the middle of May to the 

 middle of June, while during the rainy season rain falls in torrents 

 for hours without relaxation, often accompanied by flashes of 

 lightning and peals of deafening thunder. 



The rainfall near Port of Spain is as follows : 1 

 RAINFALL IN MILLIMETRES. 



These figures show that the rainfall in Trinidad is 

 not very heavy for cocoa cultivation, and it could not 

 be much less without being insufficient. In the dry 

 months (January, February, March, and April) the 

 cocoa suffers sometimes very much, and in years with 



1 Report Botanical Department, 1905 ; and Preuss, Expedition, p. 184. 



