370 COCOA 



CHAP. 



about 1400 feet, and here and there cocoa is even 

 grown at about 3000 feet. 



But the most famous Criollo is principally cultivated 

 between Puerto Cabello and La Guayra, in the valleys 

 near the coast. These valleys, generally narrow, and 

 bounded by high mountains, are very fertile, the soil 

 being composed of fine particles of the rocks, washed 

 down by the rains from the mountains, together with 

 a large amount of humus. On this fertile soil, sheltered 

 from the wind by the high mountains, the Criollo 

 thrives remarkably well, and the cocoa plantations here 

 afford a great contrast, in their luxuriant growth, 

 with the poor vegetation of the Cactus and Agave 

 plants growing on the arid mountains which surround 

 them. 



The plantations in this Criollo part of Venezuela 

 are mostly small, the spots where Criollo is cultivated 

 with success not being generally large. 



Though conditions for growing the weak and fine 

 Criollo are favourable here, still plantations consisting 

 only of pure Criollo are getting rare. Generally we 

 find Forastero trees mixed with the Criollo trees ; and 

 this is not to be wondered at, for it is almost impossible 

 to keep a Criollo plantation pure when trees begin to 

 die in the fields. In the open spaces between old cocoa 

 trees young Criollo trees do not succeed, and the 

 planter is obliged to leave the spot open or plant a 

 Forastero tree. Generally he chooses the latter; and the 

 consequence is that many Criollo plantations get more 

 and more mixed with Forastero (Trinitario) trees, while 

 their produce gradually diminishes in quality. This 

 is the case in nearly all the Caracas cocoa districts. 



Besides, it is not only for supplying the open places 

 in Criollo fields that planters use the Trinitario varieties, 

 but the advantages of this variety are so important 

 that many planters prefer it to Criollo to plant new 

 fields, even in the plantations situated in the true Criollo 

 country, between La Guayra and Puerto Cabello. They 

 choose for this purpose the very best types of Angoleta 



