472 COCOA 



CHAP. 



be accepted as such by him. Only very little sugar 

 is added to the mild Central American cocoas, while 

 the European manufacturer is obliged to add a large 

 amount of sugar to the comparatively bitter produce of 

 Ecuador, Bahia, or San Thome'. In this way we get a 

 produce in which the true cocoa aroma is concealed by 

 the sugar ; and Preuss may be right in saying that the 

 Central American as regards cocoa is more discriminate 

 than we Europeans are. Very little has been published 

 about cocoa culture in these republics. The most 

 valuable information is that contributed by Preuss in 

 his well-known book. 1 



Mexico 



The country where Europeans saw the cocoa tree 

 for the first time, and from where the first cocoa was 

 shipped to Europe, has not become an important cocoa 

 country from a commercial point of view. Cocoa must 

 be imported to supply home consumption. 



The following are the important cocoa-growing 

 states : Chiapas, producing about 1^ million kilograms ; 

 Tabasco, producing about 1 million kilograms ; and 

 the states of Vera Cruz, Guerrero, Michoacan, Oaxaca, 

 Tepic, and Chihuahua, producing together about half 

 a million kilograms. Besides 50,000 to 100,000 kilo- 

 grams are yearly imported from Ecuador. 



In Mexico it is considered that the best quality of 

 produce is obtained in the state of Tabasco. According 

 to Preuss, the variety which yields this produce is 

 characteristic by its very large and heavy fruits, which 

 have a green colour and get yellowish when ripe ; the 

 fruit- wall is very thick, the furrows are deep, the surface 

 is warty. The seeds of this variety are not large, 

 medium-sized, or even small, but quite round not flat. 

 The taste and the appearance of the marketable produce 

 are good, but the aroma is not strong. 



Consignments have now and then been sent to 



1 Preuss, Expedition, pp. 255-275. 



