162 



YIELD AND EXPENDITURE 



Ceylon. On the various estates in Ceylon which the 

 writer visited in 1902 the average yield varied from 

 1J to 4 cwt. per acre. According to Wright, from 250 

 to 350 Ib. of cocoa per acre is considered a moderately 

 good yield, one of 500 to 900 Ib. and over very good, 

 and below 150 Ib. inferior. During the years 1893-1906 

 the average yield of cocoa in Ceylon varied between 

 1*3 cwt. and 2*7 cwt. per acre. On one estate in the 

 Dumbara district an average of 1,026 Ib. per acre is 

 reported to have been harvested in 1905. 



At the Experiment Station, Peradeniya, where some 

 100 to 116 acres were planted with cocoa, the under- 

 mentioned yields have been recorded : 



One plot manured with sulphate of ammonia, at the 

 rate of 250 Ib. per acre, is estimated to have yielded 

 8J cwt. of cured cocoa per acre in 1907, while the un- 

 manured plots yielded at the rate of 4 cwt. per acre 

 during the same year. 



Java. The Venezuelan-Criollo variety in Java is 

 reported to produce '275 Ib., "55 Ib., 1*1 Ib., l*t>5 Ib. of 

 cured cocoa per tree when it is four, five, six, and seven 

 years of age respectively ; and when from ten to twenty- 

 five years of age, a single tree produces from 1*65 to 2*2 Ib. 

 of cocoa. 



West Indies. According to the West Indian Bulletin, 

 vol. viii., cocoa trees in Trinidad yield at the rate of 

 from 1J to 2 Ib. per tree. In this island the trees are 

 planted from 10 to 16 ft. apart, but at an average distance 

 of 12 ft. ; 1*4 Ib. per tree is considered a fair yield, but 

 more than double this amount is sometimes obtained. 

 Olivieri is of opinion that the average yield in Trinidad 

 is 600 Ib. per acre, or 2 Ib. per tree ; and in districts 

 where the soil is rich 900 Ib. per acre, or 3 Ib. per tree, 

 are generally obtained. 



From a tree growing in the Trinidad Botanic Gardens 

 15*75 Ib. of cocoa were harvested in 1907. 



