Ill CACAO 119 



full bearing before from seven to ten years. A few trees 

 may bear earlier than five years, but these are very favour- 

 ably situated and they are exceptions to the rule. The trees 

 bear nearly all the year round, but there are two principal Two crops 

 crops — one from April to June, and the other from November 

 to January, the latter crop being much the more abundant 

 of the two- The crops are usually termed Easter and 

 Christmas, after the seasons of the year during which they 

 are gathered. 



The average yield of dry cacao from each tree, of course, 

 varies very much. The limits may be said to be from a Return per 

 pound and a half to eight pounds per tree. On the rich, 

 alluvial lands of Surinam, from eight to nine pounds per 

 tree are said to be obtained ; but, in the bad cultivation of 

 West Indian peasant proprietors, it is doubtful whether a 

 pound per tree is got. v 



The pods must not t)e picked until they are fully ripe. A Only ripe 



. . . ,, , . pods to be 



little observation and experience is all that is necessary to picked. 



tell at once, by the look, whether the pod be ripe or not. If 



it be within reach it may be tapped with the knuckles or 



the handle of a knife, and if it sound hollow it is ready for 



picking. As the varieties of cacao vary so much in colour^ 



no precise rules can be given as to the peculiar shade of a 



ripe pod. The fruit must be a/'/ from the tree with a cutlass, 



cacao knife, or a cacao hook ; and on no account ought it to Pods not to 



1 ■ t /■/. 1 rT^^ 11111 1 "^^ torn off 



be twisted or torn off the tree. The cut should be clean, and the tree. 



as close to the pod as possible. For, if a tree be examined 



it will be found that at the base of the stalk of the pod there 



is a little swelling, called the eye, and it is from this part 



that the flowers for the next crop will come out. If, therefore, Importance 



of care in 



the eye be torn away, no more pods can come out from picking, 

 that part of the stem ; and by a non-observance of these 

 facts many V cacao trees have been ruined, the crops have 

 failed, and the planter has thought that something was 

 wrong with tnte soil ! The cacao hooks are made in many Cacao 

 different shapes, they are fixed on to a bamboo rod, and used °^ ^ 



