186 COCOA. 



for this practice may be readily assigned ; in the more fertile soils 

 the trees grow more vigorously, the branches spread further, and 

 consequently require a larger space. 



Once the cocoa-tree is in the plantation, it is regularly pruned to 

 prevent its branches becoming too numerous. It sometimes happens 

 that the branches show a tendency to bend down towards the ground, 

 in which case they are fastened up around the trunk, until they 

 acquire strength and a better direction. The soil around the trunk 

 is hoed from lime to time to the extent of about a yard in circum- 

 ference, and the capillary roots, which spring from the base of the 

 trunk, are removed in the course of the operation. 



From the fall of the flower to the complete ripeness of the fruit 

 there elapses an interval of four months. The fruit is of an elon- 

 gated form, slightly bent, and terminated in a point ; its length is 

 about 9 inches, and its greatest diameter, which is near the point of 

 attachment, is from 6 to 7 inches. Externally, the cocoa-nut pod 

 is furrowed longitudinally. Its color varies from a greenish white 

 to a reddish violet, the latter being the more common tint. Internal- 

 ly the flesh of the fruit is generally white, although it has sometimes 

 a rose-color ; it is sweet and acid, and of a very agreeable flavor. 

 The seeds are generally twenty-five in number in each fruit, and at 

 first are white ; they are oleaginous and slightly bitter ; in drying 

 they acquire a brown tint. The fruit is known to be ripe by its 

 color, and particularly by the ease with which it is gathered from 

 the tree. There are two grand cocoa harvests in the course of the 

 year, at six months' interval ; still, in old and large plantations the 

 harvest is almost incessant, as it is not uncommon to observe, on the 

 same cocoa-tree, ripe fruits and fresh flowers. To obtain the seeds 

 the fruit is opened with a piece of wood, having a rounded extremity. 

 The produce is classed according to its quality, care being taken to 

 throw out all the beans that are not sufficiently ripe or that are 

 damaged ; they are then exposed in the sun. Every evening the 

 day's gathering is collected into a heap under a shed, and a brisk 

 fermentation is soon set up, which would become destructive were it 

 suffered to continue. Next day the heap is scattered, and the drying 

 goes on in the sun, several days' exposure being required before the 

 drying is complete. Occasionally the drying is retarded and ren- 

 dered difficult by the occurrence of rain, and there would certainly 

 be many advantages in effecting it by the stove. It has been found 

 that 100 lbs. of fresh beans give from 45 to 50 lbs. of dry and mar- 

 ketable cocoa. In Venezuela, a cocoa-tree which is over seven or 

 eight years old, will yield annually for more than forty years over 

 1| lb. (1.65 lb.) of dry and marketable cocoa. An acre of ground, 

 which in good plantations will be set with about two hundred and 

 thirty-three trees, produces in a middling year about 383 lbs. weight 

 The cocoa-tree appears to yield most abundantly when it is abou 

 twelve years of age, and its produce in the fertile lands of Upper 

 Magdalena, according to M. Goudot, is greatly superior to what it 

 is in Venezuela. A.t Gigante, for example, each adult tree yieldi 



