74 EXPORT OF CACAO, ETC. 



These statements were freely criticised on the issue of the- 

 first edition, and a prominent planter wrote : " It is an error to 

 state that a yield of 1-6 lbs. per tree, which will be 10 bags of 

 165 lbs. each, to 1,000 trees, is a first-class yield. That is an 

 average, a high average possibly of Trinidad cacao estates : but a 

 first-class yield could not be under 12 bags per 1,000 trees, and 

 in many cases 15 bags." 



I see no reason however to alter the figures given in the- 

 first edition. 



The working expenses of a plantation may be calculated at 

 £3 to £o per acre annually, more or less according to circum- 

 stances, facilities for obtaining labour, easy transit of produce, 

 &c., &c. 



It is calculated that an estate can be established by the- 

 contract system at a cost of about £12 to £15 per acre, exclusive 

 of buildings. A record has been published of a single tree which 

 made a yield of 36 lbs. in one year, but this was exceptionally 

 placed, and well treated to manure. In the Royal Botanic 

 Garden 7 lbs. of dry Cacao has been obtained from a single tree 

 at one picking. 



A method of calculating the value of an Estate was given 

 in the Agricultural Record for 1892 as follows: — "Note the 

 quantity of bags produced ; that multiplied by 100 or 150 

 according to the quality of Cacao, facility for transport, healthy 

 locality, buildings on the spot, &c.. &c., will give correct value of 

 the estate in dollars." This is to say a latitude of 50% is allowed, 

 an estate for the possession of the points mentioned. 



Buildings Required. 

 The buildings required on a Cacao estate are few. 



Where the proprietor is resident — and he always will be, if 

 he wishes his estate to pay — there must be a comfortable 

 residence, and therefore the expenditure under this head cannot 

 be laid down, but must be left to the individual taste of the 

 planter and the extent of his means. 



The most important buildings on a Cacao estate are the 

 drying houses and sweating boxes. These are generally built 

 all in one. The sweating boxes being placed under the drying 



