12 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 
chief harvests, usually in early spring, but this is different for different 
countries. 
AS a great many erroneous statements have been’ made in regard to 
the average yield of cocoa plantations, from which we draw our sup- 
plies of crude cocoa, we have been at some pains to procure accurate 
information on that point for a period of five years. 
Taking twelve cocoa estates in Surinam, containing 1,354 hec- 
tares, or 3,385 acres, the crop during the years 1897 to 1901 
inclusive amounted to 3,672,283 kilos, or 8,079,023 pounds. The 
crops varied for the different years from 1,263,426 pounds to 2,174,639 
pounds. The average yield per acre per year was 477°400 pounds. 
.On the basis of 200 trees to the acre this would show an average yield 
of about 2% pounds to a tree. Since these figures were compiled the 
trees have been subject to 
disease which materially 
decreased their produc- 
tiveness which has fluc- 
tuated greatly. 
Dr. C. J. J. van Hall 
in a book on ‘‘ Cocoa,”? 
published in 1914, says, 
‘*The normal average 
may be regarded as 
amounting to a little 
more than 200 kilograms 
per acre.’? That is 440 
pounds. By actual count 
of seven pods taken with- 
out selection it was found 
that the average number 
of beans in a pod was 38. 
In an essay (1902) on 
COCOA PODS 
