THE COCOA TREE. 



107 



The history of Cocoa is ver\' similar to tiiat of 

 Tea and Coffee. Tlie Cocoa tree is more difficult to 

 cultivate than manA' other tropical plants, for besides a 

 ver\' evBTi and cornparati\ el\' high temperature, it requires 

 an atmosphere of great and uniform moisture. Its home 

 is thought to be in the countries round the Gulf of 

 Mexico, but it is now groun all o^'er the tropics 

 wherever the above conditions exist. The Cocoa plant 

 belongs to the Sterculiaceae, a fam- 



jl'syyj/' il^' which is related to the Maha- 



ceae. Most of the Cocoa of trade is 



obtained from Theobroiua (.akao. It is 



a tree witli dark foliage, gnarled trunk 



and wide crown, generalh* attaining 



iglit of from eiglit to 



ten ^ards. The flowers 



. are produced in a 



^>;^' curious waA" — gi'O- 



(./p^^^^^T^ l(/y.^^ \\ ing out prlncipalh from 



the old wood. The trunk 



and thick branches are thus 



hung with fruit. The colour 



, of the flowers \'aries between 



white and red, and that of the 



fruits between Aellow and dark red. 



Although the flowers are small the 



cucumber -like fruits can attain a length of 



twent}'-live centimetres. The tree flowers and 



fruits almost uninterruptedh', but generally 



"^'ields only two principal crops in the year. 



