13 
resembles the Calabacillo type. The chief characteristics are 
that the Criollo has a more or less pointed and often bottle- 
neck formed pod, finely ribbed with roundish, light colored 
or white seeds. The tree is rather small, not vigorous and not 
very prolific except on good soil and under favorable con- 
ditions. The quality of the bean is the very best, however, 
and decided improvements in quality have taken place where 
the other classes have crossed with this one. 
The Calabacillo has a roundish, smooth pod with a flat, 
dark colored seed. The tree is a vigorous grower and usu- 
ally prolific, but the quality of the bean is inferior. 
The Forastero stands between the two former types. It 
has a large, straight, blunt, ribbed or corrugated pod with 
large medium flat seeds of a purplish color. The tree is 
vigorous, although less so than the Calabacillo, especially 
under unfavorable conditions. It is also prolific and the 
quality is good although inferior to Criollo. 
The other species of commercial cacao, Theobroma pen- 
tagona, resembles the Theobroma cacao very much and 
the botanical difference is not very great because one can 
be budded onto the other and in all probabilities they can 
be intercrossed. It has a five-ridged pod with a warty sur- 
face, resembling the skin of an alligator from which its 
common name, Alligator cacao, is derived. The pod is soft 
and breaks open easily when handled. The beans are larger 
than those of other cacao types which seems to be the great- 
est point in its favor. The quality has not been thoroughly 
determined yet, but it seems to be classed about equal to 
Criollo. 
PROPAGATION 
Cacao is propagated almost entirely from seed and unt.1 
a few years ago it was thought that it could be propagated 
