COST OF PRODUCING COCOA 165 



are sometimes carried out for as low as ^s. Q\d. per 110 lb., 

 as is shown below. 



Four men @ 1». id. per day reap sufficient fruits to yield s. d. 



6 barrels of beans, i.e. 660 lb. . . . . .= 68 



Two women @ 1«. 0|d. to pick up fruits . . . .= 21 



One man @ la. 8d. to pile into large heaps . . .= 18 



One man to break or cut fruits (\ day's work) . . . = 10 



Job work extracting beans, @ 5d. per barrel . . .= 26 



Job work conveying beans to fermenting-house . .= 16 



6) 15 3 



2 6^ 



Samoa. — According to Vice-Consul Frood a sum of 

 £2,500 is required to start a cocoa plantation in Samoa. 

 The cost per acre from the time of clearing the land up 

 to the collection of the first crop is estimated at from 

 £25 to £30. 



West Africa. — Chevalier estimates that in French West 

 Africa an expenditure of 500,000 francs (£20,000) is 

 sufficient to supply the necessary buildings and equip- 

 ment for an estate of 200 hectares (494 acres) and also 

 cover all costs connected with planting this area and 

 maintaining it untU the trees are four years of age. He 

 considers that ttie returns from this area, together with 

 another £20,000, should be sufficient to bring the total 

 area planted up to 500 hectares (1,235 acres) within ten 

 years from the date operations commenced. 



In a report written by the Governor of Fernando Po 

 it is stated that cocoa trees in that island commence to 

 bear fruit when they are four years of age. In five years 

 the capital invested yields interest, and in seven years 

 the whole of the capital is reimbursed. 



At the " Agua Ize " estate, San Thome, it is estimated 

 that 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) have been planted with 

 cocoa and various other crops. 



Count Faro {A Ilka de San Thome e Boca Agua Ize) 

 states that the annual expenditure on this estate, in- 

 cluding the salaries of some fifty European employees, 

 is 26,500,000 reis (£5,300). 



Tobago. — The following remarks and estimates of cost 

 of bringing cocoa into bearing in Tobago have been 

 extracted from Pamphlet series. No. 41, Tobago, Hints 

 to Settlers, issued by the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture for the West Indies. 



