224 



CACAO 



CACAO 





Ti£. 318. Cacao tiee ot the "Criollo" type, showing 

 manner of bearing fruit. 



CACAO. Tkedbroma spp. Stereuliacece. Figs. 318- 

 320 ; Fig. 119, Vol. I. 



By G.'N. Collins. 



Chocolate and cocoa, the manufactured forms of 

 cacao, are the product of the seeds of several spe- 

 cies of Theobroma, a strictly American genus. 

 Theobroma Cacao is the species producing the 

 greater part of the cacao of commerce, though T. 

 angustifolia and T. pentagona also contribute. The 

 discoverers of the New World found these plants 

 in cultivation by the natives of southern Mexico 

 and Central America, and the methods then in 

 vogue have been but slightly improved, although 

 the culture has been extended to practically all 

 parts of the tropics. 



As with most cultivated plants, the natural dis- 

 tribution of the species is a matter of some con- 

 jecture, but there seems little doubt that cacao is 

 truly indigenous in parts of Central and South 

 America. In fact, it is rather unusual that a plant 

 cultivated from such a remote period should 

 resemble so closely the wild forms as is the case 

 with cacao, wild plants found in the forests of 

 western Costa Rica being sometimes used to stock 

 small plantations at the present time. 



It appears probable that in the cultivation of 

 this plant the principle of the fixing of atmospheric 

 nitrogen by means of leguminous plants was first 

 utilized by man, although of course without reali- 

 zation of the true meaning of the method. The 

 superiority of leguminous trees for shade in cacao 

 plantations was well known to the early cultiva- 

 tors, and it was only after many costly experiments 

 that European .planters reached the same con- 

 clusion. 



Cacao is a small tree usually about ten to thirty 

 feet in height, bearing its flowers and fruits on the 

 old wood of the trunk and larger branches. The 

 flowers are perfect and five-parted, the anthers 

 inclosed in pockets of the petals. The means by 

 which these are released and pollination accom- 

 plished is not definitely known. The way in which 

 the flowers are borne, as well as their structure, 

 would seem to point to some crawling insect as 

 the most probable means. 



Propagation. 



The plant is propagated exclusively by seed. 

 These will not retain their vitality when dried. 

 They are usually planted in seed-beds or small bam- 

 boo pots. They germinate very promptly, the seed 

 consisting almost entirely of the crumpled cotyle- 

 dons, which need only to unfold. As soon as the 

 plants are one to two feet high, they are trans- 

 planted to their permanent place. It is the loss 

 attendant on this operation that has led many to 

 adopt the method of planting the seeds directly 

 where the plants are to remain. The distance for 

 planting is usually ten to fifteen feet each way. 

 The difficulty in transplanting cacao is probably 

 the reason why the culture is largely confined to 

 very moist regions, as under such conditions the 

 loss is less, although the plants, when once estab- 

 lished, are more healthy and productive in regions 

 where there is sufficient dry season to hold fungous 

 diseases in check. 



Harvesting and handling. 



The plants require about four years to mature 

 sufficiently to bear, and they continue to be pro- 

 ductive for twenty or 

 thirty years and more. 

 The pods, as the fruits 

 are called, are six 

 inches to nearly a foot 

 in length and contain 

 twenty to thirty- five 

 seeds. They are gath- 

 ered by hand, in most 

 cases, or by the aid of 

 a specially constructed 

 knife mounted on a 

 long pole. Great care 

 should be exercised in 

 removing the fruit, as 

 the point of attachment 

 is surrounded by dor- 

 mant buds that are to 

 produce future crops, 

 and these are destroyed 

 if the fruit is torn from 

 the tree. 



Fermentation. — After 

 the crop is gathered, the 

 pods are sometimes 

 opened immediately, or 

 they may be allowed to lie one to eight days before 

 opening; when the latter' practice is followed, it 

 takes the place, to some extent, of the fermentation 

 to which the beans are usually subjected after 



Fig. 319 



cacao pod. 



