BOTANY AND NOMENCLATURE 11 



The planter should ascertain the character of his land 

 with as much accuracy as possible before deciding what 

 variety of cacao he will plant. If very poor he can rely 

 on Calabacillo only, if moderately rich Forastero, but on 

 rich and lasting ground the best types may be planted. If, 

 however, the best types were grafted on the strong-growing 

 Calabacillo, there would be more probability of success in 

 growing the best varieties on inferior as well as on rich soils. 



The majority of plantations contain trees so mixed 

 in character that it is difficult to separate one kind from 

 another although it cannot be doubted that it would pay 

 well for any extra trouble if a system of planting grafted 

 trees of each type in separate fields were adopted. 



In length the leaves of the CrioUo type vary from 5 in. 

 to 12 in. and from 2 in. to 4 in. in breadth. Forastero 

 cacao gives the largest leaves of all, some recently examined 

 being over 3 ft. in length. Special measurements of some 

 growing in the Royal Botanic Gardens were made by the 

 author, who found that they varied from 9 in. to 21 in. in 

 length, and ranged from 2J in. to 6 in. in width. The 

 leaves of the Calabacillo type are shorter and wider in com- 

 parison with their length than either CrioUo or Forastero. 

 It must be understood, however, that these measurements 

 are taken from extreme forms, and that the nearer the 

 trees approach other varieties the nearer alike are the 

 leaves. 



Cacao is said to have been cultivated largely in Jamaica 

 some two hundred years ago, but according to Long, in his 

 " History of Jamaica," the plantations were destroyed by 

 a " blast." Sir D. Morris mentions that in Trinidad also 

 the trees were visited by a blast " sometime during the 

 last century." He interprets the word " blast " as a 

 " blow or hurricane," but the word has also another mean- 

 ing. " Blast " is synonymous with " bhght," and this is 

 confirmed by Walker's Dictionary as follows : " To blast — 

 to strike with some sudden plague." Either interpreta- 

 tion would however fully account for the destruction of 

 plantations, especially when taken in conjunction with the 



