134 CACAO \ 



ment to insert two small studs on the convex side facing 

 the observer in the figure, at a point where two small circles 

 are placed, to prevent it from cutting along the bark of the 

 tree when removing a pod lying close thereto. 



Until other and better inventions arise, however, the 

 " cutlass," the " knife," and the " picker " will still be 

 largely used for picking cacao, and all planters should, 

 therefore, train their workmen to exercise the greatest 

 care not to wound the trees. A sharp knife is to be 

 preferred to the cutlass for picking all pods within reach, 

 and it will be greatly to the advantage of the planter to 

 train the tallest of his workmen for this duty, for obvious 

 reasons. 



The best improvements in tools will probably be made 

 by the planters themselves, as designs by manufacturers 

 are often non-effective owing to the designer being far away 

 and not fully alive to the conditions under which they 

 have to be used. 



The pods or fruits of the cacao-tree should not be har- 

 vested until they are properly ripe, and it requires a 

 copsiderable amount of practice and experience to judge 

 when the pod is fit to be gathered. If collected when 

 over-ripe, or when insufficiently ripe, the quality of the 

 produce is much affected, as it assuredly results in making 

 an uneven sample. Only skilled and careful workmen 

 should be employed, as the planter saves a large amount 

 of picking and sorting if the harvesting is properly done. 

 It is much better to go through the plantation and pick 

 " little and often," and secure good samples, than to pick 

 green and over-ripe together and have afterwards the 

 trouble of sorting the picking to eliminate the inferior 

 beans. 



Where there is considerable variation in the kind of 

 pods produced, it is better to sort the pods before shelling 

 or breaking them rather than make a mixture composed of 

 the several varieties of beans cultivated, as these are known 

 to require different treatment during preparation for 

 market. For instance, the Calabacillo strain is known to 



