I04 NICARAGUA. 



yards, and sometimes more. It is always green, the lanceo- 

 lated leaves are smooth, about eight to twelve inches long, 

 of a dark green colour, and attached to the branches by large 

 petioles. The flowers, which are small and abundant, appear 

 on the Irunk and branches. Many of them fall to the 

 ground, and the few which are productive are soon replaced 

 by green rounded fruits, which lengthen as they ripen, and 

 become brownish red. The capsule is divided internally in five 

 cells, containing from twenty-five to forty seeds, enveloped in 

 a rosy pulp acid, agreeable to eat, when the fruit is ripe. 



The best ground for a plantation of Cacao trees is 

 the virgin soil of the tropical forests, in warm and moist 

 climates, never higher than 2,oooyards above the sea ; the lower 

 the altitude, the better it is. It requires to be well sheltered, 

 and to obtain this, openings are made in the primeval forests, 

 leaving high trees at intervals of about twenty-five to thirty 

 feet apart, to shelter the Cacao trees. 



The nurseries, like those for the coffee trees, are also 

 made under the shelter of large trees, which completely 

 shelter the young plants from the rays of the sun. 



A selection is made of the best seeds, and these are 

 placed, one by one, in furrows, two inches deep, covered with 

 a light bed of earth, on which plantain leaves are spread. 

 Two w^eeks after, these leaves are removed with great care, 

 the seeds have germinated, and it is important to pull up as 

 often as necessary all weeds, so as to keep the young plants 

 always free of them. In three or four months the plants 

 are about one yard high. Then it is time to transplant them. 

 This delicate operation is done by special workmen. One of 

 them raises the young plant with the greatest precaution with 

 a good ball of earth around the roots, another transfers it at 

 once to the hole prepared beforehand for that purpose, and a 

 third one buries it with care, keeping the stem upright, and fill- 

 ing up the hole. A distance of twelve to fifteen feet is required 

 between each plant. When the plantation cannot be made in 

 'the forest, it is important to prepare several years before, a 

 piece of ground in which, orange, lemon, plantain, or other 

 suitable trees have been planted from distance to distance to 

 shelter the cacao plants. 



Water is also indispensable to engender the necessary 

 humidity. For that purpose many canals are dug up in the 

 plantations. With a thick hedge to protect the plants from 

 the animals, the work is concluded. It only remains to keep 

 away the weeds, and to replace the dead plants if there are 



