144 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



Cacao Cultivation in Ceylon. II. 



By Herbert Wright. 



(Illustrated.) 



General Characteristics of Varieties. 



We shall first briefly outline the general characters of the numerous varieties 

 of cacao grown in Ceylon and other countries and see what features can be relied 

 upon as indicating the value of the different forms of cacao. It has been shown, 

 when dealing with the history of cacao in Ceylon, that most of our seed supplies 

 have been obtained from Trinidad, and the systems of classification drawn up by 

 Morris and Hart for the identification of the varieties in that island are, in most 

 features, applicable to Ceylon. These classifications do not, however, apply to all the 

 varieties at present recognised in Ceylon, Java, Surinam, etc., and according to Preuss 

 do not always strictly apply to the cacao in Trinidad itself ; in several countries it has 

 become customary to attach the name of the country to the variety of cacao 

 exported, hence we learn of theTrinitario, Java-Criollo,* Java-Porcelaine, Nicaragua- 

 Criollo, Surinam-cacao, Brussel-cacao, Moderboorn etc., and a classification or key to 

 the varieties is required for separate countries. The following are the systems 

 drawn up by Morris and Hart and the characters of the varieties in Ceylon 

 as described by Lock t : — 



Morris. 



I. — Cacao Criollo 



II. — Cacao Forastero . . 



(«) Cundeamor verrugosa 

 amarillo (yellow). 



(b) Cundeamor verrugosa 

 Colorado (red). 



(c) Liso amarillo 

 {d) Liso Colorado 



[e) Amelonado amarillo . . 



(f) Amelonado Colorado 



((/) Calabacillo amarilla 

 (h) Calabacil.o Colorado 



Hart. 



Class I. Criollo, or fine thin 

 skinned. 



1. Var. a. Amarillo 



2. ,, b. Colorado 



Class II. Forastero, or thick 

 skinned cacao. 



Var. a. Cundeamor verrugosa 

 amarillo. 



,, b. Cundeamor verrugosa 



Colorado 

 ,, c. Ordinary amarillo. 

 ,, d. „ Colorado, 

 ., e. Amelonado amarillo. 

 ,, f. ,, Colorado. 



Glass. Ill Calabacillo, or small 

 podded, thick »moolh- 

 skinned, flat-beaned. 



Var. a. Amaiillo. 

 ,, b Colorado. 



Lock. 



Key to varieties. 

 All the varieties here mentioned include 

 both red and yellow sub-varieties as well 

 as many other minor types : — 



Beans plump, majority white or pale in 

 section ; Shell soft and relatively thin 

 I. Criollo. 



Beans very large, somevvhat flattened 

 a. Nicaragua. 



Beans half as large as 1, more rounded. 



b. Old Red. 



Majority of beans purple in colour, shell 

 relatively hard and thick. II. Forastero. 



Pods acuminate and"bottle-necked,'rough, 

 beans of high quality, pale and rounded. 



a. Cundeamor. 



Pods various, usually "not "bottle necked "; 

 beans of fair to good quality. b. Liso 



Pods ovate, nearly smooth, usually 

 "bottle-necked"; beans of lower qual- 

 ity, usually flat and all purple. 



c. Amelanado. 



l'ods ovate smooth, small, not "bottle- 

 necked " ; beans small, flat, and all deep 

 purple. d. Calabacillo. 



* Mededeelingen omtrent de op Java aangeplaute C 

 voor Cacao to Salatiga, 1905. 



f Varieties of cacao in Ceylon, Circular, I!.B G., Vol. 



icaovarieteiten ; L. Zehntner, Proefstation 

 2.. No. 24, 1904. 



