CACAO OE COCOA. 



27 



these places in the event of rain, and at. night covered with portable -wooden 

 frames, which are readily removed by twc men. In this way the cacao would 

 be dried in a fifth of the time mnch more eifectually, and of a brighter colonr. 



Any experiments tending to bring about a proper system of cidtivation and 

 manufactm-e of cacao, must be beneficial to the island, as well as to individuals ; 

 for it cannot be denied that the cultivation of cacoa will still prove advanta- 

 geous in proportion to the care bestowed on it. Indeed its cultivation is at 

 present languishing, not so much fi-om inadequate prices, as from a want of 

 proper attention to its cultivation." 



In 1796, there were sixtv plantations in Trinidad, wliicli pro- 

 duced 96,000 lbs. In 1S02 the plantations were reduced to fifty- 

 seven, the yield being about the same. In 1S07, 355,000 lbs. of 

 cacao were grown. In 1831, there were 2,972 quarrees (each three 

 acres and one-fifth English) under cultivation in Trinidad with 

 cacao, on which were 2,461,126 trees, which produced a crop of 

 1,179,568 lbs. In 1811 there were 6,910 acres planted with cacao. 



The following have been the exports from this island from 1821 

 to 1814 :— 





lbs. 





lbs. 



1S21 



1,214,093 



1833 



. 3,090,526 



1822 . 



. 1.780,379 



1834 



. 3,363,630 



1823 



. 2,424,703 



1835 



. 2,744,643 



1824 . 



. 2,661,628 



1836 



3,188,870 



1825 . 



. 2,760,603 



1837 



. 2,507,483 



1826 . 



2,951,171 



1838 



. 2,571,915 



1827 



3,696,144 



1S39 



2,914,r68 



1828 . 



2,582,323 



1840 



. 2,007,494 



1829 



2.756,603 



1841 



. 2,493,302 



1830 . 



. 1,646,531 



1842 



. 2,163,798 



1831 . 



. 1,888,852 



1843 



. ^ _ . _ . 1,099,975 



1832 . 



. 1,530,990 





(Mill's Trinidad Almanac). 



In a lecture delivered by Dr. Lindley before the Society of 

 Arts, aUuding to the colonial products shoAvn at the Grreat Exhi- 

 bition, he said : — 



" There was one sarcple which ought to be mentioned most especially ; 

 namely, the cocoa of admirable quality which comes, or which may come, from 

 Trinidad. Cocoa — cacao, as we should call it — is an article of very large con- 

 sumption. Enormous C[uantities of it are now used in the navy ; and every one 

 knows how much it is employed daily in private life. It is, moreover, the 

 basis of chocolate. But we have the evidence of one of the most skilful brokers 

 in London, who has had forty years experience to enable him to speak to the 

 fact — that we never get good cocoa in this country. The consequence is, that 

 all the best chocolate is made in Spain, in France, and the countries where the 

 fine description of cocoa goes. We get here cocoa which is unripe, flinty, and 

 bitter, having undergone changes that cause it to bear a very low price in the 

 market. Eut it comes from British possessions, and is, therefore, sold here sub- 

 ject to a duty of only 18s. 8d. per cwt., whereas if it came from a foreign 

 country it would pay 56s.* The differential duty diives the best cocoa out of 

 the English market. Still it appears that we might supply, from our own colo- 

 nies, this very cocoa; because, as I have said, there was exhibited, from Trini- 

 dad, a very beautiful sample, cj^uite equal to anything produced in the besf 

 markets of the Magdalena, of Soconusco, or cf other places on the Spanish 

 main. It had no bitterness, no flintiness, no damaged grain in it ; but all were 

 plump and ripe, as if they had been picked. The cocoa from the Spanish main 



* Dr. Lindley is in error as to the discriminatijig duties — British cacao pays 9s., and 

 foreign I83. 



