CACAO OE COCOA. 



21 



produce twelve hundred and fifty pounds, wliich, at the ordinary 

 price of 31s. 6d. per cwt., would produce about £17 lOs. per 

 annum for each laborer. The expenses of the plantation, inclu- 

 ding those of utensils, machines, and buildings, are also less con- 

 siderable for cacao than for any other produce. The delay of the 

 first crop, and the accidents peculiar to cacao, can alone diminish 

 the number of planters attached to its culture, and induce a pre- 

 ference to other commodities. 



The cacao plant is not in a state of prolific produce till the 

 eighth year in the interior, and the ninth in plantations on the 

 coast. Yet, by a singularity which situation alone can explain, 

 the crops of cacao commence in the ninth year in the valley of 

 Groapa, and at the east of the mouth of the Tuy. In the vicinity 

 of the line, and on the banks of E/io-Negro, the plantations are in 

 full produce on the fourth, or at most the fifth year. 



The cacao tree continues productive to the age of fifty yearw 

 on the coast, and thirty years in the interior of the country. 



In general the culture and preparation of cacao receives more 

 attention in the eastern parts of Venezuela than in other places, 

 and even than in the Erench colonies. It is true that the suitability 

 of the soil contributes much to the quality of the article; bi.t 

 without the assistance derived from art, it would be far from pos- 

 sessing that superiority awarded to it by commerce over the cacao 

 of every other coimtry. 



Stevenson ("Travels in South America") speaks of another 

 kind of cacao tree, called moracumba, which is larger than the 

 ordinary species, and grows wild in the woods. The beans under 

 the brown husk are composed of a white, solid matter, almost like 

 a lump of hard tallow. The natives take a quantity of these, and 

 pass a piece of slender cane through them, and roast them, when 

 they have the delicate flavour of the cacao. 



There are several cacao plantations in Surinam. The trees are 

 left to grow their natural height, which is about that of a cherry- 

 tree ; their leaves resemble those of the broad-leaved laurel, and 

 are of a dark green colour. The fruit in shape resembles a lemon, 

 but is rather more oval; it is at first green, and, when ripe, yellow. 

 It is said that there are some trees which produce above two 

 hundred, each containing about twenty beans or nuts. The fruit 

 not only proceeds from the branches, but even from the stem ; and 

 though there is always ripe and unripe fruit, it is only gatliered 

 twice a year. The chocolate is in that colony in general of an 

 inferior quality, known by its dark brown color and rough taste, 

 but the superiority of the cacoa depends principally on the soil 

 where the trees are planted. — (Baron Yon Sack's " Surinam.") 



My friend, Sir Schomburgk, in his " Description of British 

 Gruiana," says — " "While we crossed from the river Berbice to the 

 Essequibo, we met a number of chocolate nut trees, near the 

 abandoned Caribi settlement of Primoss. It is not to be doubted 

 that the trees were originally planted by the Indians, but from 

 their number and the distance from the river, I judged they were 



