CACAO OE COCOA. 



19 



tlie fruit. If the rains are defieieut for a time, aud an exce.s- 

 si\^e rain succeeds, tlie fruit of the cacao also withers. 



This dessicatiou or withermg takes place everv where ; but iu 

 some places the surplus of fruit, which the tree is unable to nou- 

 rish, is alone subject to it. In others, as Araquita and Caucagua, 

 it withers in proportion to the northerly rains. An unsuitable 

 soil occasions another kind of decay. The pods become stinted, 

 containing some g^'od and some bad seeds. The Spaniards call 

 this cocosearse, which means defective. 



Harvest of the cacao. — The tree yields two principal crops in a 

 year, one about St. John's day, the other towards the end of 

 December, The cacao however ripens and is gathered during the 

 whole year. But in all seasons the planters of the Central 

 American republics make it a point, so far as possible, to collect 

 their crops only at the decline of the moon ; because experience 

 proves that this precaution renders the cacao more solid, and less 

 liable to spoil. 



To collect the fruit, those negroes and Indians are employed 

 who have the sharpest sight, that only the ripe fridt may' be 

 gathered. The most robust and active are chosen to carry it 

 to the places where the beans are to be shaken out. The aged'and 

 maimed are employed to do this. The operation is performed on 

 a floor well swept, and covered with green leaves, on which thev 

 place the cacao. Some open the pod, and others strike out the 

 beans with a small piece of wood, which must not be sharp, lest 

 it should injure them. 



The good and bad beans must not be mingled together. There 

 are four sorts of cacao in every crop ; the ripe and in good con- 

 dition, the green but sound, the worm-eaten, and the rotten. Tlie 

 first quality is best, the second is not bad ; but the two others 

 should be rejected. 



As soon as that which is not fully ripe begins to show specks, 

 it must be separated. As to the pods which are not perfectly 

 ripe, they should remain in heaps duiing three days under greeii 

 banana leaves, that they may ripen before they are hulled. "\Vhen 

 the cacao is stored, great care is necessary not to leave amongst 

 it pieces of the pod or leaves, or any other excrementitious par- 

 ticles. This care must be repeated every time that it is removed 

 from the store, or replaced in it. 



The cacao must al ways be exposed to the sun on the fourth 

 day after it has been gathered, and this exposure should be daily 

 repeated until it is perfectly dry. ^vVhen that is the case, the 

 beans burst on being squeezed, their shell resounds when struck, 

 and they no longer become heated when placed in heaiis ; the 

 latter is the best proof that the moisture injurious to their pre- 

 servation is dissipated. If the cacao is not sutBcieutly exposed to 

 the sun, it becomes mouldy ; if too much, it withers, and easily 

 pulverises — in either case it soon rots. 



When the quantity of cacao gathered is considerable, it is 

 placed in the sunshine bv a hundred quintals at a time, unless the 



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