April  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST,  619 
vation  of  the  land— the  planting  of  cereals  or  plants 
to  protect  the  young  cacao  plant— belongs  to  the  owner. 
The  manner  of  gathering  the  cacao  is  by  cutting 
the  pods  from  the  tree  with  a large  knife  fastened 
to  end  of  a cane  or  pole.  With  these  knives  one  set 
of  laborers  go  ahead  cutting  off  the  pods,  another 
follows  gathering  and  throwing  them  into  piles,  another 
follows  cutting  the  pods  open,  another  follows  scoop- 
ing out  the  beans,  and  finally,  another  follows  with 
mules  to  carry  the  beans  to  an  open,  cleaned,  and 
dry  place,  where  they  are  dried  by  being  spread  in  the 
sun  for  about  six  days.  It  is  estimated  that  the  total 
cost  of  gathering  and  preparing  the  cacao  for  the 
market  does  not  exceed  $3  per  100  pounds. 
After  gathering  and  drying,  the  bean  is  sent  to 
Guayaquil  in  bulk  or  in  sacks  upon  rafts,  in  canoes, 
or  by  steamers,  at  a minimum  rate  of  freight,  where 
it  is  disposed  of  by  the  planter  to  an  exporter  or  com- 
mission merchant.  After  reaching  Guayaquil  the 
bean  undergoes  more  treatment.  It  is  unloaded  from 
the  rafts,  canoes,  or  steamers  by  the  laborers  and 
taken  to  the  warehouse  (bodegas)  where  it  is  first 
cleaned  by  passing  through  a large  sieve  manipulated 
by  two  men.  By  this  method  the  bean  is  cleared  of 
the  dust  and  dirt,  leaving  only  the  veins  and  hulls, 
which  are  picked  out  by  hand,  leaving,  finally,  the 
cleaned  bean,  which  is  spread  in  thm  layers  m the 
sun  for  four  or  five  hours,  when  it  is  ready  for  sacking 
and  shipment.  , . , . , , 
It  is  estimated  that  the  loss  in  weight  from  hand- 
ling after  arrival  at  Guayaquil  or  final  port  of  shipment 
is  about  5 per  cent.,  which  is  chargeable  to  the  pur- 
chaser abroad,  as  the  exporter,  as  a rule,  buys  only 
upon  orders.  In  fact,  every  charge,  from  the  time 
the  cacao  arrives  at  Guayaquil  from  the  estate  until 
it  is  placed  on  board  of  the  steamer  for  shipment 
abroad,  is  charged  to  the  foieign  purchaser. 
A commission  of  2|  to  4 per  cent.,  which  constitutes 
the  visible  profit  of  the  exporter  or  commision  house, 
i3  charged  to  the  purchaser  abroad. 
All  of  the  refuse  from  cleaning  the  cacao,  viz., 
the  dust,  pelotas  and  dried  veins,  has  a market  value 
and  goes  to  swell  the  profits  of  the  exporter  or  com- 
mission house  here.  The  fine  dust  passing  through 
the  sieve  is  worth  $2  per  100  pounds  ; the  hulls,  or 
pelotas,  $4  per  100  pounds ; and  the  veins,  used  for 
food  for  horses  and  mules,  $1  per  bag. 
There  are  three  grades  of  cacoa  grown  in  Ecuador, 
as  follows: — . ,, 
The  “ Arriba,”  the  first  grade,  is  grown  on  the  Gu- 
ayas  Biver  and  its  tributaries  above  Guayaquil.  This 
is  the  best  grade,  and  represents  about  65  per  cent,  of 
the  whole  crop,  the  main  season  for  which  extends 
from  January  to  July.  . 
The  “Balao,”  the  second  grade,  is  grown  below 
Guayaquil  in  a country  adjacent  to  Port  Balao,  from 
which  this  grade  derives  its  name,  and  equals  about 
10  per  cent  of  the  whole  crop,  the  main  season  for 
which  is  from  July  to  December. 
The  “ Machala,”  the  third  grade,  is  grown  still 
further  south,  adjacent  to  the  port  of  Machala,  and 
equals  about  15  per  cent  of  the  whole  crop,  the  prin- 
cipal season  for  which  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
second  grade,  Balao— from  July  to  December. 
The  cacao  district  of  Ecuador,  as  at  present  repre- 
sented, embraces  a radius  of  about  80  miles,  with  the 
city  of  Guayaquil  as  its  base,  though  the  best  quality 
of  cacao  and  the  greatest  yield  per  tree  I have  seen 
in  the  Republic  was  in  the  northern  part  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Esmeraldas  (where  the  placer  gold  regions 
are),  where  no  attention  is  given  to  its  culture  ; but 
the  life  of  the  plant  is  said  to  be  of  short  duration, 
because  the  depth  of  the  soil  is  not  sufficient. 
While  it  is  true  that  cacao  has  its  seasons,  yet  a 
little  of  each  class  is  gathered  and  marketed  outside 
of  their  respective  seasons.  That  gathered  after  the 
principal  crop  is  called  “ Rebuscoz,”  or  gleanings,  and 
often  is  as  good  as  or  better  than  that  of  the  main 
season. 
There  are  still  two  other  classes  or  grades  of  cacao 
grown  inEucador.  One  is  known  as  the  “ Caraquez,” 
grown  in  the  province  of  the  port  Bahia  de  Caraquez, 
on  the  coast  north  of  Guayaquil,  which  is  about  the 
same  in  quality  as  the  Machala  £ and  the  other  is 
grown  near  the  port  of  Esmeraldas,  on  the  coast  north 
of  Bahia  de  Caraquez,  and  is  superior  to  all  other  cacao 
produced  in  Ecuador,  though  the  production  is  insigni- 
ficant. The  two  latter  grades  represent  about  10 
per  cent,  of  the  total. 
In  round  numbers  there  are  30,000,000  trees,  and 
the  annual  production  is  from  28,000,000  to  30,000,000 
pounds  of  cacao. 
The  value  of  a cacao  estate  is  based  upon  the  num- 
ber of  trees  thereon,  and  not  upon  the  amount  of 
land  embraced  therein.  The  nominal  value  of  a tree 
is  one  sucre  (equivalent  to  70  cents  according  to  pre- 
sent rate  of  exchange).  This  is  the  nominal  value 
— the  price  at  which  they  can  be  purchased  when  the 
owner  seeks  a buyer,  which  is  a rare  occurrence ; 
when  the  purchaser  seeks  the  owner,  he  may  have 
to  pay  as  high  as  two  sucres  per  tree.  As  a rule, 
cacao  estates  are  not  in  the  market.  Taxes  are  no- 
minal, the  crop  uniform,  the  profits  great  and  sure, 
the  labor  cheap  and  reliable,  and  the  immediate  future 
free  from  danger  of  over-production. 
The  methods  of  cultivating  the  tree  and  gathering 
and  preparing  the  bean  for  market  are  difficult, 
tedious,  and  crude,  everything  being  done  by  hand 
and  nothing  by  machinery. 
From  the  moment  the  pod  is  cut  until  the  bean  is 
sacked  and  embarked  the  least  possible  time  is  lost. 
Everything  is  pushed  as  rapidly  as  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  people  admit,  and  it  may  be  safely 
assumed  that  were  a little  study  and  more  attention 
given  the  method  of  cleaning  and  curing  the  bean 
could  be  immensely  improved  in  quality. 
Ten  dollars  an  acre  would  be  the  maximum  price  of 
lands  suitable  for  cacao  culture,  $25  an  acre  the 
maximum  cost  of  clearing  and  preparing,  and  200  the 
maximum  cost  per  acre  of  700  trees — planting  and 
caring  for  till  maturity.  Upon  this  basis  an  estate 
of  200  acres  would  cost : 
Land  ...  ...  ...  $2,000 
Clearing  and  cleaning  ...  . . 5,000 
Planting  and  caring  for  ...  ...  40,000 
Interest  on  capital  at  10  per  cent,  for  five 
years  (which*  is  an  over-estimate,  because 
the  $40,000  need  not  be  paid,  except  in 
instalments,  amounting  to  say  $8,000  or 
$10,000  per  annum)  ...  ...  23,500 
Total  ...  ...  ...  70,500 
Minimum  market  value  of  140,000  trees  at 
70  cents  each  ...  ...  98,000 
Clear  gain  ...  ...  27,500 
The  profits  arising  from  production  may  be  deter- 
mined upon  a basis  of  half  a pound  per  tree  for  the 
fifth  year  and  one  pound  thereafter  by  the  following 
tables.  By  these  tables  it  will  be  noted  that  the  yield 
of  the  season,  whether  short  or  full,  affects  the  value 
of  the  cacao,  the  market  value  rising  and  falling  in 
sympathy  with  good  or  bad  seasons ; and  what  is  lost 
in  the  yield  is  gained  in  the  price.  Thus  it  is  that, 
with  a poor  crop  in  1891  and  unfavorable  reports  for 
1892,  the  price  today  is  $18  per  quintal  for  the  best 
or  Arriba  grade.  This  state  of  affairs — the  close 
proximity  of  price  with  yield — is  easily  accounted  for 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  world’s  product  and 
supply  is  inadequate  to  the  demand. 
The  estimate  of  the  cost  of  an  estate  af  200  acres, 
it  may  be  well  to  repeat,  is  a maximum  estimate,  it 
being  impossible  under  favorable  circumstances  or  by 
close,  personal  attention  and  management  to  make 
the  amount  stated  in  dollars  represent  sucres. 
Table  showing  quantity  of  cacao  received  at 
Guayaquil  during  the  past  four  years  : 
Arriba. 
Baloa. 
Machala 
Total. 
1888. 
19,480,598 
3,091,926 
5,090,604 
27,672,128 
I 
1889. 
16,737,512 
3,165,393 
4,734,339 
24,637,304 
1890. 
25,001,572 
4,596,566 
6,793,632 
36,391,770 
1891. 
15,050,696 
2,690,343 
i 839,593 
21,080,632 
J 
—Oil,  Paint  and,  Drug  Reporter 
