AFebJr°ua;yP£m'}        Cocoa:  Its  Production  and  Use.  59 
beans  become  hard  and  brittle',  and  the  rind  becomes  hard  and 
woody.  The  interior  being  now  empty  of  all  the  pulp,  except  a  few 
stringy  remains,  the  seeds  rattle  about  with  every  disturbance  of  the 
shell. 
Each  fruit  contains  from  twenty  to  forty  seeds,  which,  when  cured, 
become  the  cocoa  beans  of  commerce.  Each  seed  is  enclosed  in  a 
pale  crimson,  paper-like  husk  which  is  somewhat  hairy  on  the  out- 
side but  very  smooth  and  shining  on  the  inner  surface.  It  adheres 
closely  to  the  kernel,  but  the  latter  shrinks  away  in  drying,  and  still 
more  in  the  roasting  process,  so  that  the  shell  may  be  easily  cracked 
and  removed.  The  kernel  consists  of  two  very  large  cotyledons, 
remarkable  for  the  way  in  which  they  are  twisted  and  folded  and 
for  the  manner  in  which  the  radicle  or  germ  spreads  out  to  all  parts 
of  the  seed  to  line  every  twist  and  fold.  The  germ  is  hard  and 
stony.  It  is,  of  course,  physiologically  of  prime  importance  since 
it  is  the  part  which  sprouts  when  the  seed  is  planted.  To  the  manu- 
facturer also  it  is  important  because  of  its  uselessness  to  him,  and  its 
removal  adds  one  step  to  the  work  of  making  cocoa. 
The  trees  begin  bearing  about  the  end  of  the  third  year  and  are 
in  their  prime  at  the.  tenth  year.  They  continue  to  yield  profitable 
crops  for  thirty-five  to  forty  years.  It  is  estimated  that  the  average 
yield  is  about  thirty-six  fruits  or  3  pounds  of  commercial  cocoa  beans 
per  tree  per  annum.  Sometimes  a  tree  will  bear  eighty  to  a  hundred 
fruits  in  the  year,  yielding  7  or  8  pounds  of  beans.  In  exceptional 
cases  the  yield  may  be  even  greater  than  this.  Flowers  and  fruits 
in  all  stages  of  development  may  be  found  at  all  seasons  of  the  year, 
but  there  are  two  principal  harvests — one  in  June  and  one  about 
Christmas,  the  former  being  called  in  American  countries  the  harvest 
of  San  Juan  and  the  latter  the  harvest  of  La  Natividad. 
In  harvesting,  those  fruits  which  grow  within  easy  reach  are  cut 
off  with  a  machete,  while  those  which  hang  high  are  brought  down 
by  means  of  a  long  pole  with  a  knife  so  arranged  at  the  top  that  it  will 
cut  either  by  a  thrust  or  a  draw.  The  ripe  fruits  are  known  by  their 
golden-yellow  or  brown  color  or  by  sounding  hollow  when  rapped. 
In  cutting,  care  is  necessary  to  avoid  injuring  the  swelling  or  "  eye" 
on  the  tree  at  the  point  where  the  fruit  stem  is  attached,  as  it  is  this 
swelling  which  produces  the  future  fruit. 
The  fruits  are  generally  allowed  to  pile  up  for  a  day  or  two  and 
are  then  cut  open  and  the  pulp  embedding  the  seeds  is  readily  taken 
