<h2><SPAN name="chapter2" id="chapter2">CHAPTER II</SPAN></h2>
<h3>CACAO AND ITS CULTIVATION</h3>
<div class="blkquot">
O tree, upraised in far-off Mexico!</div>
<div class="citation">
"<i>Ode to the Chocolate Tree</i>," 1664.</div>
<p>How seldom do we think, when we drink a cup
of cocoa or eat some morsels of chocolate, that
our liking for these delicacies has set minds
and bodies at work all the world over! Many types of
humanity have contributed to their production. Picture
in the mind's eye the graceful coolie in the sun-saturated
tropics, moving in the shade, cutting the pods
from the cacao tree; the deep-chested sailor helping
to load from lighters or surf-boats the precious bags of
cacao into the hold of the ocean liner; the skilful workman
roasting the beans until they fill the room with a
fine aroma; and the girl with dexterous fingers packing
the cocoa or fashioning the chocolate in curious,
and delicate forms. To the black and brown races, the
negroes and the East Indians, we owe a debt for their
work on tropical plantations, for the harder manual
work would be too arduous for Europeans unused to
the heat of those regions.</p>
<h3><i>Climate Necessary.</i></h3>
<p>Cacao can only grow at tropical temperatures, and
when shielded from the wind and unimpaired by
drought. Enthusiasts, as a hobby, have grown the tree
under glass in England; it requires a warmer temperature
than either tea or coffee, and only after infinite
care can one succeed in getting the tree to flower
<SPAN name="page18" id="page18"></SPAN>
and bear fruit. The mean temperature in the countries
in which it thrives is about 80 degrees F. in the
shade, and the average of the maximum temperatures
is seldom more than 90 degrees F., or the average of
the minimum temperatures less than 70 degrees F. The
rainfall can be as low as 45 inches per annum, as in the
Gold Coast, or as high as 150 inches, as in Java, provided
the fall is uniformly distributed. The ideal spot
is the secluded vale, and whilst in Venezuela there are
plantations up to 2000 feet above sea level, cacao cannot
generally be profitably cultivated above 1000 feet.</p>
<h3><i>Factors of Geographical Distribution.</i></h3>
<p>Climate, soil, and manures determine the possible
region of cultivation—the extent to which the area is
utilised depends on the enterprise of man. The original
home of cacao was the rich tropical region, far-famed
in Elizabethan days, that lies between the Amazon
and the Orinoco, and but for the enterprise of man it
is doubtful if it would have ever spread from this region.
Monkeys often carry the beans many miles—man, the
master-monkey, has carried them round the world.
First the Indians spread cacao over the tropical belt
of the American continent and cultivated it as far
North as Mexico. Then came the Spanish explorers
of the New World, who carried it from the mainland
to the adjacent West Indian islands. Cacao was planted
by them in Trinidad as early as 1525. Since that date
it has been successfully introduced into many a tropical
island. It was an important day in the history of Ceylon
when Sir R. Horton, in 1834, had cacao plants brought
to that island from Trinidad. The carefully packed
plants survived the ordeal of a voyage of ten thousand
miles. The most recent introduction is, however, the
most striking. About 1880 a native of the Gold Coast
obtained some beans, probably from Fernando Po.
In 1891, the first bag of cacao was exported; it weighed
80 pounds. In 1915, 24 years later, the export from the
Gold Coast was 120 million pounds.
<SPAN name="page19" id="page19"></SPAN></p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image5" id="image5"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image005.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image005_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO TREE, WITH PODS AND LEAVES." title="CACAO TREE, WITH PODS AND LEAVES." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO TREE, WITH PODS AND LEAVES.</p>
</div>
<h3><i>The Cacao Tree.</i></h3>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image6" id="image6"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image006.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image006_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO TREE, SHOWING PODS GROWING FROM TRUNK." title="CACAO TREE, SHOWING PODS GROWING FROM TRUNK." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO TREE, SHOWING PODS GROWING FROM TRUNK.</p>
</div>
<p>Tropical vegetation appears so bizarre to the visitor
from temperate climes that in such surroundings the
cacao tree seems almost commonplace. It is in appearance
as moderate and unpretentious as an apple tree, though
<SPAN name="page20" id="page20"></SPAN>
somewhat taller, being, when full grown, about twenty
feet high. It begins to bear in its fourth or fifth year.
Smooth in its early youth, as it gets older it becomes
covered with little bosses (cushions) from which many
flowers spring. I saw one fellow, very tall and gnarled,
and with many pods on it; turning to the planter I
enquired "How old is that tree?" He replied, almost
reverentially: "It's a good deal older than I am;
must be at least fifty years old." "It's one of the tallest
cacao trees I've seen. I wonder—." The planter
perceived my thought, and said: "I'll have it measured
for you." It was forty feet high. That was a tall
one; usually they are not more than half that height.
The bark is reddish-grey, and may be partly hidden
by brown, grey and green patches of lichen. The bark
is both beautiful and quaint, but in the main the tree
<SPAN name="page21" id="page21"></SPAN>
owes its beauty to its luxuriance of prosperous leaves,
and its quaintness to its pods.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image7" id="image7"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image007.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image007_thumb.jpg" alt="FLOWERS AND FRUITS ON MAIN BRANCHES OF A CACAO TREE (Reproduced from van Hall's Cocoa, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)." title="FLOWERS AND FRUITS ON MAIN BRANCHES OF CACAO TREE (Reproduced from van Hall's Cocoa, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
FLOWERS AND FRUITS ON MAIN BRANCHES OF CACAO TREE<br/>
(Reproduced from van Hall's Cocoa, by permisson of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.).</p>
</div>
<h3><i>The Flowers, Leaves and Fruit.</i></h3>
<p>Although cacao trees are not unlike the fruit trees
of England, there are differences which, when first one
sees them, cause expressions of surprise and pleasure
<SPAN name="page22" id="page22"></SPAN>
to leap to the lips. One sees what one never saw before,
the fruit springing from the main trunk, quite close to
the ground. An old writer has explained that this is due
to a wise providence, because the pod is so heavy that
if it hung from the end of the branches it would fall off
before it reached maturity. The old writer talks of
providence; a modern writer would see in the same
facts a simple example of evolution. On the same cacao
tree every day of the year may be found flowers, young
podkins and mature pods side by side. I say "found"
advisedly—at the first glance one does not see the
flowers because they are so dainty and so small. The
buds are the size of rice grains, and the flowers are not
more than half an inch across when the petals are fully
out. The flowers are pink or yellow, of wax-like appearance,
and have no odour. They were commonly stated
to be pollinated by thrips and other insects. Dr. von
Faber of Java has recently shown that whilst self-pollination
is the rule, cross fertilisation occurs between
the flowers on adjacent or interlocking trees. These
graceful flowers are so small that one can walk through
a plantation without observing them, although an
average tree will produce six thousand blossoms in a
year. Not more than one per cent. of these will become
fruit. Usually it takes six months for the bud to develop
into the mature fruit. The lovely mosses that grow on the
stems and branches are sometimes so thick that they
have to be destroyed, or the fragile cacao flower could
not push its way through. Whilst the flowers are small,
the leaves are large, being as an average about a foot in
length and four inches in breadth. The cacao tree never
appears naked, save on the rare occasions when it is
stripped by the wind, and the leaves are green all the
year round, save when they are red, if the reader
will pardon an Hibernianism. And indeed there is
something contrary in the crimson tint, for whilst
we usually associate this with old leaves about to fall,
with the cacao, as with some rose trees, it is the tint of
the young leaves.
<SPAN name="page23" id="page23"></SPAN></p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image8" id="image8"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image008.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image008_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO PODS." title="CACAO PODS." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO PODS.</p>
</div>
<h3><i>The Cacao Pod.</i></h3>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image9" id="image9"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image009.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image009_thumb.jpg" alt="CUT POD, REVEALING THE WHITE PULP ROUND THE BEANS (CEYLON.)" title="CUT POD, REVEALING THE WHITE PULP ROUND THE BEANS (CEYLON.)" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CUT POD, REVEALING THE WHITE PULP ROUND THE BEANS (CEYLON.)</p>
</div>
<p>The fruit, which hangs on a short thick stalk, may
be anything in shape from a melon to a stumpy, irregular
cucumber, according to the botanic variety. The
intermediate shape is like a lemon, with furrows from
end to end. There are pods, called Calabacillo, smooth
<SPAN name="page24" id="page24"></SPAN>
and ovate like a calabash, and there are others, more
rare, so "nobbly" that they are well-named "Alligator."
The pods vary in length from five to eleven
inches, "with here and there the great pod of all, the
blood-red <i>sangre-tora</i>." The colours of the pods are
as brilliant as they are various. They are rich and strong,
and resemble those of the rind of the pomegranate.
One pod shows many shades of dull crimson, another
grades from gold to the yellow of leather, and yet
another is all lack-lustre pea-green. They may be
likened to Chinese lanterns hanging in the woods. One
does not conclude from the appearance of the pod that
the contents are edible, any more than one would surmise
that tea-leaves could be used to produce a refreshing
drink. I say as much to the planter, who smiles.
<SPAN name="page25" id="page25"></SPAN>
With one deft cut with his machete or cutlass, which
hangs in a leather scabbard by his side, the planter
severs the pod from the tree, and with another slash
cuts the thick, almost woody rind and breaks open the
pod. There is disclosed a mass of some thirty or forty
beans, covered with juicy pulp. The inside of the rind
and the mass of beans are gleaming white, like melting
snow. Sometimes the mass is pale amethyst in colour. I
perceive a pleasant odour resembling melon. Like
little Jack Horner, I put in my thumb and pull out a
snow-white bean. It is slippery to hold, so I put it in
my mouth. The taste is sweet, something between
grape and melon. Inside this fruity coating is the bean
proper. From different pods we take beans and cut
them in two, and find that the colour of the bean varies
from purple almost to white.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image10" id="image10"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image010.jpg">
<ANTIMG class="noborder" src="images/image010_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO PODS, SHEWING BEANS INSIDE." title="CACAO PODS, SHEWING BEANS INSIDE." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO PODS, SHEWING BEANS INSIDE.</p>
</div>
<h3><i>Botanical Description.</i></h3>
<p>Theobroma Cacao belongs to the family of the
<i>Sterculiaceae</i>, and to the same order as the Limes and
Mallows. It is described in Strasburger's admirable
<i>Text-Book of Botany</i> as follows:
<SPAN name="page26" id="page26"></SPAN></p>
<div class="blkquot">
<p>"Family. <i>Sterculiaceae.</i></p>
<p>IMPORTANT GENERA. The most important plant is
the Cocoa Tree (<i>Theobroma Cacao</i>). It is a low tree
with short-stalked, firm, brittle, simple leaves of
large size, oval shape, and dark green colour. The
young leaves are of a bright red colour, and, as in many
tropical trees, hang limply downwards. The flowers
are borne on the main stem or the older branches, and
arise from dormant axillary buds (Cauliflory). Each
petal is bulged up at the base, narrows considerably
above this, and ends in an expanded tip. The form of
the reddish flowers is thus somewhat urn-shaped with
five radiating points. The pentalocular ovary has
numerous ovules in each loculus. As the fruit develops,
the soft tissue of the septa extends between the single
seeds; the ripe fruit is thus unilocular and many-seeded.
The seed-coat is filled by the embryo, which
has two large, folded, brittle cotyledons."</p>
</div>
<p>The last sentence conveys an erroneous impression.
The two cotyledons, which form the seed, are not
brittle when found in nature in the pod. They are
juicy and fleshy. And it is only after the seed has received
special treatment (fermentation and drying) to
obtain the bean of commerce, that it becomes brittle.</p>
<h3><i>Varieties of Theobroma Cacao.</i></h3>
<p>As mentioned above, the pods and seeds of Theobroma
Cacao trees show a marked variation, and in
every country the botanist has studied these variations
and classified the trees according to the shape and
colour of the pods and seeds. The existence of so many
classifications has led to a good deal of confusion, and
we are indebted to Van Hall for the simplest way of
clearing up these difficulties. He accepts the classification
first given by Morris, dividing the trees into
two varieties—Criollo and Forastero:
<SPAN name="page27" id="page27"></SPAN></p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image11" id="image11"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image011.jpg">
<ANTIMG class="noborder" src="images/image011_thumb.jpg" alt="DRAWINGS OF TYPICAL PODS, illustrating varieties." title="DRAWINGS OF TYPICAL PODS, illustrating varieties." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
DRAWINGS OF TYPICAL PODS, illustrating varieties.</p>
<SPAN name="page28" id="page28"></SPAN></div>
<h3><i>Extremes of Characteristics.</i></h3>
<div class="centre">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><div class="centre"><i>Criollo.</i></div>
<br/><br/>(Old Red, Caracas, etc.)</td>
<td align="left"><div class="centre"><i>Forastero.</i></div>
<br/><br/>Grading from Cundeamor<br/>
bottle-necked) to Calabacillo<br/> smooth).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><br/>
<table summary="">
<tr>
<td><i>Pod walls.</i></td><td>Thin and warty.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><i>Beans.</i></td><td>Large and plump.<br/>White.<br/>Sweet.</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td align="left"><br/>
<table summary="">
<tr>
<td>Thick and woody.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Small and flat.<br/>Heliotrope to purple.<br/>Asringent.</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table></div>
<p>The cacao of the criollo variety has pods the walls of
which are thin and warty, with ten distinct furrows.
The seeds or beans are white as ivory throughout,
round and plump, and sweet to taste. The forastero
variety includes many sub-varieties, the kind most
distinct from the criollo having pods, the walls of
which are thick and woody, the surface smooth, the
furrows indistinct, and the shape globular. The seeds
in these pods are purple in colour, flat in appearance,
and bitter to taste. This is a very convenient classification.
Personally I believe it would be possible to
find pods varying by almost imperceptible gradations
from the finest, purest, criollo to the lowest form of
forastero (namely, calabacillo). The criollo yields the
finest and rarest kind of cacao, but as sometimes happens
with refined types in nature, it is a rather delicate
tree, especially liable to canker and bark diseases, and
this accounts for the predominance of the forastero in
the cacao plantations of the world.</p>
<h3><i>The Cacao Plantation.</i></h3>
<p>One can spend happy days on a cacao estate. "Are
you going into the cocoa?" they ask, just as in England
we might enquire, "Are you going into the corn?"
<SPAN name="page29" id="page29"></SPAN></p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image12" id="image12"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image012.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image012_thumb.jpg" alt="TROPICAL FOREST, TRINIDAD. This has to be cleared before planting begins." title="TROPICAL FOREST, TRINIDAD. This has to be cleared before planting begins." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
TROPICAL FOREST, TRINIDAD.
This has to be cleared before planting begins.</p>
</div>
<p>Coconut plantations and sugar estates make a strong
appeal to the imagination, but for peaceful beauty they
cannot compare with the cacao plantation. True, coconut
plantations are very lovely—the palms are so graceful,
the leaves against the sky so like a fine etching—but
"the slender coco's drooping crown of plumes"
is altogether foreign to English eyes. Sugar estates are
generally marred by the prosaic factory in the background.
They are dead level plains, and the giant grass
<SPAN name="page30" id="page30"></SPAN>
affords no shade from the relentless sun. Whereas the
leaves of the cacao tree are large and numerous, so that
even in the heat of the day, it is comparatively cool and
pleasant under the cacao.</p>
<p>Cacao plantations present in different countries
every variety of appearance—from that of a wild forest
in which the greater portion of the trees are cacao, to
the tidy and orderly plantation. In some of the Trinidad
plantations the trees are planted in parallel lines twelve
feet apart, with a tree every twelve feet along the line;
and as you push your way through the plantation the
apparently irregularly scattered trees are seen to flash
momentarily into long lines. In other parts of the world,
for example, in Grenada and Surinam, the ground may
be kept so tidy and free from weeds that they have the
appearance of gardens.</p>
<h3><i>Clearing the Land.</i></h3>
<p>When the planter has chosen a suitable site, an exercise
requiring skill, the forest has to be cleared. The
felling of great trees and the clearing of the wild tangle
of undergrowth is arduous work. It is well to leave the
trees on the ridges for about sixty feet on either side,
and thus form a belt of trees to act as wind screen.
Cacao trees are as sensitive to a draught as some human
beings, and these "<i>wind breaks</i>" are often deliberately
grown—Balata, Poui, Mango (Trinidad), Galba
(Grenada), Wild Pois Doux (Martinique), and other
leafy trees being suitable for this purpose.</p>
<h3><i>Suitable Soil.</i></h3>
<p>It was for many years believed that if a tree were
analysed the best soil for its growth could at once be
inferred and described, as it was assumed that the best
soil would be one containing the same elements in
similar proportions. This simple theory ignored the
characteristic powers of assimilation of the tree in
question and the "digestibility" of the soil constituents.
However, it is agreed that soils rich in potash and lime
<SPAN name="page31" id="page31"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="page32" id="page32"></SPAN>
(e.g., those obtained by the decomposition of certain
volcanic rocks) are good for cacao. An open sandy or
loamy alluvial soil is considered ideal. The physical
condition of the soil is equally important: heavy clays
or water-logged soils are bad. The depth of soil required
depends on its nature. A stiff soil discourages the
growth of the "tap" root, which in good porous soils
is generally seven or eight feet long.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image13" id="image13"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image013.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image013_thumb.jpg" alt="CHARACTERISTIC ROOT SYSTEM OF THE CACAO TREE. Note the long tap root. (Reproduced from the Imperial Institute series of Handbooks to the Commercial Resources of the Tropics, by permission.)" title="CHARACTERISTIC ROOT SYSTEM OF THE CACAO TREE. Note the long tap root. (Reproduced from the Imperial Institute series of Handbooks to the Commercial Resources of the Tropics, by permission.)" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CHARACTERISTIC ROOT SYSTEM OF THE CACAO TREE.<br/>
Note the long tap root.<br/>
(Reproduced from the Imperial Institute series of Handbooks
to the Commercial Resources of the Tropics, by permission.)</p>
</div>
<h3><i>Manure.</i></h3>
<p>The greater part of the world's cacao is produced
without the use of artificial manures. The soil, which is
continually washed down by the rains into the rivers,
is continually renewed by decomposition of the bed
rock, and in the tropics this decomposition is more
rapid than in temperate climes. In Guayaquil, "notwithstanding
the fact that the same soil has been cropped
consecutively for over a hundred years, there is as yet
no sign of decadence, nor does a necessity yet arise for
artificial manure."<SPAN name="II-1m" id="II-1m" href="#II-1"><small>[1]</small></SPAN>
However, manures are useful with
all soils, and necessary with many. Happy is the planter
who is so placed that he can obtain a plentiful supply
of farmyard or pen manure, as this gives excellent
results. "Mulching" is also recommended. This consists
of covering the ground with decaying leaves,
grasses, etc., which keep the soil in a moist and open
condition during the dry season. If artificial manures
are used they should vary according to the soil, and,
although he can obtain considerable help from the
analyst, the planter's most reliable guide will be experiment
on the spot.</p>
<h3><i>Planting.</i></h3>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image14" id="image14"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image014.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image014_thumb.jpg" alt="NURSERY, WITH THE YOUNG CACAO PLANTS IN BASKETS, JAVA. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)." title=" NURSERY, WITH THE YOUNG CACAO PLANTS IN BASKETS, JAVA. (Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
NURSERY, WITH THE YOUNG CACAO PLANTS IN BASKETS, JAVA.<br/>
(Reproduced from van Hall's <i>Cocoa</i>,
by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.).</p>
</div>
<p>In the past insufficient care has been taken in <i>the
selection of seed</i>. The planter should choose the large
plump beans with a pale interior, or he should choose
the nearest kind to this that is sufficiently hardy to
thrive in the particular environment. He can plant
<SPAN name="page33" id="page33"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="page34" id="page34"></SPAN>
(1) direct from seeds, or (2) from seedlings—plants
raised in nurseries in bamboo pots, or (3) by grafting
or budding. It is usual to plant two or three seeds in
each hole, and destroy the weaker plants when about a
foot high. The seeds are planted from twelve to fifteen
feet apart. The distance chosen depends chiefly on the
richness of the soil; the richer the soil, the more ample
room is allowed for the trees to spread without choking
each other. Interesting results have been obtained by
Hart and others by grafting the fine but tender criollo
on to the hardy forastero, but until yesterday the practice
had not been tried on a large scale. Experiments
were begun in 1913 by Mr. W.G. Freeman in Trinidad
which promise interesting results. By 1919 the Department
of Agriculture had seven acres in grafted and
budded cacao. In a few years it should be possible to
<SPAN name="page35" id="page35"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="page36" id="page36"></SPAN>
say whether it pays to form an estate of budded cacao
in preference to using seedlings.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image15" id="image15"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image015.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image015_thumb.jpg" alt="PLANTING CACAO, TRINIDAD, FROM YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOO POTS." title="PLANTING CACAO, TRINIDAD, FROM YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOO POTS." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
PLANTING CACAO, TRINIDAD, FROM YOUNG
SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOO POTS.</p>
</div>
<p>There are no longer any mystic rites performed
before planting. In the old days it was the custom to
solemnize the planting, for example, by sacrificing a
cacao-coloured dog (see Bancroft's <i>Native Races of the
Pacific States</i>.)</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image16" id="image16"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image016.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image016_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO IN ITS FOURTH YEAR (SAMOA)." title="CACAO IN ITS FOURTH YEAR (SAMOA)." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO IN ITS FOURTH YEAR (SAMOA).</p>
</div>
<h3><i>Shade: Temporary and Permanent.</i></h3>
<p>When the seeds are planted, such small plants as
cassava, chillies, pigeon peas and the like are planted
with them. The object of planting these is to afford
the young cacao plant shelter from the sun, and to
keep the ground in good condition. Incidentally the
planter obtains cassava (which gives tapioca), red
peppers, etc., as a "catch crop" whilst he is waiting
for the cacao tree to begin to yield. Bananas and plantains
are planted with the same object, and these are
allowed to remain for a longer period. Such is the
rapidity of plant growth in the tropics that in three or
four years the cacao tree is taller than a man, and begins
to bear fruit in its fourth or fifth year. Now it is agreed
that, as with men, the cacao tree needs protection in its
youth, but whether it needs shade trees when it is fully
grown is one of the controverted questions. When the
planter is sitting after his day's work is done, and no
fresh topic comes to his mind, he often re-opens the
discussion on the question of shade. The idea that
cacao trees need shade is a very ancient one, as is
shown in a very old drawing (possibly the oldest drawing
of cacao extant) beneath which it is written: "Of
the tree which bears cacao, which is money, and how
the Indians obtained fire with two pieces of wood."
In this drawing you will observe how lovingly the shade
tree shelters the cacao. The intention in using shade
is to imitate the natural forest conditions in which the
wild cacao grew. Sometimes when clearing the forest
certain large trees are left standing, but more frequently
and with better judgment, chosen kinds are planted.
<SPAN name="page37" id="page37"></SPAN></p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image17" id="image17"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image017.jpg">
<ANTIMG class="noborder" src="images/image017_thumb.jpg" alt="COPY OF AN OLD ENGRAVING SHOWING THE CACAO TREE, AND A TREE SHADING IT. (From _Bontekoe's Works_.)" title="COPY OF AN OLD ENGRAVING SHOWING THE CACAO TREE, AND A TREE SHADING IT. (From _Bontekoe's Works_.)" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
COPY OF AN OLD ENGRAVING SHOWING THE CACAO TREE,
AND A TREE SHADING IT.<br/>
(From <i>Bontekoe's Works</i>.)</p>
</div>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image18" id="image18"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image018.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image018_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO TREES, SHADED BY KAPOK (_Eriodendron Anfractuosum_) IN JAVA. (reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)" title="CACAO TREES, SHADED BY KAPOK (_Eriodendron Anfractuosum_) IN JAVA. (reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)" /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO TREES, SHADED BY KAPOK (<i>Eriodendron Anfractuosum</i>) IN JAVA.<br/>
(reproduced from van Hall's <i>Cocoa</i>, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)</p>
</div>
<p>Many trees have been used: the saman, bread fruit,
mango, mammet, sand box, pois doux, rubber, etc. In
the illustration showing kapok acting as a parasol for
cacao in Java, we see that the proportion of shade trees
to cacao is high. Leguminous trees are preferred because
they conserve the nitrogen in the soil. Hence in
Trinidad the favourite shade tree is <i>Erythrina</i> or Bois
Immortel (so called, a humourist suggests, because it
is short-lived). It is also rather prettily named, "Mother
of Cacao." Usually the shade trees are planted about 40
feet apart, but there are cacao plantations which might
cause a stranger to enquire, "Is this an Immortel
plantation?" so closely are these conspicuous trees
planted. When looking down a Trinidad valley, richly
planted with cacao, one sees in every direction the
silver-grey trunks of the Immortel. In the early months
<SPAN name="page38" id="page38"></SPAN>
of the year these trees have no leaves, they are a mass
of flame-coloured flowers, each "shafted like a scimitar."
It well repays the labour of climbing a hill to look
down on this vermilion glory. Some Trinidad planters
believe that their trees would die without shade, yet
in Grenada, only a hundred miles North as the steamer
sails, there are whole plantations without a single shade
tree. The Grenadians say: "You cannot have pods
without flowers, and you cannot have good flowering
without light and air." Shade trees are not used on
some estates in San Thomé, and in Brazil there are
cocoa kings with 200,000 trees without one shade tree.
It should be mentioned, however, that in these countries
the cacao trees are planted more closely (about
eight feet apart) and themselves shade the soil. Professor
Carmody, in reporting<SPAN name="II-2m" id="II-2m" href="#II-2"><small>[2]</small></SPAN>
recently on the result
of a four years' experiment with (1) shade, (2) no
<SPAN name="page39" id="page39"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="page40" id="page40"></SPAN>
shade, (3) partial shade, says that so far partial shade
has given the best results. No general solution has yet
been found to the question of the advantage of shade,
and, as Shaw states for morality, so in agriculture, "the
golden rule is that there is no golden rule." Not only
is there the personal factor, but nature provides an
infinite variety of environments, and the best results
are obtained by the use of methods appropriate to the
local conditions.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image19" id="image19"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image019.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image019_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO TREES, SHADED BY BOIS IMMORTEL, TRINIDAD." title="CACAO TREES, SHADED BY BOIS IMMORTEL, TRINIDAD." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO TREES, SHADED BY BOIS IMMORTEL, TRINIDAD.</p>
</div>
<h3><i>Form of Tree-growth Desired: Suckers.</i></h3>
<p>Viscount Mountmorres, in a delightfully clear exposition
of cacao cultivation which he gave to the
native farmers and chiefs of the Gold Coast in 1906,
said: "In pruning, it is necessary always to bear in
mind that the best shape for cacao trees is that of an
enlarged open umbrella," with a height under the
umbrella not exceeding seven feet. With this ideal in
his mind, the planter should train up the tree in the
way it should go. Viscount Mountmorres also said
that everything that grows upwards, except the main
stem, must be cut off.</p>
<p>This opens a question which is of great interest to
planters as to whether it is wise to allow shoots to grow
out from the main trunk near the ground. Some hold
that the high yield on their plantation is due to letting
these upright shoots grow. "Mi Amigo Corsicano
said: 'Diavolo, let the cacao-trees grow, let them
branch off like any other fruit-tree, say the tamarind,
the 'chupon' or sucker will in time bear more than its
mother.'"<SPAN name="II-3m" id="II-3m" href="#II-3"><small>[3]</small></SPAN>
There seems to be some evidence that <i>old</i>
trees profit from the "chupons" because they continue
to bear when the old trunk is weary, but this is compensated
for by the fact that the "chupons" (Portuguese
for suckers) were grown at the expense of the tree in
its youth. Hence other planters call them "thieves,"
and "gormandizers," saying that they suck the sap
from the tree, turning all to wood. They follow the
<SPAN name="page41" id="page41"></SPAN>
advice given as early as 1730 by the author of <i>The
Natural History of Chocolate</i>, when he says: "Cut or
lop off the suckers." In Trinidad, experiments have
been started, and after a five years' test, Professor
Carmody says that the indications are that it is a
matter of indifference whether "chupons" are allowed to
grow or not.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image20" id="image20"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image020.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image020_thumb.jpg" alt="CACAO TREE, WITH SUCKERS, TRINIDAD." title="CACAO TREE, WITH SUCKERS, TRINIDAD." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CACAO TREE, WITH SUCKERS, TRINIDAD.</p>
</div>
<p>After hunting, agriculture is man's oldest industry,
and improvements come but slowly, for the proving
of a theory often requires work on a huge scale carried
<SPAN name="page42" id="page42"></SPAN>
out for several decades. The husbandry of the earth
goes on from century to century with little change,
and the methods followed are the winnowings of experience,
tempered with indolence. And even with
the bewildering progress of science in other directions,
sound improvements in this field are rare discoveries.
There is great scope for the application of physical
and chemical knowledge to the production of the raw
materials of the tropics. In one or two instances
notable advances have been made, thus the direct production
of a white sugar (as now practised at Java) at
the tropical factory will have far-reaching effects, but
with many tropical products the methods practised
are as ancient as they are haphazard. Like all methods
founded on long experience, they suit the environment
and the temperament of the people who use them, so
that the work of the scientist in introducing improvements
requires intimate knowledge of the conditions
if his suggestions are to be adopted. The various Departments
of Agriculture are doing splendid pioneer
work, but the full harvest of their sowing will not be
reaped until the number of tropically-educated agriculturists
has been increased by the founding of three
or four agricultural colleges and research laboratories
in equatorial regions.</p>
<p>There is much research to be done. As yet, however,
many planters are ignorant of all that is already established,
the facilities for education in tropical agriculture
being few and far between. There are signs,
however, of development in this direction. It is pleasant
to note that a start was made in Ceylon at the end of
1917 by opening an agricultural school at Peradenija.
Trinidad has for a number of years had an agricultural
school, and is eager to have a college devoted to
agriculture. In 1919, Messrs. Cadbury Bros. gave
£5000 to form the nucleus of a special educational
fund for the Gold Coast. The scientists attached to the
several government agricultural departments in Java,
Ceylon, Trinidad, the Philippines, Africa, etc., have
<SPAN name="page43" id="page43"></SPAN>done splendid work, but it is desirable that the number
of workers should be increased. When the world
wakes up to the importance of tropical produce, agricultural
colleges will be scattered about the tropics,
so that every would-be planter can learn his subject
on the spot.</p>
<div class="centre">
<SPAN name="image21" id="image21"></SPAN>
<SPAN href="images/image021.jpg">
<ANTIMG src="images/image021_thumb.jpg" alt="CUTLASSING." title="CUTLASSING." /></SPAN>
<p class="caption">
CUTLASSING.</p>
</div>
<h3><i>Diseases of the Cacao Tree.</i></h3>
<p>Take, for example, the case of the diseases of plants.
Everyone who takes an interest in the garden knows
how destructive the insect pests and vegetable parasites
can be. In the tropics their power for destruction is
very great, and they are a constant menace to economic
products like cacao. The importance of understanding
their habits, and of studying methods of keeping them
in check, is readily appreciated; the planter may be
ruined by lacking this knowledge.</p>
<p><SPAN name="page44" id="page44"></SPAN>
The cacao tree has been improved and "domesticated"
to satisfy human requirements, a process which
has rendered it weaker to resist attacks from pests and
parasites. It is usual to classify man amongst the pests,
as either from ignorance or by careless handling he
can do the tree much harm. Other animal pests are the
wanton thieves: monkeys, squirrels and rats, who
destroy more fruit than they consume. The insect
pests include varieties of beetles, thrips, aphides, scale
insects and ants, whilst fungi are the cause of the
"Canker" in the stem and branches, the "Witch-broom"
disease in twigs and leaves, and the "Black
Rot" of pods.</p>
<p>The subject is too immense to be summarised in a
few lines, and I recommend readers who wish to know
more of this or other division of the science of cacao
cultivation, to consult one or more of the four classics
in English on this subject:</p>
<ul class="plain">
<li><i>Cocoa</i>, by Herbert Wright (Ceylon), 1907.</li>
<li><i>Cacao</i>, by J. Hinchley Hart (Trinidad), 1911.</li>
<li><i>Cocoa</i>, by W.H. Johnson (Nigeria), 1912.</li>
<li><i>Cocoa</i>, by C.J.J. van Hall (Java), 1914.</li>
</ul>
<div class="footnote">
<SPAN name="II-1" id="II-1" href="#II-1m">[1]</SPAN> <i>Bulletin</i>, Botanic Dept., Jamaica, February, 1900.</div>
<div class="footnote">
<SPAN name="II-2" id="II-2" href="#II-2m">[2]</SPAN> <i>Bulletin</i> Dept. of Agriculture, Trinidad, 1916.</div>
<div class="footnote">
<SPAN name="II-3" id="II-3" href="#II-3m">[3]</SPAN> "<i>How José formed his Cocoa Estate.</i>"</div>
<hr class="longer" />
<p><SPAN name="page45" id="page45"></SPAN></p>
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