The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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_Mode of cultivation in the Colombian Republics_--Plantations of cacao
were speedily multiplied in Colombia, and the soil so admirably
seconded the labors of the planter, that in the produce abundance was
united to excellence. The cacao of this quarter ranks next to that of
Soconusco. It is well known that the best commercial recommendation of
cacao is that of coming from Caracas. But even in these provinces the
quality varies. The cacao of Orituco is superior to that of other
places, and a quantity of equal bulk weighs twenty per cent. more. The
cacao of the coast comes next, and obtains a preference over that of
the interior.

The plantations of cacao are all to the north of the chain of
mountains which coast the sea, and in the interior country. The former
extend from Cumana to the mouth of the Tocaygo; the latter are situate
in the vallies of Tuy, Orituco, Ocumare, Cura, Marrin, Tare, Santa
Theresa, Santa Lucia, Zuapira, Santa Philippo, Barquisimeto, Valencia,
Gruige and Cariaco.

All kinds of soil are not equally adapted to the culture of cacao,
still less are all exposures; but an analysis of the soil destined to
this culture never furnishes indications on which reliance can be
placed. No regard should be had to color or composition; it is only
requisite that it should be friable to a certain depth, which is
ascertained by the size of the trees with which it is covered; this
sign determines the land proper for cacao.

A suitable situation is not so easily found. It should be exposed as
little as possible to the north, and be on the borders of a river,
which may communicate moisture to the soil in dry seasons, and
receive its drainings in times of rain. A preference is particularly
to be given to land which can receive from the river the benefits of
irrigation without being exposed to injury from its overflow.

After having chosen the land, it should be cleared of all trees,
shrubs, and other plants. This operation is performed in various ways.
It is customary in Colombia to commence felling the trees immediately
after the rains, that is, about the month of November; the wood, after
being cut, is left to dry, then collected in heaps and burnt.

As soon as the new plantation is cleared, it is crossed with small
ditches, in directions according to the declivity of the soil. These
serve to drain the stagnant waters, to carry off the rains, and to
irrigate or water the soil whenever necessary. The _alignement_ is
then laid out, in which the cacao trees are to be arranged. They are
planted in triangles or squares. In either case, there is always in
the centre an alley, bordered by cacao trees, and running from east to
west. When they are planted in squares, this alley is crossed by
another running from north to south. The cacao plants should be placed
at fifteen or sixteen feet (French measure) from each other, in good
soil; and about thirteen or fourteen feet in soil of inferior quality.

This is almost the only tree in nature to which the enlivening beams
of the sun are obnoxious. It requires to be sheltered from their
ardour; and the mode of combining this protection with the principles
of fertility, forms a very essential part of the skill which its
cultivation demands. The cacao tree is mingled with other trees, which
guard it from the rays of the sun, without depriving it of the benefit
of their heat. The _Erythrina_ and the banana are employed for this
purpose. The latter, by the rapidity of its growth, and the magnitude
of its leaves, protect it for the first year. The erythrina endures at
least as long as the cacao; it is not every soil, however, that agrees
with it. It perishes after a while in sandy and clayey ground, but it
flourishes in such as combine those two ingredients.

In the Antilles this protection cannot be given to cacao, as it would
expose the plantation to destruction by every hurricane. Besides, the
cacao succeeds but indifferently there, and is much less oily than in
other parts.

The quality of the soil, and the species of the erythrina, should
determine the distance at which they ought to be placed. That kind
which the Spaniards call _bucare anaveo_, is planted in a fertile
soil, at the distance of two alleys, that is to say, at each second
range of cacao trees. That which they call _bucare peonio_, is placed
at three alleys in good soils (about forty-eight French feet).

The former species of erythrina is that which elevates itself the
highest. The second species has many thorns, the upper surface of the
leaf is darker and the lower whiter. Both kinds should be cut in the
wane of the moon, and remain in the shade until its increase, at
which time they should be planted. It is much preferable, however, to
take them from a nursery.

In one range of cacao trees a banana is placed between two cacaos, and
an erythrina between the two following. In the other range a banana is
placed between each cacao tree, and no erythrinas, so that the latter
are at the distance of two alleys. The banana and the erythrina are
first planted, and when a shelter from the sun is thus provided, the
hole for the cacao is made, around which are planted four stalks of
the yucca plant, at the distance of two feet from each other. At the
end of two months the cacao is planted. The smaller the plant is, the
better. There are, nevertheless, soils subject to worms where the
small plants do not thrive; but, excepting in this particular, the
small plants are preferable, because the large require more labor for
their transportation and planting; many of them die, and those which
survive bud and shoot forth, but are never of any value.

The cacao plant should not exceed thirty-six inches in size when
transplanted; if larger, it succeeds with difficulty, as will be
shown.

The nurseries of cacao demand an excellent soil, well prepared, where
the water does not remain. They should be well sheltered from the sun.
Small knolls of earth are formed, in each of which are put two seeds
of cacao, in such a manner that they are parallel with the level of
the ground. During the first twenty days the seeds are covered with
two layers of banana or other leaves. If necessary, the ground is
watered; but the water is not suffered to remain. The most suitable
time for sowing is in November.

Where there is not a facility for watering, the planting of the cacao
should take place in the rainy season; but when the former is
practicable, it is best to plant in dry weather and assist nature by
irrigation, since it is then in the power of the cultivator to give
the exact quantity of moisture necessary. But, in all cases, care
should be taken that the plants are not wet in the interval between
their being taken out of the ground and replanted.

When the bananas grow old, they should be carefully felled, lest the
cacaos should be injured by their accidental fall. They are totally
removed as soon as the erythrina yields sufficient shade; this
operation gives more air to the trees of the plantation, and
encourages their growth.

Until the cacao attains four feet in height, it is trimmed to the
stem. If it shoots forth several branches, they are reduced to three,
at equal distances; and, in proportion as the plant increases, the
leaves which appear on the three branches are stripped off. If they
bend much, and incline towards the earth, they are tied in bunches, so
that the tree may not remain crooked. The branches, which are trimmed,
are cut at the distance of two fingers from the tree. The suckers
which spring from the tree are also removed, as they only live at its
expense.

_Enemies of the tree_.--The cacao trees should, as already stated,
have sufficient shade to prevent their being burned by the sun. If
they are much exposed to its rays, their branches are scattered,
crack, and the tree dies. They are also infested with worms, which
gnaw the bark all around, then attack the interior and destroy them.
The only remedy which has hitherto been found, is to employ people to
kill these worms, which are deposited by a small, scaly winged insect,
which gnaws the tree; as soon as it hears the approach of its
destroyers, it lets itself fall, and trusts to its wings for safety.

The color of this insect is a mixture of ash color and white. If
pressed, it emits a sound something similar to the noise of water
thrown on a very hot substance. It has two small horns on its head,
the points of which are directed upwards. It is so lively that, even
when the head is separated from the body, it is a long time in dying.
To deposit its progeny it makes small holes in the tree.

At the commencement of the winter, or rainy season, another worm makes
its appearance, which devours the leaves of the young cacao plant.
This species of worm is called _goaseme_, and they are in some years
so abundant, that all the people of the plantation are solely employed
in destroying them. This worm is four inches in length, and of the
thickness of a finger. It is sometimes called _angaripola_, or Indian,
on account of the vivacity of its colors. It is believed that these
worms are mediately produced by other large worms in the earth, from
which are engendered butterflies, who lay their eggs on the leaves of
the cacao. These eggs are full of small worms, which feed on the
leaves of the cacao, and appear in clusters of the size of a shilling.
They are sought and destroyed with great attention, as they occasion
considerable damage. Those which escape lodge themselves in the earth,
and in the succeeding year are changed into butterflies. At the time
when the worm makes its appearance, it is necessary to make fires,
which should not be so large as to injure the cacao, yet sufficient to
attract and burn the butterfly.

The plantations of cacao in the valley of Tuy, the quarters of Marrin,
Cuba, Sabana, Ocumare, San Francis, &c., are subject to another
species of worm called _rasquilla_. It multiplies in the dry seasons.

There are small insects, called by the Spaniards _accerredores_, of
the same figure with those which eat the bark of the cacao, but larger
and of a blackish colour. They feed on the branches of the tree; are
always found upon those branches which they have cut; and the evil can
only be obviated by killing them.

The worms called _vachacos_ occasion also much damage. They eat the
leaf and the flower. To destroy them it is necessary to seek them in
their nests in the earth. Water is thrown on the spot, and stirred, as
in making mortar. By this means their young are crushed, and the evil
is diminished, if it be not entirely removed.

A parasitical plant often attaches itself to a branch of the cacao
tree which it covers over and causes to wither, by nourishing itself
with the substance of the plant. The only remedy is to remove it.

When the cacao trees are in a bearing state, they are subject to a
disease called _tache_. This is a black taint, or stain, which attacks
the trees, encircling them below, and kills them. The mode of
preservation is to make, in the beginning, a slight notch that shall
pierce the bark. But if the taint is extensive, it is necessary to cut
all the affected part. It then exudes a liquid and is healed. The bark
remains of a violet color in the part that has been tainted.

The other enemies of the cacao are the agouti, stag, squirrel, monkey,
&c. The agouti produces most havoc. It often destroys in one night all
the hopes of the proprietor.

Birds are not less injurious to the cacao. The whole class of parrots,
in particular the great Ara, which destroys for the pleasure of
destroying, and, the parroquets, which come in numerous flocks,
conspire also to ruin the plantations of cacao.

_Means of preserving a plantation_.--It is necessary that a cacao
plantation should have always shade and irrigation; the branches of
the plant should be cleared of the lichens that form on them; the
worms destroyed; and no large herbs or shrubs and mosses permitted to
grow near, since the least disadvantage resulting therefrom would be
the loss of all the fruit that should fall into these thickets. But it
is most essential to deepen the trenches which carry off the water, in
proportion as the plant increases in size, and as the roots of course
pierce deeper; for if the trenches are left at a depth of three feet,
while the roots are six feet in the earth, it follows that the lower
part of the cacao plant is in a situation of too great humidity, and
rots at the level of the water. This precaution contributes not only
to make the plantation more durable, but also to render the crop more
productive. It is necessary, also, to abstain from cutting any branch
from cacao plants that are already bearing. Such an operation might
occasion the subsequent crop to be stronger; but the plants become
enervated, and often perish, according to the quality of the soil and
the number of branches cut off.

If the earth of the plantations be pressed and trampled down by
animals, the duration of the plant is diminished. Irrigation, made
with judgment, maintains them long in a state of produce.

_Withering of the fruit._--The fruit of the cacao withers on the tree
from three causes:--

First.--When the plantation is, during a long time, inundated with
water. I have seen plantations of cacao, which had only been covered
with water thirty hours, and of which the fruit was totally withered.

Second.--From abundant rains, particularly in very damp valleys. This
is only to be remedied by keeping the plantation well drained, that
the water may not remain on it.

Third.--A want of necessary irrigation, and the watering of the
plantation under an ardent sun. The vapor from the earth kills the
fruit. If the rains are deficient for a time, and an excessive rain
succeeds, the fruit of the cacao also withers.

This dessication or withering takes place everywhere; but in some
places the surplus of fruit, which the tree is unable to nourish, 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 good
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 fruit 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 they 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 condition, the
green but sound, the worm-eaten, and the rotten. The 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 during three days under green banana leaves, that they
may ripen before they are hulled. When the cacao is stored, great care
is necessary not to leave amongst it pieces of the pod or leaves, or
any other excrementitious particles. This care must be repeated every
time that it is removed from the store, or replaced in it.

The cacao must always 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. When that is the case, the beans burst on being
squeezed, their shell resounds when struck, and they no longer become
heated when placed in heaps; the latter is the best proof that the
moisture injurious to their preservation is dissipated. If the cacao
is not sufficiently 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 by a hundred quintals at a time, unless the cultivator
has a sufficient number of persons employed to expose a greater
quantity. This operation is indispensable, to prevent it from becoming
mouldy. If the rains prevent this exposure to the sun, it is
necessary, as soon as it is sufficiently cleaned or purified, to
spread it in apartments, galleries, or halls, with which the
plantation must be provided; this operation cannot be delayed without
danger of losing the crop.

It is to be wished that stoves were employed to dry the cacao when the
sun fails, but this expedient, so simple and important, is generally
unknown.

It is almost universally believed that the most essential precautions
for preserving the cacao consists in gathering it at the decline of
the moon. I believe that they may more seriously calculate on the care
of depositing it in apartments so hermetically closed that the air
cannot penetrate; it would be advisable to make these apartments of
wood, for the more perfect exclusion of moisture. The floor should be
elevated two feet; under the floor a pan of coals is placed, covered
with a funnel, the point of which enters into the heap of cacao and
then diffuses the vapor. In the apartment which contains the cacao,
some persons place bottles of vinegar, slightly stopped with paper, to
prevent the formation of worms.

The beans which begin to show specks, may be preserved from entire
corruption by a slight application of brine. This occasions a small
degree of fermentation, which is sufficient to destroy the worms, and
to preserve the cacao during a considerable time from new attacks. Why
is not this preservative also employed after the cacao is dried, and
when placed in the store, where it awaits the purchaser?

At St. Philip they make use of smoke to preserve the cacao; it is also
ascertained that fine salt, thrown in small quantities on the cacao,
protects it from worms.

Much has been done for the cacao when it has been cleared of all green
or dead beans, and extraneous substances; when it has received no
bruise or injury in the operation of drying, and when it has been
subsequently kept in a place that is dry and not exposed to the air;
yet, even with all these precautions, cacao of the best quality is
seldom found marketable at the end of a year.

These circumstances sufficiently prove that the culture of cacao
requires attention more than science, vigilance rather than genius,
and assiduity in preference to theory. Choice of ground, distribution
and draining of the waters, position of the trees destined to shade
the cacao, are almost the only points which require more than common
intelligence. Less expense is also required for an establishment of
this kind than for any other of equal revenue. One able hand, as I
have already said, is sufficient for the preservation and harvest of a
thousand plants, each of which should yield at least one pound of
cacao, in ground of moderate quality, and a pound and a half in the
best soil. By an averaged calculation of twenty ounces to each plant,
the thousand plants must produce twelve hundred and fifty pounds,
which, at the ordinary price of 31s. 6d. per cwt., would produce about
L17 10s. per annum for each laborer. The expenses of the plantation,
including those of utensils, machines, and buildings, are also less
considerable 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
preference 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 Goapa, and at the east of
the mouth of the Tuy. In the vicinity of the line, and on the banks of
Rio-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 years 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 French colonies. It is true that the suitability of
the soil contributes much to the quality of the article; but without
the assistance derived from art, it would be far from possessing that
superiority awarded to it by commerce over the cacao of every other
country.

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 gathered 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 cacao depends
principally on the soil where the trees are planted.--(Baron Von
Sack's "Surinam.")

My friend, Sir R. Schomburgk, in his "Description of British Guiana,"
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 propagated by nature.
Though they were overshadowed by larger trees, and had for many years
been neglected, they had reached nevertheless a height of from thirty
to forty feet, and the luxuriant growth and the abundance of fruit,
proved that the plant was satisfied with the soil. The forests at the
banks of the Rio Branco, in the vicinity of Santa Maria and Carno,
abound in wild cacao trees, the fruits of which are collected by the
scanty population of that district for their own use."

The cultivation of cacao will be most suitable to the less wealthy
individual, as it demands so little labor and outlay. Baron Humboldt
observes, in alluding to Spanish America, that cacao plantations are
occupied by persons of humble condition, who prepare for themselves
and their children a slow but certain fortune; a single laborer is
sufficient to aid them in their plantations, and 30,000 trees, once
established, assure competence for a generation and a half.

The following have been the total imports of Cacao into the United
Kingdom from Mexico and Central America, &c.:--

lbs.
1832 85,642
1834 16,171
1835 211
1836 861,531
1837 564,992
1838 1,681,965
1839 508,307
1840 1,058,015
1841 1,802,547
1842 441,084
1843 1,229,515
(Parl. Paper, No. 426, Sess. 1844.)

Only a few hundred pounds of this is entered annually for home
consumption, the great bulk being re-exported.

In 1850 we imported 1,204,572 lbs. from Mexico; 1,231,773 lbs. from
Chile; 4,438 lbs. from Venezuela, and 23,538 lbs. from Hayti.

BRAZIL.--A great deal of cacao is raised in different parts of this
empire. From the province of Para alone 35,000 bags, valued at
L35,000, were exported in the year 1845. Mr. Edwards, in his "Voyage
up the River Amazon," gives an interesting account:--

"We were now (he says) in the great cacao region, which, for an
extent of several hundred square miles, borders the river. The cacao
trees are low, not rising above fifteen or twenty feet, and are
distinguishable from a distance by the yellowish green of their
leaves, so different from aught else around them. They are planted
at intervals of about twelve feet, and, at first, are protected from
the sun's fierceness by banana trees, which, with their broad
leaves, form a complete shelter. Three years after planting the
trees yield, and therefore require little attention, or, rather,
receive not any. From an idea that the sun is injurious to the
berry, the tree-tops are suffered to mat together until the whole
becomes dense as thatch-work. The sun never penetrates this, and the
ground below is constantly wet. The trunk of the tree grows
irregularly, without beauty, although perhaps by careful training it
might be made as graceful as an apple tree. The leaf is thin, much
resembling our beech, excepting that it is smooth-edged. The flower
is very small, and the berry grows direct from the trunk or
branches. It is eight inches in length, five in diameter, and shaped
much like a rounded double cone. When ripe, it turns from light
green to a deep yellow, and at that time ornaments the tree finely.
Within the berry is a white acid pulp, and embedded in this are from
thirty to forty seeds, an inch in length, narrow and flat. These
seeds are the cacao of commerce. When the berries are ripe, they are
collected into great piles near the house, are cut open with a
tresado, and the seeds, squeezed carelessly from the pulp, are
spread upon mats to dry in the sun. Before being half dried they are
loaded into canoes in bulk, and transmitted to Para. Some of these
vessels will carry four thousand arrobas, of thirty-two pounds
weight each, and, as if such a bulk of damp produce would not
sufficiently spoil itself by its own steaming during a twenty days'
voyage, the captains are in the habit of throwing upon it great
quantities of water, to prevent its loss of weight. As might be
expected, when they arrive at Para it is little more than a heap of
mould, and it is then little wonder that Para cacao is considered
the most inferior in foreign markets. Cacao is very little drunk
throughout the province, and in the city we never saw it except at
the cafes. It is a delicious drink when properly prepared, and one
soon loses relish for that nasty compound known in the States as
chocolate, whose main ingredients are damaged rice and soap fat. The
cacao trees yield two crops annually, and, excepting in harvest
time, the proprietors have nothing to do but lounge in their
hammocks. Most of these people are in debt to traders in Santarem,
who trust them to an unlimited extent, taking a lien upon their
crops. Sometimes the plantations are of vast extent, and one can
walk for miles along the river, from one to another, as freely as
through an orchard. No doubt a scientific cultivator might make the
raising of cacao very profitable, and elevate its quality to that of
Guyaquil."