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

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Cacao shipped from Brazil to the United Kingdom, for nine years,
ending 1835:--

lbs.
1827 3,992,449
1828 1,174,168
1829 2,442,456
1830 1,308,694
1831 1,716,614
1832 2,198,709
1833 2,402,803
1834 1,591,600
1835 1,678,769

_Cultivation in the West India Islands_.--The only English colonies
where this nutritious and wholesome substance is now cultivated to any
extent, are Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent.

In Jamaica and British Guiana it has given place to the production of
sugar, and though it forms such an important article in the imports
and consumption of the United Kingdom, the quantity introduced from
British plantations is barely equal to the demand. The imports from
Jamaica in 1831 were 6,684 lbs., and in 1838, 16,564 lbs.; while the
imports since have been merely nominal. Of 5,014,681 lbs. imported in
1841, 2,920,298 lbs. were furnished by the British West Indian
colonies, 1,802,547 lbs. came from the Colombian republics, and
269,794 lbs. were brought from Brazil. Trinidad furnishes by far the
largest proportion of the West Indian supplies, the imports from
thence in 1841 having been 2,500,000 lbs., while the imports from all
the other islands were but 427,000 lbs. In 1850, 4,750,000 lbs. were
shipped from Trinidad, whilst in 1851 the quantity was nearly as much.

Trinidad.--Although this tree is indigenous to many, if not most of
the tropical parts of America, it was first extensively cultivated in
Mexico; and it is remarkable that the words cacao and chocolate are
both of Mexican origin. From Mexico the variety called Creole cacao it
is supposed was transplanted to the West India colonies; that variety
called Forastero (stranger) came from the Brazils. The latter tree is
the most productive, but the former gives the best fruit, insomuch
that few persons now plant the Forastero cacao. There are two or
three indigenous species found growing wild in the forests of
Trinidad, viz., _T. Sylvestris cacao_, _T. Guianensis_, and another
sort.

There are few, perhaps no agricultural or horticultural pursuits, so
delightful (observes Mr. Joseph, in his "History of Trinidad,") as
that of the cultivation of the cacao. It is planted in rows,
intersecting each other at right angles, at the distance of from
twelve to fifteen feet, according to the nature of the soil. The tree
is not suffered to grow higher than about fifteen feet, and its broad
rich foliage, the hues of which vary from a light green to a dark red,
loaded with yellow and dark red pods, which contain the chocolate
bean, are beautiful objects; these alleys are shaded by rows of
magnificent trees, called _Bois Immortel_ by the French and English,
by the Spaniards the Madre de Cacao. It is the _Erythrina umbrosa_ or
_arborea_ of Linnaeus. Like the Bignonia or Pouie, this tree, at
particular seasons, throws off its foliage and is covered with
blossoms; those of the Erythrina are of a brilliant red color,
justifying its Greek appellation. In this state they are literally
dazzling to behold--no object in the vegetable world looks more
striking than the alleys of a cacao walk shaded by a forest above them
of the Bois Immortel.

I have been obligingly furnished by Mr. W. Purdie, the able Government
botanist of Trinidad, with a short essay upon the cultivation of the
cacao tree, with which many of the valleys of that island are so
beautifully adorned, and which, at one time, poured into that now
unfortunate colony so large a stream of wealth. Fortunately the cacao
planter of the island has managed to survive the many years of
depression under which--like sugar now--the cacao cultivations
lingered and sunk, and which brought the once wealthy planter down to
poverty and misery. His prospects, however, are gradually improving.

The opinions put forth by Mr. Purdie, on the subject of which he
treats, will be found to run counter to the long-established practice
hitherto pursued in the treatment of cacao plantations; but it must
not be forgotten that these are the opinions of a person with whom the
study of trees, their physiology and functions, has been not merely an
amusing science, but an adopted employment, and whose acquirements in
this respect, previous to his arrival in the colony, recommended him
for selection as the agent to extend through South America (the great
cacao region) the investigations of one of the most noted botanical
gardens in Europe.

Mr. Purdie says:--

"In the present depressed times, it behoves us to look well into the
resources of our fertile island, particularly as far as any
improvement can be suggested capable of averting, at least, a part
of the misery and ruin that is hovering over us, and which is too
eagerly borne on the lips of all classes of the community, instead
of using our efforts to do what we can to meet the difficulty; but
few seem to inquire whether we make the most of our present means or
not, whilst every one rather joins in the cry that sugar fetches
little or nothing, and it is no uncommon thing to hear the complaint
transferred from sugar to cacao.

It is but too true that the markets are at present lamentably
against the most important branch of our industry, under the present
manner of sugar cultivation and manufacture in this island. But it
can hardly be admitted that the same is the case in that of
cacao--also a very important branch of our agriculture.

My attention has been lately directed to the average produce per
tree, which will, I hope, throw some light on its cultivation. From
fifteen cacao trees, which are all there are at St. Ann's, I have
this year gathered 115 lbs. of cacoa (dried), and at present there
is at least 50 lbs. more ripe on the same trees. This gives 165 lbs.
of cacao from fifteen trees, or 11 lbs. per tree. These cannot be
considered fine trees; on the contrary, they are what would be
considered ordinary ones; therefore the average in this case is
fair, and differs materially from selecting the produce of fifteen
trees from a large plantation, and giving the average return of what
might be obtained from cacao cultivation. Last year these trees did
not average more than 2 lbs. per tree, and I attribute the increase
of crop to the thinning out of both the cacao and shade trees.

In a former letter to the cacao-planters of Trinidad, I recommended
twenty-four to thirty feet from tree to tree as the proper distance;
but so as to meet the feelings of those who, unfortunately for
themselves, consider every cacao tree cut down a sacrifice, I
propose that the trees be thinned out to twenty-four feet, and that,
at intervals of twenty rows at most, avenues of fifty feet in both
directions should be left. After this, it will be better seen what
may be necessary to be done to each individual tree; neither should
the shade trees be forgotten; as a general rule, they are
prejudicially thick.

By attending to this, I am quite satisfied that a very material
increase in the produce will be seen; indeed, I may say that on this
depends the chief difference of 11/4 lb. and 11 lbs. per tree; for I
consider it a very fair inference, that the average obtained here
can be realised in any other place in this island, and to any
extent, under the same circumstances of light and air, unless on
very poor soil, of which we fortunately have but little.

At twenty-four feet apart there would be seventy-five trees per
acre, or 250 per quarree. This, at 11 lbs. per tree, gives 2,750
lbs. of dried cacao per quarree, at 5 dollars per 100 lbs., gives
137 dollars 50 cents gross; deducting 80 dollars per quarree
expenses, leaves 57 dollars 60 cents net profit. Thus an estate of
120 acres, or 36 quarrees, would contain 9,000 trees, at 11 lbs. per
tree will give 33,000 lbs. of cacao, at 5 dollars gives 4,350
dollars gross per annum; deducting 80 dollars per quarree (a much
more liberal sum than is at present laid out), leaves a net balance
of 1,950 dollars, or 16 dollars 25 cents per acre.

Now this, it must be remembered, would be the produce from 9,000
trees, and from an estate containing only 36 quarrees of land (which
cannot be considered a large one); what, then, might be expected
from estates containing 40,000 trees?

I have been recently favoured with the following average return of
cacao in this island, which I have no doubt will be considered a
fair one. I insert it in full, and, from the very low return, it
shows a lamentable deficiency in the cultivation of this most
grateful tree:--

'The average number of cacoa trees in a quarree of land is 868.

'1st. The estates throughout the island are generally planted at a
distance of 12 feet by 12, and 131/2 feet by 131/2. Those planted at 12
by 12 contain 969 trees in the quarree, and those at 131/2 by 131/2
contain 767 trees, the area of the quarree being taken at 139,697
superficial feet. There may be in the island about 60 quarrees in
all, planted at 15 by 15 feet.

'2nd. The actual annual value of a quarree of land planted in cacoa
is ten fanegas, or 11/4 lb. to a tree.

'It is to be observed that this is the general return from each tree
as estates are now cultivated, but if planters had the means of
keeping their estates in high cultivation, each cacoa tree would
produce 2 lbs. on an average.

'3rd. The annual average cost of cultivating a quarree in cacao, and
manufacturing the produce therefrom, is 35 dollars, in the imperfect
manner it is carried on at present, thereby giving only 10 fanegas
per quarree.'

I believe there are many estates in the island where the average
distance is less than 12 by 12; however, to give the present mode
the full benefit of the return, I will adopt, for comparison's sake,
the maximum number of trees; so that 960 trees per quarree, at l1/4
lb. per tree, gives 1,211 lbs. of cacao, at 5 dollars per 100 lbs.
is worth 60 dollars,[2] gross return per quarree; deducting 36
dollars, not 80 dollars, for expenses, which leaves 24 dollars per
quarree net, or about 7 dollars 75 cents per acre.

This is a startling account from lands among the most fertile in the
world, and from a plant, under fair treatment, next to the sugar
cane, perhaps the most grateful for the care bestowed, more
especially when we consider that more than ten times that quantity
might be obtained with a comparatively insignificant _outlay of
money_.

If such, then, be the case, as stated in the above report (and it is
to be regretted that it is too near the truth), apathy on the part
of those whose interests are so much concerned is unwarrantable. It
is not enough to say that our fathers must have known the proper way
to plant cacao; this is but a lame excuse, and not sufficient to
dispense with any exertions of the present generation, beyond merely
collecting whatever fruit may come, as it were, fortuitously.
Moreover, at the time the present cacao plantations were established
in this island, its cultivation was comparatively little known; it
is therefore likely that they might have erred, as they undoubtedly
did, in cramming them so close together; but notwithstanding this,
by a proper system of thinning, the evils might have been easily
obviated, and large crops ensured.

A few mornings ago, a cacao planter from Santa Cruz called on me,
and in conversation stated that the only place where he had anything
like a crop of cacao at present, was where the hurricane of the 11th
of October had devastated his estate most severely, and which he at
that time considered a ruinous visitation. I hope the lesson will
not be lost on him.

In Jamaica it is found necessary to prune the coffee trees yearly,
which is done with as much care as gooseberry or currant bushes in
England; but, notwithstanding this, I remember a friend of mine in
Jamaica telling me of the extraordinary difference on his coffee
plantation under the management of a person who understood and
attended more particularly to the pruning of his trees.

Lunan, in his 'Hortus Jamaicensis,' published in 1814, gives a very
elaborate article on the cacao, although its cultivation was almost
extinct in his day in that island. He, however, appears to have
derived his information chiefly from Blume, who wrote a short
account of Jamaica, in 1672, at which time cacao was the chief
export of the island. Lunan attributes its downfall to heavy
ministerial exaction, which was then, he says, upwards of 480 per
cent. on its marketable value. Speaking of the average weight of
cacao per tree, he has the following:--'The produce of one tree is
generally estimated at about 20 lbs. of nuts. The produce per acre
in Jamaica has been rated at 1,000 lbs. weight per annum, allowing
for bad years. In poor soils, and under bad management, the produce
of the tree rarely exceeds 8 lbs. weight.' He also says--'When the
cacao plants are six months old, the planter from this period must
not be too fond of cleaning the plantation from grass and herbage,
because they keep the ground cool; but all creeping, climbing
plants, and such weeds as grow high enough to overtop the cacao,
should be destroyed.' He gives the distance from tree to tree at 18
feet. I have long since been of opinion that it is of less
consequence to clean the ground beneath the trees than to attend to
the top-pruning of the shade trees, as well as to the cacao
(although the former is very desirable, it is nevertheless a
subordinate consideration). Under the present mode of cultivation
the ground-cleaning is the only one at all attended to, and that
badly.

A very important economy might also be made in the curing of the
cacao, by which much time would be saved, and consequently expense,
by adopting the same method as is used in Jamaica for drying coffee,
namely, floorings of cement, or, as they are called, barbecues. At
convenient distances in the centre of these floorings (which are
inclined planes) a slightly-raised circular ridge is formed with
cement, leaving an aperture at the lower side to allow the escape of
any water that may have lodged in them. The cacao is easily brought
together in these places in the event of rain, and at night covered
with portable wooden frames, which are readily removed by two men.
In this way the cacao would be dried in a fifth of the time much
more effectually, and of a brighter colour.

Any experiments tending to bring about a proper system of
cultivation and manufacture of cacao, must be beneficial to the
island, as well as to individuals; for it cannot be denied that the
cultivation of cacoa will still prove advantageous in proportion to
the care bestowed on it. Indeed its cultivation is at present
languishing, not so much from inadequate prices, as from a want of
proper attention to its cultivation."

In 1796, there were sixty plantations in Trinidad, which produced
96,000 lbs. In 1802 the plantations were reduced to fifty-seven, the
yield being about the same. In 1807, 355,000 lbs. of cacao were grown.
In 1831, there were 2,972 quarrees (each three acres and one-fifth
English) under cultivation in Trinidad with cacao, on which were
2,464,426 trees, which produced a crop of 1,479,568 lbs. In 1841 there
were 6,910 acres planted with cacao.

The following have been the exports from this island from 1821 to
1844:--

lbs.
1821 1,214,093
1822 1,780,379
1823 2,424,703
1824 2,661,628
1825 2,760,603
1826 2,951,171
1827 3,696,144
1828 2,582,323
1829 2,756,603
1830 1,646,531
1831 1,888,852
1832 1,530,990
1833 3,090,526
1834 3,363,630
1835 2,744,643
1836 3,188,870
1837 2,507,483
1838 2,571,915
1839 2,914,068
1840 2,007,494
1841 2,493,302
1842 2,163,798
1843 1,099,975
(Mill's Trinidad Almanac).

In a lecture delivered by Dr. Lindley before the Society of Arts,
alluding to the colonial products shown, at the Great Exhibition, he
said:--

"There was one sample which ought to be mentioned most especially;
namely, the cocoa of admirable quality which comes, or which may
come, from Trinidad. Cocoa--cacao, as we should call it--is an
article of very large consumption. Enormous quantities of it are now
used in the navy; and every one knows how much it is employed daily
in private life. It is, moreover, the basis of chocolate. But we
have the evidence of one of the most skilful brokers in London, who
has had forty years experience to enable him to speak to the
fact--that we never get good cocoa in this country. The consequence
is, that all the best chocolate is made in Spain, in France, and the
countries where the fine description of cocoa goes. We get here
cocoa which is unripe, flinty, and bitter, having undergone changes
that cause it to bear a very low price in the market. But it comes
from British possessions, and is, therefore, sold here subject to a
duty of only 18s. 8d. per cwt., whereas if it came from a foreign
country it would pay 56s.[3] The differential duty drives the best
cocoa out of the English market. Still it appears that we might
supply, from our own colonies, this very cocoa; because, as I have
said, there was exhibited, from Trinidad, a very beautiful sample,
quite equal to anything produced in the best markets of the
Magdalena, of Soconusco, or of other places on the Spanish main. It
had no bitterness, no flintiness, no damaged grain in it; but all
were plump and ripe, as if they had been picked. The cocoa from the
Spanish main goes into other countries, for the preparation of that
delicious chocolate which we buy of them. It is thrown out of our
market by the differential duty. But it is their own fault if our
own colonies do not produce fine cocoa, as Trinidad has conclusively
proved."

The exports of cacao from St. Lucia, where there are now 300 acres
under cultivation, have been as follows:[4]--I have also added the
produce of St. Vincent and Grenada imported here:--

Grenada. St. Lucia. St. Vincent.
lbs. lbs. lbs.

1828 75,275 17,384
1829 300,051 93,793 12,216
1830 337,901 153,340 9,989
1831 368,882 98,090 7,861
1832 196,195 51,925 538
1833 312,446 91,048 1,005
1834 349,367 60,620 2,197
1835 276,359 49,218 5,876
1836 307,236 47,950 7,721
1837 351,613 48,591 2,525
1838 426,626 38,590 6,588
1839 327,497 54,639 760
1840 269,680 82,293 3,956
1841 372,008 78,225 3,874
1842 280,679 55,175 7,268
1843 296,269 48,279 55,867
1844 544,253 65,667 8,304
1845 342,092 31,000 6,450
1850 609,911 1,372 8,642
1852 604,299 9,428 5,287

A little cacao is now grown in Antigua, about 19,000 lbs. having been
exported from that island in 1843, and 2,000 in 1846.

Dominica and British Guiana produce small quantities; our imports from
these quarters having been as follows:--

Dominica. Demerara.
lbs. lbs.
1833 8,808 2,051
1834 4,767 86
1835 685 126
1836 279 1,121
1837 1,896 522
1838 1,054
1839 1,127 58
1840 2,366 2,376
1841 4,014 129
1842 667 98
1843 4,614 4,178
1844 1,746 10,209
1845 5,444

The cultivation of cacao in Cuba is of comparatively recent
introduction, but it is expected to increase, and, in some degree, to
supply the place of coffee, which is evidently on the decline there.
In 1827, the gross produce of Cuba amounted to 23,806 arrobas, and the
exports to 19,053. In the same year, 15,3013/4 arrobas were imported, so
that at that period the production was not adequate to the
consumption. The expectation of a great increase of production seems
not to have been realized, as the exports of cacao in 1837 were only
5871/4 arrobas, while the imports amounted to 40,8371/2 arrobas.

There are now about sixty-nine cacao plantations in that island,
almost exclusively situate in the central and oriental departments,
which produced, in 1849, 3,836 arrobas, valued at 19,180 dollars.

Hayti exported, in 1801, 648,518 lbs. of cacao; in 1826, 457,592 lbs.,
and in 1836, 550,484 lbs.

The French island of Martinique produces a considerable quantity of
cacao. In 1763, there were stated to be 103,870 trees in bearing. The
produce exported in 1769 was 11,731 quintals. In 1770 there were
871,043 trees. In 1820 there were 412 square acres under cultivation
with cacao, producing 449,492 lbs.; and in 1835, 492 hectares, which
yielded 155,300 kilogrammes. I have no later returns at hand.

The beverage generally called _cocoa_ is merely the berries of
_Theobroma Cacao_, pounded and drank either with water or milk, or
with both. _Chocolate_ (of which I shall speak by and bye) is a
compound drink, and is manufactured chiefly from the kernels of this
plant, whose natural habitat would seem to be Guayaquil, in South
America, though it flourishes in great perfection in the West Indies.
It grows also spontaneously and luxuriantly on the banks of the
Magdalena, in South America; but the fruit of those trees that are
found in the district of Carthagena is preferred to all others,
probably from a superior mode of cultivation. Sir R. Schomburgk, in
his expedition into the interior of British Guiana, found the country
abounding in cacao, "which the Indians were most anxious to secure, as
the pulpy arillus surrounding the seed has an agreeable vinous taste."
Singular to say, however, they appeared perfectly ignorant of the
qualities of the seed, which possesses the most delightful aroma. Sir
Robert adds, they evinced the greatest astonishment when they beheld
him and Mr. Goodall collecting these seeds and using them as
chocolate, which was the most delicious they had ever tasted. These
indigenous cacao trees were met with in innumerable quantities on the
5th of June, 1843, and the following day; and thus inexhaustible
stores of a highly-prized luxury are here reaped solely by the wild
hog, the agouti, monkeys, and the rats of the interior.--(Simmonds's
Col. Mag. vol. i., p. 41.)

The height of the cacao shrub is generally from eighteen to twenty
feet; the leaf is between four and six inches long, and its breadth
three or four, very smooth, and terminating in a point like that of
the orange tree, but differing from it in color; of a dull green,
without gloss, and not so thickly set upon the branches. The blossom
is first white, then reddish, and contains the rudiments of the
kernels or berries. When fully developed, the pericarp or seed-vessel
is a pod, which grows not only from the branches, but the stem of the
tree, and is from six to seven inches in length, and shaped like a
cucumber. Its color is green when growing, like that of the leaf; but
when ripe, is yellow, smooth, clear, and thin. When arrived at its
full growth, and before it is ripe, it is gathered and eaten like any
other fruit, the taste being subacid. If allowed to ripen, the kernels
become hard; and, when taken out of the seed-vessel, are preserved in
skins, or, more frequently, laid on the vijahua leaves, and placed in
the air to dry. When fully dry, they are put in leathern bags, and
sent to market: this is the Spanish mode of taking in the crop. A
somewhat different method is followed in Trinidad and Jamaica (in the
latter island it can scarcely be said to be cultivated now); but it
differs in no essential degree from the principle of gradual
exsiccation, and protection from moisture.