Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

S-i CULTIVATION OF THE CACAO BEAN 35 exceeds 10 per cent, cacao grown thereon will not thrive. Every site has its peculiar problems. In Jamaica many estates would fail if it were not for elaborate systems of drainage. In Surinam, the plantations along the river-side are actually below water-level at high tide and have to be surrounded by massive embank-ments to keep out the water. In such a situation it is evident that the draining of the plantation must require great skill. On. the other hånd, in some places in Venezuela and Nicaragua, irrigation is essential to success. In choosing the place for a plantation, the planter will not only select an area where his cacao trees are likely to bear well, he will also take into account certain economic considerations, of which labour conditions and transport are perhaps the most important. His crop has to be collected and conveyed to the market, so that he will preferably choose ground near to a well-made road and convenient to rail and shipping. Felling and Clearing. The planter having made his choice, the land has to be cleared of its wild growth before he can start planting. The outskirts of the primeval forest are a dense mass of matted vegetation ; as we get deeper into the forest where the light is dim, the undergrowth begins to be less in evidence, and walking becomes easy save for the lianes which climb the trunks, reach the tree-top and then hang down in graceful pendants to the very earth. The soil is black and almost bare. The felling is done in the dry season so that everything may be burned and, to facilitate this, the small trees and undergrowth are heaped and the large trees cut into sections. The planter has already carefully marked out the position for his bungalow, the platforms and fermentaries, and, in clearing, any