The cacao tree with its clusters of red blossom and golden yellow fruits is conspicuous even in tropical vegetation. Of considerable diameter at the base, it often attains a height of eight metres. Its wood is porous and light; the bark is cinnamon coloured, the simply alternating leaves are from 30 to 40 cm. in length and from 10 to 12 cm. broad, growing on stalks about 3 cm. long. The upper surface of these leaves is bright green, and the other one of a duller colour, and slightly hairy.
The flowers, which are often covered with hairs, occur either singly or united in bunches not only on the thicker branches but also all along the trunk from the root upwards. (Fig. 1 A.)
The formation of the fruit takes place only from the flowers of the stem or thicker branches, and for a thousand flowers there is only one ripe fruit.
The flowers (fig. 1 B & C) are very small and of a reddish white colour. Calyx and corolla are five partite, the ten filaments are united at their base (fig. 1 G) and only half of them are developed to fruitful organs, such as bear pollen (fig. 1 J) in their four separate anther compartments (fig. 1 H).
The pistil is formed of five united carpels and bears in each of its five compartments eight ovules. (Fig. 1 E & F).
The fruit is at first green, and afterwards turns yellow, but with streaks and tints of red occurring; many varieties also are entirely crimson. Resembling our cucumber in size, shape and appearance (see fig.2 A & B), it has a length of about 25 cm. and a diameter of 10 cm., and the thickness of its shell is from 15 to 20 mm.This shell is of rather softer consistency than that of the gourd, and has five deep longitudinal channels, with five others of less depth between them.
Fig. 1. (After Berg & Schmidt, Atlas.)ATwig in bloom (1/2).BFlower (3/1).CFlower in vertical section (3/1).DLeaf of flower (6/1)EBean-pod in vertical section (6/1)FBean-pod in cross section (9/1).HAnther.JPollen.
Fig. 1. (After Berg & Schmidt, Atlas.)ATwig in bloom (1/2).BFlower (3/1).CFlower in vertical section (3/1).DLeaf of flower (6/1)EBean-pod in vertical section (6/1)FBean-pod in cross section (9/1).HAnther.JPollen.
The shell encloses a soft, sweetish pulp, within which from twenty-five to forty almond shaped seeds are ranged in five longitudinal rows, close to each other. The white colour of these seedsis frequently tinged with yellow, crimson, or violet (Sec. Fig. 2 C. D. & G).
Fig. 2. (After Berg & Schmidt).AFruit with half of shell removed (1/2).BFruit in cross section (½).CSide view of seed (1/3).DFront view of seed (1/1).ESeedling (1/1).FKotyledon or Seed-leaf (1/1).GSeed in cross section (1/1).
Fig. 2. (After Berg & Schmidt).AFruit with half of shell removed (1/2).BFruit in cross section (½).CSide view of seed (1/3).DFront view of seed (1/1).ESeedling (1/1).FKotyledon or Seed-leaf (1/1).GSeed in cross section (1/1).
The fruits ripen throughout the whole year, though but slowly during the dry season; and the time needed for its full development is about four months. It may be gathered at all times of the year, although there are regular gathering seasons, determined and modified by the respective climatic conditions. So, for example, we find that in Brazil the principal gathering takes place in February and July, whilst in Mexico it is in March and April. In the primeval Amazonian forests the fruit of the cacao tree is gathered and brought to market at all times of the year, wherever Indian tribes obtain.
The cacao tree flourishes in a warm, moist climate. It is therefore indigenous to tropical America, from 23° north to 15° or 20° south latitude.
Consequently the area in which it grows comprises the Central American republic of Mexico down to the Isthmus of Panama; Guatemala, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Martinique, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Granada, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo; in South America, the republics of Venezuela, Columbia, Guiana, Ecuador, Peru and the northern parts of Brazil, especially the districts lying along the middle Amazon.
In all other countries where the cacao tree now flourishes, it has been naturalised, either by colonists, or with government aid, as in Asia, where the Philippine Islands, Java, Celebes, Amboyna and Ceylon in particular are deserving of mention; and in Cameroon (Bibundi, Victoria and Buea), Bourbon, San Thomé and the Canary Islands in Africa, where the tree is sometimes found growing at an elevation of about 980 ft. above sea level. Ceylon offers an instructive illustration of the zeal with which the cultivation is carried on in some districts. According to information furnished by Mr. Ph. Freudenburg, late German Consul at Colombo, cacao had been planted in a few instances during the time Ceylon was in possession of the Dutch, but only since 1819 has seed been distributed out of the botanical gardens at Kalatura, and it was still later before planters could obtain it from those established at Peradenija. Systematic cultivation for commercial purposes was commenced in 1872 or 1873. The principal seats of cacao plantations are Dumbara, Kurunegalla,Kegalla and Polgahawella, together with North, East and West Matala, Urah and Panwila.1According to statistical records, the relation between the growth and export of cacao is shown by the following table, which also shows the development of its cultivation:
YearArea undercultivation (acres)Exports(cwts)1878300101879500421880300012118815460283188512800724718921450017327189518278275191898225003268819083978862186
Like all other articles of human food, cacao has a history of some interest, the most essential points of which are here summarised from the excellent work of A. Mitscherlich.2
A knowledge of the cacao tree was first brought to Europe in 1519 by Fernando Cortez and his troops. He found in Mexico a very extensive cultivation of cacao, which had been carried on for several centuries. In the first letter addressed by Cortez to Charles the Fifth, he described cacao beans as being used in place of money. Cortez applied to the cacao tree the name of “Cacap”, a word derived from the old Mexican designation “Cacava-quahitl”. The Mexicans called the fruit “Cacavacentli”, the beans “Cacahoatl” and the beverage prepared from them “Chocolatl”3, said to be derived from the root “Cacava” and “Atl”, water. This term was adopted by the Spaniards, and it gave rise in the course of time to the word “Chocolate”, which is now universal.
The botanical definition of the typical form of the cacao tree, which belongs to the family BUTTNERIACEAE, is referable to Linnaeus, who gave it the name “Theobroma Cacao” (food of the gods, from “Theos”, God, and “Broma”, food). Probably chocolate was a favourite beverage with Linnaeus, who may have been acquaintedwith the work of the Paris physician Buchat, published in 1684, in which chocolate is alluded to as an invention more worthy of being called food of the gods than nectar or ambrosia. Clusius first described the cacao tree in his “Plantae exoticae”. The taste for chocolate soon spread throughout Spain after the return of Cortez’ expedition from the New World, not, however, without encountering some opposition, especially on the part of the clergy, who raised the question whether it were lawful to partake of chocolate on fast days, as it was known to possess nutritive properties. However, it found an advocate in Cardinal Brancatio, who described it as an article belonging, like wine, to the necessaries of life, and he therefore held that its use in moderation could not be prohibited. In 1624 Franciscus Rauch published a work at Vienna, in which he condemned the use of chocolate and suggested that the monks should be prevented from partaking of it, as a means of preventing excesses. About the commencement of the 17th century, the use of chocolate spread from Spain to Italy, where it was brought to the notice of the public by the Florentine Antonio Carletti (1606), who had lived for some time in the Antilles. The method of converting cacao beans into chocolate was also made known in Europe by Carletti, while the Spaniards had kept it a secret. Under Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XIV, the habit of taking chocolate appears to have become very common in France after the partial introduction of cacao by importation from Spain. The first cacao imported from the French colony of Martinique arrived in Brest in 1679 in “Le Triomphant”, the flagship of admiral d’Estrées. Opinion in France as to chocolate was then divided: Madame Sévigné, once an admirer of chocolate, afterwards wrote to her daughter: “il vous flatte pour un temps et puis il vous allume tout d’un coup fièvre continue qui vous conduit à la mort”, a theory which nowadays must necessarily be regarded as ridiculous.
Chocolate was in general use in England about the middle of the 17th century. Chocolate houses, similar to the coffee houses of Germany, were opened in London. Bontekoë, physician to the Elector Wilhelm of Brandenburg, published in 1679 a work entitled “Tractat van Kruyd, Thee, Coffe, Chocolate,” in which he spoke very strongly in favour of chocolate and contributed very sensibly to the increase of its consumption in Germany. The first chocolate factory in Germany is said to have been erected by Prince Wilhelm von der Lippe about the year 1756 at Steinhude. This prince brought over Portuguese specially versed in the art of chocolate making.
The first information regarding the cultivation of the cacao tree in Mexico is that obtained on the invasion of the country by the Spaniards. Prior to that time there is a total absence of anything definite. The tree flourishes best in situations where the mean temperature is between 24° and 28° C. The farther the place of cultivation from the equator the poorer is the product. The other most essential conditions are long continued moisture of the soil and a soft, loose texture with abundance of humus, and above all, shelter from the direct rays of the sun. For these reasons, planters select for their cacao areas ground the virgin soil of which has not been exhausted by the cultivation of other plants. The plants are either raised in a nursery until they reach the most suitable age for transplanting, or the seeds are sown on the ground selected for the plantation. The transport of live seed for new plantations is attended with some difficulty, since the seeds very quickly lose their vitality. C. Chalot4recommends that this vitality be preserved by gathering the fruit before it is perfectly ripe, immersing it in melted paraffin oil, and then wrapping it in paper; on which the fruit may be transported without losing any of its nutritive qualities.
In the sheltered valleys of tropical countries, where the soft soil, rich in humus, is kept constantly moist by large rivers, the cacao tree blossoms throughout the whole year. When growing wild it is generally isolated under the shadow of larger trees; when cultivated, the young plant is placed under the shelter of banana trees, and at a later period of its growth shelter is provided by the coral (called Erythrina corallodendron or Erythrina indica), further known as “Coffie-mama” among the Surinam Dutch and madre del cacao among the Spaniards. Yet this tree, like the Maniok, is said not to enjoy so long a life as the cacao plant, which sometimes reaches an age of forty years. On this account the Castilloa or also Caesalpina dashyracis have recently been recommended as a more lasting protection. The fact that it does not lose its leaves during the dry season (e. g. on Java, during the East Monsoon) is an additional advantage.
A cacao plantation requires a considerable area, in the proportion of 50 hectares for 20,000 trees. The quantity of fruit to be obtained from that number of trees, as an annual crop, would beworth from £ 1,200-1,300. In planting the seeds, they are set in rows that are from 8 to 10 m. apart, four or five seeds being planted within from 1 to 2 m, the shading trees being planted between the rows. Of each five seeds planted the greater number often fail to germinate, either in consequence of unfavourable weather or as the result of attacks by insects etc.; but if more than one plant grows, the weaker ones are pulled up. Until the plants are two or three years old, they are protected by a shed open at one side, and they are transplanted after they have attained a height of 3 ft. The chief enemies of tropical cultivation—weeds, aerial roots, insects, bacterial infection—have to be provided against continually, so as to prevent damage; accordingly if the ground be not moist enough, it should be systematically watered, and so drained if marshy, for the tree requires most careful nursing if it is to develop into a prolific fruit-bearing specimen. The seed germinates about fourteen days after being planted; but flowers are not produced till after 3 or 5 years. After the tree has once born fruit, which may occur at the end of the fourth year it often continues to do so for fifty years. The tree is most prolific when from twelve to thirty years old.
As in the case of all cultivated plants and domestic animals, the existence of which does not depend on the principal of natural selection, and among which life is not a continuous development of endurance in the face of adverse elements, the cacao tree has its peculiar diseases. Indeed, it would seem as though it were beset by all vermin extant. The reader may obtain some idea of the extent of the damage done to cacao plantations by such noxious agents, if he turns up the clear and exhaustive account published by the Imperial Biological Institute for Agriculture and Forestry (Germany).5Unfortunately we have not space here to mention more than a few of the most frequently occurring and important diseases, such as the GUM DISEASE, which is especially destructive, gum formations in the wood tissue and bark of the tree eventually killing it. Next to be dreaded are the various fungus growths, cancers and cancer-like incrustations (“Krulloten”) and broom formations. It often happens that specii of beetle attack the tree, causing decay and rot to set in; such e. g. are the wood-borer, bark bug, and woodbeetle. Other parasites, again, do not destroy the whole tree, but are equally detrimental, as they also preclude all prospects of a harvest.Fruit rot and its like, fruit cancer, and cacao moths, are notorious in this connection. There are also several larger creatures which betray a preference for the nutritious fruit of the cacao tree, various species of rat, and the squirrel, which unite to make the planter’s life a burden.
The gathering of the fruit is effected by means of long rods, at the end of which is a semi-circular knife for cutting through the stalk. The fruits are then split in two, the beans separated from the surrounding pulp and spread out on screens to dry, or exposed to the sun on bamboo floors. Beans so prepared are described as unfermented.
In most lands where cacao is cultivated, another process is adopted, calculated to heighten the flavour of the fruit and develop its nutritious constituents. The newly gathered beans are first partially freed from the fruity substances always adhering, then piled up into heaps and covered with banana skins or cocoa-nut matting, in order that they may be shut off as far as possible from all atmospheric influence, and so left for some time, while the chemical processes of warming and fermentation are gradually consummating. This procedure is alternated with repeated exposures to the sun, according to the maturity and species of the cacao bean, and the prevailing weather conditions; though details as to the length of time and number of repetitions necessary to the production of a marketable article still await determination.6It may be taken as a general rule that fermentation should proceed till the bean, or rather the cotyledon, has acquired the light brown colour characteristic of chocolate. This principle is nevertheless often violated, especially as loss of weight in the bean is often intimately connected with complete fermentation. Unsufficiently fermented varieties, but which were fully ripe when gathered, develop a violet colour during this process; it is possible for them to pass through what is known as “After fermentation” before reaching the factory. This is not so in the case of beans developing from unripe fruit, for obviously the valuable constituents of the cotyledon are here not prominent,and scarcely calculated to ferment properly. Such can be recognised by their betraying a bluish grey colour in the drying processes, and the soft and smooth structure which they then acquire. A normal progress of fermentation is indicated where the interior of the mass of beans registers, on the first morning after gathering, a temperature not exceeding 30-33° C, 35-38° on the second day, and on the third morning a temperature not exceeding 43° C. If the outer shells are marked, the heating has been too severe. In countries where the harvest season suffers from the periodical rains, drying over wooden fires7is often resorted to. The value of many specimens is hereby greatly diminished when the roasting is carelessly managed, for the smoke must on no account be allowed to come into contact with the bean. Yet “Smoky” lots among the St. Thomas, Accra, and Kameroon sorts were formerly much more frequent in commerce than now, for the planter has learned to avoid this evil. After they have been fermented, the beans are washed, or trodden with the naked foot, in some countries, and so cleansed from the pulp remains still adhering. They are then allowed to dry in the open air, and packed into sacks; contact with metal or stone is strictly to be avoided, which as good conductors of heat and rapid cooling agents are most disadvantageous. Instead of piling the beans up in loose heaps, they may be fermented in “Tanks” made of wood, and where possible, provided with partitions. According to Kindt, cedar wood has been proved best for this purpose, because of its enormous resisting capacity. It used to be thought that in fermentation ensued a germination of the seed,8as in the preparation of malt; but this idea has been proved erroneous. The contrary is rather the case, for the process almost kills the seed; and when the sensitiveness of the latter is taken into consideration, and also the fact that it only develops under the most favourable conditions, it must be allowed that the statement contains an obvious truth. Yet chemical change does take place in the fermentation of the seed; but as to its precise nature, owing to the lack of scientific research on the scene of operations, we are still unable to dogmatise. It would therefore be useless to discuss the manifold theories and speculations bearing on this point, and waste of time to discuss the various kinds of fermentation and the chemical processes therein involved. Yet it may almost be taken for granted,that the fresh-plucked bean contains a so-called glycoside9which decomposes into grape sugar, into an equally amyloids colour stuff (the so-called cacao-red), and the nitrogeneous alkaloids Theobromine and Kaffein; a change probably incidental to the fermentation.10The sugar might further split up into Alcohol and Carbonic Acid Gas, although this is by no means established.
Whilst we have lost our bearings as far as the chemical aspect of this process is concerned, we are much more firm in respect to the biological, thanks to researches which Dr. v. Preyers has conducted on the spot in Ceylon. Preyer’s11experiments leave absolutely no room for objection, and it can safely be accepted that there are no bacteria present in fermentation, but a fungus-like growth rich in life, a kind of yeast by him called Saccharomyces Theobromae, and described in passing;12facts which constitute the gist of his findings. He further establishes that the presence of bacteria often noticed is absolutely undesirable, and that better results are obtained when all life is energetically combated, and especially these bacteria. We should, then, be confronted with the same phenomenon in the preparation of cacao as are already met with in beer brewing, and the pressing of wine and which are still waited for in the preparing of tea and tobacco.
The kernel of the fresh bean, “Nips”, is white and has a bitter taste and alternates in colour between whitish yellow, rose and violet; the mere influence of solar heat is sufficient to produce the brown cacao pigment, but drying is not so effective as fermentation in removing the harsh bitter taste and hence fermented beans are always to be preferred. These have often acquired a darker colour in the process, their weight is considerably diminished, and their flavour modified to an oily sweetness, without losing an atom of the original aroma13.
Commercially and for manufacturing purposes only the seeds of the cacao tree are of importance. The root bark is said by Herr Loyer of Manila to be of medicinal value as a remedy for certain common female complaints and is employed by the natives of thePhilippine Islands as an abortifacient. According to Peckoldt14the fruit shell contains a considerable amount of material that yields mucilage and might therefore be utilised as a substitute for linseed.
The varieties of the cacao tree which yield the beans at the present time occurring in commerce are.
Theobroma cacao, Linné thetrue cacao, spread over the widest area, and almostexclusively cultivated on plantations, with many varieties (Crillo, Forastero etc.) and Theobromabicolor, a party-coloured cacao tree the seeds of which are mixed with Brazilian and Caracas beans.
Theobroma speciosum Wildenow, which yields, like Theobroma cacao, Brazilian beans (magnificent tree).
Theobroma quayanense, yielding Guiana beans.
Theobroma silvestre or forest cacao.
Theobroma subincanum,white-leaved-cacao, and Theobroma microcarpum,small-fruited cacao,are met with as admixturesin Brazilian beans.
Theobroma glaucum,grey cacao, fruits of which variety are found among Caracas beans.
Theobroma angustifolium thenarrow-leavedand Theobroma ovatifolium,oval leaf, may be regarded as characteristic of Mexican cacao.
Before describing the commercial kinds of cacao, a knowledge of which is of first importance to manufacturers, it is desirable to consider the beans in regard to external form and microscopial structure, in order that the use of some indispensable scientific expressions in the subsequent description of particular commercial kinds of cacao may be intelligible.
The bean, page 3 Fig. 2 C-G, consists, according to Hanousek15, of a seed-shell, a seed-skin and the embryo or kernel with the radicle. The oval-shaped seed is generally from 16 to 28 mm. long, 10 to 15 mm. broad and from 4 to 7 mm. thick. At the lower end of the bean there is a depressed, flattened and frequently circular hilum visible, from which a moderately marked line extends up to the apex of the bean where it forms the centre of radiating longitudinal ribs— vascular bundles-extending to the middle of the bean through the outer seed-coating back to the hilum.
The outer seed shell (cf. Fig. 3) is of the thickness of paper, brittle, scaly externally and reddish brown, lined with a colourless translucent membrane peeling to the so-called silver membrane (previously but falsely known as seed envelope) and penetrating into the convolutions of the kernel in irregularly divided folds. The shells of some of the better sorts of beans, such as Caracas, are frequently covered with a firmly adherent, dense, reddish-brown powder, consisting of ferruginous loam originating from the soil on which the beans have been dried and serving as a protection against the attacks of insects. But opinions are divided as to, the utility of this process.
The fermented kernel consists of two large cotyledons occupying the whole bean; it is of fatty lustre, reddish grey or brown colour and often present a superficial violet tinge; and under gentle pressure readily breaks up into numerous angular fragments the surfaces of which are generally bordered by the silver membrane. The fragments can be easily recognised when laid in water. At the contact of the lobes there is an angular middle rib and two lateral ribs are connected with the radicle at the broader end of the bean. The ripe fresh-gathered cacao-kernel is undoubtedly white and the reddish brown or violet pigment is formed during the fermenting of the bean. But there is also a white cacao, though seldom met with. According to information furnished by Dr. C. Rimper of Ecuador, it is of rare occurrence and is not cultivated to any great extent. In Trinidad also a perfectly white seeded cacao, producing large fruit and fine kernels, was introduced from Central America by the curator of the Botanic Gardens in 1893.
The microscopic structure of the shell, Fig. III., presents no remarkable peculiarity that requires to be noticed here.
The delicate inner membrane (fig. 3) coating the cotyledons and penetrating into their folds consists of several layers. Connected with it are club-shaped glandular structures, fig. 4, consisting of several dark coloured cells that are known as theMitscherlich particles. According to A. F. W. Schimper16they are hairs fallen from the epidermis (fig. 4) of the cotyledon and do not originate, as was formerly supposed, in the inner silver membrane.
These structures, named after their discoverer, were formerly supposed to be algae, or cells of the embryo sac, unconnected with the tissues of the seed cells. They are, however, as true epidermoid structures, similar to the hairs of other plants.
Fig. 3. Cross Section of Shell of Cacao Bean (Tschirsch).
Fig. 3. Cross Section of Shell of Cacao Bean (Tschirsch).
gfbvascular bundlesfeendocarp, or inner coat of fruitstsklerogenous, or dry cellscocotyledonseepicarp, or skinissilver membranepcductsschmucilagenous, or slime cellscocotyledonfpulplpparenchyma, or cellular tissuegfbvascular bundles
These Mitscherlich particles are not onlycharacteristic of the seed membrane, but also of the entire seed as well as the preparations made from it. Wherevercacao is mixed with other materials, its presence may be ascertained by microscopical detection of these structures, which are peculiar to cacao.
In the large elongated, hexagonal cells of the seed membrane there are two other structures to be seen with the aid of high power (250 fold), one appearing as large crystalline druses, while the other consists of extremely fine needles united in bundles.
Fig. 4.Cross section of the cotyledon, showing “Mitscherlich particles” (Moeller).
Fig. 4.Cross section of the cotyledon, showing “Mitscherlich particles” (Moeller).
By addition of petroleum spirit the former, consisting of fat acid crystals, are dissolved, the latter, remaining unaltered, are considered by Mitscherlich to be theobromine crystals, since their crystalline form closely resembles that of theobromine. A more scientific explanation has not been forthcoming.
The cotyledons are seen under the microscope to consist of a tissue of thin walled cells, without cavities, lying close together, and here and there distributed through the tissue, cells with brownish yellow, reddish brown, or violet coloured contents. These latter are the pigment cells which contain the substance known as cacao-red and analogous to tannin; it, together with theobromine, gives rise to the delicate taste and aroma of cacao. The other cells of the tissue are filled with extremely small starch granules the size of which rarely exceeds 0.005 mm.; with them are associated fat, in the form of spear-shaped crystals, and albuminoid substances.
In order to discriminate between these substances they must be stained by various reagents. According to Molisch17, theobromine may be recognised, in sections of the seed, by adding a drop of hydrochloric acid and after some time an equal drop of auric chloride solution (3 %) After some of the liquid has evaporated, bunches of long yellow crystals of theobromine aurochloride make their appearance. On addition of osmic acid the fat is coloured greyish brown. On addition to the microscopic section a drop of iodine solution, or better iodozine chloride, the starch becomes blue, while albuminous substances are coloured yellow. Cacao starch granules are very small and cannot well be mistaken for other kinds, except the starch of some spices such as pimento or that of Guarana, prepared from the seeds of Paulinna sorbilis. According to Möller the blue iodine colouration of cacao starch takes place very slowly and it is probably retarded by the large amount of fat present; but the point has been contested by Zipperer and later investigators.
In order to make the starch granules of cacao and the cells containing cacao-red distinctly visible under the microscope, it is advisable to immerse the section in a drop of almond oil, because the addition of water renders the object indistinct in consequence of the large amount of fat present. Another excellent medium for the microscopic observation of cacao is the solution of 8 parts of chloral hydrate in 5 parts of water, as recommended by Schimper.18
By these means it may easily be seen that the pigment or cacao red in different sorts of cacao varies more or less in colour.
To complete the account of the microscopic characters of the cacao cotyledon, mention must be made of the smallvascular bundles, generally spiral, that are distributed throughout the tissues of the cotyledons and are readily made visible by adding a drop of oil or a drop of chloral hydrate solution.
Mindful of Goethe’s dictum:Friend, the paths of theory are uncertain, and hid in gloom, we proposeto devote this chapter to an exclusively practical discussion of the commercial value of raw cacao, and from the merchant’s point of view.
Such differences of opinion prevail in manufacturing circles as to the possible uses of each separate sort, that for this reason alone any other than a purely geographical classification would scarcely be feasible. But apart from this, varying as it does with the protective duties imposed, the commercial value of cacao can by no means remain a universal constant; and it must be noted that variations in the national taste serve to heighten its instability.
This latter circumstance also causes a deviation from the nearly related principal that the Motherland becomes chief consumer of the varieties grown in her colonies. The cacao sorts of the English Gold-Coast running under the collective name ofAccra, have taken complete possession of the German market; Trinidad cacao enjoys immense popularity in France, and the Dutch pass on the larger part of their Java importations to other consuming nations. As regards this latter sort, however, the fact they are chiefly employed as colouring and covering stuffs for other cacaos must be taken into consideration.
In most cases either the producing country or a principal shipping port gives its name to the different sorts. Yet paradoxical exceptions will at once occur to the reader. The inferior and mediocre Venezuelan varieties of the Barlovento district shipped from La Guayra are generally denominated asCaracas, notwithstanding the fact that the capital of the republic Venezuela, situated as it is 1000 metres above sea level (being about 3300 feet), and therefore quite outside the cacao zone, has practically no connection with the cacao trade. The collective name, Samana still holds good for the cacaos of the Dominican republic, at least in Germany, although this outlet of a tiny mountainous peninsular has long ceased to export any but very insignificant quantities. Consequently, and rightly, the French merchant specifies these sorts asSanchez, adopting the name of the principal cacao exporting port of the republic. Arriba, the choicest product of Ecuador (port, Guayaquil) takes its name from the Spanish word arriba, above, the plantations being situated along the upper sources of the Rio Guayas (to wit, the rivers Daule, Vinces, and Zapotal). Other Guayaquil cacaos are named after the rivers (Balao, Naranjal) and districts (e. g. Machala) where they are most cultivated.
As in the case of so many other cultivated plants, distinguishing characteristics of the various sorts are not only determined by the different species of tree, but are rather and principally dependant on the combined effect of physical and climatic conditions. So whether the seedling Criollo, the splendid Creole bean native to Venezuela, belongs also to the more fruitful Forastero species (spanish forastero, foreign), a variety less sensitive and consequently commoner, is a problem which can only claim secondary consideration.
Apart from the geographical influences mentioned, method and nicety of procedure are of prime importance in the preparation of the cacao sorts. Yet technically perfect implements do not always prove the best means to an attainment of this end; it being a fact recorded by experience that the chemical constituents of the cacao bean reach their fullest developement in such simple and primitive processes as, e. g. are still patronised in Ecuador and Venezuela. It is scarcely necessary to observe that these simple and primitive methods postulate nicety and carefulness, which failing, there will be no lack of defects in the cacao prepared. On the Haiti/Domingo island, e. g. a variety of cacao is harvested which is in itself very profitable, as stray specimens finding their way to the market testify, but which as an article of commerce proves most unreliable, being generally brought on the market in such an unprepared state, that fermentation first takes place on the sea voyage, and then of course only in insufficient measure. During this period appear those disagreeable and accompanying symptoms technically known as “Vice propre” and the beans, which were not completely ripe in the first place, do not develop further, and greenish breakings in the skin become pronounced, and remain a source of terror to the manufacturing world. All attempts made in European interests to bring about an alteration in this deplorable state of affairs have hitherto been lost on the indolence of the native planters. Indeed, until the political and economical conditions prevalent among the mixed Negro population of Haiti/Domingo are thoroughly reformed, no perceptible improvement can be expected in the qualities of the Samana and Haiti cacaos, for which reason, with rapidly disappearing exceptions, there are scarcely any well organised plantations in these parts.
Turning to the Old World, we find in the West African Gold Coast a typical example of the possibilities of cultivation on a small scale, under proper and competent guidance, and with primitive processes; for not only as far as quantitative progress is concerned,but also in respect to quality, the varieties produced by the natives of this English colony improve from year to year. Kameroon, a district which like the Gold Coast has only taken to the cultivation of cacao of late years, provides us with an exactly opposite instance. Here the plantation system has been in force right from the commencement of the industry, with all its technically perfected implements, yet nevertheless the perfecting of the cacao proceeds very slowly, and it will be a long time before the produce of this land can lay any serious claim to specification as a variety for consumption. Its large proportion of acid ingredient has been above all detrimental, almost completely precluding its use as any other but a mixing sort, although some plantations have been yielding comparatively mild cacaos now for several years. We cannot stay to discuss the problem of causes in this instance, and whether the fact that the Forastero species has been exclusively planted prejudices the developement of the cacao, or the climatic conditions, must remain an open question. Let it be noted in passing that the Forastero Bean has taken universal possession of Africa, as well in Kameroon, as in the Gold Coast, on the island of St. Thomas and also in the Congo Free State. The Bahia cacao, again, owes its origin to the Forastero seedling.
We will refrain from any further elaboration of this introduction, however, so as not to anticipate the following review of the various commercial sorts of cacao.
A. Central America.
We begin with
Mexico, the classical cacao land, scarcely of importance to the general trade, as the greater part of its entire produce, comprising about three thousand tons yearly, is consumed in its native country. Of the other Central American states, next to
Nicaragua, whose large Venezuelan-like beans find their way to the Hamburg market from time to time,
Costa Ricais above all worthy of mention. This state began to export its home produce in 1912, averaging for that year about 60 tons; and in 1909, the export had already increased to 350 tons, mostly to England and North America, through the shipping port called Port Limon.
B. South America.
Columbia.From this republic come two distinct sorts; the rare, rounded, and native
Caucabean, which is nearly related to the Maracaibo variety, and which cultivated along the Magdalena river is in the main shipped from Baranquille, on the Caribbean sea, occasionally also from Bueneventura on the Pacific coast; and then the
Tumaco Cacao, so named from the small shipping port on the Ecuador border, which resembles the inferior sorts of the Ecuador coast.
Cauca-and Tumaco-cacaos are only seldom free from defective beans and worm-eatings, probably less caused by the primitive processes of preparation than the difficult means of communication in this country. Then also considerable quantities are retained for home consumption.
Ecuadoris the home of the cacao richest in aroma, the country which first developed the plantation system on a large and well organised scale, and which was still at the head of cacao-harvesting lands a few years ago, with a yearly produce of about 32,000 tons. Yet although it had increased this amount to 40,000 tons in the year 1911, Ecuador can only take second rank among cultivating lands, the Gold Coast coming first. The following and most valuable varieties are embraced under the name of the chief shipping port.
GUAYAQUIL. They are:
1.Arriba, i. e. above, these cacaos coming from the upper tributaries of the rio Guaya (the rivers Daule, Vinces, Publoviejo, and Zapatol). The Arribas, like the Guayaquil cacaos generally, are chiefly used in the preparation of cacao powders. They form e. g. the principal constituents of the Dutch cacao powders, especially the so-called superior Summer-Arriba, harvested from the month of April to July. All that is gathered in other seasons falls into the general class “Arriba superior de la época
The cacaos of the months immediately following on Summer, therebuscos, after crop, are as a rule the most inferior varieties of arriba, whilst the Christmas harvest of the months of January and February (cosecha de Navidad) often yields quite excellent sorts.
2.Machála, second in importance among the Guayaquil sorts, rather more fatty than the ariba, and differing from this again in Aroma and the colour of its kernel, which is of a rather darker brown. Chief cultivation occurs in the low lying land bordering on Peru and lying opposite the island of Jambeli, where the prevailing climatic conditions are quite different from those in the arriba districts, although these are not far removed. August and September are theharvest months for Machala. Ten years ago this sort was shipped in large measure from the then newly created harbour Puerto Bolivar. But since large ocean going steamers no longer call there, it now takes the more roundabout route via Guayaquil.
3.Baláo.This variety can be described as a mean between Machala and Arriba. It has some of the characteristics of both, the bean being somewhat rounder.
4.NaranjalandTenguélare likewise subdivisions of the foregoing, except that the bean is here much larger and flatter. As the production of all three sorts, and especially of Balao, is substantially greater than what finds its way to the market, we may reasonably assume that a large proportion is used for mixing purposes, and sails on commercial seas, as it were, under false colours. Cultivating district: the Machala district situated along the Jambeli canal, and the stretch of coast watered by the rivers Balao and Naranjal.
5. Pegados (i. e. stuck together) or Pelatos (balls) is the description of the cacaos comprised of series of 4-10 beans rolled together, generally developing from overripe fruit. They experience a particular kind of fermentation, apparently the result of the fruity substances still evident, which gives the light coloured kernels a soft aromatic flavour. For several years these sorts have rarely been seen on the European market, they being generally reserved for home consumption.
6.Oscuros, i. e. dark coloured, a refuse sort rightly viewed with suspicion in manufacturing circles—Pelotas soaked in water, or beans left in the clefts and fissures of the drying chamber floors.—The black shell of the bean encloses a brownish and dirty-looking kernel, the colour sometimes approaching black: the whole bean giving a disagreeable impression, as it is often disfigured with mould, and possessed of a disagreeable odour. For several years this variety served the “crooks” of the commercial world as mixing material for the so-called “flavouring” of Machala, but it now again appears as a distinct sort.
The shipping port for all these cacao sorts is Guayaquil; though other harbours also handle valuable varieties. Such, for example, are
a)Bahia de Caraquéz, and the small haven of Manta lying south of this town, which deals in a sort resembling a blended Machala-Balao, though occasionally light brown in appearance and of aromatic flavour. This cacao is generally labelled asCaraquézfor short, and is to be distinguished fromCaraque, the French term for Caracas cacao.The chief harvesting months are June and July; the April-May arrivals, however, are usually better, as the setting-in of the rainy season increases the difficulties of drying. The harvest in 1909 reached 3,000 tons, and is normally from 2000 to 5,000 tons yearly.b)Esmeraldas, similar to the foregoing, but of perceptibly inferior output, possesses only a very insignificant yield (about 150 tons a year), and this in spite of the cultivating capacities of the interior.
a)Bahia de Caraquéz, and the small haven of Manta lying south of this town, which deals in a sort resembling a blended Machala-Balao, though occasionally light brown in appearance and of aromatic flavour. This cacao is generally labelled asCaraquézfor short, and is to be distinguished fromCaraque, the French term for Caracas cacao.
The chief harvesting months are June and July; the April-May arrivals, however, are usually better, as the setting-in of the rainy season increases the difficulties of drying. The harvest in 1909 reached 3,000 tons, and is normally from 2000 to 5,000 tons yearly.
b)Esmeraldas, similar to the foregoing, but of perceptibly inferior output, possesses only a very insignificant yield (about 150 tons a year), and this in spite of the cultivating capacities of the interior.
Peru, the most southerly producing land on the west coast can likewise only boast of a very insignificant yield, chiefly destined for home consumption.
Brazil, with its two great sorts for consumption, Bahia and Para cacao, and a yearly production of round 33,000 tons, has from the years 1906-1909 far outrun all other harvesting lands. Yet although it was able to increase this to 36,250 tons in 1911 it must nevertheless take second place among cultivating lands, the Gold Coast and Ecuador preceding.
A most important factor on the market is included under the specificationBahia-cacao. Here again the shipping port has given its name to the cacao sort. It is harvested in three southerly situated districts, Ilheos, Belmonte, and Canavieiras, and is despatched to Bahia from harbours of the same name, in sailing vessel which sometimes ship a thousand sacks.
Ilheos despatches the inferior of the two principal varieties “Fair fermented” and “Superior fermented” that is, the first-named, and so furnishes two-thirds of the Bahia crop. The cacao areas in the district of Ilheos are situated on rather high and mountainous ground, where arresting atmospheric conditions often predominate. Also the absence of any waterway whatever renders it a necessity to despatch the cacao to Bahia on beasts of burden, which during the rainy season can scarcely find a footing on the beaten tracks. It is, then, the unfavourable atmospheric conditions, combined with a certain carelessness on the part of the planter in the preparing processes, which prejudices the otherwise excellent quality of the Bahia bean, and more especially in the months of June, July and August.
At this period it is no rarity to find from 10 to 20 percent of waste beans, and in general only the December-February months offer anything approaching a guarantee as to quality. But here no hard and fast rule can be adduced.
Belmonte and Canavieiras are the districts of the “Superior fermented” cacaos. The lower lay of the land is responsible for other climatic conditions, and in addition, both harbours here are situated at the mouths of rivers which afford an easy and sure means of transport. So the cacao, which is also better roasted,—a few planters even drying in ovens—reaches the market in a much better condition, and fetches at least from 3-4 sh. a cwt. more than the “Fair Fermented” variety.
In all three districts, the beans are prepared in wooden boxes, covered with banana skin, in which the Ilheos variety is allowed to ferment from 2-3 days, and the superior from 2-5 days: this after they have been well shaken up. In Belmonte considerable drying takes place on the sand there deposited by the river in large quantities.
The harvesting is generally reckoned from April 1st. to March 31st. In June and July is the intermediate harvest, whilst the months from October to February supply the bulkiest crops.
The Bahia district yields yearly about 33,500 tons, a fourth part of which is devoted to the consumption of the United States, the remainder chiefly going to Germany, France and Switzerland. The return is still on the increase, and large stretches of land await cultivation.
Paracacao is the denomination of all those sorts shipped from the tracts of land lying along the banks of the Amazon and its mighty tributaries, more especially from Manaos and Itacoatiara, through Para, a port situated on the eastern arm of the delta. These varieties may be classed as intermediary between Bahia and good Sumana. The yearly yield (harvest months June-August) amounts to about 5,000 tons, a comparatively small figure in view of the enormous expanses capable of planting, where the cacao tree at present grows wild, or at least uncultivated. It is true that the returns for 1891 reached 6,500; only to be diminished by half in 1908. France is by far the chief country consuming Para cacao; the sort not meeting with especial favour in other states.
Guiana.Of the three colonies belonging to France, Holland, and Great Britain respectively, which go under this name, only the intermediate one, Dutch Guiana, is of importance in the world’s cacao trade. It comes into consideration under the name of
Surinamcacao. The yield, which should in normal years amount to about 3,000 tons (1899 providing the record with approximately 4,000 tons), has been considerably impaired by tree diseasesand parasites. The return for 1904 only amounted to 850 tons, for example. But meanwhile Holland had hit upon excellent measures to battle against the enemies of the tree, and the years 1909 and 1910 had in consequence already improved this to 2,000 tons. The bean has some resemblance to the Trinidad bean, as far as quality is concerned.
Venezuela, one of the earliest cultivating lands, is the home of the Criollo bean, and of the most splendid specimens of bean in general, sorts which play a prominent part in the Chocolate Manufacture. The Venezuelan bean is rather long and round, and its kernel of a beautiful light brown, with a mild sweet flavour. Unfortunately the plantations have recently been interspersed with Forastero or Trinidad-Criollo trees—called in Venezuela “Trinitarios because brought over from Trinidad, a species which requires less attention and bears more fruit, but which just on that account supplies commoner and mediocre beans, slowly fermenting, and often developing a violet hue. The preparation is here of the simplest; the beans e. g. are dried on clay-covered floors, and in rainy weather earthy fragments often adhere to them. Yet such “Patios” or “Then-dales”, (clay floors) are only in use on the small “haciendas” (plantations). The colouring of the Venezuelan bean with an ocre-like earth constitutes an especial peculiarity. It is adopted in particular for the medium and finer sorts. The earth is mostly sent from the neighbourhood of Choroni to the two large shipping ports Puerto Cabello and La Guayra, where the colouring or “Earthification” of the cacaos to be exported ensues. The earth, varying in colour from a dirty yellow to brick-red, is mixed to a thin paste with sea-water, and afterwards placed in the sun on large sieves, or spread over cement floors. Where the colouring takes place immediately on the plantation, the yellowish brown earth everywhere available is utilised; and where sea-water cannot be obtained, as on the Rio Tuy, for example, there the beans are coloured with a mixture prepared from crushed and almost liquid cacao fruits and this same yellowish brown earth, as the use of fresh water is thought to afford but inferior protection against mould growths. Such juice-coloured cacaos, and occasionally also the Ocumare sorts, are often covered with a rather thick earthy crust. Professional opinion concerning the utility of this colouring varies greatly. In France, the principal country consuming Venezuelan cacao, it is still maintained that the thin earthy crust not only enables the bean to resist the penetration of mildew, but also admits of a kind of after-fermentation, together with developement and preservation of the most valuable constituents of the cacao bean. Colouring is then the rule for the finer Caracas sorts, and all varieties shipped through Puerto Cabello; it is also in use at Carupano, for export to Spain.
The Venezuelan cacaos are divided as follows, and with one exception take their names from the chief shipping ports, to which they are brought in small sailing vessels tapping the villages dotted along the coast.
1.Maracaibocacao, the noble, large, and always uncoloured bean found on the shore of Sea of Maracaibo.2.Puerto Cabello, quite the finest of all cacao sorts, with the following sub-classes, each named after tiny harbours in the vicinity: Chuáo, Borburato, Chichiriviche, San Felipe (coloured with its own peculiar light brown earth) Ocumare, Choroni.3.Caracascacao, exceptionally so-called, although quite a small proportion, namely that brought over the mountains from the Rio Tuy district in donkey caravans, now touches the republican capital. La Guayra, rather, is the shipping port for the so-called Caracas sorts, to which belong all the cacaos from the fertile Barlavento district east of La Guayra, a region watered by two rivers, Rio Tuy and Rio Chico, and with the following outlets; Rio Chico (which gives its name to the most ordinary of sorts), Higuerote, and Capaya. The plantations hard on the mountainous coastal slopes produce a very fine bean, of equal value with the Puerto Cabello.4.Carupanocacao, a sound Venezuelan medium sort, generally coming into use uncoloured; the arrivals from the easterly harbour Rio Caribe also belong to this sort, and also the cacaos of Irapa, Guiria, and Cano Colorado, often shipped from the port of Trinidad lying opposite.
1.Maracaibocacao, the noble, large, and always uncoloured bean found on the shore of Sea of Maracaibo.
2.Puerto Cabello, quite the finest of all cacao sorts, with the following sub-classes, each named after tiny harbours in the vicinity: Chuáo, Borburato, Chichiriviche, San Felipe (coloured with its own peculiar light brown earth) Ocumare, Choroni.
3.Caracascacao, exceptionally so-called, although quite a small proportion, namely that brought over the mountains from the Rio Tuy district in donkey caravans, now touches the republican capital. La Guayra, rather, is the shipping port for the so-called Caracas sorts, to which belong all the cacaos from the fertile Barlavento district east of La Guayra, a region watered by two rivers, Rio Tuy and Rio Chico, and with the following outlets; Rio Chico (which gives its name to the most ordinary of sorts), Higuerote, and Capaya. The plantations hard on the mountainous coastal slopes produce a very fine bean, of equal value with the Puerto Cabello.
4.Carupanocacao, a sound Venezuelan medium sort, generally coming into use uncoloured; the arrivals from the easterly harbour Rio Caribe also belong to this sort, and also the cacaos of Irapa, Guiria, and Cano Colorado, often shipped from the port of Trinidad lying opposite.
FromAngostura(Ciudad Bolivar) on the Orinoco and San Fernando on the Apure, only very insignificant quantities arrive.
They speak of a Christmas and a Summer (June 21st) harvest in Venezuela; but the first four months of the year are generally the most productive. The total produce of Venezuela amounts to about 16,000 tons, of which as export there fall to