COFFEE: CACAO.

89

lying at an elevation of 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level, are
largely planted with this tree. A cacao estate in itself is
more beautiful than a tea plantation sy instead of the dwarf
closely trimmed bushes, it is composed of graceful trees
with drooping branches, growing to a height of about 15 or
20 feet, and interspersed with taller trees of dadap or boisimmortelle
 to form a light shade for the cacao trees, When
in young leaf a cacao plantation is particularly beautiful; the
newly-formed foliage is of a pink or red colour, and the trees
in this condition remind the traveller of the lovely autumn
colours of the maples and sumacs of the Eastern States. As
is so often the case with
ropical trees, the flowers
of cacao appear, not on
the young, but on the
old wood, covering the
trunks and stouter limbs
with little bunches of
white or pink blossom.
These are followed by
the fruits, large, almost
bottle-shaped fleshy pods.
reddish, yellow, or green
in colour according to the
variety, and containing a
number of seeds each
with a coating of mucilaginous
 matter.
The ripe fruits are
picked and carefully split
open ; the seeds are removed
 and piled in heaps
to ferment under covers
of leaves and sand. The
heaps are turned over and remixed every day or two until
the fermentation is complete. The seeds are then washed
in water to remove all the mucilage, and are dried in the
sun on open courts or barbecues. The fully dried beans”
have a plump appearance, a pinkish or purplish colour, and
the kernels when broken across show a whitish, pinkish, or
purple colour, according to the variety cultivated. The
lighter the colour of the “break,” the higher the value of
the cacao. Ceylon cacaos have usually attained almost the
highest market prices on account of their excellent curing
and good break, due to the good qualities of the variety that
until a few years ago was almost the only one grown in the
Island, and known as Criollo. Lately, however, it has been

CACAO TREE IN FRUIT.