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.
f) I. American Cacao Varieties.
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 Rica~ is 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
~Cauca~ bean, 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.
~Ecuador~ is 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, the
~rebuscos~, 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 the
harvest 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. ~Naranjal~ and ~Tenguél~ are 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 as ~Caraquéz~
for short, and is to be distinguished from ~Caraque~, 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
specification ~Bahia~-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.
~Para~ cacao 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
~Surinam~ cacao. 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 diseases and
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. ~Maracaibo~ cacao, 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. ~Caracas~ cacao, 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. ~Carupano~ cacao, 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.
From ~Angostura~ (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
La Guayra about 8,000 tons.
Puerto Cabello about 3,000 tons.
Carupano about 4,500 tons.
Maracabio and via Trinidad about 500 tons.
C. The Antilles.
Trinidad produces a cacao which on many plantations, or estates, as
they are called, receives preparation at the hands of experts, and
is very highly esteemed in commerce, and especially in England and
France. The best and generally slightly coloured sorts are specified
as “Plantation”, the medium “Estates”, after the English name, and the
inferior “Fair Trinidad shipping cacao The bean “Trinidad criollo” is
oval, yet not so rounded as the Venezuelan; its kernel is for the most
part dark-coloured, still brown in the better varieties, but inky black
among the inferior. It is customary in Trinidad to trade the cacaos as
prime specimens and to assign to them the name of a species which not
infrequently furnishes no true indication of their origin. “Soconusco”
and “San Antonio” are particularly high-sounding; mention can further
be made of “Montserrat”, “La Gloria”, “Maraval”, “Belle Fleur”, “El
Reposo” etc. Chief harvest, December to February inclusive, by-harvest
May to August.
The total export from Trinidad amounts to about 22,500 tons yearly.
The substantially smaller island of Grenada, also British, contributes
about 6,000 tons a year to the world’s supply. Owing to the prevalence
of like climatic and geological conditions, the yield and quality are
here the same as on the neighbouring island of Trinidad. The chief
consumer of the Grenada cacaos is the Motherland, and the same holds
good for the small British islands of St. Vincent, St. Lucia and
Dominique, all of little import in the general trade of the world.
Martinique-and Guadeloupe-cacaos, hailing from the French islands so
named, with a yearly production varying from 5,000 to 7,500 tons,
only come into consideration for the consumption of the Motherland,
which affords them an abatement of 50 percent in connection with the
tariffs. San Domingo, the larger and eastern part of the Haiti island,
already contributes about 20,000 tons yearly to the universal harvest.
Especially in the last ten years has the cacao cultivation here
received considerable expansion (yield 1894 2,000 tons, 1904 13,500
tons) and as vast suitable tracts of land are to hand, this country
would justify the highest expectations, if the general political and
economical relations of the double republic and a certain indolence of
the planters, all small farmers, had not to be allowed for.
A methodical preparation only seldom takes place. Processes are limited
to a very necessary drying, as a rule, so that the cacao, excellent in
itself, takes rank among the lowest as a commercial quality. The chief
gatherings occur in the months of May, June and July. The shipping
ports are Puerta Plata on the north-coast, Sanchez and Sumana on the
Bight of Samana, and La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo
(the capital) on the south coast. Tiny Samana, situated on a small
tongue of land, and so outlet for no extensive region, has given its
name to Domingo cacao as a commercial sort, as from here the first
shipments were dispatched.
~Sanchez~ cacao, so named because Sanchez, where the transports
come from the fruitful district of Cibao as far as La Vega, is the
chief exporting harbour of the republic. From the same district,
starting at Santiago, there is yet another line, this time running
northwards to Puerto Plata on the coast. The cacao of this northerly
province of Cibao is generally held in higher esteem than that coming
from the southern harbours.
The United States, which have recently developed an interest in
the land for political reasons, have been promoted to first place
among its customers during the last few years; and then follow
France and Germany. It can only be hoped that this influence grows,
in view of the thereby doubtlessly accelerated improvements in the
preparation processes. Up to the present, varieties free from blame are
conspicuously rare. Uniformity as regards the weight of the sacks has
not been possible, owing to the diversity of the means of transport.
Districts lying along the railways, or close to the harbours, make use
of 80-100 kg. sacks (about 176-220 lbs.) But where transport must be
made on beasts of burden, sacks of from 65-70 kilos (143-154 lbs.) are
the rule.
~Haiti~ cacao, coming from the Negro republic of the same name,
is the most inferior of all commercial sorts, chiefly on account
of the incredibly neglective preparation which it undergoes, for
exceptions prove that the bean is capable of being developed into a
very serviceable cacao. Beans covered with a thick gray coloured earthy
crust, often even mixed with small pebbles and having a gritty, and
where healthy, black-brown beaking kernel. The “Liberty and Equality”
of the Negros and Mulattos in this corrupted republic are mirrored
in its plantation system, the land being cultivated but little, and
running almost wild. To effect a change in this state of affairs, that
island law must first of all be abolished, whereby every stranger is
prevented from acquiring landed estate in Haiti.
The yield, about 2,500 tons, is chiefly exported from Jérémic, then
also from the harbours Cap Haitien, Port de Paix, Petit Goave, and Port
au Prince. France and the United States are the principal customers.
The neighbouring island of
~Cuba~ also delivers the greater part of its cacao produce to
the United States, amounting to between 1,000 and 3,000 tons, a fact
explained by geographical, political and freight considerations.
Thanks to its careful preparation, this bean, which resembles the
Domingo in many respects, is preferred, and fetches a correspondingly
higher price. The shipping port is Santiago de Cuba, situated in the
south-eastern portion of the island.
Jamaica, with its yearly harvest of about 2,500 tons, principally
attends to the wants of the Mother Country.
II. African Cacao Varieties.
Cacao cultivation in Africa is of comparatively recent date. The
plantations found on the three islands San Thomé and Principe
(Portuguese), and Fernando Po (Spanish), lying in the Gulf of Guinea,
are the oldest. To the first-named island may be traced much of the
impulse given to cacao plantation in other African districts, so rapid
has been its success here, under the energetic guidance of the skilful
Portuguese planter, and the yet more effective propitious climatic
influences and favourable industrial conditions.
Rare sorts are nowhere to be met with, for the Forastero bean has
conquered the whole of Africa. The sorts produced are accordingly
rather adapted for general consumption. St. Thomas and the Gold Coast
provide a third of the world’s present-day cacao supply, and in the
English colony especially, the geological and climatic conditions are
of such a kind, that the
~Gold Coast~ might very well become to the raw cacao market of the
future what the Brazilian province, San Paulo, is now to the coffee
trade.
In the middle of the “Eighties”, the Swiss Missionary Society planted
in the vicinity of their station, and so started the cultivation of
the cacao tree now flourishing throughout the land. The first fruits
came to Europe in 1891, and in 1894 already totalled 20 tons. In 1901
it was 1,000 tons, 1906 approaching 10,000 tons, and the year 1911
provided the record with about 40,000 tons. It is true that complaints
were long and rightly lodged concerning the inferior quality, due to
carelessness on the part of the natives in conducting the processes
of preparation. But since the year 1909, there have appeared on the
market side by side with the inferior and so-called current qualities,
which still retains more or less of the defects of the earlier produce,
another and properly fermented cacao, in no mean quantities; it is very
popular in all cacao-consuming lands, and fetches from 2 to 3 shillings
per cwt. more than the current qualities. All this has been achieved
through intelligent and sympathetic guidance and control of the small
native planter on the government’s part, without resource to any large
organised plantation system.