The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1888-09-13
COFFEE AND COCOA.
THE PEOPLE, CUSTOMS AND PRO-
DUCTS OF GUATEMALA

THE PEOPLE, CUSTOMS AND PRO-
DUCTS OF GUATEMALA
Why Cocoa Trees Need Msre Care Than
Coffes Plantation-Bad Indians and
Their ways-The Art Of Lying-Pic-
turesque Dress.
The part of Guatemala we are now In Is
! called the Costa Cuca. and from San
| Sebastian to San Felipe ten miles away
and near the mountains, the road passes
through succession of coffee plantations.
TO one not familiar with it. It would ap
| pear to lie bright. fresh leaved tree Of q
rather rich and glossy green. but with its
limbs covered with a parasitical green
| growth resembling small acorns. which
| illusion Is dispelled when the regular
rows Of trees are seen and the careful cul
tivation of the ground noted. While
great care must be taken Of the coffee
tree. it Is not circumstance to that re-
! quired by tho cacao plant. which much
| resembles 1t, Cacao, or in English cocoa,
| the source of chocolate. Is more abun
dainty grown in Ecuador than in any
| other portion of this hemisphere. and the
| Guayaquil cocoa of commerce com ands
a price in Guaten.l. city of $1S per
"carga." or sixty poI ads. so it may be
seen that it is valuable crop The cocoa
| Of Guatemala is a much finer variety and
| sells at $50 per cnrga. right here in the
| country. but the amount raised is not
| sufficient for home consumption, and but
little of it finds its way into the outside
world
The plant has so many natural ercrlies
that many hnqueros are deferred from at
} tempting its cultivation The tree Is
| planted from the scei!s which are no
sooner put in the ground than a large ant
! searches for them and ruins many; when
! the tree appears and is about three feet
tall deer. attracted by the richness OF tho
| leaf. risk their lives for a feed of it. when
these dangers are past and the fruit ap
pears. squirrels come to eat it in large
nun bcrs and any decent sized cacacta
must have two huntsrlen to kill squirrels
Thus it may be seen that chocolate is "a
universal favorite During this time tho
ground must he a. well weeded and
cleaned as Chinaman s Kitchen garden
And in addition to this each cocoa tree
requires a ma,re or mother which is a
shade tree planted for its own particular
Use With such great care necessary. it
is not strange that many prefer coffee
| planting
ANOTHER VIEW OF 1T
And it occurs to me- how few who sit
slipping Maillard's or Members chocolate
eve, give a thought or ever know of the
immense labor Of it's production On the
other hand it has it's advantages, foI
while coffee tree is fairly on the down
| grade to worth!essness after bearing eight
| years. the cocoa tree Is said to bear
ahundantly for seventy FIVE years, and
| even more. Some cncaOtals near the
| frontier of San Salvador are so old that
the oldest Indians in the vicinity testify
! that they were fourshins plantations
when they were children. and the trees
| bear as well today as ever The coffee
estates near San Felipe were nearly all
! planted at the same time. every available
space was utilized consequently they ali
| failed at the same time. ard San Felipe
from being thriving. busy town. became
bit place to live in. ara | failed to see
! It's attractions even il. ti!&t respect When
til" :.t'.fce trees failed macy finqueros
! Planted sugar c,tne THIS r2Guiics from
| planting to maturity. ot:y tiile months.
| :,;;' = l;nt SO profitable q, co;Tcc
! The cocoa fruit rs it appears On the
| tree is lear shaped green n!;sss about
|
| NOT :" large as an averasr" pineapple The
inside Of this pulpy sheath is divided into
cell, about twenty. each containing one
cocoa berry Children and women arc
e;.2p!ryed to prepare il fer market and it
| is not sight Which would induce one to
% anxious to drink HE cocoa he has seen
| clrA:;,%l Each berry is surrounded in its
! cell is Il sweet Imaty E"nwn and greasy
! $uhs;.:Ice which the Indians like, So each
! berry goes 70 an Indians mouth. where
Il" sweet coating is sucked off and
, c!.;wpci bit this III reality does not af
| feet Inc berry. because UNDER the brown
| paste there is parcLmentike shell which
IS ia:I.ervious to the Indian saliva, and
! comes of only in the roasting. leaving the
| inside rleat pure
s:,METuI' q ABOUT BAD INDIANS.
4 marked difference is apparent between
;Ie tri.v Indian Of the Indian town and
the n:!r who has had much contact with
whites and laiinos The former is always
r;.pcc; fui and polite and he is natural
gentleman l!e never approaches you to
speak without removing nis hat and bow
| ug i;Iw. and lie never retircs without ex
c;!$:I9 himself until he may return The
latte: is usually disrespectful and of an
iIao!cnt tisposit:on-ecgcr TO take every
undue advantage of his masters lcnency
and ta; 20 be taught by the generous use
Of r!Hb The ordinary feelings of the
! hu;nan heart are unknown to him You
can govern him and govern him well. by
simply causing him to fear you
The art of lying is unknown In the
! Ce.!te:! States when compared with the
state Of perfection it has reached among
some of these Indian tribes fou may tell
AT individual in your employ to do il Ger
| vain thing. but you Eust accompany him
TO sec that he does il. be"anse if he does
not feel like doing il he will come back
ard lie about it Hit ore of them with
your fist or kick him out of your house.
and he vii! complain to the nearest al
calte, and will have twenty witnesses to
swear that they saw you beat the com
Dlalla!t over The head with club until
lie lay insensible in his own blood. and
this though they u.ay have been miles
away al the time
Many of tie Indians are weavcrs and
pottery makers The cloths they produce
are very pretty bright colored fabrics,
beautifully embroidered in cotton or silks
as the wcarer may desire The shirt OF
their cost ume is made like a square bag
with hole for the head and holes for the
arms. and when the skirt is fastened
around the waist with their pretty belts,
the lower part Of The skirt becomes pet
ticoAt Dress rrettily shaped and well
washed Indian girl in this costume. give
her bright tUrban. and let her balance
the cart!.cn waite, jar gracefully OH hei
head. and you Lave picture not soon IL
be forgotten. and set they seem to be IN
aware how picturesque they look -Guats
mala Cor New York Times.
ways or Book Buyers.
"I;o many persons buy books with the
purpose of putting them in libraries after
they are read?" was asked OF one of our
lSrgcst book dealers. Eyes, we sell
many library books, but the number of
these sold is extremely small as compared
with the number sold to hllmor the
readers passing fancy. The vast major
ity of readers buy twenty or twenty
five cent book. glance through its pages
and toss it away, while never thought
of its preservation enters their minds.
I think l would be justified in saying
that the tendency of the present is not by
far SO strongly toward the formation OF
Eibro rinc &C II hos bea,, in tho INST MOI, ic