Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-19
VENEZUELAN CHOCOLATE
Best in the World, bat Adulteratcd
for Foreign Use.

! L. Curtis. in the Chicago Record, claim
that their chocolate is the best in the
| world The cocoa or chocolate bean is
! found to be more profitable crop than
coffee. and its price is almost as fixed
as that of gold. In some portions of
the country cocoa beans are still used
as legal tender.
Coffee was introduced into N'cne-
Zuela from Arabia by the Franciscan
monks. but cocoa was Indigenous To
the soil and was used in large quanti-
ties by the Indians for food at the
time of the discovery. 1t was not liked
| by the Spaniards ut first. but was in
| troduced in France by the Francis
cans, who were always enterprsing.
! and the French cooks at once adopted
! it into great favor. Cardinal Richelieu
is said to have been the first chocolate
! drinker of any fame. and TO have set
the fashion of using it.
| There are two kinds. the native CO.
Goa. called ell criollo, and an imported
! plant called ell trinitario that was
brought from Trinidad and other of
the West India islands. The former
is of greatly superior quality and is
scarce. Not more than 1900 or 5000
bags are raised annually. and it is
worth, from S32 to $50 gold per bag
of 10 pounds. Of the Trinidad yari-
ETY. about 100000 bags are raised, and
il sells for SIS or $40 II bag. The native
plant requires peculiar soil and care
and grows best in the hottest and most
unhealthful regions. so that there is
not much comfort in its cultivation.
The cocoa plantations are found all
along the coast of Venezuela. and are
more profitable than coffee on account
of their requiring less attention. as
well as because of the greater value of
! the crop.
While coffee can be successfully cul
| tiyated under Il minimum temperature
Of 60 degrees T.. the cocoa tree, for
proper Development and remunerative
! crops. requires temperature of at
least so degrees F.; hence the area of
the cocoa belt is comparatively re-
stricted. Besides the conditions Of
temperature, this crop needs n moist
soil and humid atmosphere. and SO the
lands along the coast of the Caribbean
Sea sloping from the mountain .ops TO
the shore, believed by the eXhalations
from the sea and irrigated by the nu-
| merouS rivuletS that course down the
valleys. are found TO he in all respects
well adapted to the profitable cultiva
ton of cocoa. And while the lands in
the interior. possessing facilities for
irrigation may be said TO he equally
as good for the purpose, yet the alb
sence of roads and the consequently
difficult transportation of produce on
the backs of dOnkcys over rugged
mountain paths materially reduces the
profits of the crop before it reaches the
market.
\ cocoa plantation is set in quite the
| same manner as n coffee orchard. eX
cept that the young stocks may be
| transplanted from the nursery after
two months growth. No preparation
of the soil is deemed necessary and no
manures are applied. The young trees
are planted about fifteen feet equidis-
tant, which will accommodate 200
| trees to the acre. Between the rows
and at like spaces are planted rows of
the bucarc tree that serve TO shade the
soil as well as to shield the young
trees from the torrid sun. Small per-
manent trenches must be maintained
from tree to tree throughout the entire
length of the rows, so that. at least
once in each week, the streams de-
scending from the mountains may be
turned into these little channels and
bear needful moisture TO trees and soil.
At the age of five years the plantation
begins to bear fruit. and annually
yields two crops, that ripening in June
being termed the crop of San Juan,
and that maturing ut Christmas being
known as the crop of La Navidad. The
average age to which trees attain
under proper care may be estimated
at forty years. during which period
they will give fair TO full crops of fruit;
but of course it must be understood
that. as in our fruit orchards, n new
tree must be set from time to time to
replace one that may be decsyed or
blighted. After careful inquiry it may
be safely stated that the average crop
of the cocoa plantation at ten years
of age and under n proper state of cul-
tivation will amount to 800 or 600
pounds an acre.
TIE fruit or seed of the cocoa. i'm
form, size and color. is quite similar
to the almond. These seeds, to the
number of sixty or eighty are incascd
in a pod that. except in color is the
counterpart of a young muskmelOn.
being elongated and ribbed i'm the
same manner It's color when green is
like that of the egg plant. but on ripen-
ing it assumes n reddish hue. \ pccu-
liarity of the cocoa is that it bears fruit
from the ground up" the trunk of the
tree yielding fruit as well as the
branches. Upon ripening the pods are
gathered from the trees and heaped in
piles on the ground, where they are
left for some days to ferment, after
which they burst open, when the seed
must be shelled out. After a light cx-