The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-10

grow on low palm tree in what looks
like rough chestnut burrs as big as
your head. Each burr contains a doZ-
en- or more nuts, which, when green,
are filled with a soft, jelly-Iike sub
stance tasting not unlike cocoanut
milk In company with a party on a
recent trip to the interior I ate some
bad. Ecuador has a considerable trade
in them, and her shipments of them
last year brought in $356,0O0.
Where Trees Weave Blankets.
Ecuador has trees which weave bed
clothing. L slept last night in a blan-
ket made of the bark of a tree which
grows on the slopes Of the Andes. The
blanket is six feet long and over five
feet wide, and 1t is as soft and pliable
as though it was made of flannel. It
is OF about the thickness of a good
flannel blanket, and I can easily roll If
up and put it in my shall strap with
out hurting it. This blanket is merely
a strip of bark cut from a section of
the trunk of the demajagua tree. The
indians made cutting around the
trunk 20 get it, and they then prepared
1t by soaking it in water until it was
soft. They then pounded it so that
the rough outside could be stripped off
and the inside alone left The inside
is of fine fbers so Joined together nv
nature that it makes a beautiful HAN.
ket, warm enough to be used as a cover
and soft enough for mattress. Pine
apples here are delicious. and the ba-
nanaS and coffee are UNSURPASSED nv
thoSe OF any other part Of South Amer
lea.
Cup of Chocolate,
The chief article Of export from F,cua-
dor, however, is cacao or, as we call
1T, cocoa. 1t is from this that the
chocolate comes. There are vast cocoa
plantations along the Guyas river and
the other rivers Of the Pacific coast
ana the planters have one Of the best
paying industries among the farmers
OF the world. There are few planta-
lions which do not net II per cent. and
many bring in five times that amount
Today 1T costs here, / am told. about
three cents of our money to raise a
pound OF cocoa, whereas 1t sells in
Guayaqull Tor about IA cents, making
clear profit to the farmer of II cents
tsolO a pound, and paying him a
profit of about 400 per cent. This wear
Ecuador will raise about %. 600 OOO
pounds, Of cocoa beans which will he
shipped to Europe and the United
states. Inc crop is not difficult one
to raise, and when an orchard Is once
bearing 1T is good for a big income for
from twenty to thirty years. Until
came here I had no idea as to how
cocoa was grown. I had heard of the
cocoa bean and supposed 1T came from
vine or bush.
The truth is, the beans, which when
ground up make our chocolate. grow
on trees from twenty to thirty feet
nlsh. Inc tree-is much like an i'm
mense lilac bush. 1t is ragged and
! gnarly, and its fruit which is bigger
IMAM the pomelo or grape fruit, grows
on the stem or trunk and close to the
branches. 1t is Of the shape Of an i'm
mense lemon, and of about the Same
| color, and the seeds within 1T are the
| chocolate beans Of commerce. Each
/ ball of fruit contains from twentv-eight
TO thirty brown beans about as big as
| Lima beans. These are washed out of
the pulp that surrounds them and
| dried and then shipped to the chocolate
| factories all over the world There is
chance for men who have some capi-
tai, and who are not afraid of the mi
asma OF the tropics, to make money
here in raising chocolate
| AS Tor me. would not advise anv
one to come to Guayaquil or tropical
Ecuador to engage in anything. NV
| experience is such that If Mount Chin
boraZo was one solid lump of chocolate
and it was offered me as reward for
| staying here ten years would not take
it. Nearly every American who comes
here gets the fever and I am told thai
80 per cent of all Americans who have
tried to live here have died. AS to the