Show CACAO CACAO cacao is the correct word tu apply to a product which ranks with coffee and tea as a great and instinctively selected stimulus in the dietary of man by using this term cacao in stead of the english one or cocoa two advantages are gained first the word then becomes of universal apall cation tor cacao Is the commercial and domestic term applied throughout latin america it has been adopted in europe since the days of the earliest importation from the new world it is the naturalized expression wl brever it Is produced in the east indies and will be understood even in japan al though it offers no rivalry there to the national and native tea second a con fusion unfortunately so prevalent throughout the english speaking world will be avoided cocoa Is apt to be confounded with coca the plant of peru which the in deans use to sustain them in their weary journeys across the mountains and which furnishes the drug alka loid called cocaine in medicine as a matter of fact cocaine and cacao are botanically quite different and have nothing in common a point that should be well known because the fear that cocaine forms part of cocoa is entirely groundless cocoa Is sup posed also to be of the same fam lly as the cocoanut but here too the resemblance goes no further than the name for the cocoanut Is a palm and requires an altogether different soil tor its propagation chocolate on the other hand the chocolate cho colati of ate aztecs is the original cacao in the language of the aboriginal mexicans it meant water that is a drink from choco which became under the spanish tongue cacao 1 he aztec name shows that the plant is distinctly american it Is indigenous to mexico central america and certain areas of south america emperor montezuma was so fond of it that he had 60 jars of chocolate prepared for his own table and 2 more for that of his house hold its use among the people was so extensive that bags of cacao con kalning a number of beans were current as money the span lards carried a taste for the drink to europe and even to day chocolate is considered a peculiarly spanish drink cacao Is essentially a tropical culta and is known in countries sit bated both north and south of the line on the north side of the equator the cacao countries are ceylon the phil cameroon the gold coast mexico nicaragua the galanas sal vador guatemala venezuela and the west india islands south of the equa tor the main cacao countries are ecuador blizil peru and parts of africa with the adjacent islands the extreme range of latitude is from 20 degrees north to 20 degrees south not only Is the cultivation of cacao limit ed to these few degrees within the tropics but it Is usually a success only in those areas in which the albl ture is very insignificant an eleva alon of between meters and meters to 2 feet marks the limits of the successful cacao planta alons in this equatorial belt in this respect it presents wide differences when compared with tea cinchona camphor and coffee and certain sim flarity in environment to the cocoa nut palm to the rubber plant and bananas the cacao tree does not produce marketable fruit for several yews after planting but when once the pods can be gathered and under careful cultivation a small crop may be ex pecked at the end of the fourth year the yield Is a progressively increase ing one until full maturity at the tenth year is reached after which the fruit Is considered the finest and the tree may be kept in steady bearing foi fully a generation this la all a matter of agriculture in addition to the questions of soil and shade of protection and climate other important details demand the constant attention of the agriculturist these relate to fertilization to gritting asa to particular varieties of the plant when the fruit or pods are ripe and a picking usually takes place twice a ear for the tre may have on it buds flowers ind fruit all at the same time the are s vered from the branches by skilled gatherers who reach up to them with a long prune shaped knife so arranged that it can cut off the ripe fruit without injuring any adjacent green pods the gath ered pods are left in heaps upon the ground tor a day or so when they are cut open the seeds are then taken out and carried to the place where they are cured or sweated the curing process is as delicate it Is tor coffee and tea and upon the results obtained depend to a great extent the quality and richness ot the powder sold for consumption the older way was to spread the beans in the shallow pans exposed to the sun and in a sense sun cured beans pro duce a better article but later methods require expensive buildings in which to bring about the result curing consists of two steps the first being the fermentation the second the drying the object ol 01 fermentation la to remove the sugary pulp surround ing the seeds to promote chemical changes chhin the kernels to convert the bitter astringent taste into a sweet one and to improve the color and flavor of the bean itself all this may ake from two to eight days and only experts can tell when the proper stage has arrived for the discontinue discont inu ance of the process the beans are then washed as a rule although claim is made by some that ashing is unnecessary and also reduces the weight of the marketed article after washing they are dried by the sun or by hot air blasts this drying process gradually changing the bean into the finished product when the surface ol 01 the bean has a bright reddish brown color the kernel a brown or choco late color internally and when the parts are triable and show no signs ot moisture or unevenness on breaking |