Bror Eric Dahlgren

“ Once in the open air their wings soon dry and each young female wasp is off in search of an immature fig in which to deposit eggs. A suitable one found, the wasp proceeds to cut a notch in one of the outer scales for better access, then makes its way inside. In the process the wasp generally loses its wings. These are apt to stick in the opening, so that an inhabitated fig may be recognized by their presence. The pollen carried by the insect is brushed off on the stigmas of the long-styled flowers within. ”

“ The American product is superior. That from a district in Guatemala, Soconusco, has the reputation of being the best of all, but like genuine Mocha coffee and the very finest of tea, it scarcely ever comes into the market. Of the export grades, the heavy beans from Ecuador and from western Venezuela, those from Colombia and Esmeralda are the most highly esteemed. Trinidad cacao takes a high rank. Brazil and Cayenne ship the less desirable, unfermented grade of beans gathered partly from trees growing wild in the forest. ”

“ Large coco palm plantations often twenty to 100,000 acres in extent, are being established in various parts of the world to keep pace with the demand which is increasing with the decline in the supply of animal fats. The coconut supply to the United States has hitherto come chiefly from the American tropics, Central America, Colombia, Brazil, and the West Indies. The trees in this region are lately threatened by a fungus disease, the so-called "bud-rot," which has gained a foot-hold. ”

“ The inner wall of the receptacle bears the very numerous, small, simple flowers which in the edible fig are all of the female or pistillate kind, more or less perfect. As these grow old and elongate, they completely fill the cavity. Each one of them normally matures a single small dry seed which in some cultivated figs is always sterile, in others fertile when the flowers have been pollinated. The fruit of some varieties of the cultivated fig "ripens," i. e., the receptacle becomes soft, fleshy and edible, without pollination. The fruit of others will not ripen unless pollinated. ”

“ The rest, all natives of tropical America, are of some local importance and the fruit of several is gathered in Brazil where they grow wild. Some of them may be adaptable for stock or for grafting, as recent experiments would indicate. ”

“ The habit of response to the visitations of the fig wasp has proceeded to the stage of anticipation, for gall flowers are not normal flowers that become gall flowers through the egg-laying of the insect, but are already present as such, though barren and useless till the puncture of the wasp supplies them an inhabitant in the shape of a wasp grub.
The eggs hatch into male and female wasps. The small, yellow, wingless males mature first, bite holes in their galls and crawl out into the cavity of the fig. ”

“ The coco palm differs so greatly from any of the trees of our temperate zone that its habit of growth and its manner of flowering and fruiting are of considerable interest. It is always produced from seed. For this purpose the mature coconuts are set out to sprout in beds on the ground, ordinarily under partial shade. The East Indian hangs them in baskets or ties them to poles or to the limbs of a tree. They are never embedded entirely in the soil till ready to plant, which is in about a year, when the roots have penetrated the husk and the first leaves have appeared. ”

“ The popularity of cacao is due to its combination of pleasant taste, and stimulating and nourishing properties. The latter depend partly on its fat content, but there is also naturally present in cacao beans starch and vegetable proteins. A drink of chocolate or cocoa, without any addition, is consequently much more nourishing than either coffee or tea, with which it is comparable in respect to stimulating properties. ”

“ As insects emerge from one crop of maturing Caprifigs they ordinarily find green fruit of the next crop ready to receive them. Each crop is thus pollinated with pollen of the preceding crop. An interval of about two months elapses between the entrance of the egg-laying fig wasp into the young fig and the emergence of her progeny from the ripe one. The same interval of time separates the receptive stage of the female fig flowers and the ripening of the pollen in the male flowers, completely excluding the possibility of self-pollination. ”

“ While very young, the fruits look like miniature green cucumbers sharply pointed at both ends; as they enlarge and mature, they become great "pods", five to seven, or even ten inches long, with longitudinal grooves alternating with ribs on the surface. ”

“ It is only after the first few dozen leaves have been shed and the cylindrical, woody stem becomes visible that the plant begins to acquire its characteristic aspect, which is complete when flowering commences in about the sixth to eighth year. The coco palm matures in twenty to forty years and continues to bear almost continuously for sixty to eighty years longer.
The growing point of the tree is at the apex. The terminal bud is always present, enveloped and shielded by the bases of several young and unexpanded leaves that make up the top of the plant. ”

“ To prevent the dropping of fruit of the edible fig before maturity, it is an ancient practice among fig growers to hang branches of the wild fig tree, or strings of ripe Caprifigs, in the trees of the fig orchard. The fig wasps will then enter the young edible figs and bring about pollination with the Caprifig pollen. The true Smyrna fig absolutely requires pollination to ripen its fruit. ”

“ Each of these countries furnishes over twenty thousand tons each year. Venezuela exports a little more than half as much; the Caribbean island Grenada about a quarter, or about five thousand tons a year. Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, and other West Indian islands produce smaller quantities, while Mexico evidently supplies only a negligible amount for export. ”

“ During the early years of its life the coco palm does not differ greatly in general appearance from several of our small hot-house palms. Leaves of moderate size arise from near the ground and for some time there is scarcely any visible promise of the future lofty trunk. The first leaves are entire as they appear, and do not, like the later ones, split immediately into the characteristic feathery laminae. ”

“ The best known of them are: the Criollo, which furnishes the finest chocolate; the Forastero, much resembling the former, but somewhat more hardy and yielding beans of not quite so fine a grade; the Calabacillo, with smooth pods, still easier to grow but yielding an inferior product. Of all of these, there are both red and yellow varieties.
The cacao beans are put in sacks and shipped to the manufacturers of chocolate products. In the factories they are first of all freed from the outer shell by a slight crushing and winnowing. The kernels are known in the trade as "cacao nibs". ”

“ A few of them are cultivated or well-known plants, such as the rubber plant which in its normal habitat is a rubber yielding tree, the Banyan tree which with its numerous proproots may spread over an acre or more of ground, and the sycamore fig that furnished the everlasting wood for the coffins of the Pharaohs. The vast majority of figs, however, grow in semi-tropical and tropical forests and jungles as shrubs, trees, or even as vines. ”

“ It has always been highly esteemed as a fat for soap making, but its present-day, more important use dates from the discovery that the addition of an atom of hydrogen to the molecule of fat renders it perfectly bland and comestible. ”

“ The cultivated Cacao is a small shade-loving tree, which is usually kept down in plantations to about the size of a peach tree, but grows much more rapidly and bears large simple leaves which remain a long time on the tree. It produces its flowers and fruits in a curious manner peculiar to certain members of the tropical forest flora. ”

“ They grow rapidly and in about a year they have attained their full dimensions. As the coconut matures, the outer envelope begins to turn brown and to shrink. With the shrinkage the well-known, roughly triangular shape of the fruit becomes emphasized.
A full-sized fruit cluster consists of twelve to twenty coconuts. The flowering continues the year around and a tree in prime condition yields upwards of 100 fruits annually, distributed over four or five harvests. The record in the Philippines is 470 nuts from a tree.
The leaves of the coco palm are attached directly to the main stem. ”

“ As in the case of many tropical products a low price is dependent on very cheap labor, and the recent general increase of labor costs, without a corresponding rise in the price of the product of the plantations, has made production in places almost an impossibility. Unprofitable plantations are permitted to go to ruin. They continue to yield some cacao for a few years without care. ”

“ To clean or polish the beans they are sometimes treaded with the naked feet, or "danced". In some localities they are colored with a red earth to improve their appearance. The dried "beans" will keep for a long time. A bearing tree in good condition, will yield a pound to two pounds of dried beans, usually in two principal harvests occurring about the beginning and middle of the year, though pods keep ripening to a certain extent continuously. The cacao bean "eats like a rich nut", but has a rather bitter taste. ”

“ It is grown in South and Southwest Africa, in South America, and in Australia. It has been grown in Sussex in England. It is successfully cultivated in the United States, especially in California and in the Gulf Region, particularly in Texas. ”

“ They are commonly twenty feet or more in length. They are shed one by one as the fruit clusters mature and drop, or are removed, so that the clusters of ripe fruit are always associated with the lowermost leaves. ”

“ When a dwindling of the supply eventually reacts on the price, active production will presumably be started again, till a commercial satiety is produced. New trees come into bearing in their fifth or sixth year. Cacao growing is evidently a somewhat risky business. Particularly is this true since the grower has to contend with a host of pests and diseases, chiefly caused by parasitic fungi which are extremely destructive to the trees where they obtain a hold.
In some cases these fungi have been traced to the taller trees which are planted among the Cacao trees for shade. ”

“ In all, the American production amounts to over a hundred and fifty thousand tons. The rest of the world's output combined, adds only a third more to the available supply. The cultivation of the Cacao has been undertaken on the West Coast of Africa; on the Gold Coast, in Cameroons and in the Congo Free State, but by far the greater part of the African supply is furnished by Sao Thomé. This small Portuguese island in the Gulf of Guinea, alone yields more cacao beans than any single American country. ”