rt Wright (Ceylon), 1907.
_Cacao_, by J. Hinchley Hart (Trinidad), 1911.
_Cocoa_, by W.H. Johnson (Nigeria), 1912.
_Cocoa_, by C.J.J. van Hall (Java), 1914.

CHAPTER III

HARVESTING AND PREPARATION FOR THE MARKET

The picking, gathering, and breaking of the cacao are the
easiest jobs on the plantation.

"_How Jose formed his Cocoa Estate._"

_Gathering and Heaping._

[Illustration]

In the last chapter I gave a brief account of the cultivation of cacao.
I did not deal with forking, spraying, cutlassing, weeding, and so
forth, as it would lead us too far into purely technical discussions. I
propose we assume that the planter has managed his estate well, and that
the plantation is before us looking very healthy and full of fruit
waiting to be picked. The question arises: How shall we gather it? Shall
we shake the tree? Cacao pods do not fall off the tree even when
over-ripe. Shall we knock off or pluck the pods? To do so would make a
scar on the trunk of the tree, and these wounds are dangerous in
tropical climates, as they are often attacked by canker. A sharp machete
or cutlass is used to cut off the pods which grow on the lower part of
the trunk. As the tree is not often strong enough to bear a man,
climbing is out of the question, and a knife on a pole is used for
cutting off the pods on the upper branches. Various shaped knives are
used by different planters, a common and efficient kind (see drawing),
resembles a hand of steel, with the thumb as a hook, so that the
pod-stalk can be cut either by a push or a pull. A good deal of
ingenuity has been expended in devising a "foolproof" picker which shall
render easy the cutting of the pod-stalk and yet not cut or damage the
bark of the tree. A good example is the Agostini picker, which was
approved by Hart.

[Illustration:
(1) COMMON TYPE OF CACAO PICKER.
(2) AGOSTINI CACAO PICKER.]

The gathering of the fruits of one's labour is a pleasant task, which
occurs generally only at rare intervals. Cacao is gathered the whole
year round. There is, however, in most districts one principal harvest
period, and a subsidiary harvest.

[Illustration: GATHERING CACAO PODS, TRINIDAD.]

With cacao in the tropics, as with corn in England, the gathering of the
harvest is a delight to lovers of the beautiful. It is a great charm of
the cacao plantation that the trees are so closely planted that nowhere
does the sunlight find between the foliage a spa