appetizing appearance. The thorough mixing to which the cocoa is
subjected also materially lessens the amount of sediment in the bottom
of the cup.


[Illustration--Colour Plate: CACAO PODS]




II. ITS GROWTH AND CULTIVATION.



[Illustration--Drawing: CACAO HARVESTING.]

Cocoa is now grown in many parts of the tropics, reference to which is
made in another chapter. The conditions, however, do not greatly vary,
and there are probably many lands in the tropical belt where it is yet
unknown that possess soil well suited to its extended cultivation.

The cacao-tree grows wild in the forests of Central America, and
varieties have been found also in Jamaica and other West Indian
islands, and in South America. It does not thrive more than fifteen
degrees north or south of the equator, and even within these limits it
is not very successfully grown more than 600 feet above the sea-level;
in many districts where sugar formerly monopolized the plains, it was
supposed that cocoa needed an altitude of at least 200 feet, but
experiments of planting on the old sugar estates and other low-lying
places are generally successful where the soil is good, as in