birds, deer, and others, some of them particularly annoying, as it is
often found that when but a small hole has been made, and a bean or
so extracted, the animal passes on to similarly attack another pod;
such pods rot at once. Snakes generally abound in the cacao regions,
and are never killed, being regarded as the planter's best friends,
from their hostility to his animal foes. A boa will probably destroy
more than the most zealous hunter's gun.

[Illustration--Drawing: PODS OF CACAO THEOBROMA.]

From its twelfth to its sixtieth year, or later, each tree will bear
from fifty to a hundred and fifty pods, according to the season, each
pod containing from thirty-six to forty-two beans. Eleven pods will
produce about a pound of cured beans, and the average yield of a large
estate will be, in some cases, four hundredweight per acre, in
others, twice as much. The trees bear nearly all the year round, but
only two harvests are gathered, the most abundant from November to
January, known as the "Christmas crop," and a smaller picking about
June, known as the "St. John's crop." The trees throw off their old
leaves about the time of picking, or soon after; should the leaves
change at any other time, the young flower and fruit will also
probably wither.

Of the many varieties of the cacao, the best known are the _criollo_,
_forastero_, and _calabacilla_. The _criollo_ ("native") fruit is of
average size, characterized by a "pinched" neck and a curving point.
This is the best kind, though not the most productive; it is largely
planted in Venezuela, Columbia and Ceylon, and produces a bean light
in colour and delicate in flavour. The _forastero_ ("foreign") pod is
long and regular in shape, deeply furrowed, and generally of a rough