[Cacao] The cacao-tree comes from Central America.  It flourishes there between the 23rd parallel north and the 20th south latitude; but it is only at its best in the hottest and dampest climates.  In temperate climates, where the thermometer marks less than 23 deg.  C., it produces no fruit.

[High quality.] It was first imported into the Philippines from Acapulco; either, according to Camarines, by a pilot called Pedro Brabo de Lagunas, in 1670; or, according to Samar, by some Jesuits, during Salcedo’s government, between 1663 and 1668.  Since then it has spread over the greater part of the Island; and, although it is not cultivated with any excessive care, its fruit is of excellent quality.  The cacao of Albay, if its cheapness be taken into consideration, may be considered at least equal to that of Caracas, which is so highly-prized in Europe, and which, on account of its high price, generally is largely mixed with inferior kinds. [74] The bushes are usually found in small gardens, close to the houses; but so great is the native laziness that frequently the berries are allowed to decay, although the local cacao sells for a higher price than the imported.  At Cebu and Negros a little more attention is paid to its cultivation; [Scanty production.] but it does not suffice to supply the wants of the colony, which imports the deficiency from Ternate and Mindanao.  The best cacao of the Philippines is produced in the small Island of Maripipi, which lies to the north-west of Leyte; and it is difficult to obtain, the entire crop generally being long bespoke.  It costs about one dollar per liter, whereas the Albay cacao costs from two to two and a half dollars per “ganta” (three liters).

[Culture.] The natives generally cover the kernels, just as they are beginning to sprout, with a little earth, and, placing them in a spirally-rolled leaf, hang them up beneath the roof of their dwellings.  They grow very rapidly, and, to prevent their being choked by weeds, are planted out at very short intervals.  This method of treatment is probably the reason that the cacao-trees in the Philippines never attain a greater height than eight or ten feet, while in their native soil they frequently reach thirty, and sometimes even forty feet.  The tree begins to bear fruit in its third or fourth year, and in its fifth or sixth it reaches maturity, when it usually yields a “ganta” of cacao, which, as I have mentioned, is worth from two to two and a half dollars, and always finds a purchaser. [75]

[Neglect.] The profits arising from a large plantation would, therefore, be considerable; yet it is very rare to meet with one.  I heard it said that the Economical Society had offered a considerable reward to any one who could exhibit a plantation of ten thousand berry-bearing trees; but in the Society’s report I found no mention of this reward.