This seems to have been the first notice of the manufacture and sale of cocoa and chocolate in our country. What is peculiar about the notice?
In those days the raw product was brought to Massachusetts by the Gloucester fishermen. They obtained it in the West Indies in exchange for fish and other things which they took there.
When the Spanish soldier, Cortez, conquered Mexico in 1519, he found that the people of that country were very fond of a drink which they called "chocolatl." It was served to their ruler, Montezuma, in a cup of gold. When the Spaniards went home, they of course introduced the drink into their own country. For a long time it was very expensive and was not commonly used outside of Spain, for the Spaniards kept the secret of its preparation.
Cocoa and chocolate are products of the seeds of a tree called the cacao tree. It is a tropical tree and grows in both the Old and the New World.
Although the cacao tree grows wild, it is also cultivated in orchards much like fruit orchards which you have seen. The trees are seldom more than twenty feet high, but they are rather inclined to spread out. They require some shade, and so other trees are often planted between the rows to shade them. The trees begin to bear when five or six years old, and continue to yield for forty years. There are generally two chief harvests each year, but the fruit is ripening all of the time.
The blossoms, which grow in clusters, are small and pink or yellow in color. They grow directly from the branches or the trunk of the tree.
Fig. 39.—Cocoa Pods and Leaves.
(Permission of Walter Baker & Co., Ltd.)
In about four months after the tree has blossomed, you will find dark yellow or brown pods hanging from it. These look a little like ripe cucumbers, but they are more pointed at one end and are grooved or fluted. These pods are from six inches to a foot or more in length, with a rather thick, tough rind.
