Cocoa Pods on Trees, Dominica, B. W. I.

Cocoa Pods on Trees, Dominica, B. W. I.

Categories
Special Collections > Keystone Slides
Type
tiff scanned file from original glass slide
Description
Dominica (dm´ -n´ kå) is a small island, one of the Lesser Antilles. It lies between Martinique (mär´ t-nk´) and Guadeloupe (gô´ d-lp´), southeast of Porto Rico. It belongs to a number of islands called the Leeward Group. The island contains only 291 square miles. That is, it is about 1/4 the size of Rhode Island. Its population is about 30,000. The island gets its name from the fact that it was discovered by Columbus on Sunday (Dominica). Like so many others of the islands of this section, it is of volcanic origin. It contains the highest peaks of the Caribbean (kr´ -b´ n) Mountains. One of its peaks is 5,314 feet above sea level. Its valleys are very rich, producing cacao, coffee, cotton, nutmegs, rubber, sugar cane, tropical fruits and sisal (s´ säl) hemp. The island has excellent roads, railroads, and telegraph and telephone systems. The view here shows growing one of the leading products of the island. It is from the fruit of these cacao, cocoa, or chocolate trees that our commercial chocolate is made. The trees are short and stubby, and the fruit grows directly out from the branches on a short stem in the way that cucumbers are attached to their vines. The fruit looks like a small melon or a cucumber. Inside the thick, fleshy covering are the cocoa beans. From 40 to 60 beans lie in each of the pods. Inside the hull of each bean is a light-colored kernel. The hulls are cracked, the beans are taken out, sacked, and shipped in this manner to the cacao or chocolate factory. Chocolate is put up in tins to keep it moist. From it is made an excellent drink, and candies of many kinds. Observe the label on a chocolate tin. Where was the chocolate ground? Keystone ID: 14455 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.
Rights
Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.