tural pursuits, so
delightful (observes Mr. Joseph, in his "History of Trinidad,") as
that of the cultivation of the cacao. It is planted in rows,
intersecting each other at right angles, at the distance of from
twelve to fifteen feet, according to the nature of the soil. The tree
is not suffered to grow higher than about fifteen feet, and its broad
rich foliage, the hues of which vary from a light green to a dark red,
loaded with yellow and dark red pods, which contain the chocolate
bean, are beautiful objects; these alleys are shaded by rows of
magnificent trees, called _Bois Immortel_ by the French and English,
by the Spaniards the Madre de Cacao. It is the _Erythrina umbrosa_ or
_arborea_ of Linnaeus. Like the Bignonia or Pouie, this tree, at
particular seasons, throws off its foliage and is covered with
blossoms; those of the Erythrina are of a brilliant red color,
justifying its Greek appellation. In this state they are literally
dazzling to behold--no object in the vegetable world looks more
striking than the alleys of a cacao walk shaded by a forest above them
of the Bois Immortel.

I have been obligingly furnished by Mr. W. Purdie, the able Government
botanist of Trinidad, with a short essay upon the cultivation of the
cacao tree, with which many of the valleys of that island are so
beautifully adorned, and which, at one time, poured into that now
unfortunate colony so large a stream of wealth. Fortunately the cacao
planter of the island has managed to survive the many years of
depression under which--like sugar now--the cacao cultivations
lingered and sunk, and which brought the once wealthy planter down to
poverty and misery. His prospects, however, are gradually improving.

The opinions put forth by Mr. Purdie, on the subject of which he
treats, will be found to run counter to the long-established practice
hitherto pursued in the treatment of cacao plantations; but it must
not be forgotten that these are the opinions of a person with whom the
study of trees, their physiology and functions, has been not merely an
amusing science, but an adopted employment, and whose acquirements in
this respect, previous to his arrival in the colony, recommended him
for selection as the agent to extend through South America (the great
cacao region) the investigations of one of the most noted botanical
gardens in Europe.

Mr. Purdie says:--

"In the present depressed times, it behoves us to look well into the
res