The pod is irregular and angular, much like some forms of cucumbers, but more pointed at the lower extremity, and more distinctly grooved. It measures in length nine inches to a foot, or even more, and about half as much in diameter. The color, when young, is green, becoming later dark yellow or yellowish brown. The rind is thick and tough. The pod is filled with closely packed “beans,” or seeds, imbedded in a mass of cellular tissue, sometimes of pleasant subacid taste. The seeds are about as large as ordinary almonds, whitish when fresh, and of a disagreeable bitter taste. When dried they become brown. The fruits are about four months in ripening; but they appear and mature the whole year through. In point of fact, however, there are chief harvests, usually in early spring, but this is different for different countries. The following extract from a comparatively recent consular report gives a clear idea of the modern method of cultivating the plant in some parts of South America. The extract was given in our former edition, but it is thought best to transcribe it here. “The tree grows to the average height of thirteen feet, and from five to eight inches in diameter, is of spreading habit and healthy growth, and although requiring much more care and attention than the coffee-tree, yet its equally reliable crops require comparatively little labor in properly preparing for the market. “... There are two varieties of the cocoa-tree cultivated in Venezuela, known as El Criollo and El Trinitario, respectively, the former of which, though not so prolific, nor as early fruiting as the latter, is yet superior to it in size, color, sweetness, and oleaginous properties of the fruit, and in the fact that it always finds ready sale, while the latter is often dull or neglected. The difference in price of the two varieties is also marked, the former being quoted at $28 to $30 per fanega (110 pounds), while the latter commands approximately half that price.