The Central American republics bordering on the Caribbean, as well as the northern coast of Colombia and Venezuela, are the greatest producers of cacao, while Trinidad, Cuba and other islands of the West Indies, produce considerable amounts. The culture of cacao, like that of coffee and citrus fruits, is a healthful and profitable employment, and especially agreeable for those fond of life in the open, and who enjoy living in the mountains and valleys that slope toward the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Its cultivation may be carried on where conditions are favorable, in company with coffee, since while the latter is grown on the fertile foothills and mountain sides, cacao is at its best in the sheltered valleys of the forest. Cacao demands a rich, deep, moist soil, well drained, since the roots of the tree will not tolerate standing water, and the subsoil, if not pervious, must lie at least six feet below the surface. The forest-covered valleys of tropical Cuba, receiving as they do the washings of the hillsides, upon which decayed vegetable matter has accumulated during centuries, furnish ideal locations for cacao. In preparing for the cultivation of the plant, all underbrush is removed, leaving only the tall stately trees, that although giving the required shade will still admit some sunlight to the soil below; otherwise the cacao, reaching up for the light, assumes a tall slender growth, inconvenient in gathering the crop. Trees for commercial purposes should not attain a height of more than 25 or 30 feet, the branches leaving the trunk six or eight feet from the ground. They are planted as a rule from 12 to 15 feet apart, which is equivalent to from 200 to 300 trees per acre. There are several varieties of the cacao, although that in common use in Cuba is known as the Cacao Criolla, and is not subject to diseases as are some of the other varieties grown in South America. The fruit is an elongated pod of cucumber shape, with a rough corrugated skin, hanging close to the trunk and branches. The side facing the sun carries shades of red and yellow that produce a rather startling color effect when first seen in the forest.