Cacao is indigenous to Venezuela, and the wild trees abound in the forests of Guayana. Before the advent of Europeans it is believed that no cultivation of cacao was carried on, but the plantations of Venezuela produce some 8,000 tons annually at the present time, of which some is renowned above all other cocoa of the world. The chief cocoa districts are the neighbourhood of Carácas, parts of the Orinoco Delta, and the Maracaibo Lake region. In the financial year 1909-10 the total exports were valued at about £700,000. Sugar can be grown anywhere in Northern Venezuela, except on the Llanos and in the higher mountains, or where, as near Barquisimeto or Coro, the atmosphere is too dry. In addition to the native or Creole sugar, there are three varieties from the East known as Otahiti, Batavia, and Selangor cane. From the juice of these sugars crude (_papelon_) and refined (_azucar_), with alcohol (_aguardiente_) and rum are manufactured, the greater part of the crop being utilised in distilleries. Most of the sugar comes from the Maracaibo and Carácas districts, but the product is for the most part consumed in the country, as are the million or so bottles of alcohol. The exports for 1909-10 amounted to £20,000. Tobacco can be grown all through the foothills of the Cordilleras, but the only important centres are the upland valleys south of Cumaná, in the east, and near Capatárida, in the State of Falcón; the latter is said to be the best, and considerable quantities of the leaf are sent to Havana. Cotton also grows wild along the dry northern coast, and has been cultivated to some extent, particularly after the American Civil War; at the close of the last century the exports amounted to 450 tons, but in 1909-10 only 63 tons were shipped, the greater part of the native product being used in the Valencia mills. Of the remaining agricultural produce most is consumed in the country, the principal plants being maize, manioc (of which some is exported), and (in the Andes) wheat. Of the wild products rubber has been known to occur in Guayana since 1758, and the latter has been collected since 1860 in a desultory manner by individual prospectors; some is also produced in the forests of Zulia, but the largest quantity passes through Ciudad Bolivar, which exported some 440,000 lbs. of caoutchouc in 1909-10, valued at over £116,000. The tonka-beans, balatá-gum (see p. 215), sernambi, and copaiba-balsam of Guayana are also collected and exported, to say nothing of the many valuable timbers, with which little is done as yet, while coconuts have their place among the minor agricultural products of the country.