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by some planters that the Bois Immortel is very beneficial, 

 inasmuch as it gives out water from its roots during the dry 

 season. We can well understand that such trees do good, 

 but in a different way ; their roots naturally would go further 

 into the subsoil than the roots of cocoa, and they draw from 

 the subsoil certain constituents which will later on be shed 

 upon the land in the shape of dead leaves and twigs and 

 flowers, and much nitrogenous matter would be supplied to the 

 land in the form of humus. But we must also remember that 

 these plants belong to the order called Leguminosae, which have 

 nodules on the roots, and in these nodules are micro-organ- 

 isms called bacteria, which have the power of drawing the nitro- 

 gen from the air and fixing it in the soil, and in that way nitrogen 

 is supplied to the surrounding plants. It appears to me, there- 

 fore, that the benefits of the shade trees in Trinidad are not due 

 so much to the shade, but to the manure they give to the soil. 



Mr. E. M. DEFreitas (Grenada) : At one time we planted a 

 great deal of shade trees in our cocoa estates in Grenada. In 

 fact we adopted the Trinidad system. After a time we found 

 that the trees which were not shaded gave better results. Then 

 about ten years ago planters began to cut down their shade 

 trees, and at the present time, with perhaps one exception, I 

 do not believe there is an estate in the island on which shade 

 trees are grown. I have always been puzzled to know why in 

 Trinidad cocoa cannot be grown without shade. The soil here 

 is somewhat different to that in Grenada ; it is a stronger soil 

 and has more clay. Having regard to the value of cocoa culti- 

 vation, amounting to £900,000, and in view of the great difference 

 between the yield here and in Grenada where we do not use 

 shade, I think it would be advisable for the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture to carry out experiments in Trinidad with the 

 view of finding out whether they cannot grow cocoa here, as we 

 do in Grenada, without shade. With regard to the question of 

 improving the health of trees, we use sheep manure. We raise 

 sheep not for mutton, but for the manure which commands a very 

 high price on the local market. 



The President : There is one point of difference between 

 the cocoa trees in Grenada and those in Trinidad. The trees in 

 Grenada are much smaller and planted closer. The question 

 is one of great importance — not for the Department — but for the 

 planters of Trinidad. The Department will be happy to assist 

 Trinidad in the same manner and to the same extent as the other 

 islands. The wide question which Mr. Fawcett has brought up — 

 whether as a general principle shade trees are necessary in cocoa 

 cultivation, can only be answered by trying to find out whether in 

 Jamaica they want shade trees at all, or want shelter belts. It 

 would be useless to follow blindly the experience of Grenada 

 and Trinidad, because the circumstances of the two places are so 

 different from those of Jamaica. In Jamaica they are liable to 

 hurricanes, whereas in Trinidad and Grenada they are not. I be- 



