19; 



to grow cocoa with and without shade right from the seed. I do 

 not think that has been done as yet in Trinidad. 



Professor P. Carmody (Trinidad) : I would like to make a few 

 remarks in connexion with this subject as I have given a little 

 scientific attention to the shade tree used in Trinidad. Mr. 

 deGannes, who is an experienced planter and works his estate 

 himself, will tell you that cocoa cannot be grown in Trinidad with- 

 out shade. It is natural to assume that when cocoa trees were first 

 planted here no shade was tried, but it was subsequently resorted 

 to in consequence of failure. It seems to me unreasonable to 

 suppose that a man would begin to plant Immortel trees before he 

 knew they were required and then plant cocoa. I incline to the 

 opinion of Mr. Howell Jones, that the question of shade or no 

 shade depends upon local circumstances. From analyses of the 

 flowers of the Immortel tree made in 1 90 1, I ascertained that some 

 of them contained as much as 6 per cent, of nitrogen calculated on 

 the dry flowers. This large percentage naturally attracted my 

 attention and further investigation was made which led to a report 

 to the Government 



Mr. J. G. DEGannes : About forty years ago a gentleman came 

 here and started cocoa cultivation. His idea was that we were 

 making a mistake in planting shade trees. He planted cocoa, 

 raised with temporary shade, and then cut down the shade. When 

 the shade was removed the cocoa trees stopped growing and he 

 lost everything. 



Dr. VAN Hall (Dutch Guiana) : In the question of shade trees 

 we are just in the same position as planters are here in Trinidad. 

 There is a general idea that cocoa cannot be grown without shade 

 in Surinam. There is only one estate where it is grown without 

 shade. One thing of great importance with that estate is that it 

 can be irrigated in the dry season. On other estates, where 

 attempts have been made to grow cocoa without shade, the trees 

 generally suffer very much when the dry season comes. In my 

 opinion it is very difficult to grow cocoa without shade in Trinidad ; 

 when grown without shade it must be cultivated in another way. 

 First your soil must be better tilled when no shade tree is used, 

 because the shade tree is an improver of the soil and when you 

 lose such an improver you must do yourself what is more or less 

 done by the tree. Another thing planters do not understand is 

 this : the shade tree is also a windbreak, and when you remove 

 the shade you must take care that your trees are in sheltered 

 position. Then the question of irrigation is, in our country also, 

 a matter of importance. If you do not use shade trees and do not 

 till your soil better, the soil suffers from drought in the dry 

 season, and irrigation will be necessary to keep your cocoa trees 

 alive. It is not necessary in plantations where there are shade 

 trees. These and similar matters are often overlooked by planters 

 who try to grow cocoa without shade. Another thing is this. As 

 in our country, where the wet season is followed by three very dry 

 months, you have to remove your shade trees not at once but 



