Vol. IV. No. 84. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



203 



CACAO IN SAMOA. 



The following interesting account of the cultiva- 

 tion of cacao in Samoa is extracted from the Consular 

 Report for 1904 :— 



Samoa generally is now proved to lie altogether suitaljle 

 in every respect for cacao growth. 



Cacao plantations, small and large, are all doing well. 

 This product, although it will live here with the most 

 unfavourable surroundings, reipiires, where a good crop is 

 expected in five years from the time of planting, much care 

 and attention ; for unless the trees are carefully weeded and 

 freed from all scrub and grasses the crop will be much 

 delayed. On this account jilantations owned by companies 

 enjoy a great advantage over those started by small 

 projirietors, who, in many instances, are not only unable to 

 procure labour as easily as do the large plantations, Ijut often 

 find it difficult to raise money to pay for labour when they 

 get it. Consequently, in their case trees which would 

 produce heavy crops in five years' growth on the larger 

 holdings bring little return to them for seven or eight years. 

 For this reason, as stated in previous reports, cacao is not 

 a good or even a safe investment for the small capitalist 

 unless he uses it merely as a subsidiary to other less 

 uncertain enterprises. l3r. Wohltmann (the Government 

 'Auskunft' states) considers that not less than £2, -500 are 

 requisite to start a cacao plantation. The managing director 

 of the Upola cacao plantation, placed the cost per acre, from 

 clearing the land to the gathering in of the first crop, at £2-5 

 to £.50 per acre. 



Other drawbacks exist besides the difficulty of obtaining 

 labour, ^'■arious diseases, es[iecially where the ground is not 

 kept thoroughly clean, infest the trees, and in Samoa, as in 

 other tropical countries, the rat is a standing menace, for it 

 has been known to eat or damage half the crop on some 

 jilantations. However, as the rat is kept down by some 

 planters by means of poison, and also as it does not much 

 frequent places where water is scarce, there is good hope for 

 believing that in time it will be got rid of. The introduction 

 of the mungoose was recommended, but as it appears that 

 eventually he ceases to destroy rats and substitutes for them 

 as his food poultry, sugar-cane, and even cacao pods, this 

 idea has been given up. 



A small plantation 20 miles from Apia, to the west-ward, 

 started four years ago, yielded its proprietor at the end of 

 1904, 6,000 ft), of cacao from S acres, worth in Apia 

 ■6(/. per. It). The export of cacao in 1904 was about 20 tons. 



The following is extracted from information furnished 

 by Mr. F. Harman, managing director of the Upola Cacao 

 Company, Limited, of Birmingham, and .should prove 

 interesting to British capitalists concerned in planting 

 investments : — 



'Generally .speaking 1904 has been a year of continuous 

 progress, and weather and other conditions have been 

 favourable. We had a rainfall of 1-57 inches, the maximum 

 (January) being 38 inches and the minimum (July) 4 inches. 

 The trees in all sta,ges of growth have consequently shown 

 a marked advance. We have gathered about 1,000 pods 

 from trees three years old, and we expect a fair crop this 

 year. Experience shows that with adequate labour the 

 current expenses of a cacao plantation can be considerably 

 reduced in the third year, owing to the gradual e.^termina- 

 tion of the rank weeds and grasses which are so troublesome 

 at first, and, accidents excepted, it is fair to assume, as 

 I mentioned last year, that a iilantation of -500 acres can be 

 brought into bearing for £12,500, or £25 per acre, including 

 management, buildings, and all incidentals.' 



DISPOSAL OF DISEASED CACAO HUSKS. 



A correspondent in Grenada, interested in cacao, 

 writes in regard to this matter as follows: — 



Jluch has been written on the desirability of burning or 

 burying witli lime all husks of cacao pods opened in 'the 

 field. In practice on a large estate this is often extremely 

 difficult to carry out regularly. 



If these pods were collected and broken in an open 

 field-pen and allowed to rot thei-e, being periodically covered 

 over with grass and trash and trodden in by the cattle, 

 would any germs of disease exist under such conditions and 

 be transmitted again to the soil when the manure was 

 thrown out? 



The question is one that interests many planters in 

 Grenada, and I shall be pleased to send your reply to the 

 Grenada Agricultural Society. 



The following is a memorandum bj' the Mycologist 

 (Mr. L. Lewton-Brain, B.A., F.L.S.) on the above :— 



If all the pods or husks were perfectly healthy and free 

 from Dqilodia, there would be no objection to disposing 

 of them as suggested, namely, carrying them to a field-pen 

 where they would be converted into compost. This, I 

 should judge, is not often the case. 



If DiploJia were present in any of the husks, it would 

 continue to grow and reproduce on the decaying vegetable 

 material. In this case, the fungus would be distributed 

 throughout the cacao when the manure is applied. 



The procedure suggested cannot, therefore, be regarded 

 as safe, at least in the majority of cases. 



If there would be little difficulty in carrying the husks 

 to a field-pen, I cannot see why there should be much more 

 in carrying them to trenches or [lit.s, vvhero they could be 

 buried with lime and covered over. This is especially so, as 

 the number and positions of the trenches or pits could be 

 regulated according to convenience, while the position of 

 the field-pen would depend upon other circumstances. 



The view that I have expressed above is very similar to 

 that expressed by my jiredecessor in dealing with rind 

 di.sease of the sugar-cane (Trichos/ihaeria) at the Agricultural 

 Conference of 1901 {We-U Indian Bulletin, Vol.11, p. 52). 

 I quote from his paper as follows : — 



' The practice of placing rotten canes in stock pens 

 cannot be too strongly condemned. It is very probable that 

 some of the spores will retain their vitality till the manure is 

 applied to the land, and that many of the spores will be 

 distributed by the animals themselves.' 



Dr. J. E. Duerden. The friends of Dr. J. E. 

 Duerden, who was formerly Curator of the JIuseum of the 

 Institute of Jamaica (and who latterly has been engaged 

 in original research in connexion with the marine fauna 

 of the United States) will be glad to learn that he has 

 been appointed Professor of Zoology at the newly organized 

 Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, Cape Colony. 

 The iiost is an important one and seems to ofifer many 

 facilities for good work particularly in connexion with the 

 Fisheries Department. It will be within the recollection 

 of readers of the Agricultural News that Dr. Duerden 

 prepared a valuable paper on ' The Marine Resources of 

 the British West Indies ' presented at the Agricultural 

 Conference held at Barbados in 1901. It is a source of 

 regret that Dr. Duerden's useful services in connexion 

 with fishery matters could not have been retained in the 

 interest of the West Indian Colonies. 



