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l8inches. Hard and fast rulescannot be laid down for livingthings: 

 being living things, they have a voice in these matters themselves, 

 and unlessthis voiceis respected, direwill betheresultstothe owner 

 of the tree. Some trees have a tendency to grow long and weak 

 in the branch, others are inclined to grow stiff and upright, char- 

 acteristics such as these, must be watched for, and the trees pruned 

 accordingly. 



When the secondary branches commence to grow, it will be 

 noted that some of the young shoots are strong and vigorous, 

 perhaps one out of every three or four, while the intermediate 

 ones are smaller, some being quite puny. In pruning for second- 

 ary branches, careful selection should be made to leave these 

 strong growing secondaries, removing the weaker ones, thus the 

 first strong secondary at from a foot to 3 feet, according to the 

 strength of the tree, from the centre, would be selected as the base 

 of operations in pruning for secondaries. 



An ideal cocoa tree is one with a main stem of 3 to 4 feet in 

 height, three primary branches with the first secondary growing 

 from 18 inches to 2 feet 6 inches from the crown of the tree , the 

 next secondary growing on the opposite side of the primary about 

 I foot further from the crown than the first secondary ; the third 

 secondary on the same side of the primary as the first, about 9 

 inches further up the primary than the second secondary. The 

 secondaries alternating up the primary, gradually becoming closer 

 together as they get further from the crown, until the whole tree 

 forms an umbrella of branches, say, 10 feet in diameter. I 

 very much doubt if trees occupying more space than this, are 

 profitable. These are the ideal trees, and while a high percentage 

 of ideal trees can be looked for with proper treatment, it is not to 

 be supposed that all trees will be ideal. 



How high should I allow my Cocoa trees to grow, before I make 

 them branch is another stock question. I have mentioned the 

 height at which I like them to branch, but there is no making a tree 

 branch, except as this is effected by general treatment, soil, light, 

 &c. The better the seed, the stronger the young plant, the richer 

 the soil, the more dense the shade, in reason the higher will the 

 young plant grow before it commences to branch. 



It must always be remembered that naturally a young cocoa 

 tree grows in a moist, rich, heavily shaded position ; and these 

 circumstances must be copied as nearly as possible if a good 

 cocoa tree is desired. As the tree grows it can stand more light, 

 more wind, and eventually will grow in positions exposed to full 

 sun and heavy breezes. 



I have seen young cocoa trees where they were heavily manured 

 from yard sweepings, heavily shaded by breadfruit trees, 

 growing to a height of 15 feet, before they formed a crown ; in 

 other cases they have branched at little more than a foot from 

 the ground, this being the result of poor soil, a feeble plant, or 

 over exposure. Such plants should be allowed to send up a 

 sucker as soon as they have vigour enough to do so ; such suckers 

 being encouraged to form permanent trees, and the first set 



