139 



a rich supply of ashes to the soil, manuring ma) not be needed at 



first : but in the lower Localities, and especially on those fields which 

 have been used recently by the natives or reclaimed from jungle oi 

 no great age, the need for manure requires to be cousidered. The 

 soils of Samoa are remarkably rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, and 

 the addition of these elements may be set aside as nol requiring much 

 attention, but the question of supplying lime and potash to the soil 

 ;in d crop has to be carefully inquired into. Whether their application 

 js necessary or profitable in a given place can only be determined by 

 experiments: the results of soil analyses can only furnish hints as to 

 the manure to be applied. Experiments have already been made by 

 the German Trading and Planting Company, and arc again to be 

 undertaken. 



The coral sand of the islands, which is abundant and cheap, can 

 be used to supply lime; the wood ashes, too, which can sometimes be 

 obtained, contain about 30 per. cent, of lime, in addition to the 

 more valuable potash. When the cocoa is harvested and prepared, 

 the husks and pulp can be returned to the soil, but the beans are 

 completely removed, so that the potash they contain is lost to 

 the land. 



Cocoa beans, like all fruits rich in carbohydrates, are rich also in 



potash. 100 Samoan cocoa beans were found to weigh 66'4 grams, ol 



which 7-2 grams (10'8 per cent.) were shells and the remaining 59*2 



grams (89-2 per cent.) were kernels. The shells contained 5'8 per 



cent, of ash. in 100 parts of which there were 41*6 parts of potash 



(K 2 0), 8*0 parts of lime (CaO), and 19*8 parts of phosphorus 



pentoxide (PA)- The kernels contained 2*8 per cent, of ash, in LOO 



parts of which they were 34*8 parts of potash, 5"2 parts of lime, and 



375 parts of phosphorus pentoxide. From this it follows that 100 Lbs. 



of cocoa beans contain 0*88 Lbs. of potash in the kernels and 0'26 lbs. 



of potash in the shells, making a total of M4 lbs. of potash. Allowing 



200 cocoa trees per acre, and assuming that they yielded the 



exceptionally good harvest of 4^ lbs. per tree, there would be 1)00 lbs. 



of beans removed per acre, taking with them 10^ lbs of potash. 



This would be the loss if all the husks and refuse were returned to 



the soil, which, however, does not always happen, and besides this a 



certain amount of potash is used in producing the annual increase in 



size, of the tree, and is consequently stored away in the wood. 



This estimate points to about 20 lbs. of potash as the amount that 



shouLd be supplied per acre in the manure. It could be given by 



applying about 40 U>s. per acre of commercial potassium chLoride 



manure, costing about 7/. 10s. at Stassfurt, in Germany, the pLace 



of manufacture : in addition to this, the cost of freight would have 



to be aLlowed for. If good wood ashes were procurable about 200 Lbs. 



of them would give the requisite 20 lbs. of potash : but if they had 



been exposed to rain or wet, the valuable potash in them would have 



been washed out, as it is present in a soluble state. 



This manuring may be expected not only to supply food to tlie 

 tree, but also to improve the physical condition of the soil and 

 increase its power of retaining moisture in dry weather. It should 

 be applied in the dry weather when tlie weeding of the plantation^ is 

 undertaken, and should be hoed into the surface of the soil extending 

 to a distance of about 3 feet from the stem all round, and this area 



