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Mr. J. H. Hart : We have established in Trinidad one experi- 

 ment plot on the same lines as the Grenada plots. It is at Brasso 

 ■and in charge of Mr. Carl de Verteuil. It was only started a few 

 months ago. and the results will not be available for some time. 



Mr. G. S. Hudson : (St. Lucia) : Experiments in improving the 

 health and productiveness of cocoa trees have been carried on. in 

 St. Lucia under the Imperial Department of Agriculture now for 

 five years. Our Method, as Sir Daniel Morris has said, has been 

 that of taking up the most unhealthy portions of cocoa we can find 

 adjoining the main-roads, so as to bring our work as much as possible 

 before passers-by. The results have been exceedingly saatisfactory. 

 In many cases the trees had actually stopped bearing ; in others, the 

 yield was only 56 lb of dry cocoa per acre when the plots were taken 

 over. In three years the yield had been increased to 7 bags. The 

 policy is, as soon as we attain that standard of improvement, to hand 

 the plot over to the owner and take a new plot in the same or another 

 district. In our five years' experience Ave find Ave get the best results 

 from the following method : forking throughout the plantation in 

 January ; then applying broadcast eight cwt. of basic slag betAveen 

 January and April ; that is folloAved by draining Avhere necessary, and 

 then thorough pruning. We find pruning to be of very great 

 importance as it admits sunlight. After this, thorough cleanliness 

 throughout the year. Three to four Aveedings are usually sufficient, 

 but sometimes as many as six has been found necessary. In August 

 or September we apply sulphate of ammonia to each tree. I observe 

 from the results of the experiments in Grenada that the best results 

 there have been obtained from an application of sulphate of potash. 

 In 1902 we applied nothing but potash to a 6-acre or 7-acre plot, and the 

 results Avere negative in every case. I may mention, hoAveA'er, that, 

 in combination with basic slag, the experiment has proved very 

 valuable ; but the best results were obtained from a combination of 

 slag and nitrogen. We have also tried superphosphate but have 

 not found it advantageous. We have obtained good results from 

 ground bone, but that is rather expensive. Pen manure is undoubtedly 

 the best system of manuring, but the difficulties of transportation 

 prevent its general use. Chemical manures yielded as good results 

 and at less cost. The only fear in the application of chemical 

 manures is that too much nitrogen may be applied to certain soils, 

 but in light soils, there is nothing to fear. Many planters seemed to 

 fear forking, on the ground that it injured the trees, but I have 

 never seen any bad results from careful forking. On the contrary, 

 the results have been excellent. As the result of the experiment 

 plots, planters in St. Lucia are iioav importing basic slag and sulphate 

 of ammonia — a thing unheard of before — and pruning and forking 

 have now become a recognized part of cocoa cultivation. As a rule 

 Ave do not find it necessary to use tar or cement except in cases Avhere 

 a fungus disease is affecting the trees. 



Dr. H. A. A. Nicholls (Dominica) : Until the last quarter of a 

 century the exports of Cocoa from Dominica Avere very small, as it Avas 

 produced only by peasant proprietors. When, hoAvever, the crises over- 

 took the sugar industry, many of the sugar planters, feeling the 

 effects of the hard times, planted up portions of their estates in 

 cocoa and limes, and so from that time the exports of cocoa began to 



