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that springs up, from one of the more valuable trees on the estate? 

 Another matter we do not understand is shade. That seems to me to 

 be a verj T complicated question. In Grenada they do not use any shade 

 •and in Trinidad they use shade everywhere and rind they cannot 

 do without it. What is the reason '? Is the shade wanted for the 

 trees or the soil ? If it is wanted for the soil, then you do not want 

 shade trees, as the cocoa will provide its own shade. Is it necessary 

 to have shade at all, or is it a question rather of cultivation '? Do 

 the roots of shade trees keep the ground open, or might that be over- 

 come by the use of cultivators ? One of our most practical 

 agriculturists in Jamaica started five or six years ago a cocoa estate 

 in the middle of the island, and he is convinced in his own mind that 

 there it is necessary to have shade. But on the north side of the 

 island it has been proved that shade is not required. I am inclined to 

 think that shade produces moss on the trees and leads to fungus disease 

 which micrht otherwise be avoided, and that the more sun you can 

 reasonably allow to the cocoa trees, the heavier the crops will prove. 



Dr. H. A. A. Nicholls : The practice in Dominica is not to use shade, 

 but trees are planted, in some cases running along lines, so as to serve 

 as wind-breaks. I remember that fourteen years ago when I made my 

 ■second visit to Trinidad I was told that shade was necessary : so I 

 obtained seeds of Bois Immortel from a friend and planted them among 

 my cocoa. I was very sorry I did so : but the hurricane, which did 

 so much damage to the cocoa estates in Dominica, did me some good 

 in throwing down my Bois Immortel. The experience of the Dominica 

 planter is that cocoa grows better without shade than with it. I was 

 exercised in mind a good deal by remarks made to me some years ago as 

 to the advantages of a tree which is used here as shade I was gravely 

 told by some planters that the Bois Immortel is very beneficial, inasmuch 

 as it gives out water from its roots daring the dry season. We can 

 well understand that such trees do good, but in a different way ; 

 their roots naturally would go further into the subsoil than the roots 

 of cocoa, and they draw from the subsoil certain constituents which 

 will later on be shed upon the land in the shape of dead leaves and 

 twigs and flowers, and much nitrogenous matter would be supplied 

 to the land in the form of humtts. But we must also remember that 

 these plants belong to the order called Lcguminoscc, which have 

 nodules on the roots, and in these nodules are micro-organisms called 

 bacteria, which have the power of drawing the nitrogen from the air 

 and fixing it in the soil, and in that way nitrogen is supplied to the 

 surrounding plants. It appears to me, therefore, that the benefits of 

 the shade trees in Trinidad are not due so much to the shade, but to 

 the manure they give to the soil. 



Mr. E. M. de Freitas (Grenada) : At one time we planted a great 

 deal of shade trees in our cocoa estates in Grenada. In fact we 

 adopted the Trinidad system. After a time we found that the trees 

 which were not shaded gave better results. Then about ten years 

 ago planters began to cut down their shade trees, and at the present 

 time, with perhaps one exception, I do not believe there is an estate 

 in the island on which shade trees are grown. I have always been 

 puzzled to know why in Trinidad cocoa cannot be grown without 

 -hade. The soil here is somewhat different to that in Grenada; 

 it is a stronger soil and has more clay. Having regard to the value 



