2;;7 



•without slunk- it must he cultivated in another way. First your soil 

 must he better tilled when no shade tree is used, because the 

 shade tree is an improver of the soil and when you lose BUCh an 

 improver you must do yourself what is more or less done ky the 

 tree. Another thing planters do not understand is this: the 

 shade tree is also a windbreak, and when you remove the shade 

 you must take care that your trees are in sheltered position, 

 Then the question of irrigation is, in our country also, a matter of 

 importance. If you do not use shade trees and do not till 

 your soil ketter, the soil suffers from drought in the dry sea- 

 son, and irrigation will be necessary to keep your cocoa trees 

 alive. It is not necessary in plantations where there are shade 

 trees. These and similar matters are often overlooked by planters 

 who try to grow cocoa without shade. Another thing is this. As 

 in our country, where the wet season is followed ky three very dry 

 months, you have to remove your shade trees not at once but 

 gradually ; and that is perhaps one reason why the experiments which 

 some planters tried were unsuccessful. My Department is now try- 

 ing an experiment with young trees. We have removed the shade 

 from a field of about 2 acres, leaving some wind-breaks, and the first 

 year, at any rate, this was a success, because, contrary to the expecta- 

 tion of many planters, when the dry season came, none of the trees 

 suffered. In the second year, however, we had a very bad dry season 

 and the trees suffered more or less. Yet planters were very astonished 

 that they were still in good condition. It seems to me that once 

 shade is properly removed, cocoa can be grown in Surinam without 

 shade. 



COCOA CULTIVATION AND GREEN DRESSING. 



Dr. Francis Watts (Leeward Islands) : The question of the treat- 

 ment of orchard soils was brought up at the previous Conference, 

 when I put forward views urging in substitution for excessive tillage 

 and keeping the land clean in orchards, the adoption of a system of 

 green dressing, or the use of weeds and shruks for manures. This has 

 all along existed in Dominica. The weeds are allowed to grow, and 

 at intervals these are cut down without materially disturking the 

 surface soil ; the cuttings are either used as a mulch, or they are 

 treated as a green dressing and kedded in. The crop that has keen 

 found most useful so far appears to have keen woolly pyrol. 1 have 

 had some experiments made with other plants, but not to a 

 very great extent. I have recently put forward some analyses 

 which I believe will appear in the next issue of the West 

 India Bulletin [Vol. V pp. 287-8] showing the proportion 

 of manurial constituents which may be returned to the soil 

 on each cutting. This is very largely practised in Dominica, 

 especially where it is shown that the amount returned is very 

 considerakle. I have had occasion at certain times to examine 

 soils. I will take one case, namely, Frenches, where Mr. Scully 

 follows this system of cultivation Around each tree he keeps 

 a space of about 10 feet perfectly free from weeds ; the 

 remainder of the land remains largely untitled ; the weeds are cut 

 down and either are left as a mulch to find their way into the soil, 

 or are at once dug in. 1 think it would be wrong to allow the forma- 

 tion of anything approaching a permanent grass sod, and perhaps 



