218 TBINIDAB AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XIX. 4. 



Horse beans {Canavalia ensiformis) are used to quite a large extent 

 on the best estates, being sown under the cacao and turned in as green 

 manure or cut and left to form a mulch. Several thousand pounds of 

 seed are distributed annually by the local Agricultural Department. 



On one of the best estates a proper rotation system of intensive 

 cultivation is carried out, by which the fields are treated in one year 

 with pen manure, in the second with leaves, brushings and prunings 

 bedded in, in the third bedded again and mulched, if material is available, 

 in the fourth artificial manures are applied and in the fifth the soil is 

 limed to clear up the land for a repetition of the rotation. Under this 

 system it was arranged that one-fifth of the estate would receive one 

 or the other of the above-mentioned treatments each year. 



PARTIAL SHADE. 



So far I have dealt almost entirely with complete no shade 

 conditions but in many of the fields there are a large number of what 

 are known in Grenada as " foreign trees" such as mango, breadfruit, etc., 

 and whilst from an agricultural point of view these are not such good 

 shade for cacao as the Immortelles, it must be remembered that they 

 play an important part in the economic life of the island. At certain 

 times of the year the breadfruit is the staple food of the peasantry, 

 fruiting as it does when other local provisions are scarce. The breadfruit 

 crop is gathered almost entirely from amongst the cacao plantations. 



These so-called " foreign " trees do give a certain amount of shade 

 and protection to many of the fields which are sometimes described as 

 having no shade and this should be borne in mind when considering 

 the subject. 



WINDBREAKS AND HEDGES. 



A good deal of attention is given to the establishment and care of 

 windbreaks and their value is very great, galba {C alopliyllum Calaha) 

 is one of the principal trees used for the purpose, whilst almond 

 (Terminalia Catappa), cashew {Anacardium occidentale), Mango 

 {Mangifera indica) and other trees are used to a lesser extent. Protection 

 to most cacao fields is also afforded by hedges, the principal plants used 

 for the purpose being galba, which is planted thickly and trimmed 

 periodically and the wild coffee {Aralia Guilfoylei). A very fine example 

 of the latter can be seen along the eastern main road where there is a 

 long, thick stretch of this plaat growing to a height of about fifteen 

 or twenty feet. 



PRUNING. 



With regard to the pruning of cacao in Grenada opinions amongst 

 planters differ, as they do in Trinidad. The planter's chief care however 

 is to see that his pruning is not so severe to expose the soil to sun and 

 wind, as he has no other protection he can rely upon, as has the planter 

 who cultivates his cacao on the shade principle, but, owing to the close 

 distances at which the trees are planted, fairly heavy j)runings are 

 necessary. 



