14 FARMERS' BULLETIN. 



It is desirable that this extension of the branch system should be lateral 

 rather than vertical, for the greater facility with which fruit may be 

 plucked and possible insect enemies fought; and on this account the 

 leading growths should be stopped when a convenient height has been 

 attained. 



When well grown and without accident to its leader, the cacao will 

 naturally branch at from 1 to 1.4 meters from the ground. These pri- 

 mary branches are mostly three to five in number, and all in excess of 

 three should be removed as soon as selection can be made of three strong- 

 est that are as nearly equidistant from each other as may be. When these 

 branches are from 80 cm. to 1 meter long, and preferably the shorter dis- 

 tance, they are to be stopped by pinching the extremities. This will cause 

 them and the main stem as well to "break," i. e., to branch in many places. 



At this point the vigilance and judgment of the planter are called into 

 greater play. These secondary branches are, in turn, all to be reduced as 

 were the primary ones, and their selection can not be made in a symmetri- 

 cal whorl, for the habit of die tree does not admit of it, and selection of 

 the three should be made with reference to their future extension, that the 

 interior of the tree should "not be overcrowded and that such outer 

 branches be retained as shall fairly maintain the equilibrium of the crown. 



This will complete the third } r ear and the formative stage of the plant. 

 Subsequent prunings will be conducted on the same lines, with the modi- 

 fication that when the secondary branches are again cut back, the room 

 in the head of the tree will rarely admit of more than one, at most two, 

 tertiary branches being allowed to remain. When these are grown to an 

 extent that brings the total height of the tree to 3 or 4 meters, they should 

 be cut back annually, at the close of the dry season. Such minor opera- 

 tions as the removal of thin, wiry, or hide-bound growths and all suckers 

 suggest themselves to every horticulturist, whether he be experienced in 

 cacao growing or not. When a tree is exhausted by overbearing, or has 

 originally been so ill formed that it is not productive, a strong sucker or 

 "gourmand" springing from near the ground may be encouraged to grow. 

 By distributing the pruning over two or three periods, in one year the old 

 tree can be entirely removed and its place substituted by the "gourmand." 

 During the third year flowers will be abundant and some fruit will set, 

 but it is advisable to remove it while small and permit all of the energy 

 of the plant to be expended in wood making. 



From what we know of its flowering habit, it is obvious that every oper- 

 ation connected with the handling or pruning of a cacao, should be con- 

 ducted with extreme care ; to see that the bark is never injured about the 

 old leaf scars, for to just the extent it is so injured is the fruit-bearing 

 area curtailed. Further, no pruning cut should ever be inflicted, except 

 with the sharpest of knives and saws, and the use of shears, that always^ 



