CACAO CULTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 7 



sheltered valleys where the prevailing winds are directly cut off by inter- 

 vening hills or mountains; the plantation of only small groves in the 

 open, and their frequent intersection by the plantation of rapid growing 

 trees; and, best of all, plantings made in forest clearings, where the re- 

 maining forested lands will furnish the needed protection. 



LOCATION. 



It is always desirable to select a site that is approximately level or with 

 only enough fall to assure easy drainage. Such sites may be planted sym- 

 metrically and are susceptible to the easiest and most economical applica- 

 tion of the many operations connected with a plantation. 



Provided the region is well forested and therefore protected from sea 

 breezes, the plantation may be carried very near to the coast, provided the 

 elevation is sufficient to assure the grove immunity from incursions of 

 tide water, which, however much diluted, will speedily cause the death of 

 the plants. 



Excavations should be made during the dry season to determine that 

 water does not stand within 1J meters of the surface, a more essential 

 condition, however, when planting is made "at stake" than when nursery 

 reared trees are planted. 



Hillsides, when 'not too precipitous, frequently offer admirable shelter 

 and desirable soils, but their use entails a rather more complicated system 

 of drainage, to carry away storm water without land washing, and for the 

 ready conversion of the same into irrigating ditches during the dry season. 

 Further, every operation involved must be performed by hand labor, and 

 in the selection of such a site the planter must be largely influenced by the 

 quantity and cost of available labor. 



The unexceptionable shelter, the humidity that prevails, and the inex- 

 haustible supply of humus that is generally found in deep forest ravines 

 frequently lead to their planting to cacao where the slope is even as great 

 as 45. Such plantations, if done upon a considerable commercial scale, 

 involve engineering problems and the careful terracing of each tree, and, 

 except for a dearth of more suitable locations, is a practice that has little 

 to commend it to the practical grower. 



THE SOIL. 



Other things being equal, preference should be given to a not too tena- 

 cious, clayey loam. Selection, in fact, may be quite successfully made 

 through the process of exclusion, and by eliminating all soils of a very 

 light and sandy nature, or clays so tenacious that the surface bakes and 

 cracks while still too wet within 3 or 4 inches of the surface to operate 

 with farm tools. These excluded, still leave a very wide range of silt, 

 clay, and loam soils, most of which are suitable to cacao culture. 



Where properly protected from the wind a rocky soil, otherwise good, 

 is not objectionable; in fact, such lands have the advantage of promoting 

 good drainage. 



