94 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



any time the bananas fail (as I believe they must eventually, in 

 even the best lands,, after the lapse of a few years), the planter 

 will have his cacao or other plants well established, and lie will 

 be independent of the precariousness of a market or regular 

 steam communication, and find himself with a permanent culti- 

 vation yielding regular crops of an article in demand all the 

 world over. 



These remarks apply more especially to cacao than any 

 other plant. 



For detailed particulars respecting the cultivation of this 

 plant I would commend planters to a little pamphlet prepared 

 tor the Government of Jamaica, which gives such plain and 

 practical hints on the subject that I need not dwell upon them 

 here.* 



It may be accepted as a statement of general application 

 that where bananas will grow and thrive, cacao will probably do 

 the same. In other words, land that will grow bananas well, is 

 almost sure to grow cacao well also. 



To this I might add for British Honduras, that where cacao 

 grows wild in the woods, and thrives without any care and 

 attention, it is much more likely to thrive where it has good 

 soil, free from competition with other plants, and where every- 

 thing is done to give it the sole strength and richness of the 

 soil. 



The cacao seeds, or plants, as the case' may be, on an 

 established banana plantation, should be planted exactly midway 

 between the stools of the bananas, so that they will ultimately 

 stand at about 16 to 18 feet apart. If seeds are planted, the 

 ground should first be dug deeply in spaces about 18 inches in 



* " Cacao : How to Grow and How to Cure it." London : S. W. Silver 

 & Co , 67, Conihill. 



