WEEDING AND UPKEEP 85 



be no removal of the crop of nuts. These should 

 be dug in to enrich the soil. 



Pruning. This is a very important operation 

 on the estate, and it must be entrusted only to 

 skilled men. The object in pruning is to alter the 

 natural growth of a tree to that which the planter 

 considers more suitable to his purpose, and more 

 likely to prove productive. That production can 

 be increased by pruning is too well known to need 

 argument. The bearing wood on a Cocoa or Coffee 

 tree can be increased both in quantity and vigour 

 by proper pruning. 



Not a great deal of pruning is necessary in our 

 plantations at the present time. Para requires 

 very little attention. The pruning of Coffee is an 

 open question which is discussed elsewhere. Our 

 Cocoa has not reached the age when much pruning 

 is required, but still very much can be done by way 

 of improving the shape of young Cocoa, with very 

 little expenditure of labour. 



Para. In the early days of Rubber growing, the 

 topping of young trees which had reached a con- 

 siderable height without branching was recom- 

 mended. This was called thumb-nail pruning, 

 and consisted of nipping out the terminal bud of 



