COCOA IQI 



When clearing land for a plantation, the large trees 

 and oil palms are rarely cut down, and stumps are not 

 extracted. The felled trees and bush are rired as soon 

 as they have dried sufficiently. The land is then planted 

 up with such temporary crops as maize, cassava, and 

 tania (coco). These serve to assist in keeping down 

 weeds, and to provide shade for the young cocoa trees. 



Seeds from the November crop are sown in nursery 

 beds made in a sheltered situation, and, if possible, near 

 a good water supply. As they are generally sown too 

 thickly, and seedlings are not thinned out, the latter 

 become crowded together and develop into weak, 

 straggly plants. A very large number, therefore, 

 succumb when they are transplanted to the open field. 



Transplanting usually takes place during" the early rains 

 in April and May, by which time the plants are about a 

 foot high, but lining is not attempted. The plants are 

 put in far too closely together, often as close as 4 or 5 ft. 

 apart. The excuse for this procedure is that so many 

 failures occur. On the other hand, where all the plants 

 in a particular area survive thinning out is not practised. 

 The plantations, therefore, present a most irregular 

 appearance. In some areas the trees are suffering from 

 undue exposure, while in others growth and fruit pro- 

 duction are interfered with through overcrowding. 



Shade trees and wind breaks are not planted, nor is 

 mulch applied, so that tlie trees often suffer severely 

 during the dry season. Especially was this the case 

 during the last two years, when an unusually protracted 

 dry season obtained, and numerous trees, both young and 

 old, succumbed. 



Little is done in the way of cultivation besides weed- 

 ing, which is generally carried out at far too lengthy 

 intervals. Pruning is not understood; what is attempted 

 in this direction is restricted to the removal, by means 

 of a cutlass, of dead branches and gormandizing suckers 

 which develop from the main stem. Under these con- 

 ditions it is not surprising that diseases are rife, crops 

 are small and of poor quality, and the life of the tree is 



