CACAO I/I 



plants are large enough to be put in their permanent 

 places. The disadvantages of planting the seed where 

 the trees are wanted are that they must be cultivated and 

 shaded while still very small, and that insects and other 

 animals are likely to eat the seed. Insects can be kept 

 away by putting ashes around the seed. 



The seeds are planted 2 or 3 cm deep, and should 

 germinate within two weeks. If seed beds are used, the 

 plants should be 15 cm apart, in rows 25 cm apart. It 

 is probably never advisable to have the trees less than 

 3.5 meters apart, though they are said to have been 

 much closer together in Maripipi. The first crop is ob- 

 tained when they are four or five years old. 



Shade. Cacao must always be shaded. The same 

 kinds of trees are used to shade cacao as to shade 

 coffee. Since cacao grows at lesser altitudes, and en- 

 dures a denser shade than coffee, it is more often prac- 

 ticable to use shade trees which themselves yield useful 

 products. Bananas are used to shade young cacao, and 

 ilangilang and some of the large fruit trees can be used 

 when the trees are mature. Young plants of some large 

 tree are planted in the place of about one twentieth of 

 the cacao trees. 



Cultivation. Whether or not the ground is weedy, 

 cacao will much more than pay, by the greater yield, 

 for a cultivation of the soil twice a year. The trees 

 should also be pruned once a year, and kept from be- 

 coming too high. The fruit should always be cut, not 

 broken off, to save the place for future Mowers. 



