48 THE GOLD COAST 



In common with many other cultivated plants, ooooa 

 requires certain definite combinations of climate and soil 

 to ensure remunerative cultivation, and unless these exist 

 the introduction is not to be recommended. With regard 

 to climate, a considerable rainfall is generally thought 

 necessary, the intervals of dry weather not being too 

 prolonged. The drainage of the land should be good, 

 for if the water cannot drain away within a reasonably 

 short time, the trees will be adversely and often severely 

 affected. Although it is recognised that cocoa can sus- 

 tain itself under conditions of drought for a short time, 

 districts subject to periodical absence of rain for a month 

 or more are unsuitable, and trees planted in such places 

 will generally die after a brief period. The annual rainfall 

 in the cocoa districts of Trinidad averages about 72 inches, 

 but a much heavier fall is experienced in the plantations 

 of Ceylon. In neither of these countries, however, is 

 there an annual long period of complete drought, which 

 is a feature common in most parts of West Africa ; and 

 even when an interval without rain occurs, the humidity 

 of the atmosphere compensates for the absence of it. 

 Ceylon is visited by a double monsoon or rainy season, 

 which is also the case in a less marked degree in the 

 Gold Coast. The next requirement of importance is a 

 soil of suitable quality. It is generally considered best 

 to select land which possesses a moderate amount of 

 loose clay mixed with sand, and, if the surface be thickly 

 covered with vegetable deposit, so much the better. 

 Steep hillsides, stiff, boggy, sandy, or rocky land are to 

 be avoided. The presence of low scrub on uncleared 

 land is an indication of poverty of soil, although the 

 presence of heavy forest does not necessarily guarantee 

 the suitability of the locality, as imperfectly drained land 

 often bears a heavy forest growth. Good natural drainage 

 is essential, and is nearly always found where the land 

 slopes and the rock underlying the soil is friable or deep. 

 Natural drainage can often be improved by artificial 

 means. The last important condition necessary is the 

 selection of a position where shade and wind protection 

 can be obtained naturally to as great an extent as possi- 

 ble. Plantations in valleys, sheltered by mountain spurs 

 or by belts of high forest, are suitable, and such formations 

 are met with in many parts of the Gold Coast and Ashanti. 



