in 



THE CHEMISTRY OF COCOA 



23 



at any rate nobody is able to contradict it but, on 

 the other hand, nobody can prove it to be correct as 

 long as we are unable to tell by analysis how much 

 available potash, nitrogen, phosphorus, and lime is 

 present. While this continues to be the case, such 

 statements, as well as the figures of chemical analyses 

 of soils, are from a practical point of view worthless. 



Wright * gives a concise review of the quantities of 

 the principal elements present in good cocoa soils 

 of different countries. Some examples may be of 

 interest 2 : 



It is worth mentioning that the cocoa tree can 

 stand a good amount of salt (sodium chloride) in the 

 soil. In Surinam it is well known that cocoa can be 

 cultivated successfully even on soils which are con- 

 tinually impregnated by brackish river water. This 

 condition prevails, for instance, on the cocoa fields of 

 many small proprietors, situated along the Surinam and 

 Commewyne rivers, where the brackish water of the 

 rivers is only imperfectly retained by a primitive embank- 

 ment and a primitive sluice, through which at high tide 



1 Wright devotes considerable space (pp. 141-150) to the composition of 

 soils. 



2 The figures for Guadeloupe are from Boname, and for Martinique from Rout", 

 and are given here as quoted by Wright ; the figures for Ceylon are also taken 

 from Wright ; the other figures are all from analyses by Harrison, as quoted by 

 Hart. 



