PREFACE 



IN writing this handbook I have done my best to make 

 it practical. 



This does not mean that the intention of the book 

 is to teach the reader cocoa-planting, and it is not 

 expected that any one unacquainted with cocoa-culture 

 will become a cocoa-planter by reading the book from 

 beginning to end. 



The practical planting-work must be learned in the 

 field, and I could quote here what has been written on 

 the first page of Chapter VI. 



Many planting operations, however, are not always 

 well understood ; often the practical man knows, how 

 he has to treat his trees or his soil in order to get the 

 best result, but not why. For this reason, different 

 operations, like weeding, shading, manuring, and 

 fermenting, have been explained more fully than is 

 done in most agricultural handbooks. 



Other subjects have been treated in detail which 

 cannot be learned in the field, especially the varieties 

 of cocoa, the botanical characters, and the diseases and 

 their treatment. 



It is a golden rule that the cultural methods must 

 always be entirely dependent on local conditions. 



