CHAPTER VI 



THE CULTIVATION OF COCOA 



IN this chapter we propose to describe the different 

 operations which have to be carried out during the 

 establishment and running of the plantation. 



While it stands to reason that the experience gained 

 in other countries should give the practical man hints 

 for the improvement of his methods in some way or 

 other, still too great reliance on such experience is a 

 fruitful source of mistake, and a good dose of con- 

 servatism is the first thing needed for every grower of 

 cocoa. In establishing and running a plantation, the 

 newcomer would do well to follow the methods locally 

 adopted. These methods may contain faults, but the 

 latter can be found out only in the course of years by 

 close observation of the home plantation and those 

 around it. An enormous amount of money has been 

 lost, and is still being lost, by men without local experi- 

 ence who want to improve on the old-fashioned way at 

 once, or who adopt in the tropics, without thorough 

 experiment, methods used in temperate climates. In 

 reading this chapter, therefore, the reader should 

 remember the final exhortation of an old teacher of 

 agriculture after he had delivered his last lecture to his 

 students : " And now, gentlemen, go into the field and 

 see how others do." 



A. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PLANTATION 



Clearing the forest. The land selected for the planta- 

 tion will in most cases be virgin land covered with 



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