124 COCOA 



CHAP. 



out in discussing the question of shade, cocoa requires 

 in the first place a shaded soil. This shade for the soil 

 is obtained partly by the foliage of the shade trees and 

 partly by the foliage of the cocoa tree itself. Therefore, 

 if the shade trees afford a fairly dense shade, the cocoa 

 trees may be planted wide apart without injury to the 

 soil ; but if the shade is light, or if there are no shade 

 trees at all, the cocoa trees must be planted close 

 together so as to afford the necessary shade to the soil 

 by means of their own foliage. 



Accordingly, it is not surprising that in Grenada, 

 where no shade trees are used, the cocoa trees are 

 generally planted 9 feet, or at the most 12 feet, apart. 

 So in Ecuador where, at any rate in the older planta- 

 tions, no shade trees are planted, though forest trees 

 are left in clearing the forest this irregular and light 

 shade of the shade trees accounts for the fact that the 

 cocoa is planted there as close as 7 to 9 feet in the 

 old fields and 10 feet in the new fields. Wherever 

 experiments are made in growing cocoa without shade 

 trees or with less shade than usual (e.g. by using Hevea 

 brasiliensis), it will generally be found necessary to 

 plant the trees closer than is otherwise customary. 



Finally comes the question whether it is advisable 

 to plant closely with the intention of thinning out 

 afterwards. So far as the author is aware, this practice 

 is not adopted in any country to any extent, but it 

 has its advantages in places where the young cocoa 

 plants grow easily and do not want much care. It is 

 clearly an advantage to be able, in the fourth, fifth and 

 perhaps sixth year, to pick from a greater number of 

 trees ; and it is also an advantage that the closely 

 planted trees quickly shade the soil. If the superfluous 

 trees are thinned out at the right time and are not left 

 standing too long, no inconvenience may be experienced. 

 Here, however, comes the trouble. It is only too well 

 known how a planter dislikes to cut down well-developed 

 trees in bearing, and he is often inclined to leave the 

 additional trees standing too long, in order to obtain 



