132 COCOA 



CHAP. 



enemy only when they are very young, and when the 

 seed-lobes have shrivelled up and the first three leaflets 

 have been developed it is no longer to be feared. 



Ants sometimes damage the young plants. Though 

 cocoa is not one of its favourite plants, the parasol ant 

 (Oecodoma cephalotes) sometimes attacks it when no 

 other food is close at hand. This is the case in Guiana, 

 where this ant does more damage to citrus plants 

 (oranges, mandarins) and coffee plants ; but in Trinidad 

 it is regarded as a very serious enemy of the cocoa. The 

 only remedy is to destroy the nests, and as the damage 

 done in a single night may be very serious, it is 

 advisable to prevent the attack by destroying before- 

 hand, by means of carbon bisulphide, all the nests to be 

 found in the neighbourhood and to isolate the plantation 

 from the surrounding bush and forest by means of deep 

 trenches, in which water is kept standing as much as 

 possible. 



Another sort of ant is sometimes troublesome in 

 Surinam to all sorts of young plants. It is a small 

 reddish-brown animal, and is there called " brand mier," 

 which means " burning ant," as its bite is rather painful. 

 It makes small nests situated on the surface of the soil 

 round the stems of the plants, and attacks the roots as 

 well as the stems and leaves, biting and sucking the 

 sap of all young parts. In Surinam carbon bisulphide 

 has not been effectual in destroying this pest, but 

 Mr. Wigman, the Director of the Botanical Gardens, 

 has tried with great success a household medicine, 

 naphthalin, which he spread on the nests round the 

 young plants. 



In some countries rats and mice are troublesome 

 in the nurseries, and are not easily got rid of. 

 Sometimes they suddenly appear in districts where 

 they have not been seen in large numbers for several 

 years. Where they are a common plague, it is a good 

 thing to surround the nursery by wire-netting and to 

 keep a regular fight against them by means of poison 

 or carbon bisulphide, as described in Chapter VIII. 



