VI 



THE CULTIVATION OF COCOA 133 



The plants may be transplanted from the nursery 

 when they have attained a height of 1 to 2 feet. 

 Every care should be taken not to injure the roots. 

 When the nursery is on stiff soil, they must be trans- 

 planted with a good lump of earth, about one foot 

 in diameter. The plants must be carefully dug out by 

 means of a sharp spade, with the lump remaining in 

 its original place round the roots; shaking causes the 

 root-system to break. It is therefore advisable, im- 

 mediately the plant has been dug out, to envelop the 

 lump with a banana leaf fastened with dry banana-fibre. 

 The Javanese workmen are very handy at this work ; 

 transportation even for long distances is managed 

 without injury to the plants. 



When the soil of the nursery is very loose, the same 

 care is required in digging out, so as not to injure the 

 roots, but then the earth falls off easily. In these 

 circumstances the plants are placed with their roots in 

 water and all the earth is allowed to wash away save 

 only those particles which adhere very closely to the 

 roots. The plants should be packed in loose bundles 

 and kept in a cool, well-shaded place, with their roots 

 wet, during the transportation. In this case the making 

 of the holes in the field to receive the plants requires 

 more care than if the plant is transplanted with a lump 

 of earth ; the holes must be filled with rich, friable soil, 

 so as to give the plant, at any rate for its first growth, 

 a very fertile and loose soil. In the case of transplant- 

 ing with a lump, a well-forked plant hole of 2 or 3 feet 

 diameter will serve the purpose quite well. 



It is sometimes preferred to grow the plants in the 

 nursery in pots or baskets. With this method the 

 transportation from the nursery to the field is easily 

 effected without injury to the plants, and the planter is 

 thus enabled to have the nursery at a greater distance 

 from the field where the plants are to be planted out. 

 Pots made of bamboo are very convenient. When big, 

 old bamboo stems of 5 or 6 inches diameter are available, 

 they may simply be cut into pieces 30 cm. (12 in.) long 



