THE CULTIVATION OF COCOA 175 



cases, however e.g. in countries where the dry season 

 is long but not severe the young fruits of the cocoa 

 are formed in the dry season, so that the tree bears a 

 good number of very young fruits when the first showers 

 begin to fall and the tree begins to make new leaves 

 and twigs. If nitrogenous manure sulphate of ammonia 

 or farmyard manure is applied at this time, the con- 

 sequence is sometimes that the tree spends all its force 

 in making many strong new twigs and leaves, and drops 

 many of its young fruits. In such circumstances it is 

 advisable to stop the application of nitrogenous manures, 

 or to increase the application of phosphorus and potash 

 manure, or to apply the nitrogenous manure at another 

 season. 



As has already been mentioned, farmyard manure, 

 and compost or a mulch of leaves and grass, are useful 

 in a double sense : they improve the structure of the 

 soil, making it porous and loose, and at the same time 

 add plant-food to the soil. This improvement of the 

 structure is useful in more than one sense : 



(1) The loose and porous condition makes it 

 especially suitable for the growth of the roots of 

 plants ; at the same time the air penetrates more 

 freely into the soil, thus making the roots healthy and 

 vigorous. 



(2) The water-holding capacity of the soil is in- 

 creased, and therefore it does not dry up so quickly in 

 the dry season. 



(3) Its elasticity is improved, so that it does not 

 " pack " so readily in the rainy season nor split so easily 

 in the dry season. 



In fact, while artificial manures are useful only to 

 the extent that they give the soil a special form of 

 plant-food, farmyard manure, green-dressing and com- 

 post are useful in several directions. Their advantages 

 over " chemical" or "artificial" manures are especially 

 conspicuous in the tropics, where the soils are often 

 poor in humus. Farmyard manure and compost would 

 doubtless play a more important part in the cultivation 



