178 COCOA 



CHAP. 



is to obtain the necessary amount of pen manure, and 

 in the case of large plantations this manure will hardly 

 anywhere play an important part except in the rather 

 small plantations of Grenada, where cocoa is grown 

 without shade and not less than one-fifth of the total 

 area of each plantation is used as pasture for the 

 cattle, and in Java, where farmyard manure is very 

 cheap. 



Mulching with grass and leaves from adjoining 

 vacant lands is probably more often practicable than 

 the application of pen manure, but very often even 

 mulching is not feasible, because the amount required 

 to give good results is not small. The Agricultural 

 Superintendent of St. Lucia states that a mulch of 

 10 tons per acre is hardly sufficient to cover the soil 

 thoroughly, and he considers a larger quantity most 

 advisable. The labour required to gather so much 

 mulch and to spread it out over the ground is certainly 

 not insignificant, and the expense will be high unless 

 labour is cheap and there is enough vacant soil from 

 which to obtain the mulch. These two conditions are, 

 however, not often found together. 



As regards farmyard manure, 12 tons per acre (30 

 tons per hectare) is in Europe considered to be an 

 average quantity. To obtain this quantity a large 

 number of cattle is necessary. The conditions in Java 

 are favourable for obtaining this manure at a fairly low 

 price, either from the cattle and horses of the plantation 

 or from the Javanese people in the neighbouring villages. 

 When obtained in the latter way, however, it is of inferior 

 quality and larger quantities are necessary to get an 

 appreciable result. Generally about two kerosene tins 

 are given per tree ; this amounts to 50 or 60 kilograms 

 of fresh manure, or 35 to 40 tons per hectare (about 

 15 tons per acre), as the trees are usually planted fairly 

 closely to the number of about 700 per hectare. 



The general opinion of the planters in Java is 

 strongly in favour of the application of humus- 

 affording manures, and the effect of artificial manures 



