188 COCOA 



CHAP. 



when the tree is resting. The advice " prune often but 

 little at a time " is indeed good in several respects, but 

 in the tropics the dry season is the only season suitable 

 for this work. At this period of the year the wound 

 dries quickly and parasites do not penetrate easily ; 

 moreover, when the operation is done while the tree is 

 at rest, a more regular reaction follows than in other 

 seasons when all the buds in the neighbourhood are 

 ready to develop at once as soon as a twig has been cut. 



As regards the organisation of the work of pruning 

 and cleaning, it is best to have a gang of labourers going 

 round in the dry season to cut away the suckers and 

 the diseased twigs. This cleaning of the tree may be 

 considered fairly simple work, which only needs care 

 but no special skill. The gang of men must be 

 numerous enough to finish this very necessary work 

 in the dry season. In some cases, when twig disease 

 is prevalent, this gang has to go round the plantation 

 several times a year, or even continually. This is, for 

 instance, the case in Surinam, when the plantation, after 

 it has once been cured of "witch-broom disease" by 

 special treatment, has to be kept clear of " krulloten " 

 ("witch -brooms") and "hardened" pods. 



Besides the gang of cleaners, a smaller gang of 

 pruners has to be at work in the dry season, looking 

 after the cleaned trees and removing superfluous twigs 

 when the foliage system is considered to be too dense. 

 In doing this they should at the same time try to give 

 the tree a more regular form by removing the irregular 

 twigs and leaving the others. 



What twigs are too weak to be allowed to remain 

 on the tree, and when is the system of foliage so dense 

 that the removal of some healthy twigs is advisable ? 

 These questions are difficult to answer. When the 

 planter has answered them for himself, he should teach 

 a few of his best labourers to do the work, and he will 

 especially have to impress upon them that each tree 

 must be treated individually, and that it is better to 

 work slowly and carefully than to hurry. The gang of 



