284 



COCOA 



CHAP. 



retically the best moment must be the time of the 

 appearance of the flowers which give the fruits of the 

 main crop (the "main flowering"). When rampassing 

 is done earlier the moth has opportunity to produce 

 several generations before the main crop appears ; 

 the percentage of attacked fruit is increasing during 

 this " fore-crop," and when the main crop is picked 

 the percentage has reached a disastrous figure. When, 

 however, rampassing is done late, there is the risk that 

 a part of the young fruit of the main crop is also 

 rampassed, and that the main crop, though very little 

 attacked, is much reduced. It is therefore -always 

 difficult to choose the right moment for rampassing. 



The following figures may give an impression of the 

 gradual increase of the pest after rampassing in one 

 field : 



The loss caused by the moth is very serious as regards 

 both quantity and quality of product. Some fruits 

 attacked by moth may yield only about one-third of 

 the quantity of marketable product which would have 

 been obtained if they had been healthy, and the quality 



