COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 309 



feet, but is generally between 7 and 9 feet. Three or 

 four plants are usually left growing together on the 

 same spot, whether the seeds are sown out or the plants 

 reared in nurseries ; in the latter case they stand in 

 groups of three or four close together, and the whole 

 group is kept together in transplanting. The primitive 

 methods of cultivating the young plants, and the grow- 

 ing of the older plants without shade would in most 

 other countries result in the death of the trees, but here 

 it meets with success owing to the extremely favourable 

 natural conditions. 



As regards climate, there is no real dry season to 

 speak of. Rain falls every month, though not to the 

 same amount ; the wettest months are May to August, 

 the driest December to February. Exact meteorological 

 figures are not to be had, however, as up to the present 

 none of the planters use any instrument to measure the 

 rainfall. 



The curing seems to be done with a certain amount 

 of care in the regions along the Rio Pardo and the 

 Rio Jequitinhonha, but in the municipios of Ilheos and 

 Ttabuna it is performed in a very slipshod manner. 

 The crop comes in in two main harvests, one in 

 December and January, the other in May and June. 



No pruning is done, but the dead wood is sometimes 

 removed when the fruits are being picked. Water- 

 shoots or suckers are generally removed. 



Though, as has been said, the methods of cultivation 

 usually adopted in Brazil are very primitive and rough, 

 there are a few exceptions. In the neighbourhood of 

 Belmonte and Canavieiras a few planters have adopted 

 more modern methods, and a few plantations under 

 Swiss management may even be called first rate. 



It is a very common practice for small proprietors 

 to plant a certain area with cocoa, and then sell it 

 later on to planters with more capital. Such buying 

 and selling does not take place according to the area 

 of the fields, but according to the number and age of 

 the trees. 



